Editorials, Editorial Opinions, Editorial News, The Hindu Opinion

Diversity in unity: on the Ajit Jogi-Mayawati alliance

Things are never as easy as they seem from a distance. If the Congress entertained hopes of being at the centre of a national-level alliance against the Bharatiya Janata Party, then it was relying heavily on the changed attitude of the Bahujan Samaj Party to seat-sharing and coalition-building. But as Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan draw near, the Congress is beginning to realise that the agreement on the by-elections in Uttar Pradesh between the BSP and the Samajwadi Party that was touted as a precursor to a larger understanding among opposition parties in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls of 2019 is anything but. By quickly concluding an agreement on seat-sharing with the Janta Congress Chhattisgarh led by former Congress chief minister Ajit Jogi, BSP leader Mayawati was clearly signalling to the Congress that its options were still open in M.P., and that unless given a fair share of the seats, the BSP would not back the Congress. While the BSP has

Overnight flip-flop: on the cancelled Swaraj-Qureshi meeting

Within 24 hours of announcing a meeting between External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in New York next week, India called it off. The reasons cited for this overnight flip-flop are recent attacks in Jammu and Kashmir by Pakistan-based groups, and stamps issued by the Pakistani postal service that glorified Kashmiri terrorists. According to the MEA spokesperson, both acts “expose” Pakistan’s “evil agenda” and the “true face of the new Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan”, rendering talks “meaningless”. While the government is well within its rights to rethink any decision it takes, the reasons that it has furnished for cancelling the meeting are far from convincing. To begin with, there have been a number of violent attacks in J&K in the past few months which predate the government’s decision to schedule the meeting. Since the beginning of the year, 13 Border Security Force jawans have been killed along the Line of Control and

Opinion

See All

Lead

Comment Repositioning the Sangh

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with NITI Ayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar releasing a report during the inauguration of the Global Mobility Summit at the Vigyan Bhavan on September 07, 2018 in New Delhi.

YES, NO, IT’S COMPLICATED | Comment Is NITI Aayog relevant?

Columns

See All

Passing Bite |

A day in the digital desert

Ruchir Joshi

Being teleported to a different time without my laptop, phone, or TV felt good

4 hrs

On The Other Hand |

Stretched to the limit

Raghavan Srinivasan

India’s civil aviation sector is growing too fast for safety

4 hrs

Word Counts |

Get some spines

Mini Kapoor

How to sketch your reading journey

4 hrs

See All

Open Page

60 may be the new 40, but it’s not all bliss

R.S. Karunaratne Post-retirement, you are your own master, but being out of work and growing old have their own share of problems

4hrs

Open Page

The chief guest, and an event sans a script

S.G. Vombatkere A slice from Mysuru’s easy-going, laid-back pace and manners from just 20 years ago

4hrs

Open Page

Romancing with karate, and getting the Shiko Dachi right

Sajeena Shukkoor How the martial art can transform not just you but even your handwriting

4hrs

Letter to the Editor

See All