Politics News Updates

By Sandeep Sahu Years ago, while on a trip together to Manoharpur in Keonjhar district to report on the gruesome killing of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons, an Australian journalist had asked this columnist a question that was as hard to answer then as it is now. “Why are you Indians so […]

Suddenly, one sees a marked change in everything about Naveen Patnaik: his demeanour, his body language, his working style .. you name it. Gone is the reticence before the media, the haughtiness in his public interactions and the tendency to ensconce himself on a pedestal. In its place, there is now an air of self-assuredness […]

By Sandeep Sahu The best and the brightest have done it. Among those who have been accused of plagiarism in the recent past are such illustrious names as Farid Zakaria, celebrity host of CNN’s flagship foreign affairs show ‘Farid Zakaria GPS’ and our very own Aroon Purie, the editor-in-chief of the India Today group. So […]

By Sandeep Sahu It has been just two days since the Supreme Court imposed a ban on liquor shops within 500 meters of national highways and we have already got a taste of the kind of problems the decision may lead to. There certainly is a lesson for the government in what happened in Nuapada […]

By Sandeep Sahu Ever since BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik asked Bishnu Das to resign from the Rajya Sabha, the name of Gita Mehta, his elder sister, has been doing the rounds in political circles as a possible replacement for the Jagatsinghpur leader. In the last few days, the talk has veered to the possibility of […]

By Sandeep Sahu The surest sign that all is not well in a political party is when leaders of the party talk to each other – or rather talk at each other – or air their grievances through the media, both traditional and social. By this reckoning, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) looks genuinely ailing. […]

By Sandeep Sahu It is obvious now. After its stupendous victory in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand and commendable show in Manipur, the BJP is now convinced that Odisha is a ripe fruit waiting to be plucked. The decision to hold the party’s national executive here in Bhubaneswar in mid April, announced by the Union Petroleum […]

By Sandeep Sahu The ugly incident at the New Delhi airport in which Shiv Sena MP from Osmanabad (Maharashtra) Ravindra Gaekwad thrashed a senior Air India (AI) official with his sandals in full view of the crew has had at least one good fall-out. It has revived the call for a ‘no fly’ list of […]

By Sandeep Sahu “The proof of the pudding,” they say, “is in the eating.” Well, the people of Uttar Pradesh – and the country at large – have had the chance to test the pudding for over a week now and found it utterly tasteless. Except for the congenital BJP haters, most people were willing […]

By Sandeep Sahu Some time at the beginning of the 1990s, an acquaintance offered this author a piece of land near Bahai Bhavan, close to the already bustling CRPF Square, for Rs 10, 000. Even after making allowance for the fact that the ‘offer’ was made over two and a half decades ago, this was […]

When I was in school, there was this friend of mine, the son of a veterinary surgeon, who was the only proud owner of a proper cricket kit – bat, ball and stumps – in the whole area. It was only natural for us to keep him in good humour and allow him to bat […]

  By Sandeep Sahu It is amazing how a moment of indiscretion can spoil a lifetime of good work. No one would agree with this more than Pyari Mohan Mohapatra, the man who has had more epithets coined for him than any other politician in Odisha. In an interview to a TV channel three years […]

By Sandeep Sahu ‘The party with a difference’ has proved that when it comes to grabbing power, it is no different than any other party. The way it ‘manufactured’ a majority in Manipur and Goa after the election results were announced proved, if any proof was required at all, that it has no qualms about […]

After Mayawati, it was the turn of AAP supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday to blame the humble EVM for the unfavourable (for them) results of the just concluded round of Assembly elections in five states. Regardless of the merit of her charge, Mayawati’s allegation was at least understandable. But the theory […]

By Sandeep Sahu One has to admire their tenacity. Even after ending up with egg on their faces election after election, national TV channels, in association with their chosen agencies, are ready with their curious mix of pop psephology, political punditry and downright conjecture that passes off as Exit Poll to keep us glued to […]