“Hum gayab ho gaye thhe, par ab hum phir aapke saath hain. Hum aapko ashwast karte hain, ab hum idhar-udhar hone wale nahin hain, rahenge aapke saath (We had disappeared for a while, but now we are back with you. And I want to assure you, this time we’re staying put),” he said as both of them enjoyed a laugh.
Nitish’s U-turns are by now part of folklore, so a spot of self-deprecatory humour was just what the occasion needed, especially since there was a goodish chance that some old ice lingered that needed to thaw. The two leaders performed the rites of reunion perfectly: when BJP leaders welcomed Modi with a huge garland, he held out a hand to bring Nitish, too, under it.
The surface camaraderie aside, a touch of mutual wariness is not too hard to spot in the subsoil. Not a single seat in Bihar was announced in the first list of 195 candidates the BJP released the same day. With Nitish back in the fold, seat-sharing for the 40 Lok Sabha seats from the state will be by no means an easy task. Other than the JD(U), the NDA in Bihar includes smaller caste-based parties, which, too, will demand their pound of flesh. And each of them is enmeshed in a history of friction.
THE BJP MAY HAVE ALLOWED NITISH TO LEAD THE NDA IN BIHAR FOR THE GENERAL ELECTION, BUT ALL BETS ARE OFF AFTER THAT
Denne historien er fra March 18, 2024-utgaven av India Today.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra March 18, 2024-utgaven av India Today.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
He gave the beat to the world
He would pick up the rhythms of each experience of mobility and weave them into his taals. Thus it was that he reflected joy and laughter in rhythmic cycles...such was the magic of Zakir's fingersText and photographs by Raghu Rai
KERALA TOURISM CAMPAIGN, 1989 - TICKETS TO PARADISE
All it took was a catchy tagline-'God's Own Country'-for the world to discover Kerala's wealth of natural beauty. It remains among the best tourism ad campaigns, earning the state a place among top 10 international destinations
SPIRITUALITY - THE GURUS OF COOL
Among the cult Indian gurus, no one had a bigger hold on western minds than 'Osho' Rajneesh. He's also perhaps the role model for the enterprise-building gurus of today
RETAIL SHOPPING - THE MALL MANIA
Shopping malls, a 1990s innovation in India, changed the way the Indian middle class shops. Their success now lies in being 'shoppertainment' destinations, offering something for everyone
CULINARY RENAISSANCE, 1978 - TANDOORI NIGHTS
ITC's Bukhara and Dum Pukht turned the world to tandoori cuisine and had an enormous impact on the F&B industry. Decades on, they are still a pit-stop for celebrities and heads of state visiting Delhi
INDIAN WRITING IN ENGLISH - REVENGE OF THE NATIVE
Rushdie lit the way but Indian writing in English has taken a life of its own in the past few decades, with translated Indian fiction most recently having its moment in the sun
INDIAN ART - A BRUSH WITH GOLD DUST
The 1990s economic liberalisation came as oxygen, lighting up the Indian art scene. Today, artworks by established masters routinely go for astronomical amounts
FESTIVAL OF INDIA, 1982 - CULTURE CAPITAL
The Festival of India grew into a symbol of our 'soft power', introducing our art and aesthetics to a global audience while also helping rebrand our domestic products
THE INDIPOP TREND - DISCO GOES DESI
For ages, the film song ruled. Nothing else was audible. Then came Nazia, charioteered by Biddu, and Indian ears went into a pleasant madness. Literally, Disco Deewane. A whole genre was born
SHOLAY 1975 - THE BIRTH OF THE FANDEMIC
India had seen hits before. But Sholay seared into its collective psyche like a badland bullet. The effect was on a scale never seen before- one film creating a new mass folk culture. And a trail of monster blockbusters that still continues
