First day, First show

September 20, 2023

As promised the Prime Minister delivered a historic decision on the first sitting in the new parliament. Of course being Narendra Modi, the element of showmanship was all there - and why not? This is not the first time the Women Reservations Bill was coming up on the floor of...

International consensus, domestic confrontation

September 13, 2023

It is ironic that one of the notable achievements of the Delhi Declaration was the spirit of consensus. And for this, credit must be given to the Modi Government. It was Amitabh Kant and Harsh Vardhan Shringla’s deft political maneuvering, by roping in allies from the global south such as...

Can the opposition hold?

September 6, 2023

The Opposition alliance block, I.N.D.I.A, is now getting to the nuts and bolts of alliance formation and that is really the most crucial bit. The key factor is not who will be the convenor, but rather the committees that will decide on seat sharing, because this can make or break...

FROM G20 to E2024

August 30, 2023

It seems as if Prime Minister Modi has kicked off his 2024 election campaign with the G20 meeting. This is what the Opposition is claiming, and certainly, given the amount of interest and hype around the event, this could well be the case. News channels have been encouraged to hold...

PM Modi’s tryst with Red Fort

August 16, 2023

This was the Prime Minister’s last Independence Day speech before the Lok Sabha elections of 2024. But he made it clear, both by his body language and the nuances in his address, that the way he saw it, this was not his last speech from the ramparts of the Red...

Time for PM Modi to take on opposition in parliament

August 9, 2023

Rahul Gandhi is back in Parliament and the Opposition is seeing this as a vindication. The Speaker took some time in reinstating him and the government got some flak for that. The Congress went to town claiming that the PM was scared to face Rahul Gandhi in Parliament, hence the...

Countdown to 2024

August 2, 2023

The Opposition is finally getting its optics right by coming together on a common platform. They have even found a very catchy name for it I.N.D.I.A. Apart from coming together for the headlines, a delegation went to Manipur recently and took an on-ground survey of the situation. This itself sent...

Finally, Manipur gets Delhi’s attention

July 26, 2023

The Opposition has set the tone for a stormy Monsoon session. The rapes and sexual harassment of women and the ethnic violence that has been engulfing Manipur for the last few months, have finally found national concern and the Opposition is right in raising this in Parliament. The government seems...

Opposition Unity Vs NDA Growth

July 19, 2023

The optics for Opposition unity are proceeding rather nicely specially with the Congress agreeing to support the Aam Admi Party on the controversial amendment moved by the Centre against the Delhi government. On the eve of the Monsoon Session, such coordination harbours well for the Opposition. And this is despite...

Pawar Play: Is he the Maratha strongman or wronged man?

July 5, 2023

There is an old joke about Sharad Pawar—apparently, he was asked once by Narasimha Rao what does two plus two equal to, and pat came the reply: it depends, are you buying or selling. That sums up Sharad Pawar, because with him there are no straight answers. One never knows...