Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj is redrawing the political map of India’s most restless State. In Bihar, politics is not a spectator sport but a way of life. “We Biharis never stop opening the twin doors of railways and politics,” a young man from Bihari working at a Pune restaurant quipped to me. He may not own a smartphone, but he can recite the electoral arithmetic of his constituency with ease. Few other states live and breathe politics with such intensity. From the socialis

Maharashtra today stands as a beacon of progress, stability, and inclusive growth, owing much to the visionary leadership of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. From eradicating Naxalism in the state’s most challenging regions to positioning Maharashtra as a global investment destination, Fadnavis has demonstrated a rare combination of security acumen, administrative excellence, and developmental foresight. His governance model has turned once-troubled districts into thriving c

Prohibition’s future in Bihar may depend on whether the State can evolve from rigid idealism to pragmatic reform. When Nitish Kumar enforced complete prohibition in Bihar in 2016, it was presented not merely as policy, but as a moral crusade. The Chief Minister cast it as part of a Gandhian vision of social reform — a move to curb domestic violence, protect women, and wean society from intoxication. Nearly a decade on, as Bihar heads into a crucial assembly election, that exp

Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Vote Chor, Gaddi Chhod’ slogan may have united Maharashtra’s bickering opposition, but slogans seldom clean up democracy’s paperwork. Vote Chor, Gaddi Chhod  (“Thief of Votes, Vacate the Chair”) is Congress scion Rahul Gandhi’s latest attempt to distil outrage into rhyme. In Maharashtra, the phrase has found a tentative audience. Congress workers have taken it to rallies, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leaders have repeated it at press meets, and even

The ticket distribution for the upcoming 2025 Bihar Assembly elections reveals a democracy in decay, where caste, cash and chaos have replaced merit and public service. The violence and chaos surrounding ticket distribution for the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections are not new. They are merely the latest act in a decades-long political drama. Today, ticket allocation is no longer a matter of political merit or ideological conviction. It has become a theatre of caste, factionalism

Part 3: A century since their founding, the RSS has built a vast national network while the Communists, once courted by Congress, have slid into political irrelevance by crumbling under the weight of their own dogma. Third RSS sarsanghchalak Balasaheb Deoras addresses a rally. The relationship between the Communists and the Congress always swung between “love and hate.” Until 1942, the communists worked from within the Congress. Many communist leaders held office at various

Part 2: From the moment of its birth, the British saw the RSS as seditious while the Communists, born under Moscow’s shadow, paradoxically found comfort in the Empire’s embrace, particularly the Communist Party of Great Britain. As a young medical student in Kolkata, K.B. Hedgewar joined the revolutionary Anushilan Samiti which was inspired by Bengal’s Swadeshi movement and later channelled that nationalist zeal into founding the RSS. Dr. Hedgewar, the founder of the RSS, was

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From village constituencies to state assemblies, Bihar’s leadership is less a story of democratic struggle and more a tale of inherited...

As the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) marks a hundred years since its founding in 1925, it stands as one of the most influential...

Maharashtra’s Dussehra rallies reveal that ideology, legacy and governance are potent weapons in the state’s upcoming civic elections. In...

The journey of a leader who measured success not by personal gain, but by service to the people. In Lokyogi, Shivajirao Patil Kavhekar...

What began as a corrective for historical wrongs has ossified into a political crutch that we cannot seem to discard. Few issues stir as...

Marathwada’s unseasonal floods are colliding with Maharashtra’s fiscal overreach, leaving farmers of the normally parched region stranded...

As seat arithmetic turns toxic, Bihar’s Mahagathbandhan risks unravelling into a coalition of ambition rather than a credible alternative...

Once derided as the ‘Gabbar Singh Tax,’ the Goods and Services Tax has gone from being a political impossibility to India’s economic...