Congress without Trinamool

"Mamata Banerjee will do anything to enhance her political image, even if this means humiliating her senior colleagues. By obtaining the resignation of Railway Minister, she is hoping to project herself as the sole champion of the poor, as someone who is able to push and prod the UPA into working for the greater common good. "

The Hindu : Opinion / Editorial : Congress without Trinamool:  Each time, as she maximises her political mileage, the Congress ends up looking a clueless pivot of a rudderless government.

Exit, With A Message

Trivedi showed reform can be pushed despite the odds

Exit, With A Message

-The Times of India, March 20, 2012

Save The Budgets

Congress and Mamata must work out a deal

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Save-the-budgets/articleshow/12279973.cms

With West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee triggering "a political storm by requesting the axing of her own party minister, Dinesh Trivedi, after he presented the railway budget," the congress may have to be prepared for further opposition "to anything other than populist sops" from "the same quarters" in today's budget.

-The Times of India, March 16, 2012

Dissecting The Soul

Why post-debacle inspection is such an elevated exercise

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Dissecting-the-soul/articleshow/12235469.cms

-The Times of India, March 13, 2012

Time To Talk

UPA must work together better

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Time-to-talk/articleshow/12236007.cms

Lack of an "effective consultative mechanism to thrash out contentious issues," and insufficient communication with allies, the editorial says, has led to "UPA's trust deficit, hurting its image and policy-making."

-The Times of India, March 13, 2012

Adieu To Fiats of High Commands

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Adieu-to-fiats-of-high-commands/articleshow/12200063.cms

"The fiats of the 'high command', ideological posturing, coterie deliberations and too-clever-by-half electoral calculations - all of them manifestation of the 'commanding heights' approach to politics - are well and truly a thing of the past."

-The Times of India, March 10, 2012

Leadership Lessons

Lack of credible regional leaders is affecting Congress's prospects

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Leadership-lessons/articleshow/12189357.cms

The Congress is losing ground at an alarming pace, says the editorial. It can be attributed to the over-centralization of the Congress leadership, and a lack of credible regional leaders, as is the trend in most states, especially Southern states, in India.

-The Times of India, March 9, 2012

How The Lotus Can Bloom

BJP 2.0 must be a vehicle for the politics of aspiration and economic change

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/How-the-lotus-can-bloom/articleshow/12178289.cms

A debate has ensued in the BJP between two ideational models, says the writer. What are these models and how do those models fair in view of the recent outcomes in assembly elections?

A discussion on possible changes, and the results of past and current strategies of the BJP are expressed.

-The Times  of India, March 8, 2012

Mandate's Message

Promising people a better life won't do, delivering it will


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Mandates-message/articleshow/12178238.cms

There are many important lessons to be learnt from the recent outcome of the assembly elections, says the editorial, and the central one may be that identity politics has its limits.

"Youth-driven India's burgeoning popular aspirations should drive home the urgent need for more inclusive growth and accelerated development. The budget is the UPA's chance to show that it not only understands this, but also has the political will to act."

-The Times of India, March 8, 2012

Adrift in Andhra

"Nothing seems to be going right for the Congress and its government in Andhra Pradesh. If it's not Telangana, then it's the revolt within that keeps the Kiran Kumar Reddy government permanently in a crisis mode. Far from providing any respite, the disqualification of 16 Congress Members "

The Hindu : Opinion / Editorial : Adrift in Andhra: At stake is not just the survival of the State government but the long-term future of the Congress in south India's largest province. Going by the way it has mishandled the political challenges posed by the Telangana and Jagan factors, the party will be struggling to hold its own in Andhra Pradesh.

Poll Vault

High voter turnouts may signal high popular aspiration

Poll Vault

-The Times of India, February 21, 2012

The Land Of The Blind

Winners of the Manipur elections must remedy the lack of vision all parties have shown there

The Land Of The Blind

"No matter which coalition comes to power - probably with a wafer-thin majority - the state machinery can't afford to overlook the ethnic complexity in this strategic northeastern state"

-The Times of India, February 20, 2012

Willing to wound, yet afraid to strike

"Rahul Gandhi's central role in the Congress campaign in U.P. has generated high expectations that the party is now scaling down."

The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : Willing to wound, yet afraid to strike:

It Takes More To Tango

Beware milking caste too much, it might just curdle

It Takes More To Tango

-The Times of India, February 18, 2012

Sriprakash Jaiswal says Rahul Gandhi will 'remote control' Congress rule in UP

Times View - No backseat driving, please
Counter View - It's involvement, not control


-The Times of India, February 11, 2012

When Aspirations Count

Muslim political choices could turn out to be an electoral game-changer in UP

When Aspirations Count

"Muslims are keen to fight socio-economic backwardness and hence are focussed on issues of education and employment, criticising ruling parties at the Centre and the state for their neglect and deprivation."

-The Times of India, February 9, 2012 

UP's voter

Seema Mustafa analyses the entire political scenario on ground-based politics and explains the strengths and weaknesses of each and every party whch is trying to gain any stake in the state elections 2012...

UP's voter is savouring her moment in the sum

Welcome Ruling

Citizens can seek sanction to prosecute public servants

Welcome Ruling

-The Times of India, February 2, 2012

The supreme court recently upheld a "citizen's right to file a complaint leading to the prosecution of public servants for corruption, including ministers, MPs and MLAs."

This is most certainly a welcome change.

The Congress dynasty

Congress party's image has faded throughout the country. It is in a hapless state where the central government is in a state of flux with all the corruption charges and misgovernance and it is trying to find a foothold in most of the states in the state elections 2012 except, maybe Punjab, where the anti-incumbency factor is an issue for their principal opponents, The Akali Dal- BJP combine...

The situation in Karnataka, Andhra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and many other states is not something that the congress can flaunt on...

Coalition politics and more significantly, the dynasty rule of the Nehru-Gandhi family is only deepening the crisis for the oldest party of the country which could boast of extreme superiority before 1980's

What is the way ahead?

NV Subramanian explains more...

Dynamic Hubris drives congress to new low

Mamata's memoirs

Mamata Banerjee released three of her books at the recently concluded Kolkota literary festival, (simultaneous to the Jaipur books festival) one of them being her autobiographies, "My Unforgettable Memories".

Sunethra Chawdary explains how the congress can read it to analyse the lady who is throwing so many tantrums at her...

Mamata's memoirs and how to throw the book at her