'Officially, Suresh Kalmadi had only Rs 6.7 billion to play around with as the Commonwealth Games boss. As against this, Sheila Dikshit's government was allocated Rs 16.56 billion to upgrade the capital's infrastructure in time for the Games.'
Measure each word you utter in public, advises Virendra Kapoor.
Because Indian Kashmiris have not allowed peace a chance in 60-plus years despite thousands of crores of taxpayers' money wasted on mollycoddling them and despite their being accorded a special status under Article 370, the time may have come to totally overhaul our Kashmir policy, suggests Virendra Kapoor.
'Singh has two options. Either he asserts the authority of his office or makes way for someone who is not a proxy for the Family and can command the Congress Parliamentary Party's loyalty.'
'Unlike the present system under which every minister does her/his own thing while Dr Manmohan Singh minds his business, prime ministers from the Nehru family were truly in control of their governments.'
'Vajpayee was the last of the national leaders. They do not make leaders of that calibre any longer. Maybe astute sociologists will undertake a study of the inverse link between a growing economy and a depleting leadership pool.'
If the BJP is set to return to power in UP, Uttarakhand, Manipur and even Goa, it is not because of the party's performance or the quality of governance. No. It is essentially Modi's popularity, observes Virendra Kapoor.
Whether it took the corona crisis to bring about the transformation, or otherwise, the change ought to be welcome, notes Virendra Kapoor.
'As a lobbyist, she was within her right to co-opt whoever she deemed fit in her enterprise to service the interests of her clients. She broke no law. If she did, by now she would have been charged since these tapes belong to early and mid-2009.'
'Modi has not lacked courage in the political sphere. It is time he showed it in the economic sphere as well.' 'To do this, he needs to shed the simple-minded nostrums about economic growth and swadeshi that he learnt in the Sangh Parivar,' suggests Virendra Kapoor.
Whether it liked it or not, the Ukraine crisis forced India to choose between the aggressor Russia and the US-led free world, a decision it hated to make, Virendra Kapoor points out. In the end, it abstained from the vote in the Security Council.
In first year of the UPA-2, non-performance is visible in all areas of governance, writes Virendra Kapoor.
Having twice betrayed the BJP -- and Arvind Kejriwal determined not to admit in AAP anyone who could question his authority -- Sidhu seems to have reached a dead-end in his political career, asserts Virendra Kapoor.
There is growing talk of a realignment of forces in Maharashtra after May 2 when the results of West Bengal and other four states would be in, notes Virendra Kapoor.
Critics who cannot stop gloating, pronouncing Modi to be a lame-duck prime minister, may be making a huge mistake, predicts Virendra Kapoor.
No longer, Virendra Kapoor points out, are these awards given on the recommendation of ministers, or the Delhi-based liaison men who had ruled the roast till 2014.
Extended rounds of negotiations having failed, farm leaders now reckon that their best chance to pressure the government lay in defeating the BJP in the coming assembly poll, particularly in UP, observes Virendra Kapoor.
Modi had clearly not come to terms with the limits to a prime minister's powers, any prime minister's powers however strong numbers he may have in Parliament, observes Virendra Kapoor.
The culture of freebies burdens coming generations with the huge bill for the flagrant abuse of power by preceding governments, points out Virendra Kapoor.
'Post the pandemic, when India is turning a new leaf in its economic policy with an eye on foreign capital and global supply chains that are likely to leave China, heightened tensions on the India-China border creates an atmosphere of uncertainty,' observes Virendra Kapoor.
The caste census has already become a hot-button issue. Unless settled earlier, it will echo loudly in the coming assembly elections and eventually in the 2024 parliamentary poll, notes Virendra Kapoor.
Without doubt, the BJP is miles ahead in marshalling digital tools for electioneering better than any other party, observes Virendra Kapoor.
There was near unanimity among the guests at the Sibal dinner that the country is ready for a change, that the ruling party has lost popularity. However in the same breath speaker after speaker lamented that without Opposition unity Modi could as well win a third successive term, reveals Virendra Kapoor.
The outcome in UP is far more significant than in the other states going to the polls next year. An unlikely setback in UP can cramp the Modi government, virtually making it a lame-duck two years ahead of the 2024 parliamentary poll, observes Virendra Kapoor.
The police in every state teems with officers like Sachin Vaze, observes Virendra Kapoor.
The fear that Mamata might snatch the mantle of Opposition leadership which the Gandhis firmly believe to be theirs by birthright seems to have persuaded Sonia and Rahul to give up their hoity-toity ways, observes Virendra Kapoor.
The Bengal outcome can have a marginal impact on national politics. Whereas elections in UP next year might still change the course ahead of the parliamentary poll in 2024, observes Virendra Kapoor.
The Orwellian surveillance State is here. And here to stay, asserts Virendra Kapoor.
It is too early to write Narendra Modi's political obituary, asserts Virendra Kapoor.
Remember the US withdrawal agreement was signed in February 2020. In the intervening period, a proper evacuation plan ought to have been in place. It was not. Consequently, tens of thousands of Afghans who had worked as interpreters, drivers, suppliers of goods and services, etc, face brutal retribution from the Taliban, Virendra Kapoor points out.
Pawar and his Manch can deliberate to their hearts' content, but so long as the Congress does not play ball the BJP has little to worry, asserts Virendra Kapoor.
The Taliban will view India through the eyes of the ISI and can be relied upon to undertake hostile actions against this country, warns Virendra Kapoor.
>The protesters should entrust the final judgement on the farm reform laws to the Supreme Court-mandated committee of experts and return to their villages, argues Virendra Kapoor.
Modi seems to have an innate faith in his capabilities to handle the myriad challenges confronting the nation and would rather manage the affairs of the nation as a CEO would of a large industrial-business empire, observes Virendra Kapoor.
Upholding principles was a luxury when there were charismatic leaders capable of winning elections without stooping low to indulge in identity politics, observes Virendra Kapoor.
For the first time in seven years the prime minister finds himself at his most vulnerable, observes Virendra Kapoor.
As and when the pandemic recedes from these shores, rebuilding the economy will be the biggest challenge for Modi in the remaining three years of his term, observes Virendra Kapoor.
'A concerted attempt is afoot to try and create a new image of an intelligent man who knows what he is talking about and is far from the person that his critics in the media and Opposition have often portrayed him to be,' says Virendra Kapoor.
We love a leader who oozes authority and firmness, notes Virendra Kapoor.
Even though he consults chief ministers at regular intervals, the ultimate decision is still his own. He will be blamed, nobody else, if, god forbid, there is a huge spurt in fatalities after the reopening, notes Virendra Kapoor.
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