A lot of us seem to have forgotten that political parties, elections and democracy existed even before 2017 – and so before the existence of electoral bonds. Though introduced in 2017, Electoral Bonds (EBs) seem to have become a popular topic in the national discourse ever since the recent three-day hearing in the Supreme Court […]
In the age of digital dominance, electoral bonds are a calculated and sophisticated step towards electoral gain. Money is never neutral but it tends to mostly, if not always, favour the most domineering and deep-pocketed. This expression is highly relevant in the context of Indian elections where the stakes are always high and the sole […]
The GoI was prodded after 73 years to table a Bill when the March 2023 SC judgment constituted a three-member bipartisan selection committee comprising the PM, CJI and LOP to appoint the CEC and ECs. But the Bill’s selection panel comprising the PM, LOP and a Union minister allows the Executive to retain control over […]
The fact that the land legally belonged to the Akhil Bharat Sarva Seva Sangh, founded by Vinoba Bhave in 1948, was just a minor irritant for the powers that be. Usurped is the appropriate word for what happened in Varanasi on July 22, 2023, when the Government of India, through the instrumentality of the Indian […]
It is incumbent on civil society to stand by them as they now take on this legal struggle which may well turn out to be a marathon. Read the following conversation between a young woman, nine days short of her 27th birthday, born and brought up by a single, widowed, cancer-survivor mother in a village in Haryana, a […]
There are three elements of today’s political culture that possibly explain “the phenomenon of ‘Modi can do no wrong’”. Professor Suhas Palshikar, one of the leading political scientists in the country, recently wrote about “nine failures and blemishes” of the current government at the Centre and said that these do not seem to have brought any discredit to […]
A set of events reported in the media suggests that no court is willing to hear the allegations against the BJP MP and WFI chief. The question in the title admits to many answers. The purpose of this piece is not to provide an answer or many answers. It is to present before the readers a set […]
Prime Minister Modi inaugurating the building is a violation of constitutional principles. Given that President Droupadi Murmu has been steadfast in correctly performing her public duties, this violation leaves her with just one honourable option. Hundreds of thousands of citizens celebrated Droupadi Murmu’s election to the highest office in the land on July 21, 2022. We rejoiced […]
The problem of cleansing politics has a supply side and a demand side. The latter aspect means that voters need to choose clean candidates. Demand for tainted politicians should decrease. It is a record broken after thirty-four years. Both in terms of numbers of seats and vote share, the Congress Party’s victory in the elections […]
The people have spoken, and we have a new government. Congratulations to the voters who gave a clear majority to one party, thus preventing defections and toppling of the government like in 2018. Voters may have changed their mind because of the ‘40% government’ tag, referring to high levels of corruption. Perhaps they were upset […]