In the absence of reliable and detailed information, it is not possible to say how far and how often President Venkataraman asserted himself during the last phase of Chandra Shekhar’s tenure in office as Prime Minister. It is, however, reasonably clear that he played a significant role in the Chief … Read More
Near total uncertainty prevails in the Soviet Union in the wake of the abortive coup last week. It is difficult to say what will happen there tomorrow. The Soviet Communist Party stands beheaded and immobilised. Mikhail Gorbachov himself has threatened to quit as President if he cannot ensure the survival … Read More
Leaders of the abortive coup in Moscow have rendered a singular service. They have helped establish it beyond any doubt that the old order is crippled to a point where it cannot possibly be restored. It is rhetoric to go beyond that and proclaim that their remarkably quick collapse represents … Read More
Many of the BJP MPs are new to Parliament and, indeed, to the rough and tumble of ‘democratic’ politics. As such, it is possible that they are not yet attuned to the fact that charges and counter-charges, often not only unsubstantiated but also unsubstantiable, have come to constitute the very … Read More
In most discussions of a possible power struggle in the Congress, the spotlight has been focused solely on Sonia Gandhi as a potential challenger to Narasimha Rao. It is now obvious that it should have been turned on Madhavrao Scindia as well. Indeed, he may well pose a more serious … Read More
The political scene in both India and Pakistan is too turbulent to permit any projection of their likely defence-foreign policy orientations. It is evident enough, however, that the end of the Cold War must force a significant change in their approaches. India and Pakistan are not independent actors on the … Read More
The Congress government has made a bad beginning. Devaluation of the rupee is not merely an economic issue. It is a political one as well. Politically, the question is not so much whether devaluation was avoidable in the circumstances but whether the government can live down the sense of humiliation … Read More
By refusing to be sworn in as minister of state on the ground that Sonia Gandhi has yet to contest from Amethi and get elected to Parliament, Rudra Pratap Singh has made history of sorts. In no democracy has a legislator perhaps ever taken up such a position. Regardless, however, … Read More
For the first time since independence, a challenger to the Congress, both in organisational and ideological terms, has appeared in the shape of the Bharatiya Janata Party following the present poll. That, indeed, is the central significance of the 1991 election. Regardless of whether one likes or abhors the BJP, … Read More
Regardless of the possible accuracy or otherwise of the MARG-Times of India poll published in the newspapers on June 12, coincidentally or otherwise the polling day for the second phase of the current election, one aspect of it deserves attention. This relates to answers to two inter-related questions: whether the … Read More
