S. Srinivasan - Livemint.com
ABOUT RECENT POSTS
Member since 03-26-2009
Last visited 04-15-2009
Timezone 5.00 GMT
Total Posts 4
Post Rank 0
  • Wednesday, April 15, 2009
    Posted at 7:19:00 PM
    Remember O Paneerselvam, the stopgap chief minister of Tamil Nadu? In 2002 Jayalalithaa made him temporary chief minister after the Supreme Court ousted her in a corruption case. He kept the seat warm for a few months and later, when Puratchi Talavi meaning revolutionary leader, got elected through a by-poll he faithfully handed back the mantle to her. Paneerselvam was described as zero Paneerselvam and "weakest chief minister" in the country. He was also called chief minister on "remote control." He had no qualms with such descriptions.
  • Monday, April 13, 2009
    Posted at 8:26:00 PM
    Socialist Ram Manohar Lohiya had derisively called Indira Gandhi "Goongi Gudiya" (dumb doll). At the time, she was a novice with very little experience in politics. Lal Bahadur Shastri was called "mini minister" because of his height. Both went on to become outstanding leaders in their own right. One led a war and the other was so consumed by power that she declared a state of emergency! Expectations ran high when Rajiv Gandhi rode to power with an unprecedented majority. As a commercial pilot, he had little interest in politics.
  • Monday, March 30, 2009
    Posted at 6:42:00 PM
    National parties are at the receiving end of coalition politics. They cannot get enough numbers in the Parliament to form a government on its own, and allies don’t come without a price. But they are not alone. The regional biggies who are challenging the authority of the national parties are discovering to their dismay that they too are at the receiving end—the pressure coming on them from smaller regional players. In Andhra Pradesh Telugu Desam Party or TDP is negotiating hard with Telengana Rashtriya Samiti or TRS. In Bihar, Rashtriya Janata Dal.
  • Thursday, March 26, 2009
    Posted at 7:57:00 PM
    Three astute politicians of the Mandal era--- Lalu Prasad Yadav, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Ramvilas Paswan on Thursday joined hands to promote each other's cause in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. They are now in talks with Maharashtra strongman Sharad Pawar. Is the UPA experiment over? Do we now see a return of anti-Congressism? Congress has never been comfortable with coalition politics. In 2004 it managed to build a rainbow coalition of 15 parties with secularism as its main plank. The objective was to keep the BJP out of power. Regional leaders with.
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