For reasons which remain rather obscure, Mrs. Gandhi’s old decisiveness has not been in evidence since she returned to office over two years ago. It is, therefore, not particularly surprising that she should have sought to ease out Mr. Charanjit Chanana, minister of state for industry, and Mr. SS Sisodia, … Read More
Regardless of whether the charge of moral turpitude against the Maharashtra chief minister, Babasaheb Anantrao Bhosale, is justified or not, it has put Mrs. Gandhi in an embarrassing position. Partly she has only herself to blame for this denouement. When she was looking for a successor to Mr. AR Antulay, … Read More
Mrs. Gandhi has apparently decided to suppress dissidence in the Congress (I) with a heavy hand. It is unlikely that she would have otherwise gone to the extent of denying Mr. Yogendra Makwana, Union minister of state for communications, a party nomination for election to the Rajya Sabha. Mr. Makwana … Read More
The Reagan administration appears to have given up its search for a “strategic consensus” in West Asia. It was a wild goose chase from the very start. Anyone with the slightest intelligence and knowledge of the region could have predicted that all US efforts to that effect will end up … Read More
Mrs Gandhi’s charge that “the press is the opposition in India” is open to two interpretations. First, that since there is no worthwhile organised political opposition to her in the country, she has to care only about the criticism in the press. Secondly, that the press functions as an arm … Read More
In appealing to opposition parties to co-operate with the government in solving urgent national problems, Mrs. Gandhi has struck a constructive note. It is necessary that the debate on vital issues is conducted in an atmosphere free from acrimony and distrust. But the greater responsibility in this regard is that … Read More
Despite Mrs Gandhi’s statement in Bhopal last Saturday that she did not propose to change any incumbent chief minister in any Congress (I)-ruled state, the Andhra chief minister, Mr. Anjiah, has announced that he is stepping down. It is not at all clear why she made the statement when it … Read More
Despite Mrs Gandhi’s statement in Bhopal last Saturday that she did not propose to change any incumbent chief minister in any Congress (I)-ruled state, the Andhra chief minister, Mr. Anjiah, has announced that he is stepping down. It is not at all clear why she made the statement when it … Read More
To use a cliché, nature abhors a vacuum. This is especially true of the world of the mind. In the absence of vigorous intellectual activity, nostalgia, wishful thinking and slogans take over. This has happened in our. Thus many of us talk of pre-partition days as if that event was … Read More
What is President Zia-ul-Haq seeking to achieve in pushing his no-war pact proposal on India? To prove that he is acceptable to India and thereby improve his standing with the Pakistani people, especially the intelligentsia which is said to be opposed to military rule? To demonstrate his desire to live … Read More
