TRICKY POLITRICKS

Humans, if they believe that they are under threat, will prefer giving up their liberties and freedoms in the hands of that one person who rose and said ‘I alone can fix it. Potential dictators understand this fact that when people are threatened, they look for strong authoritarian leadership and support a strongman. But before taking complete control of their state, they need to channel the anger, frustration and fear of the people in one direction that suits them. Generally, authoritarian leaders are not good when it comes to building a vibrant economy. A regime of corruption and a few yes men surrounding that one tyrant cannot sustain without sharing the prosperity of the country among the top brass. Such economic hardships make the citizens disenchanted and there is a fear that the strongman might lose his support base. Though an angry crowd is what a tyrant needs, the angry crowd can turn against you if not handled well. After all, even they deserve someone to blame for all the ha...

  For the last eight years, India has been experiencing high octane politics. Since 2014 the political discourse has been dominated by a single ideology of polarisation. While the ruling side has been unapologetic about its practices, the opposition has failed miserably to convince people of the consequences of the authoritarian practices. However, the issue arises with the silence of the majority despite the process of marginalisation not only being executed in open but rather showcased. As a citizen of democratic India, not many can stay without scratching their heads and questioning ‘where did we go wrong’? The answer, to the surprise of many, is nowhere. Every now and then, authoritarian right-wing strongmen, in other words, tyrants get support from their citizens, all thanks to the mistakes of their so-called liberal opposers. In this article, we will be looking at those mistakes, the sex appeal offered by strongmen and tyrants and the conditions that make people turn against ...

Today there are not many leaders in India on the national level who can challenge the cult of Narendra Modi and the juggernaut of BJP. But similar cults around leaders have been established in various states. Bengal was one such state where Mamata Banerjee owns the assembly, where BJP’s ‘ rath yatra ’ was stopped by her cult. A similar cult can be seen in Kerala where Pinarayi Vijayan was successful in breaking the one-term rule in the 2021 assembly elections, but it was a direct confrontation between LDF and UDF as BJP had no prospects in the state. Courtesy: Bloomberg Other than Bengal if there is any state where BJP was denied power even after regressive campaigning by leaders like J.P Nadda, Amit Shah and Narendra Modi himself then it is Delhi. Results of Delhi assembly are even significant than Bengal because of its proximity to Hindi heartland, demography and a largely Hindu middle-class population, a section that constitutes the core of BJP vote bank.  This feat was achieved...

A neighbour that we all despise. A country that was called ‘Global Migraine’ Madeline Albright, former US secretary of state. She was quoted as “My own sense is Pakistan has everything that gives you an international migraine. It has nuclear weapons, it has terrorism, extremists, corruption, very poor and it is in a location that is really, really important to us.”   It will not be wrong to say that a similar state also exists in India as well, just remove the terrorism characteristic, rather replace it with gangs and crime. A state that is not less than a migraine, but holds humongous importance for India. A huge landmass that is as large as Pakistan in terms of population but is approx one-third of it in area. Unfortunately, has GDP even lower than that of our neighbour’s. A state that is nothing but a bummer to India’s growth. While most of the states in India are showing trends of a shrinking population, this state is growing at a whopping rate of approx 2.7%. Appalling, this ...

For the last few months newsrooms have been abuzz with speculations of a rising third front, comprising of non-BJP and non-INC parties, to take on the BJP. This is not the first time that such an attempt has been made, no it will be the last. But the question is whether it is rational to think of a third front in India? These talks have gained momentum after the Congress wipe out in Bengal assembly elections and a defiance of the usual pattern in Kerala. This time, it is the National Congress Party president Sharad Pawar and Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who are putting wind in the sails of this boat.  West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has been travelling lately to states where the MTC presence has been negligible. Her visits to various states and attempts to fill the void created by Congress, by and large, have been successful on some front. Former Goa CM and veteran Congress leader Luizinho Faleiro joined TMC and after the fiasco in Punjab there have been speculations that A...

Oldest party of the largest democracy in the world is struggling to find some wind in its sails. The harsh truth being told, it is not rise of the BJP that has made Congress land in this situation, but the mistakes made by the party's own leadership.  The issue is not only with the Congress not winning elections, but lack of acceptance in the Gandhi family. Even though INC has not fallen further down the graph since the 2014 general election, at least not in terms of vote share, it has been stagnant with its performance. Or maybe there is no room for going further down. It might sound offensive to some, but seemingly, the Indian National Congress is setting up its own deathbed. The ego of the high command and reluctance towards change is enough for fulfilling this death wish. Before someone terms these words to be merely opinionated rants, what follows is the base for these claims. Courtesy: ANI Here, it is important to underline that even though Congress is in a constant phase of ...

India is known as the country of heritage and land of diversity. Even after a bloody medieval era, in modern times diverse communities have been living in harmony. But lately, there have been multiple assaults on this harmonious coexistence because of the rise of right-wing politics all across the country. But the question remains, is only one party responsible for the saffronisation of Indian politics?  The Indian National Congress and Bharatiya Janta Party are the only truly national parties with a presence in almost all parts of the country. Lately, with the fall of Congress, Aam Admi Party and Trinamul Congress have been working hard to fill the void and take the spot away from Congress, but presumption does not seem to be coming true in near future, at least not by 2024. Courtesy: Youth ki Awaaz Both these national parties, even at their worst, have been successfully getting a huge chunk of around 20% of the total votes. Even today, with only 52 seats in Lok Sabha, Congress ha...

  India is a country of bureaucrats. Every policy, every step is made to go through so many levels that by the time it is implemented, it hardly makes any difference. So, if the government of India decides to reform something, it signifies that the sector, more or less, is already in shambles. But not every good reform can be implemented with good intentions. However, another side of the coin is that Indians are used to the snail walk. Especially with sensitive issues like agriculture. The current regime failed to understand that very fact. Courtesy: The Indian Express Therefore, what could have been the delivery of a much-needed reform for the Indian farm sector turned out to be a disaster. While over 600 farmers died while being tested by harsh weather conditions of Delhi, small businesses lost crores because of the protest.  Clearly, it was not a chance to make gains for anyone. But the question is, where did it all go wrong? The answer lies in the very first chapter of the...

India, that is Bharat, is the largest democracy in the world. Even though a partially free one now, it is popularly known for its ‘unity in diversity. Fortunately, or maybe not so, the politicians have been carrying this principle with them successfully. Despite disparities in various aspects, ranging from ideology and economics to caste and reservation, almost all of them have been united on exploiting divisive politics, because apparently, development could not have delivered them what identity can.  Courtesy: Weebly Based on ideological leaning many might think that some states, especially in southern India, are expectational to this fact. My advice to such readers is, think again. People tend to forget that India is a unique country. Maybe the only nation where even the voters of the communist party tend to hold their religious identity close to them. Net net, from the BIMARU states of the Hindi heartland to development models of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, identity has been dominat...