Anand K. Sahay

Sep 12, 2011
c.jpg

The making of a President

Although nominations have not yet been filed, there are few reasons to believe that a serious contest will ensue for the upcoming election of the Rashtrapati when President Pratibha Patil demits office. Traditionally, a consensus between political parties has been created around an eminent Indian proposed by the ruling party or the principal party of the governing combine.

A nonaligned sutra for West Asia

India’s disinclination to attend to world events, or even major regional ones, unless it is being called to account — as on the NPT question — has become its hallmark.

The defeat and after

Unlike UPA-1, whose steady incremental achievements added up to positive vibes at the end of the five-year term and helped it slay the demon of anti-incumbency, the UPA-2 has hardly been a string of successes. For the Congress and the government it leads at the Centre, the recent Assembly election in five states were therefore of greater significance than might otherwise be the case.

Charioteer & his chase

BJP stalwart Lal Krishna Advani’s apparently sudden announcement that he would get on to a motorised “rath” or chariot and do a cross-country yet again — this time with the avowed intention of campaigning against corruption — has caught even his own party unawares. It should not have.
The decision fits perfectly with the recent declaration of BJP president Nitin Gadkari that his party will march under the leadership of Anna Hazare. In fact, it can logically be seen to be in furtherance of that line. The tactical direction flowed from the RSS — around which the Hindutva bodies revolve — and given to the
BJP as a political party to pursue.

Sunday’s celebration of Parliament’s completion of 60 years — first at special sittings of the two Houses and then at a joint sitting in the Central Hall — were entirely understandable, even inspiring

The third US-India Strategic Dialogue is only a few weeks away. To prepare the ground for a meaningful set of talks US secretary of state Hillary Clinton was recently in the country.

Horoscope