All stories by Sheela Bhatt
'Independence came early because of the Naval Mutiny'
Rediff.com8 Apr 2022'These naval sailors should have been given due respect as freedom fighters.' 'February 18, 1946 should be as important as January 26 because that date changed everything.'
Three Takeaways From BJP's Victory
Rediff.com10 Mar 2022'Whoever thought that building toilets and providing free rations to the poorest of poor Indians would give Modi a halo other political leaders would envy?' asks Sheela Bhatt.
'BJP is focused on economic growth'
Rediff.com2 Feb 2022'I see in the BJP an attempt to get growth and redistribution of resources.' 'For growth you need growth of the economy.'
'Modi wants to raise standard of living'
Rediff.com31 Jan 2022'So you have welfare programmes, you reach out to the poor, you cut out the middlemen, you cut out the leakages and you try to raise the standard of living.'
Modi's Retreat Will Haunt Indian Politics For A Long, Long Time
Rediff.com19 Nov 2021If Modi's political retreat -- he has tried to avoid a pre-1984 type of situation in Punjab -- helps soothe Sikh sentiments, nobody should complain Modi, asserts Sheela Bhatt.
'Our employees are the most important part in any business'
Rediff.com3 Nov 2021'To get success in business one should know how to create and attract talent and how to retain it.'
Man who warned of the Bhopal gas leak
Rediff.com22 May 2021Just months before the deadly gas leak in Bhopal killed 15,000 people, journalist Rajkumar Keswani -- who passed into the ages on Friday, May 21, 2021 -- had warned that the 'city stood on the edge of a volcano'.
Two reasons why Bihar win was important for the BJP
Rediff.com11 Nov 2020This was a difficult election to win, but the Modi card, the caste divide and the division in the Opposition vote bank helped overcome many challenges.
'BJP unleashed Chirag against Nitish'
Rediff.com28 Oct 2020'The BJP has the torch and with that same torch, the BJP is trying to light up its house in Bihar.' 'The BJP is trying to burn Nitish Kumar's house with that torch.'
'All border situations were resolved through diplomacy'
Rediff.com26 Aug 2020'I am not minimising either the seriousness or the complex nature of the current situation.' 'Naturally, we have to do what it takes to secure our borders.' 'We are talking to the Chinese, both through military channels and diplomatic ones.'
'In fact, they work in tandem.' 'When it comes to finding a solution, this must be predicated on honouring all agreements and understandings.' 'And not attempting to alter the status quo unilaterally.'
'Sonia wanted Congress to choose non-Gandhi leader'
Rediff.com25 Aug 2020'Let me reveal for the first time that around August 2019 Congress President Sonia Gandhi told the Congress leadership and CWC members to form a consensus over the name of a non-Gandhi leader.'
Why UAE was ideal destination for IPL 2020
Rediff.com22 Aug 2020'Unlike India and Sri Lanka, there was no internal air travel needed.' 'For all 8 teams, different hotels are available, a separate one for the broadcasting team too.'
'My father's Rath Yatra changed Indian politics'
Rediff.com5 Aug 2020Just six years after his father's Rath Yatra, the BJP came to power in New Delhi in 1996, points out Jayant Advani.
'Gandhi's Ram is my Ram'
Rediff.com4 Aug 2020'Does a secular nation not believe in its ancestry? The Constitution has a photo of Ram also.'
'Ram is not only for the Hindus, Ram is for everyone'
Rediff.com4 Aug 2020'If the Ram Mandir is made, it is because of the collective strength of our country.'
Revealed: How India launched its war against COVID-19
Rediff.com30 Jul 2020'The lockdown was for both: To flatten the curve or more correctly, delay the rapid spread of COVID outbreak, and to create healthcare infrastructure.'
Answered: When COVID-19 will end
Rediff.com24 Jul 2020'"The end" depends on two things.' 'Either you develop a vaccine which is effective or if you have a drug, you can terminate this infection very quickly.' 'Otherwise, you have to depend on herd immunity.' 'I think it should happen earlier. Far earlier, than we can imagine or achieve 'herd immunity'.'
'We have to be prepared for China trying to take it to the next level'
Rediff.com10 Jul 2020'We should not worry too much about Indian capabilities, both military and otherwise.'
'My worry relates to possibility of social collapse'
Rediff.com6 Jul 2020'The theme of death seems to be a theme about which many of us, raised in Western societies, have almost completely removed from consciousness; it represents a theme that is suddenly and forcefully resurging now.' 'And for some, this is scary and destabilising.'
India-China: 'More dangerous than before'
Rediff.com6 Jul 2020'Why has the peace been kept?' 'Basically because there is a balance.' 'Maybe they think that balance has changed.' 'People can make mistakes. People can miscalculate.' 'If that is the cause, then I think what we have done, matching their build-up, etc, it is giving a good account of ourselves in the face-offs.'