Harihar Swarup

By Harihar Swarup Theatre has always been an integral part of politics as it now allows political leaders their private motivations and their public motivations. Sharad Pawar has employed all the skills, gathered over five decades of political experience, seamlessly to pull of three-act power play. Act one was the dramatic resignation, from the post […]

The post Sharad Pawar Has Resorted To A Risky Gamble By Anointing His Daughter As NCP President first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By Harihar Swarup It was clear from the get-go when NCP chief Sharad Pawar decided to resign as the President a month ago. The three-day drama that saw Pawar take back his resignation as a gesture of deference to the party members now seems aimed at a predictable outcome — sidelining his nephew and de […]

The post NCP Supremo Sharad Pawar’s Succession Formula Shows Who Is The Boss first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By Harihar Swarup The weather is unpleasant in central India these days, with sudden bursts of storms and rain adding humidity to the high temperatures. The same holds true for the political atmosphere here in Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh where elections are due in five months. The BJP and Congress are preparing to battle it […]

The post Congress Upbeat In Madhya Pradesh And Chhattisgarh Before Assembly Polls first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By Harihar Swarup Prime Minister Narendra Modi has completed his Ninth Year as Prime Minister. Look at how he has already left his imprint on India’s history, forcing a shift in how politics in practiced and governance in delivered. In 1995, Narendra Modi shifted base to Delhi from Gujarat after he was made the BJP’s […]

The post Narendra Modi Has Been Most Successful In Using Technology For Governance first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By Harihar Swarup What are some of the implications of the Congress’s emphasis and creditable win in Karnataka for national politics? At one level it would be unwise to extrapolate from state to national elections. The logic of these elections is not always aligned. Nevertheless, the Karnataka results have implications for how we understand the […]

The post Karnataka Election Results Have Given The Congress Some Useful Lessons first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By Harihar Swarup What are some of the implications of the Congress’s emphasis and creditable win in Karnataka for national politics? At one level it would be unwise to extrapolate from state to national elections. The logic of these elections is not always aligned. Nevertheless, the Karnataka results has implications for how we understand the […]

The post Karnataka Shows Bipolar Contests Enabler Of Opposition Victory first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By Harihar Swarup We are at Mumbai’s newest landmark, Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre, on a Monday evening. Preparations are in full swing for award winning Broadway musical—Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The Magic of Music – which will begin playing early May. Ambani says this will be first time an international Broadway production will be staged […]

The post Nita Ambani Founded Cultural Centre Is The Great Landmark In Mumbai first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By Harihar Swarup Congress has romped home in Karnataka convincingly ousting the BJP in the state assembly elections   held on May 10. This means there will be no presence of BJP in south India in any state government and it will remain only a North Indian party. If this trend continues, the Congress may do […]

The post Congress Victory In Karnataka Polls Augurs Well For 2024 Lok Sabha Polls first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By Harihar Swarup It did not take long for the rethink on the resignation. Allowing the hysteria to last just a few hours seemed more in keeping with Sharad Pawar’s style than his dramatic announcement on Tuesday evening that he was resigning from the President-ship of the party he had founded and which is identified […]

The post Sharad Pawar’s Resignation Drama Masterstroke Hits BJP And Fadnavis Most first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By Harihar Swarup 0n April 12, when Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar walked into 10, Rajaji Marg, residence of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge in Delhi to discuss ways to bring opposition parties together, it marked the end of a long wait for the seasoned politician. Nitish had been waiting for the Congress to respond to […]

The post Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar Is Taking Right Steps To Forge Opposition Unity first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By Harihar Swarup With day-long protests by Congress across the country recently, the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from Parliament has given shape to political chessboard, setting up  the opening pieces for the 2024 election battle. How events pan out depends on subsequent moves of various protagonists. We can, however, make preliminary observations. One, the next […]

The post BJP Is Pinning High Hopes On Its Agenda Of Nationalism And Hindutva first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By Harihar Swarup In May 2005, a Griha Puja — a family only affair — was organized at 12, Tughlak Lane. Soon after Rahul Gandhi moved into the house in Lutyens Delhi allotted to him months earlier as a newly member of the Lok Sabha. It was a time when Rahul, winning from the family […]

The post Rahul Gandhi’s 18 Years Stay At 12 Tughlak Lane House Witnessed His Roller Coaster Ride first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By Harihar Swarup As we head into another massive electoral season, starting with Karnataka assembly polls on May 10 and ending with the Lok Sabha 12 months later; two parallel political processes are at work. These processes will play out in the coming months as the main actors figure out which way the voters can […]

The post Congress Is Steadily Finding More Allies Despite Some Differences first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By Harihar Swarup If not people, BJP will make Rahul Gandhi a leader by persecuting him. History has shown whenever a leader is persecuted as Rahul Gandhi is being done, he gets people’s sympathy. Wayanad MP Rahul has lost his Lok Sabha seat after being convicted of a criminal defamation by a Surat court. What […]

The post Congress Has The Massive Task Now To Organise Stay On Rahul’s Conviction first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By Harihar Swarup Democracy in India is a “global public good”. Rahul Gandhi added as an afterthought. It can’t fail. Speaking in British Parliament to a packed hall with politicians, diaspora leaders, students and academic, he’d just outlined why India’s democratic structures are under threat. From the Hindu right’s institutional capture to its stifling of […]

The post Rahul Has Matured Over The Years But Many Inconsistencies Remain first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By Harihar Swarup On August 15, 2047, India will turn 100. A hundred years of giant strides to becoming the world’s largest democracy and an economic superpower. Morgan Stanley, one of the most influential companies in the world, said last year that three mega global trends, global off shoring, digitalization and energy transition, are setting […]

The post India’s Growth Story Must Include People With Disabilities first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By Harihar Swarup In 1989 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress party lost the tag of being a “dominant” party. Since then, it has not figured out how to remain competitive in a multi-party, federal polity. As the next Lok Sabha elections are due in 2024, it continues to face challenges that have haunted it over […]

The post Raipur Plenary Decisions Signal Small Advance For Congress Compared To Its Task For 2024 first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By Harihar Swarup For past 25 years, Rajasthan has oscillated between Ashok Gehlot and Vasundhara Raje. They are the most recognizable faces of their respective parties Congress and the BJP in the state, and are known to guard their turf zealously, even at the cost of defying their central leaderships. And now, both have rivals—younger […]

The post State Assembly Poll Campaign In Rajasthan Getting High Momentum first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By Harihar Swarup About 3,000, registered unrecognized parties exist in India. Most of them are sham entities which rarely take part in any democratic exercise, but misuse legal exemptions offered to them and perpetuate huge scams ranging from tax evasions to money laundering, running into thousand crores of rupees. For instance, there is commercial establishment […]

The post Many Fake Registered Political Parties Indulging In Money Laundering first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By Harihar Swarup Recently, two large boulders, believed to be 60 million years old, were dispatched to Ayodhya. These stones were found along the Gandaki river at a site in Muktinath valley in Nepal. The region is thought to be part of erstwhile kingdom of Mithila, ruled by Ram’s father-in-law, Raja Janak.  According to the […]

The post Bringing Two Ancient Shalagram Silas From Nepal For Use In Ram Mandir Has Great Significance first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By Harihar Swarup Since his 3,506-km Bharat Jodo Yatra ended on January 30 in Srinagar, it is time to assess its impact. Rahul Gandhi has shown incredible stamina, a will to complete what he embarked on, instead of, running abroad halfway—which he was known for. The Yatra also showed another side of the usually inaccessible […]

The post BJY Has Improved Rahul’s Image To The Congress Supporters But That Is Not Enough first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By Harihar Swarup No stock-taking of India is complete without an assessment of social, economic and political condition of the Adivasis, India’s ancient citizens. No section of the Indian community has been more affected by independence and democracy than the Adivasi. Democracy is neither new to them, nor a gift of independence. From the time […]

The post ‘Development’-Driven India Has Abandoned Its Adivasi Brethren first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By Harihar Swarup Charles Gurumukh Sobhraj had already acquired international notoriety when he drugged and robbed a group of French tourists, and killed one of them, in Delhi in June, 1986. He had already served his 10-year sentence when he escaped Tihar jail on March 16, 1986. His arrest 22 days later and further incarceration […]

The post Charles Sobhraj Had A Chequered Career As A Criminal In India first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By Harihar Swarup The Bharat Jodo Yatra will culminate on January 30 in Srinagar with a flag hoisting ceremony at Srinagar on the anniversary of the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. By then, the yatra which began on September 7, 2022 would have traversed the length of the sub-continent from Kanyakumari to Himalayas. The yatra has […]

The post Yatra Has Catapulted Rahul Gandhi To National Stage But What About The Congress Party? first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By Harihar Swarup Governor is neither a decorative emblem nor a glorified cipher. His powers are limited but he has an important constitutional role to play in the governance of the state and strengthening federalism. He is head of the state and all chief ministers, including the Tamil Nadu chief minister, must remember it. All […]

The post Legal Interpretations Differ About Governor’s Right To Tweak Speech first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By Harihar Swarup The United Nation has declared 2023 as the International Year of Millets. Since that was at the initiative of India, which also accounts for a fifth of the world’s millets production, Narendra Modi government would be expected to do something different this year to promote these “nutria-cereals” – going beyond just spreading […]

The post India Can Do A Lot For Higher Production In International Year Of Millets first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By Harihar Swarup Seeking to galvanize his party’s cadre ahead of the 2024 Assembly and Lok Sabha polls, Biju Janata Dal President and five-term Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has said the BJD has the potential to serve the people of Odisha for next 100 years. Naveen, 76, thus sent out a clear signal that there […]

The post Naveen Patnaik Leading BJD To Assembly Polls In 2024 For The Sixth Time first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By Harihar Swarup Any one who claims to live in God’s light and hates a brother or sister is still in the dark. It is the person who loves brother and sister who dwells in God’s light and doesn’t block the light from others. But whoever hates is still in the dark, stumbles around in […]

The post Few Hits And Many Misses For India And The Ruling Party In 2022 first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By Harihar Swarup Nine assembly elections will take place between February and December 2023 stretching from Telangana to Tripura. Collectively these polls will be the last chance for opposition to test the mettle of the incumbent BJP before the May 2024 general elections. Any realistic assessment of the next national polls must begin with the […]

The post Narendra Modi Blew The Whistle For Lok Sabha Poll With G20 Presidency first appeared on IPA Newspack.

By Harihar Swarup Gujarat and Himachal have voted for two opposing national parties. While Himachali voters rejected the BJP and upheld the tradition of electing an alternate every five years, voters in Gujarat gave the saffron party its biggest victory ever and seventh straight term. With over 52 per cent share, and 156 of 182 […]

The post BJP Took Corrective Actions After 2017 Poll In Gujarat Resulting In Big Win In 2022 first appeared on IPA Newspack.