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In a candid conversation with a Political Officer at the U.S. Consulate-General in Chennai in February 2008, DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran spoke of corruption in his party and the increasing anti-incumbency factor in Tamil Nadu, according to a cable accessed by “The Hindu” through WikiLeaks. File photo
The Hindu In a candid conversation with a Political Officer at the U.S. Consulate-General in Chennai in February 2008, DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran spoke of corruption in his party and the increasing anti-incumbency factor in Tamil Nadu, according to a cable accessed by “The Hindu” through WikiLeaks. File photo

When in power, people start making money, Maran told U.S. Political Officer

The estranged DMK M.P. spoke about party's corrupt image & predicted its downfall; criticised ‘freebies'; praised Rahul Gandhi; was ‘very downbeat' about United Progressive Alliance's electoral prospects »
Related: 142702: Maran says ruling coalition in trouble
Related: ‘Cash for votes a way of political life in South India’
The then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, on a day-long hunger strike at the Marina Beach in April 2009 to protest against the military action in Sri Lanka. Photo: R. Raghu

Maran called Karunanidhi's October 2008 resignation threat a diversionary ‘drama'

Spoke of DMK leader's attempted ‘blackmail' on Sri Lanka, warned that the Congress ‘will carry this grudge and retaliate at the right time' »
Related: 176372: DMK calls off threat to pull support from UPA over Sri Lanka violence

Amar Singh asked Manmohan and Sonia to remove Chidambaram, Deora: 2008 cable

It was part of a ‘deal' for the nuclear deal arrangement with political parties »
Related: 160825: Samajwadi party supports nuclear deal, Govt striving for early IAEA announcement

The world of Bollywood as seen through American diplomatic eyes

'Excessive production expenses and high payments to stars may make the industry unsustainable in the long run' »

‘Islands of growth' despite hurdles for Catholic Church

Vatican representatives describe Catholic presence in India as both “growing” and “small” »
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Chennai, April 22, 2011

Southern successes

Bollywood accounts for only about 200 of the 1,000 films that are annually produced in India, but “in terms of reach and revenue, as well as its stable of nationally-recognized stars,... »
A cable noted that with the backing of a large parliamentary constituency and allied with the ruling Congress party, “Banerjee's Trinamool is well placed to win the 2011 state assembly elections,” if she travels in the same route.
CHENNAI, April 21, 2011

U.S. government should ‘continue to cultivate' Mamata

Consulate found ‘encouraging signs' her regime would be ‘friendlier' than Left Front »
CHENNAI, April 21, 2011

Constitutional controls check radical Hindutva, says U.S diplomat

Anti-conversion bill stymied by political process »
CHENNAI, April 4, 2011

Kashmir issue clouds Indian view of Kosovo

U.S. urged India to stand with Europe and America in recognising Unilateral Declaration of Independence »
Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia. File Photo
CHENNAI, April 3, 2011

Calling the Left's ‘bluff': Ahluwalia on the nuclear deal

“The issue in India is who will blink first, the Congress or the Left. For the Left, it is clear the issue is not the 123 agreement, but the deepening U.S.-India relationship which the... »
LONDON, April 2, 2011

‘Gujarat tried to use SEWA for communal propaganda'

The organisation's general secretary told U.S. Consul General that it was facing the ‘wrath' of the State government for ‘resisting' the pressure »
BJP leader L.K..Advani inspecting the Ramjanmabhoomi site in in Ayodhya on July 08, 2005, where five militants were gunned down. File Photo: Subir Roy.
CHENNAI, March 31, 2011

Dominance of RSS will speed up BJP's decline, said 2005 cable

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its Hindu nationalist allies scored a major political victory by intimidating Bharatiya Janata Party leader L.K. Advani after his positive remarks o... »
CHENNAI, March 30, 2011

‘U.S. activism in Kashmir will be counterproductive'

Indian government hypersensitive to third party involvement, New Delhi Embassy cautions Washington in 2009 cable »
CHENNAI, March 27, 2011

‘After Rahul's gaffes, Congress hopes shifted to Priyanka'

U.S. Embassy cables reflect family insider's ‘brutally frank' assessment »
Leaked U.S. Embassy cable reveals senior BJP leader Arun Jaitely’s candid remarks on Hindutva, Narendra Modi and the party’s succession plan. File photo
CHENNAI, March 26, 2011

Hindu nationalism is opportunistic, said Jaitley

Is Hindu nationalism the raison d'être of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), or just another vote-catching device? In a private conversation with American diplomats in May 2005, senior... »
CHENNAI, March 25, 2011

‘Few in UPA concerned about the plight of dalits’

Ruling combine dominated by upper caste Hindus. »
CHENNAI, March 23, 2011

South and West the best; rest holding India back

Chidambaram's views on politics, economy »
Facing the possibility of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi assuming a leadership role at the national level, the State Department sanctioned meetings in 2006 at the level of the Mumbai Consul General. File photo
CHENNAI, March 22, 2011

Engaging Modi the U.S. way

Confidential 2006 cable reveals complex calculations in the event of the Gujarat Chief Minister ‘making it to the national stage'; wants a clear message delivered on U.S. concerns over 'human rights and religious freedom' »
The Ministry of External Affairs made a pitch for restoring Narendra Modi's U.S. visa. Photo: P.V. Sivakumar
CHENNAI, March 22, 2011

When Modi was denied the visa

UPA government, having “gone through the motions” by protesting, was “unlikely to ratchet up the pressure further”; Modi's “America bashing has made many” in the Congress and the BJP “nervous” »
CHENNAI, March 21, 2011

West Bengal IGP failed U.S. vetting

Kolkata Consulate cited human rights violations »
CHENNAI, March 21, 2011

‘Manipur more a colony of India’

Overwhelming presence of military, paramilitary and police forces gave visiting American diplomat the impression that Imphal was under occupation »
Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram at the Parliament House on Friday. According to a U.S. Embassy cable, Mr. Chidambaram expressed serious doubts about the NIA’s validity, two months after it was set up. Photo: Rajeev Bhatt
CHENNAI, March 19, 2011

NIA pushing constitutional limits, Chidambaram told FBI

Its powers ‘perilously close’ to violating provisions on Centre-State relations »
CHENNAI, March 18, 2011

BJP says one thing at party meet, another in private

Leaders ask U.S. diplomats not to read too much into harsh views expressed in foreign policy resolution. »
FOR BETTER TIES: New Delhi has not been pushing its complaints in the interests of strengthening economic relations with Riyadh. A file picture of King Abdullah with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Photo: Shanker Chakravarty
LONDON, March 17, 2011

Indian ‘concern' over Saudi funding for extremists

U.S. Ambassador in Riyadh picks up ‘sore points' in India-Saudi Arabia relations, but reports economic cooperation to be dominant factor. »
CHENNAI, March 17, 2011

M.K. Narayanan did not go voluntarily: Timothy Roemer

The Home Minister needs someone "to put a bit in his mouth" M.K. Narayanan »
TWO DECADES LATER: A victim of the riots at a 2005 demonstration in New Delhi. Photo: Sandeep Saxena
LONDON, April 22, 2011

Manmohan Singh's apology for anti-Sikh riots a ‘Gandhian moment of moral clarity,' says 2005 cable

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's public apology for the 1984 anti-Sikh riots is hailed in an American diplomatic cable as a “singular act of political courage'' and an “almost Gan... »
LONDON, April 21, 2011

‘The Kremlin on the Jumna'

Jawaharlal Nehru University seen as centre of Indian Left soft power »
Electoral defeats in 2007 and their impact on impending Uttar Pradesh polls made some Congressmen seek 'a more saleable political face at the head of the government.' Photo: Kamal Narang
CHENNAI, April 4, 2011

A struggle between 'reform cadre' and the 'old line' in the Congress

Cable speaks of some members of the party advocating that Sonia Gandhi jettison Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister »
West Bengal Chief Minister and veteran Marxist Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was “clearly…receptive to engagement with the US,” says a U.S. Embassy Cable.
CHENNAI, April 3, 2011

West Bengal's pro-business Chief Minister reaches out

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee expresses his desire for greater U.S. investment in the State »
The government's legal claims against Dow were presented by U.S. officials as an impediment to foreign investment in India. A wall panel at the forensic department of Gandhi Medical College in Bhopal, seen in this 2010 photograph, shows some of the people who died in the 1984 gas disaster.
CHENNAI, April 3, 2011

U.S. presses India on Dow's liability

Ambassador Mulford and Treasury Secretary Paulson lobby for dropping of Indian government's liability claims for Bhopal »
The cable drew an outline of politicians seeking to exploit Dow's handicap in India - arising from its association with Union Carbide and the legacy of the 1984 Bhopal gas look disaster - for direct or indirect personal benefit. The abandoned Union Carbide factory in Bhopal. File Photo: A.M. Faruqui
April 1, 2011

Sops for chemicals?

The U.S. Consulate in Mumbai reports on the manoeuvres of the Dow Chemical Company to get its plants cleared, and the contradictory responses of powerful politicians »
CHENNAI, March 30, 2011

‘Unforgettable' Lalu assured U.S. he would work for N-deal

Minister of Railways and Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lalu Prasad assured U.S. Ambassador David C. Mulford that he supported the nuclear deal, at a December 2007 meeting that even the seasone... »
An informal survey conducted by the U.S. Embassy among the Muslims in the North India reveals that a majority of them are unhappy with the ‘weak response’ of Muslim leadership to the Mumbai attacks.
CHENNAI, March 29, 2011

A community scared of both Muslim and Hindu extremists

A 2006 cable talks about the Muslims of north India being nervous and fearful after the serial train blasts in Mumbai »
In the eyes of American diplomats, Congress president Sonia Gandhi appeared more comfortable working with the Left than with the regional parties in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA). File Photo
CHENNAI, March 27, 2011

‘Sonia more comfortable with Left than with regional allies'

In the eyes of American diplomats, Congress president Sonia Gandhi appeared more comfortable working with the Left than with the regional parties in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA). <... »
File photo of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with BJP leader Jaswant Singh.
CHENNAI, March 26, 2011

I cannot rely on anyone in UPA leadership for advice, Manmohan told Jaswant Singh

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reportedly told Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jaswant Singh that he could not “rely on” anyone in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) leadership t... »
Myanmar Senior Gen. Than Shwe at the Armed Forces Day ceremonies in Naypitaw, Myanmar in this 2010 file photograph.
MUMBAI, March 24, 2011

Shekhawat visit ‘PR victory' for Myanmar junta

The U.S. Embassy in Yangon saw a visit by Bhairon Singh Shekhawat to Myanmar from November 2 to 5, 2003 as “a domestic public relations success for the Burmese regime.” The visit... »
'He will be a powerful figure on the Indian political scene for years to come.' Photo: M. Vedhan
CHENNAI, March 23, 2011

A conversation with Prakash Karat

He told senior American diplomat in 2005 he favoured good bilateral relations but opposed the U.S. on a number of key issues »
CHENNAI, March 22, 2011

Caste politics at work in Gujarat

Modi holds his friends close, his enemies even closer »
EYES WIDE SHUT: While the State looked on, 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus were killed, and 223 more people were reported as missing in over four weeks of rioting. A 2002 file photograph of rioters in Ahmedabad.
CHENNAI, March 22, 2011

2002 riots an ‘internal Gujarati matter’: Modi told American diplomat

U.S. itself is guilty of “horrific human rights violations” says Gujarat Chief Minister. »
CHENNAI, March 21, 2011

Consulate miffed

Tamil Nadu police did not inform it in advance of terror threat »
LONDON, March 21, 2011

Indian leaders, through the eyes of others

Asif Ali Zardari's thumbs up for Manmohan Singh; Americans bet on Pranab Mukherjee »
According to a U.S. Embassy cable, senior BJP leader L.K. Advani played down his party's opposition to the U.S.-India civil nuclear agreement. File photo
CHENNAI, March 18, 2011

Advani plays down BJP opposition to nuclear deal

He tells U.S. Embassy the stance on re-examining deal was linked to politics in India. »
In a cable to the New Delhi Embassy, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wanted to know why Pranab Mukherjee was chosen Finance Minister in UPA-II over Montek Singh Ahluwalia. File photo
MUMBAI, March 18, 2011

Hillary checks out Pranab, and the competition

‘To which business groups is Mukherjee beholden?'; ‘Why was [he] chosen over Montek?' »
CHENNAI, March 17, 2011

‘Conservative, obstructionist'

India's policy on Kashmir has “become consolidated under the more forward leaning Home Minister P. Chidambaram after the exit of National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan, who played a... »
BJP MPs show the wads of cash they had allegedly been bribed with to switch sides on July 22, 2008, the day the Manmohan Singh government faced the trust vote.
NEW DELHI, March 17, 2011

Satish Sharma aide showed U.S. Embassy employee cash to be used as ‘pay-offs’ in confidence vote

‘Two chests containing cash’ part of a bigger fund of Rs. 50 crore to Rs. 60 crore »
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