'It is very difficult to be an honest politician in a country where the system is absolutely corrupt. Jaipal Reddy is one up even on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who is considered clean and honest. Reddy has gone a step ahead by playing an active role in stopping corruption. He has put things on record; he has walked the extra mile to ensure that public money is valued highly. One must recognise Reddy's efforts, and make it an example for India's younger generation.'
There is nobody like Jaipal Reddy in Congress party. He is slotted to be the first Congress chief minister of Telangana if and when the Congress gets hold of the reins of power. Ten minutes after the Lok Sabha passed the Bill Reddy spoke exclusively to rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt in the corridors of Parliament.
Readers share their mom's special qualities.
The Congress knew that Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra Pradesh are lost for a long time as Y S Jaganmohan Reddy's leadership is taking deep roots. It also knew that if the next government is formed by the NDA then Telangana will definitely be created depriving them any credit. This pushed the Congress to finally endorse the new state. But the huge risk behind the decision and the uncertainties that go with it are making Congress nervous, says Sheela Bhatt.
Petitioner in disproportionate assets case against Mulayam Singh Yadav and his family blames the CBI for it double standards. Sheela Bhatt reports.
'If Ruttie had been alive, Jinnah would never have turned communal.'
Sukhois alongside Chenchus. Sheela Bhatt argues that the search for YSR brought India face to face with Bharat.
A Congress MP reveals to Sheela Bhatt the Congress plan to protect the Speaker and home minister and muscle through the tabling of the Telangana bill in Parliament.
'How much rain fell on June 16 and 17 is NOT known because the area of Kedarnath is not covered by the Indian Meteorological Department,' M Shashidhar Reddy, vice chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority tells Sheela Bhatt. Because of this, the NDMA will not know "what exactly happened over there, in and around the Kedarnath temple."
'Appointed, sponsored and nurtured' by Jayalalithaa, P Rama Mohana Rao is now seen as a man who holds the key to the secrets of ministers and bureaucrats.
'The feeling in Telangana is that without her a separate state cannot be created... All the MPs and MLAs from Seema-Andhra have a business background. Their interest is to save their business,' Congress MP K Raj Gopal Reddy, who played a key role in Thursday's turbulent events, tells Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt.
With the Apollo Hospitals chairman saying that she has recovered, the party can go back to business as usual.
'If the mandis were not working in Delhi, or the onion market in Nashik got affected, or there were disruptions because of unloading or loading in any sector in south India, we intervened.'
Sheela Bhatt lists ten quick takeaways from the passage of the Telangana bill in the Lok Sabha.
On the basis of many conversations with stakeholders on the Telangana issue, Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt presents an FAQ to help understand the politics of posturing and realpolitik on the ground to win seats. The questions are many and the answers are not straight
The ground situation in Iraq is so bad that there is no scope for any non-conventional action or any kind of bravery. Patience, slow movement, and full backing to Indian negotiators would help in a big way, says Sheela Bhatt.
'If the government starts playing favourites, if the government acts in a manner which is not transparent, then natural resources which belong to not just you and me, but future generations, they fritter away. The anger against corruption, the anger against India's natural resources being looted is a consequence of the fact that within society there is a huge amount of turmoil and discontentment. Why should an Empowered Group Of Ministers or the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs decide the administered price of gas?' asks Paranjoy Guha Thakurta in this exclusive interview with Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt.
Modi's NDA is good enough to give a psychological boost to the once 'untouchable' BJP and Modi but if the NDA doesn't get a majority on its own, then walking the last mile will be the greatest challenge of this election for Modi, says Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com
'The real danger in India right now is that identity politics is being stoked in extremely dangerous ways.' 'The narrative you get about churches in the mainstream Indian media and the narrative you get in the social media is very different.' 'Many Americans today want to appropriate Indian culture. They want yoga, but they say yoga has nothing to do with Hinduism. They want Ayurveda, but they say it's got nothing to do with Hinduism.' 'Hinduism has been failed by political constituencies in India -- seculars and the right-wing.'
