Chanakya

Budgets are made around a central assumption: how fast will the economy grow next year? Chidambaram does his numbers well and his secondary assumptions on tax buoyancy and expenditure compression are very likely watertight. Chanakya writes.

A productive and calm Parliament session is the least that politicians owe to the people who have to wake up daily to some scam or horrific outrage. It gives people an infinite sense of reassurance, Chanakya writes.

Defence sales will always be murky. One can only take steps to mitigate corruption. The real issue is: does the gun shoot straight? Chanakya writes.

When Finance Minister P Chidambaram asserts that the budget will be a responsible one, you can be reasonably assured it will be, writes Chanakya.

Should an underage person be punished in the same manner for, say, stealing a loaf or two of bread and for raping a woman's gut out? Chanakya writes.

Rahul Gandhi may not have all the aces he wants, but his ability to speak from the heart is a trump card that many don't have, writes Chanakya.

Politicians must not get taken in by happy headlines. Read the fine print; address the simmering discontent, Chanakya writes.

It would make more sense if spiritual leaders were to use their platforms to urge their followers to respect women. Chanakya writes.

Any leader who can turn the urban middle/upper middle class voters into his vote bank will be my favourite to become PM in the next decade, writes Chanakya.

Fortunate is the ruler who has the opportunity to make laws that please his subjects. The UPA is in this position on quite a few fronts. Chanakya writes.

Though sung in a different context, two lines from a song sung by Abba, a once popular pop group, “The winner takes it all/the loser’s standing small,” could apply quite aptly to Narendra Modi’s spectacular victory in the Gujarat assembly elections, the third in a row.

While we cool our heels in queues, our leaders get whisked past us in airports, in railway stations, in almost all public places, writes Chanakya.

Unless Uddhav is able to effect a sea change in the Shiv Sena's character Bal Thackeray's party might be well and truly over. It is just a matter of time. Chanakya writes.

At a time when the BJP is hoping to trip up the UPA, Nitin Gadkari should be giving it direction. Instead, he is fighting to save his career, writes Chanakya.

A session with its more energised Parliament could be just the remedy we need to restore people’s faith in parliamentary politics, writes Chanakya.