1. Win or Lose, You Shouldn't Write off Rahul Gandhi
As the nation waits for 18 December to see whom Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat have chosen, Swaminathan Aiyer, in his column in The TImes of India suggests that the results shouldn’t decide the political prospects of Congress president-elect Rahul Gandhi. Despite the pessimism, Aiyer writes that Rahul still has chances to prove himself and the best proof is the record of his mother.
Many elections are lost by incumbents rather than won by challengers. With the passage of time, memories of Congress scams will fade, anti-incumbency will rise, and the other side may make mistakes. None of this means that Rahul will win in 2019. Remember, Sonia lost twice before winning in 2004. Rahul too may have to wait, maybe for years. But he cannot be written off, as some are doing.
2. Across the Aisle: Now, Return to Governance
In his column in The Indian Express, former Finance Minister P Chidambaram targets the ruling BJP government and writes that the ‘new normal’ is leveling outrageous allegations, blowing remarks out-of-proportion and bending rules to influence the elections.
That model was turned on its head in the election to the Gujarat Legislature. In a state that the BJP had ruled for 22 years, the party did not run on its record. The BJP’s campaign was a textbook case study of how a well-oiled election machine, bereft of ethics and using unlimited resources, can blur the difference between truth and hype. The party may still ride to victory.
3. Fifth Column: Sonia's Legacy
In her The Indian Express column, Tavleen Singh gives a crisp account of Sonia Gandhi’s legacy as the Congress President, her journey in Indian politics, her victories and failures and the current state of the Grand Old Party. While, acknowledging her achievement as ‘remarkable’ on a personal level, Singh writes that there is not much to admire about Sonia’s legacy.
If under Sonia Gandhi the Congress party reached its lowest point in a century of existence, it was because ordinary voters discovered that India had become a country in which they could never hope for more than a few scraps from the high table. Now that her son becomes the sixth member of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty to become president of the Congress party, will he be able to reverse some of the things Mummyji did?
4. 'Automatic Suspension' of Unruly MPs in Parliament Will Have a Sobering Effect
Enforcing strict discipline on members of Parliament who deliberately flout rules and disrupt the House? Count Karan Thapar in. In his column in Hindustan Times, Thapar endorses Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu’s call for “automatic suspension” of MPs who rush to the well of the House.
Venkaiah Naidu called for the “automatic suspension” of MPs who rush to the well of the House. That’s an excellent idea. However, to enable this to happen we need Speakers who don’t just act tough but also have the character to assert their authority forcefully. Not everyone is capable of the latter, which means we need to consider more carefully the people we choose for the speakership.
5. December 16 Gangrape: Five Years on, Why the Streets Don't Belong Equally to Women
On the fifth anniversary of the 16 December Delhi gangrape, Hindustan Times columnist Namita Bhandare sheds light on women safety in open spaces in Indian cities. Citing some of the horror that Indian women witnessed in 2017, Bhandare brings forth the burning question: When will we begin talking about the right of women as equal citizens?
Every woman has a story; the man who ‘accidentally’ touches her in the metro, the schoolboys who chase her in the park for sport, the masturbating pervert late at night on the bus. We learn to ignore it -- rule #1 of the street: never make eye contact – but sometimes it spills over into a serious crime. And, always it’s our fault.
6. Vibrant and Noisy Gujarat Campaign Shows Democracy Is Alive and Kicking
In his weekly column for The Times of India, Swapan Dasgupta analyses the Exit Polls, which suggest a comfortable BJP victory in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat Elections. Dasgupta says that its time to write-off the theory that India is becoming a totalitarian state and acknowledges that ‘repackaging’ of Rahul Gandhi will have some positive outcome for Congress.
Maybe Gujarat wasn’t ripe for plucking after all. After 20 years in power, a party doesn’t win because Mani Shankar Aiyar hosts a dinner for a Pakistani friend. That would suggest voters are fools. It wins because it has broadly lived up to expectations and can connect culturally and in terms of aspirations.Alas, our men of letters will never believe that.
7. The Prime Minister's Playbook
In a sharp critique on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remark that Manmohan Singh and Mani Shankar AIyar had a ‘meeting’ with Pakistani officials, The Hindu columnist Ruchir Joshi compares PM Modi’s move to that of Marco Matterazi in the 2006 FIFA World Cup Final when the Italian managed to get Zinedine Zidane to headbutt him.
This was a classic bully’s manoeuvre which we’ve all seen from our schooldays. Remember, the bully doesn’t always use his physical bulk in isolation; he deploys it in tandem with lies and cunning. So, for instance, the bully might hit you when teachers aren’t looking, but he may also taunt and needle you into retaliating just as the teacher walks into class — “Look sir, he’s hitting me!”
8. He Who Pays, Wins?
Talking about the battle for net neutrality, Raghavan Srinivasan, in his column for The Hindu praises Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for taking an opposite stand from US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) which voted to repeal Obama-era net neutrality rules.
TRAI itself has to explain various terms such as what constitutes ‘specialised services’, which are exempt from net neutrality restrictions, or what can be construed as a content delivery network, but the move nevertheless was cheered by net neutrality activists everywhere, with some even suggesting that India could become a role model for the rest of the world.
9. Sackcloth and Ashes - The Uncertain Satisfaction of Apologies From Nations
In a column in The Telegraph Sunanda K Datta-Ray writes that Narendra Modi and Donald Trump lack the ability to admit they are in the wrong. Ray points out that while nations cannot be judged by the ‘same yardstick as individuals’ but when the nation’s elected head indicates conceit it ‘suggests welcome pragmatism in a government’.
Those who clamour for institutions and authorities to cover themselves in the sackcloth and ashes of repentance for wrongs committed in a distant past or by some long-dethroned entity should remember that “the apology too prompt”, quoting Milton’s Paradise Lost, bears neither the imprimatur of sincerity nor the promise of effective redress.
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