2024: Countdown

Freebie Fix

Siddharth Singh

Competitive populism of the manifestos can only come at a very high post-poll cost

The Regal Rite

Amita Shah

What keeps members of Rajasthan’s erstwhile royal families in the political arena

Karnataka: Office Perks

V Shoba

Why a cash haul in Karnataka, with the money allegedly meant for the Telangana polls, raises uncomfortable questions for the Siddaramaiah government

Promises and Prospects

Rajeev Deshpande

A report card on performance and politics

What’s At Stake?

PR Ramesh

The upcoming Assembly elections will provide BJP cues for the General Election next year

I.N.D.I.A. and Its Discontents

PR Ramesh

An Opposition alliance has unseated a strong incumbent at the Centre only when it has had a promise to sell and a charismatic leader. The anti-Modi alliance has neither while its own contradictions threaten to pull it apart

The Threat to the Gig Economy

Rameesh Kailasam

Duplication of social security benefits by states can end up harming a viable model

A Call to Arms

Rajeev Deshpande

Can the grand alliance of the Opposition survive its inbuilt contradictions before taking on the ruling coalition led by Modi at his peak?

The Loneliness of the Patriarch

PR Ramesh

NCP’s best Lok Sabha tally was nine seats two decades ago but that never came in the way of Sharad Pawar being projected as a prime ministerial candidate. That image of the wily strategist has been shattered by Ajit Pawar’s departure