Uttam Sengupta

New Delhi

Journalist and Consulting Editor at National Herald India

Trying to learn and communicate. Retweets are not necessarily endorsements and tweets not necessarily opinion that friends agree with

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Articles

Since 5 August 2019, what's changed in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh?

Aug 4, 2024 | nationalheraldindia.com | Uttam Sengupta

The short answer is "Not much" — though prime minister Narendra Modi and union home minister Amit Shah wax lyrical that peace has returned to paradise, that people were never happierIt was on Monday, 5 August, 2019 that the state of Jammu and Kashmir was downgraded into two union territories, with the assurance that statehood would be restored to J&K as soon as possible.
France: Indecisive first round gives way to record number of three-way contests on 7 July

Jun 30, 2024 | nationalheraldindia.com | Uttam Sengupta

The highest voter turnout since 1981 (1997 as per others) of 67 per cent in the first round of polling has led to more uncertainties and a record number of 3-way contests in the run-off second roundAs predicted by exit polls and opinion polls in France, the far-right Reassemblent Nationale (National Rally) of Marine Le Pen emerged as the party with the highest vote share of 33 per cent in Sunday’s first round of polling, by all available accounts till now.
At a polling booth in France, lessons in transparency and role of volunteers

Jun 30, 2024 | nationalheraldindia.com | Uttam Sengupta

France does not use EVMs. With just 49 million voters, it does not have to. Yet, the transparency and integrity in the process besides the participation by volunteers are eye-openingOn Sunday, 30 June I visited a polling booth at St. Maur (pronounced as ‘summer’), a city 25 kilometre south east of Paris. I accompanied my son-in-law who had shifted out of Paris last year to live in a more spacious house on the suburbs.
France flirts with the far right in today’s parliamentary election

Jun 29, 2024 | nationalheraldindia.com | Uttam Sengupta

Marine Le Pen's National Rally looks set for the first far-right win since World War II, when the Vichy regime collaborated with the Nazis“Can I apply to India for asylum two weeks from now?” asks Patrick, with a gesture of mock horror. It was meant as a joke, but as France prepares to vote today (Sunday, 30 June, from 8:00 a.m. local time/ 11:30 a.m. IST) in its second parliamentary election in just two years, many in Paris are clearly uneasy.
Take a bow, I.N.D.I.A. bloc!

Jun 1, 2024 | nationalheraldindia.com | Uttam Sengupta

Some congratulations are in order... before the pollsters and pundits retrofit their wisdom to the verdict on 4 JuneYou should know better than to take those exit polls at face value—just as pollsters find data to confirm their own biases, we gravitate to pollsters who confirm our biases. The wise and the chastened will wait for Judgement Day. Exit polls, some will remember, did go spectacularly wrong in 2004—remember the BJP’s ‘India Shining’ campaign?
PM Modi's interview spree: Straws in the electoral wind

May 17, 2024 | nationalheraldindia.com | Uttam Sengupta

All its bluster notwithstanding, there’s enough and more circumstantial evidence that the BJP is struggling in these electionsIt’s becoming clear that the BJP is under pressure in the ongoing elections. Even in the northern states, where barely weeks ago few would have given Opposition parties a fighting chance. His critics and admirers are both listening closely to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s words, alert to the tiniest inflections.
Narendra Modi's flailing desperation

May 10, 2024 | nationalheraldindia.com | Uttam Sengupta

Why enthusiasm for ‘brand Modi’ is waning and what it will mean in days to comeWith polling still due in 260 Lok Sabha constituencies, it is premature to call the election. However, with elections over the halfway mark and polling completed in 283 constituencies, there are at least three clear indications.
Lok Sabha polls: Hope, hype and home truths

May 4, 2024 | nationalheraldindia.com | Uttam Sengupta

The first two phases of the ongoing Lok Sabha election have thrown up more questions than answers — and some unforeseen possibilitiesThe Lok Sabha elections in 1999 were held between 5 September and 3 October, a few months after the Kargil war. Results were announced on 6 October 1999.
EC vs Modi: How can the Election Commission rein in its master?

Apr 26, 2024 | nationalheraldindia.com | Uttam Sengupta

The poll panel’s selective attention and action leave very little to the imaginationDespite overwhelming consensus that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s election speeches in Rajasthan on 21 April, repeated subsequently, are in breach of the law and of the Model Code of Conduct, nobody expects the Election Commission to act. Those found guilty of violating the Representation of the People Act, 1951, are liable to be punished by imprisonment or fine or both.
What we say and how we vote

Apr 19, 2024 | nationalheraldindia.com | Uttam Sengupta

The recent CSDS-Lokniti survey of 10,000-plus Indians throws up some odd contradictions amid some signs of hope It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair…’ The opening lines of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, a novel set in London and Paris...