It is doubtful that anyone in the concerned ministries of information and external affairs has paid the slightest attention to the implications of sending a “delegation” of Indian journalists to China in response to an invitation by Hsinhua, the official Chinese news agency. Alternatively if someone has doubted the wisdom … Read More
Anti-Shah riots have broken out in Iran for the fourth time this year. The occasion has been the fortieth day of the death of a number of persons in the previous clashes with the police. As earlier, the most seriously affected cities have been the Shia religious centre of Qom, … Read More
It will perhaps be unfair to endorse the view expressed by Janata MPs that the motion of no-confidence by the Congress (I) had something to do either with the Shah Commission’s two reports and Mr. Sanjay Gandhi’s arrest or with the party’s victory in the recent by-elections in UP. But … Read More
In calling upon the Janata party’s “trinity” – Mr. Morarji Desai, Mr. Charan Singh and Mr. Jagjivan Ram – to “make up their differences or quit,” Mr. Biju Patnaik has clearly not spoken only for himself. Some other senior ministers feel the same way. He may not have made the … Read More
It may not be particularly comforting for the Janata leadership to convince itself it has lost the Azamgarh by-election to the Lok Sabha and the Mankapur and Soron seats (scheduled castes) to the state vidhan sabha in the same district solely because of bitter factional infighting in it both in … Read More
Newspapermen should be grateful to Mr LK Advani that he has only accused them of exaggerating the factional conflicts in the Janata Party and not of inventing them. For some of his colleagues are now using much sharper language and no longer in private. Mr George Fernandes has, for example, … Read More
While the Congress (I) leadership is justified in opposing the proposed provision for referendum in the Constitution for amending its basic features, its reasons for it are shocking. In sum, Mrs. Gandhi is still not prepared to accept the self-evident propositions that the Constitution has a core which should not … Read More
Mr. Charan Singh has suffered a set-back in the first round in the present battle for decisive influence in the Janata party. This much is evident from the fact that despite his resignation from its parliamentary board and national executive, the meetings of the Haryana legislature party were held as … Read More
Some of the recent developments should help freeze the political situation in Maharashtra. In consultation with the erstwhile BLD and Jana Sangh leaders, Mr. Charan Singh has turned down the proposal that Mr. Uttam Rao Patil be replaced as leader of the state legislature party by someone more acceptable to … Read More
The political atmosphere in India has been so charged in recent years that any number of people have felt free to make any kind of charge against anyone. Indeed, these rumour mongers and retailers of malicious gossip have enjoyed considerable credibility even among reasonably well educated people. This propensity to … Read More
