Let not 'BJP ka Gandhi' get away easily

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In the backlanes of Uttar Pradesh, Varun Feroze Gandhi is referred to as the "BJP ka Gandhi". It's a reference indicative of what's been perhaps the 29-year-old poet-politician's central dilemma in life so far: the struggle to carve an independent identity for himself outside of the Nehru-Gandhi legacy. His cousin, Rahul, has been bequeathed the keys to the family business. His aunt Sonia is the Supreme Leader of the Indian National Congress. Varun, and his mother, Maneka, have always been the 'outsiders', blessed with the surname of India's most powerful political family without any of the privileges. Which is why the so-called 'other Gandhis' have been forced to look for career options. Maneka has found her niche in the world of animal rights activism. Varun too, judging from the content of his speeches in Pilibhit, also now appears to have found his feet as the BJP's new Hindutva posterboy. When....

Terror And Politics Find A New Pitch

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One of the most politically courageous decisions the Vajpayee government took was when in the spring of 2004 it decided to allow the Indian cricket team to go and play in Pakistan. It couldn't have been easy: the tour was taking place on the eve of the general elections and if anything went wrong, the government would be crucified. Ironically, the tour ended in triumph for Sourav Ganguly and his squad as they became the first Indian side to win a series in Pakistan while in the elections that followed, Mr Vajpayee and his team faded into the sunset. When I asked the prime minister's Man Friday, the late Pramod Mahajan about the decision, his response was: "It was a gamble, the last thing we wanted was our cricketers to be targeted. But we believed that our cricketers were deities whose appeal crossed national boundaries , and no one would....

Age of Ideas

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When 81-year-old L K Advani was seen lifting barbells in a gymnasium in Ahmedabad to kick off his election campaign, it seemed to confirm the prevailing wisdom that a critical aspect of the 2009 election battle is the contest for the hearts and minds of India's young. Which is why the octogenarian leader seems to have gone out of his way to engage in an image makeover: webchats, blogs and more, L K Advani is being asked to use technology to almost wipe away his age and rediscover the elixir of youth. After all, the Congress's political mascot, Rahul Gandhi, is a 38-year-old tech-savvy leader with chocolate box good looks, the kind that should instantly appeal to a younger nation. Well, here's a suggestion to the BJP's lauh purush and prime ministerial aspirant: Sir, you don't need to try so desperately hard to reach out to the country's....