The last few days, India celebrated and mourned the end of Sachin Tendulkar’s stupendous career, fostered by hard work, sweat and grit. Apart from the well deserved Bharat Ratna, Sachin’s grand career was topped off by a farewell speech that made every Indian weep more than ever managed by any family drama on TV or…
Tag: Rahul Gandhi
Reading Rahul Gandhi’s “nonsense”
Congress party vice president Rahul Gandhi has a reputation of appearing without warning and also disappearing without a trace, which is not easy given ubiquitous 24-hour news channels, citizen reporters, conspicuous Z+ security, CCTV cameras, social media activists, etc. Still, Gandhi manages to parachute (not literally) into a Dalit household from nowhere especially when UP…
Narendra Modi is PM candidate
As expected, Narendra Modi has been declared the Prime Ministerial candidate for BJP. Despite the smiles and garlands during the anointment in New Delhi, the absence of sulking LK Advani was glaring. His protégé Sushma Swaraj could not have looked sadder. For a moment, I thought she might burst out crying. She quickly left the…
A disaster code for India
The floods in Uttarakhand have destroyed lives, devastated homes and local populations for generations ahead. Our armed forces have once again stood out for their valor, gallantry and sacrifice like they did during the Kargil war or later the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, both orchestrated from Pakistan. The integrity and rapid response of our jawans and…
Modi versus Advani
The Congress government under Manmohan Singh has scored so many self-goals that it has lost credibility – there are allegations of massive corruption in telecom and coal block allocations to private companies, while growth has dipped due to lack of economic reforms. The de facto Prime Minister of India Sonia Gandhi is on a quixotic…
No touching, feeling Indian VVIPs
We have yet another instance of a VVIP, this time Uttar Pradesh minister Azam Khan being questioned by security officials at an American airport. Apparently Khan was gently quizzed by a lady official for ten minutes, the time normally taken by disembarking passengers to visit the loo, if there is a bit of rush. Usually,…
Enduring Indian Gossip
Some relationships seem to be forever under scrutiny. In politics, there is the one between Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh. Despite the analysis and speculation, Manmohan-Sonia plane of operation is clear – do as she says or don’t do anything at all. Given such sound understanding that has stood the test of two uneventful tenures…
Another Coalition Tamasha in India
India is in the midst of another tamasha linked to coalition politics with the DMK withdrawing support to the Congress-led government. The DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi is a first-rate example why no job beats being a politician in this country. He is nearing 90 and harbors hopes to be chief minister of Tamil Nadu again….
An interview with Rahul Gandhi
The following is an imagined, though candid and freewheeling, interview of Rahul Gandhi, by yours truly, following the Congress leader’s categorical statement that he neither wants to-become Prime Minister of India nor marry… Sir, why live in such denial? This is an incorrect assessment. The Gandhi dynasty has never denied power to itself. As a…
Siddharth Srivastava 