Can't Hindutva Wait ?

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Till May last, the utterances of characters like Ashok Singhal or Pravin Togadia  of Vishwa Hindu Parishad were generally dismissed as the wild ranting of those belonging to the ‘saffron brotherhood’s’ lunatic fringe. Once the BJP under Narendra Modi came to power, it was argued, the crazy Hindu supremacists would take the back seat, if at all, and Modi would galvanize his BJP party into a unique instrument to deliver quality governance. It is a fact that, in Modi’s campaign speeches, echoes of Veer Savarkar’s Hindutva lines did ring once in a while. But the common man chose to ignore them as, with Congress collapsing with incredible determination, he thought it would be either BJP or anarchy.

Climate Change ! No Joke

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

India could have been “shining” a decade ago or is “rising”, or so it is claimed, but its air, water or soil have reached a level of pollution that has made the country groaning. It is not that the cities alone attract filth and the countryside is pristine. Pollution has destroyed the commons without exception. But the cities are where it hurts more. Of the world’s 20 most polluted cities, 13 are in India.

Parrikar: Modi-II Arrives

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's choice of Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar as his Defence Minister, in place of an overburdened Arun Jaitley, is indicative of his new requirement. In the Prime Minister's eyes, there is certainly no comparison of anyone with Jaitley, who has long been his trusted envoy in the gilded corridors of Lutyen's Delhi. Even after shedding Defence, Jaitley will remain practically the face of the Modi government in his new Avatar as I&B Minister as well.

OF PATEL AND SHIVAJI

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a host of items on his to-do list but what could be uppermost on it became known recently when he urged party workers to make BJP “as diverse as India”. The exhortation is linked to BJP’s massive membership drive. But Modi is trying to pull his party out of the present stereotypes to which it is traditionally cast. Like the party of bhat (Brahmin) and sethia (trader) in Maharashtra. Or the party of the “Hindu right”, as the Western media routinely describes BJP for unknowable reasons.