Columns

November 11, 2016
Rajdeep Sardesai
Columns

Trump, Modi and the liberal media bias.

In the aftermath of Narendra Modi’s victory in the 2012 Gujarat assembly elections, a much-respected writer-activist known for his liberal views had accosted me at a dinner: “I heard...

November 3, 2016
Rajdeep Sardesai
Columns

Tele-democracy, Trump and Modi

The latest opinion polls in the US are suggesting a much tighter race for the country’s presidency but the debate in Washington DC, at least, has slowly shifted from...

October 28, 2016
Rajdeep Sardesai
Columns

Family first politics

In the build-up to the 2012 Uttar Pradesh elections, I was travelling with Akhilesh Yadav on a campaign tour. Our morning breakfast shoot was in a room where the...

October 14, 2016
Rajdeep Sardesai
Columns

Stop the ‘marketing’ of surgical strikes

In the 1980s when Rajiv Gandhi had chosen to attack his opponents by warning that “hum apne virodhiyon ko unki naani yaad dila denge” (we will make our opponents...

September 30, 2016
Rajdeep Sardesai
Columns

Modi’s firm message but can war-mongers be kept at bay?

In the universe of the 24×7 media, there is literally no place to hide. Which is why it should come as no surprise that a video of Prime Minister...

September 16, 2016
Rajdeep Sardesai
Columns

AAP at the crossroads

Writing obituaries of political parties can be a hazardous business. In July 2014, an international publication invited me to write an article on the political demise of AAP. This...

September 9, 2016
Rajdeep Sardesai
Columns

Measuring Democracy: TV and polling in India

“So why should we be paying so much if we cant get the exact number of seats right?” the news media baron asked imperiously. The Delhi election results had...

September 2, 2016
Rajdeep Sardesai
Columns

Pakistan is neither heaven nor hell

At a time when actor-politician Ramya has bizarrely had a sedition case filed against her for claiming “Pakistan is not hell”, let me test the waters of sedition by...

August 19, 2016
Rajdeep Sardesai
Columns

Dil maange More: a sports revolution

Kheloge kudoge to hoge kharab, padhoge likhoge to banoge nawab (if you play, you will be wasting your life, but if you study you will be a king). That...

August 4, 2016
Rajdeep Sardesai
Columns

Gau Rakshaks are Anti Dalit: why BJP should worry

One of the lesser known facts perhaps of the 2002 Gujarat riots is that Dalits were at the fore of much of the violence against Muslims in Ahmedabad. When...