Laughing matter

SC right to reverse oppn Bihar MLA’s expulsion for ‘parodying Nitish’. Best antidote to bad joke is a good joke The top court’s judgment reversing the expulsion of a Bihar legislator is not just correct but also has a wider application. In 2024, an assembly ethics committee expelled RJD politician and opposition chief whip Sunil…

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Indispensable yet inconvenient, the paradox of being Shashi Tharoor

Last month, a helicopter sliced through the skies of Kozhikode, Kerala, carrying the state’s most eloquent political anomaly — Shashi Tharoor. While fellow Congress leaders, including V D Satheesan, Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala assembly, trudged through the mundane logistics of cars and crowds after the Kerala Literature Festival, Tharoor was swiftly whisked…

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Aunty Dalit Politics

Mayawati, the leader of the BSP (Bahujan Samaj Party), has removed her nephew Akash Anand from the party. People are unsure why, but one thing is clear—her power in elections is fading. There was a time when people thought Mayawati might become India’s first Dalit Prime Minister. She was also the first Chief Minister of…

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Aunty Dalit Politics

Mayawati ousted her nephew from BSP. Reasons are confusing. But her electoral irrelevance won’t change What a fall it has been. Once pundits used to speculate that Mayawati could become India’s first Dalit PM. Dust is still thin on those columns and already everyone has to be reminded that she was the first UP CM…

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