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1 week ago | 
frontline.thehindu.com | Anand Mishra |Vivek Katju |Vaishna Roy
Dear readers,Politics is a game of hard-nosed calculations. On the other hand, love—pyar, preethi, premam, kaadhal, or whatever you want to call it—has never really bothered with practicalities. So what happens when the messy impulsiveness of love collides with the cold pragmatism of politics? We got a glimpse last week, thanks to Tej Pratap Yadav.
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2 weeks ago | 
frontline.thehindu.com | Anand Mishra |Gowhar Geelani |Vaishna Roy
Dear readers,When Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation on May 12, following air strikes against terror hubs in Pakistan, he didn’t invoke the usual tropes of the Line of Control or the Line of Actual Control. Instead, he reached for a line etched deep in Hindu mythology: the Lakshman Rekha. “India’s Lakshman Rekha against terrorism is absolutely clear,” he declared.
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3 weeks ago | 
frontline.thehindu.com | Anand Mishra |Gowhar Geelani |Vaishna Roy
By May 14, when the Congress announced a nationwide series of “Jai Hind” rallies accusing the BJP of politicising “Operation Sindoor”, the party had largely calibrated its response to the Modi government’s handling of the recent Indo-Pak conflict. This came a day after the BJP launched its 11-day Tiranga Yatra (May 13–23), aimed at highlighting the government’s response to Pakistan—a country it repeatedly called a “rogue state”—and at instilling national pride and unity.
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3 weeks ago | 
frontline.thehindu.com | Anand Mishra |Gowhar Geelani |Vaishna Roy
Dear readers,Indian politics often flirts with the melodramatic and sometimes leaps straight into the bizarre. Just when you think you’ve seen it all, something even stranger comes along. This time, it was a video clip that went viral: a man in a saffron scarf pouring milk over a portrait of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Asaduddin Owaisi. A Hindu youth offering a “milk bath” to a leader often demonised as a hardline Muslim by Hindutva trolls?
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4 weeks ago | 
frontline.thehindu.com | Anand Mishra |Gowhar Geelani |Vaishna Roy
The Centre’s sudden announcement on April 30 to conduct a caste census seems to have thrown poll-bound Bihar’s politics into turmoil. Coming just six months before the Assembly election, the move will force all parties to recalibrate their strategies.
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4 weeks ago | 
frontline.thehindu.com | Anand Mishra |Gowhar Geelani |Vaishna Roy
The Union government’s decision to include caste enumeration in the next census marks a significant departure from the BJP’s earlier dithering and the RSS’s caution on the issue. It is a move with far-reaching ramifications for the polity.
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4 weeks ago | 
frontline.thehindu.com | Anand Mishra |Gowhar Geelani |Vaishna Roy
Dear readers,What’s in a name? An alarming lot, apparently, especially if you live in New India, where non-partisan critique is becoming an unaffordable luxury. Find fault not with a military operation, but merely with its name, and you’re branded a traitor. If your shop is named after a city in Pakistan, no amount of historical vindication will stop the mob. Take the case of the now-notorious Karachi Bakery.
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1 month ago | 
frontline.thehindu.com | Anand Mishra |Ilangovan Rajasekaran |Vaishna Roy
Dear readers,Remember Rooh Afza? That deep pink, very sweet, rose-flavoured drink that most of us grew up drinking? Come summer and Rooh Afza would be measured into glasses, water and ice added, and become a beloved thirst quencher across homes. Just like Rasna or Kissan Squash in later years. It was not branded colas but these squashes that ruled the roost. Mind you, Roof Afza divided opinion too—some people hated it for its syrupy sweetness.
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1 month ago | 
frontline.thehindu.com | Anand Mishra |Meena Kandasamy |Vaishna Roy
Dear readers,Signs of an internal rift have emerged within the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) over the contentious Waqf Bill. The party’s MPs voted differently in the Rajya Sabha: Sasmit Patra supported the Bill, Muzibulla Khan opposed it, and Debashish Samantaray abstained. Party patriarch Naveen Patnaik was reportedly caught unawares. This split voting pattern was unusual for the BJD, which has long functioned under Patnaik’s firm command and earned a reputation for party discipline.
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2 months ago | 
frontline.thehindu.com | Anand Mishra |Divya Gandhi |Vaishna Roy
Dear readers,Three days ago, when Shashi Tharoor—Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram since 2009—once again praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, this time for the government’s COVID-19 vaccine diplomacy, the social media rumour mill spun into overdrive. Was the four-term MP finally ready to jump ship and join the BJP? Then came Thursday.
