July , 2007
Rather a dull Party
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The Presidential elections of 2007 have illustrated writer Martin Jacques' famous phrase, "The End Of Politics." Politics, wrote Jacques in the Nineties, is fast becoming a "backward sector". The central purpose of politics, namely the contest of ideas, has been destroyed as all political parties are devoid of new ideas and are only mouthing the views of their political great- grandfathers. The contest between Pratibha Patil and Bhairon Singh Shekhawat has not only illustrated the abysmal talent pool in our country, it has also shown how the Left, which prides itself on its "ideas," is now trading only in orthodoxies, snobbishly resistant to the 21st century. The Left vetoed a series of candidates on the grounds that they lacked "stature".Sushil Kumar Shinde lacked stature. Home Minister Shivraj Patil also lacked stature. Pranab Mukherjee was acceptable but not "loyal" enough for the Congress.HRD Minister Arjun Singh was only marginally....
More about Sagarika Ghose
Sagarika Ghose has been a journalist for 20 years, starting her career with The Times of India, then moving to become part of the start-up team of Outlook magazine, subsequently joining The Indian Express as Senior Editor. She was anchor of the flagship BBC World programme Question Time India before moving to CNN-IBN as prime time anchor and Deputy Editor. She is the anchor of the award-winning flagship debate programme Face The Nation on CNN-IBN. She is also a columnist for the Hindustan Times. She has won numerous awards including FICCI Media Achiever Award and Gr8-ITA Award for Excellence in Journalism. She is a graduate in History from St Stephen's College and was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University where she gained an MA and M.Phil in History and International Relations. She is the author of two acclaimed novels The Gin Drinkers and Blind Faith, both published worldwide by HarperCollins Publishers.
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