Clearly, good governance -- or the ability of a political party to "connect" with the electorate's hopes, needs and desires -- can be an electoral winner. Politics of terror, on the other hand, may not resonate with the voters...

BY Smita Gupta 7 December 2008

That's how jubilant Congress activists are describing Manmohan Singh. But while he has most certainly won his political spurs, the taint of deals behind the deal would haunt him and his government.

BY Smita Gupta 21 July 2008

How did Modi obliterate the horrifying images of the state-sponsored anti-minority violence, project himself by turn as Vikas Purush and Mard Manas, take ownership of the good governance plank while never, for a moment, abandoning the BJP’s cor

BY Smita Gupta 22 December 2007

Just as the nation was celebrating 1857, it was time for as big a triumphant political upheaval as the 1998 Pokhran blasts --Mayawati made history by turning the old Congress constituency--the Brahmin, Muslim, Dalit combine--on its head. Only, instea

BY Smita Gupta 10 May 2007

Salwa Judum is an indigenous answer to the imported problem of Maoism, wrote Balbir K. Punj recently. But aren't they just caught between the Maoists and the go

BY Smita Gupta 19 September 2006

Even in the past, Natwar Singh hardly had any friends in the Congress, so why do the Congress leaders not seem keen at all on any precipitate action against him?

BY Smita Gupta 6 August 2006

Terror in Srinagar, divisive quota battles, resignations by two NKC members, Left's cold water and a market melt-down...And, of course, the delicate sounds of the 'R' word and the rise in petro-prices...not quite the most propitious signs on an anniv

BY Smita Gupta 21 May 2006

The official coronation may still be awaited, but it was clear that Rahul Gandhi was unofficially anointed the heir apparent to the Congress legacy and he played the part to perfection: "I was once asked what my religion was -- my answer was that it

BY Smita Gupta 22 January 2006

To over-ride the gloom of the recent Quattrocchi affair, Volckergate, its poor showing in the assembly elections in Bihar, or the political developments in Karnataka, the dynastic party pins all hopes on Rahul.

BY Smita Gupta 20 January 2006

Nitish Kumar's 'arrow' finally found its mark thanks largely to the'unconstitutional' dissolution of the last Assembly that polarised theelectorate, changed the bahubali equations and made a thumpingJD(U)-BJP victory possible.

BY Smita Gupta 21 November 2005