A prominent politician from Vidarbha was expressing his concern to me the other day on whether the Congress will be able to retain one of its last bastions – Nagpur – if Nitin Gadkari were to contest the elections from the constituency in 2014. Sujata Anandan writes.
A friend, well-connected with the RSS in Nagpur, said this to me some months ago, in the thick of allegations of corruption against BJP president Nitin Gadkari: "There was a time when Diwali would be celebrated at Gadkari's home each time he received a call from LK Advani. Today, that's no cause for celebration. Advani may call and call. But no one at the Gadkari residence has any time for the doyen of the BJP."'
When it comes to Pakistan, I am a hawk. I have no patience with the way all Indian governments, including the one led by AB Vajpayee, have been pussyfooting around our neighbour. Sujata Anandan writes.
At the second Brunch Dialogues in October 2012, former censor board chairperson Sharmila Tagore shared an interesting story on how popular culture influences people. Sujata Anandan writes.
Women in India are under threat by not just ordinary men who might be potential rapist, but also by those who should be their protectors, donning the mask of decency but violating women nonetheless by such uncharitable thoughts,
Sujata Anandan writes.
I wonder if anybody remembers Mathura anymore? Her name is part of the annals of Indian jurisprudence and the Mathura rape case, which happened nearly 30 years ago, had led to the last major and truly reformative process in laws relating to women. Sujata Anandan writes.
Despite the poll predictions, many people in Gujarat are convinced that nothing like a sweep awaits Modi, writes
Sujata Anandan.
Narendra Modi’s Gujarat is shining for a handful of corporates. The less privileged people are strangers in their own homeland.
Sujata Anandan writes.
The tables seem to have turned against the Shiv Sena or its offshoot, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, after the death of Bal Thackeray. The law and the government seem to be gathering courage against the parties' workers, writes
Sujata Anandan.
Just a little over a week after the passing of Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray, it is already obvious that the Congress is determined to put an end to his deification, once and for all, writes
Sujata Anandan.
Bal Thackeray was a different kind of politician. I will miss fighting with him, writes
Sujata Anandan.
Sometime in 1989-90, when Bal Thackeray’s rivalry with Sharad Pawar, the then Maharashtra chief minister, was at its peak, at a rally in the Konkan region he recounted Pawar’s 'bad habits' to those gathered in large numbers, writes Sujata Anandan.
Maharashtra Pradesh Congress president Manikrao Thakre recently referred to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) as a party of goons, an appellation generally reserved for the Shiv Sena and the MNS.
Sujata Anandan writes.
If there is a superlative in the English dictionary for `immense', then that is how enormous Gadkari's own lack of good sense was when he equated Swami Vivekananda's intelligence quotient (IQ) with that of don Dawood Ibrahim, writes
Sujata Anandan.
There was a time in the 1990s when Sharad Pawar as chief minister of Maharashtra would trust no one but family and close friends in the power and irrigation departments. Sujata Anandan writes.