Usually elections to Rajya Sabha are tame affairs. Number of candidates is equal to number of seats and candidates win unopposed. Rarely there is a contest. One candidate loses when there is a contest. Elections to three Rajya Sabha seats from Gujarat on 8/8/2017 saw interesting twists. There were four candidates. BJP had fielded Amit…
Captain and Coach
It is bad for cricket when captain decides who should be coach. The saga that started with BCCI calling for applications for coach’s job and ended with Ravi Shastri’s appointment had many twists. Virat Kohli and some players did not want Anil Kumble as coach. Virender Sehwag was asked to apply. There were attempts for…
GST
GST came into effect on 1/7/2017. It is not One Nation One Tax. It has taken over or done away with 17 taxes including Amusement and Entertainment Tax (except levied by local bodies), Excise, Additional Excises, Octroi and Service Tax. Other taxes continue. GST has different tax rates for different goods and services and with…
Dalit versus Dalit
It is Dalit versus Dalit contest for the office of the President of India. On 19/6/2017 BJP announced Ram Nath Kovind as its presidential candidate. On 22/6/2017 Congress announced Meira Kumar as its presidential candidate. Ram Nath Kovind is a Dalit in Uttar Pradesh and an OBC in Gujarat. His status in other states is…
Foolish Captains
It is foolish for a cricket captain to elect to field after winning the toss. Yet many times captains elect to field after winning toss and mostly lose. The theory is that it is easy to chase a target than set up a winning total. The reality is that there is no pressure when batting…
Consensus and democracy
It is time for Presidential election and some people talk of consensus. Democracy is about elections. There is no place for consensus in a democracy. BJP and Congress have not declared their candidates. BJP candidate can be anybody from Amit Shah Draupadi Murmu to Kalyan Singh to Mohan Bhagwat to Nitin Gadkari to Ram Naik…
Major Gogoi deserves medal
Major Nitin Leetul Gogoi should be given Wisdom Medal. India should institute that medal to give to Major Gogoi and others who act wisely under hostile conditions. The motto of Indian Military Academy is Valour and Wisdom (Veerata aur Vivek). Army has many medals for wartime and peacetime. Punjab CM Capt. Amarinder Singh has said…
End of AAP dream
It is the end of AAP dream. AAP began with great expectations. It talked about ending corruption. There was hope. During first AAP government there was talk of policemen not taking bribes. That government ended in 49 days. AAP returned to power with majority. AAP won 67 out of 70 seats in Delhi. However all…
UK Elections 2017
A bird in hand is worth two in bush. A week is a long time in politics. Never count your chickens before they are hatched. The best laid plans of men and mice go awry. Theresa May’s announcement on 18 April 2017 of her decision to call election to House of Commons on 8 June…
New India
After BJP’s victory in UP and Uttarakhand and cobbled coalition governments in Goa and Manipur, Narendra Modi has talked of New India. We have some indication what is this New India. It will be a vegetarian India. There will be a ban on meat, fish, eggs, crabs, lobsters, oysters, shellfish, and so on. When Jains…