In the last six months, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) has chalked up win after win in state and local elections, reflecting a continuation of the national Narendra Modi wave that began with the 2014 general election. In response to continuing electoral embarrassment, leaders of the Congress Party, including most recently Jairam Ramesh and Mani …
Donald Trump’s recent election as President of the United States has underscored the pervasive global extent of populist sentiment. The U.S. is only the latest amongst several “liberal democracies” that have come under the control of newly-elected leaders with unabashedly nationalist and protectionist agendas. In many ways, Trump’s defeat of the U.S. Democratic Party is …
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent demonetization initiative, whereby he unilaterally declared on November 8 that all 500 and 1,000 rupee notes would no longer be accepted as legal tender, has been the genesis of much consternation in India. The initiative was heralded (and marketed) as an important step towards cutting off funding for terrorism, reducing …
During the 2014 general election, I, along with many other NRIs, pledged my vicarious support to the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and Narendra Modi. Any arguments that called into question Modi’s dubious human rights record and worrisome support for the Hindutva-oriented Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) fell on deaf ears. I was quick to exculpate Modi …
Concerns about intolerance in India have reached a feverish pitch in recent months. Incidents such as the ink attack against Indian activist Sudheendra Kulkarni, banning of beef in certain states, murder of a professor and writer who criticized Hindu beliefs, and the lynching of a Muslim man accused of storing beef in his refrigerator have …
The impact of the recent decline in global oil prices on India’s economy highlights a fundamental weakness in its energy portfolio. Because the volume of India’s net oil imports approaches a billion barrels every year (nearly three-fourths of its annual oil consumption), softness in commodity prices is helping reduce not only India’s current account deficit …