Article Archives:

Chandigarh Civic Poll Results: What This Means for Punjab and National Politics

Chandigarh is a curious city, an amalgam of Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh. It reflects the sum of political trends in these three states. The key to unpacking Chandigarh Municipal Poll 2021 lies in integrating wider political trends across northwestern

what Indians feel about China, Bangladesh and Pakistan. It’s startling

Sometimes, even those who don’t forget history are condemned to repeat it. In 2012, we were mourning India’s humiliation by China in 1962. As we approach 2022, mourning has turned into celebrations tempered with realism about Bangladesh, Pakistan and China.

As Inequality Report Flags Poverty in India, Lessons from Odisha & Bihar

The NITI Aayog has released an exhaustive 218-page report on multidimensional poverty in India that seeks to get a more holistic and realistic measure of poverty in the country. No big surprise that Bihar leads, with an estimated 51.9% of

thank-you-teacher-yashwant-deshmukh-remembers-vinod-dua

Way back in 1993, it was a small office in Gulmohur Park where as a journalism student at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), I was supposed to give my final interview to Vinod Dua for joining the team

Our survey shows farm laws are popular. Modi was correct in his assessment

Expert opinions, calumny, praise, celebrations and self-flagellation have flowed like river Brahmaputra ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on the morning of 19 November, on Guru Parab, that his government was going to repeal the three farm laws. At

India needs a stronger data culture that runs parallel to the system

There is a wide gap between official estimates of deaths due to Covid-19 and the ones claimed by researchers and media. While GoI claims an official death count of 4 lakh-plus, the Centre for Global Development study (bit.ly/2TttWdL) by Abhishek

Covid is frightening. But the bigger worry is Indians’ lost hope

The Narendra Modi government has just completed two years of its second term. It seems that the past seven years are on one side and the past seven weeks on the other. It is said that in politics, even a

Sheila Aunty Pampered Me As A Kid Even When My Son Joined College

“What? When did that happen? Itne bade ho gaye tum ki beta bhi college ja raha hai!” Sheila aunty pulled me up for growing older the last time I met her. We had met just before the 2019 Lok Sabha

Understanding the 2019 Indian Elections

In the last of a five-part series on opinion polls about the Indian elections, national security has overtaken the economy to become the main electoral issue, but things may change by the time the polls close. The CVoter Tracker, an

It is boots on the ground, and not bots, that win poll battles

Social media is now well integrated into Indian politics and its newest political avatar is the “IT cell”, which generates paid-for trends. But, such trends cannot impact elections. Only a sustained campaign works and that is why a dedicated cadre