Prof Vivek Kumar In 2019, Sudha Pai wrote, “The decade has witnessed weakening of identity politics and simultaneously revival of the BJP”1. Even a lay person can tell you how wrong she is if he/she could go through the debates of the mainstream and YouTube media of the past few days. The media houses …
Election of Kamala Harris: Is America half a century behind South Asia?
Prof Vivek Kumar On January 20, 2021, Kamala Harris created a history of sorts by taking oath as America’s first female Vice President. She is the first woman of South Asian and Afro-American descent who has received such an honor. This may be a historic moment for Americans. However, if we analyze this history …
Unethical and Discriminatory: Votes for Covid19 Vaccine
Vivek Kumar It is really disturbing to see the nation’s Finance Minister, while releasing the BJP’s Manifesto for Bihar Assembly elections, announce that if the NDA comes to power then they will administer free Coronavirus vaccine to everyone in Bihar. If this was not enough, another BJP functionary went on to say that if …
How egalitarian is EPW?
Dilip Mandal “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view. Until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” – Barack Hussain Obama, quoting Atticus Finch, in his farewell speech on 10th January, 2017.1 It all started with a paper in EPW. Professor Vivek Kumar, …
Saving Modi’s Image, BJP’s Way
Vivek Kumar BJP is very, very weak in Delhi elections? This can be proved on the basis of the fact that it has inducted individuals who do not have any party experience and who have crossed over from other political parties. Kiran Bedi has no political experience. However she has been declared as CM …
Why single out BSP for BJP’s success?
Vivek Kumar This is with reference to ‘When the Elephant disappears’ (The Hindu, 5 January, 2015). A very general principle in research methodology is that generalizations are not possible if the sampling in a research is purposive. In this context to argue that, ‘one party which could benefit the most from the decline of …
Elephant Corridors
Vivek Kumar Why walking alone will always work for the BSP Canard, controversy, condemnation, criticism, caricature, the Bahujan Samaj Party chief, Mayawati, has seen it all in her long and tortuous journey to the top. But the fact is, as the 2014 Lok Sabha polls near, she poses the most formidable challenge to BJP …
Voters were against BSP, not for anybody
Vivek Kumar This election is historical because, once again, upper castes have been kept out of power. This has been the trend in the state for the past two-and-a-half decades. Secondly, this election can also be seen as a backlash of upper castes against the consolidation of Dalit power in Uttar Pradesh. Dalit workers and a …