For India and Pakistan, therefore, which were once a single country, the anniversaries of their independence days are burdened with thoughts of what might have been, writes Amulya Ganguli for South Asia Monitor

The nation, and especially Hindus and Muslims, will be waiting with bated breath to see what impact the RSS supremo’s advice has on the ruling BJP, writes Amulya Ganguli for South Asia Monitor

A defeat in Punjab or in Goa will not bother the BJP too much. But UP is different not only because its location in the heartland has always provided significant pointers about political trends, writes Amulya Ganguli for South Asia Monitor

But if India fails to adhere to this main tenet of a modern society, it risks being labeled as an “electoral autocracy”, as Sweden’s V-Dem Institute has done, or “partly free”, as America’s Freedom House has done, writes Amulya Ganguli for South Asia Monitor 

Perhaps even more than the BJP, the RSS must be deeply concerned about the present calamity since it can delay the implementation of its Hindutva project yet again, writes Amulya Ganguli for South Asia Monitor

But for the waning of his appeal, it is difficult to explain why the BJP came a cropper in West Bengal even after the enormous effort which both Modi and his powerful Home Minister Amit Shah put into their campaigns in the state with scores of public rallies and roadshows, writes Amulya Ganguli for South Asia Monitor 

There is little doubt that the whole of last year when the virus first appeared was spent in theatrical exercises based on a personality cult instead of strengthening the medical infrastructure so that the country would not be caught unawares when a second wave struck, writes Amulya Ganguli for South Asia Monitor

Since there is little chance of the BJP desisting from its pursuit of religion-based politics which places the surmises, predilections and objectives of the party’s Hindu followers above those of the minorities, the country will have to brace itself for a prolonged period of Hindu-Muslim confrontation, writes Amulya Ganguli for South…