April , 2009
T20 vs Polls09: A tale of two IPLs
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This season, television ratings are about to witness a new battle and it isn't saas bahu versus Balika Badhu. As a ratings agency SMS suggests, "it's a battle of the Modis". Who will you watch for the next six weeks: the controversial but charismatic Narendra Modi, or the equally controversial but pugnacious Lalit Modi? One Modi is playing out his act in democracy's biggest theatre, the Indian Political League; the other is hoping to make the Indian Premier League season two even bigger than the original. IPL versus IPL, cricket versus elections, batsman versus neta: India's two great passions appear to be in direct and intense competition over the next month. Ironically, the similarities between the two IPLs outweigh the differences. Both thrive on tense drama and excitement. Elections in this country are a bit like a 20-20 match now: in a period of messy coalitions, no one....
Who's afraid of the Third Front?
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Remember the classic Sholay dialogue, "in the night when a child is crying, the mother says, go to sleep or Gabbar Singh will come." A similar warning is now being echoed amongst India's elite: only this time it isn't some gun-toting dacoit who is spreading fear, but the prospect of a third front government that has India Inc and their political patrons scurrying for cover. The BJP calls it a 'parking lot', the Congress a recipe for anarchy; but is a third front government such a frightening idea? Much of the anxiety stems from the ghost of Deve Gowda returning to haunt the political system. Deve Gowda's rise to prime ministership in 1996 was accompanied by a mix of condescension and contempt. Until he occupied 7 Race Course Road, few outside Karnataka had heard of the humble farmer from Hardanhalli. He didn't know Hindi, had no previous experience....
More about Rajdeep Sardesai
Rajdeep Sardesai is the Editor-in-Chief, IBN18 Network, that includes CNN-IBN, IBN 7 and IBN Lokmat. He comes with 22 years of journalistic experience during which he has covered some of the biggest stories in India and the world. Prior to setting up the IBN network, he was the Managing Editor of both NDTV 24X7 and NDTV India and was responsible for overseeing the news policy for both the channels. He has also worked with The Times of India for six years and was the city editor of its Mumbai edition at the age of 26. During the last 22 years, he has covered major national and international stories, specialising in national politics. He has won numerous other awards for journalistic excellence, including the prestigious Padma Shri for journalism in 2008, the International Broadcasters Award for coverage of the 2002 Gujarat riots and the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award for 2007. He has won the Asian Television Award for best talk show for the Big Fight on two occasions and his current flagship show on CNN-IBN, India at 9, has been awarded the best news show at the Asian awards for the last two years. He has been News Anchor of the year at the Indian Television Academy for seven of the last eight years and won more than 50 awards in this period. He has also been the President of the Editors Guild of India, the only television journalist to hold the post and was chosen a Global leader for tomorrow by the world economic forum in 2000. An alumni of St Xavier's College, Mumbai, he has done his Masters and LLB from Oxford University and has also played first class cricket for the Oxford University team. He has contributed to several books and writes a fortnightly column that appears in seven newspapers.
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