Like the Modi-Shah duo, she appears to have no empathy or compassion for the victims of state, state sponsored or even random violence.

Let us be clear about one thing, this wasn't just a wedding, it was a powerful political statement.

With the kind of resources he will still have, and the strength of the backing from within the governmental structure, Modi can be expected to move heaven and earth to stay on in power.

At its present tally of 303, the BJP has plateaued out in the West and its Hindi heartland stronghold. It cannot improve its tally here. Its prospects are no better in the East and in the South than they were in 2019. Could it be that the BJP has a joker up its sleeve?

The Maharashtra cadre officer in a post after the consecration of the Ram temple, revealed how, as a probationer in Mussoorie, she celebrated the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992. Her post has attracted a lot of attention on social media and a flutter in the IAS fold.

Democracies do not die at the hands of governments alone. When public conscience and opinion dies, so do democracies.

These voters comprise between 10-15% of the total electorate, perhaps more than most castes or religious denominations.

In comments of some cases, the top court has appeared to favour the petitioners’ cause. But it does not go against the government in its orders.

In Karnataka, the BJP tried everything – hijab, halal, removal of quota for Muslims – but failed. In the process, it has widened the north-south divide and made the latter even more suspicious of not only the BJP but all political parties to the north of the Vindhyas.

Promises made by the BJP, public money, historical facts and several others have all evaporated into thin air. And even though millions of voters are scurrying around looking for them, all they have found so far is a big jumla.

Extraordinary moves targeting Rahul Gandhi have shown that BJP never panics, its only plots and executes. The Congress must eschew the notion that it can win India on its own.

Under external affairs minister S. Jaishankar, sitting on the fence has become an essential ingredient of our foreign policy, thinly disguised as "national interest".

With the controversy around the BBC documentary on Modi, the runaway success of Shah Rukh Khan's film 'Pathaan', and the Hindenburg report on Gautam Adani, the right wing appears to have lost the plot in the last fortnight.

The battle for a 'Hindu rashtra' has to be won in the minds of the people before it can be legitimised in Parliament. This requires a three pronged strategy: enlist support for the cause; discourage any opposition; and create on-ground conditions for a majoritarian state.

The MEA and its spokespersons have an unenviable and difficult job to do. Defending the indefensible is never easy.

To have a real electoral chance, the Opposition needs a level playing field. Right now, the ruling party holds all the cards.

Judges need to step out of their book-lined studies and sterile chambers and smell the stench of repression in the streets, see the accumulating debris of a collapsing criminal justice system. 

Judges need to step out of their book-lined studies and sterile chambers and smell the stench of repression in the streets, see the accumulating debris of a collapsing criminal justice system. 

Narendra Modi has burnt every bridge, antagonised every peer and decapacitated every institution which could have helped him cross the troubled waters he now has to negotiate.

When the age of reason returns, the people responsible should be held to account for the biblical scale of suffering they have inflicted on a people who trusted them.