In his book Restart, Mihir Sharma minces no words in pointing out that faulty policies, the lackadaisical attitude of bureaucrats and a few wrong decisions of past governments have hampered India's growth.
'The notion of a single unarmed town challenging the might of the People's Republic is a little absurd,' says Mihir Sharma.
'If the BJP becomes the new Congress, then an Opposition within will naturally emerge -- from the right, not the left,' points out Mihir Sharma.
'In 2014, he was a relatively unknown quantity, and benefited from the apparent difference that he brought to national politics.'
'I would have expected that, once firmly ensconced in the director's chair by 2:15 am, the not-director of the CBI would have called for pen and paper and hand-written a few clean chits.' 'Clean chits over Rafale; clean chits to the PM's secretary in the coal bribery case; a clean chit to Hasmukh Adhia on whatever claim Subramanian Swamy has cooked up about him...' says Mihir Sharma.
'This is the era of images; no speech that Mukherjee could have given could counter the sight of a senior Congressman, elevated by the party to Rashtrapati Bhavan, standing rigidly next to the RSS gerontocracy as those worthies delivered the organisation's faux-fascist salute,' says Mihir Sharma.
'You can disagree with Dr Ilaiah's analyses of how the caste-based economy works, or with his prescriptions on how to fix it.' 'But a disagreement that is couched in terms of 'offence' given and received shuts down the debate that is essential to build a more just and modern India,' argues Mihir Sharma.
India has remained obsessed with cheap capital and infrastructure spending when instead the central constraint on Indian development remains the abysmal quality of Indians' skills, says Mihir Sharma.
In refusing to accept its failure, the government has sowed the seeds of further damage: by keeping India short of cash; reducing the headroom for responses to seasonal spikes in cash demand; and increasing the chances that groups will panic at temporary cash shortages, says Mihir Sharma.
The city is becoming more democratic as the past embraces the future says Rahul Jacob.
Contrary to the bragging that marked its two-year anniversary, the government's timidity on reform is simply astounding.
Who will make the most of the disruptions of 2016 this year? Mihir Sharma's list of probables.
Nilanjana S Roy compiles a list of the most eagerly awaited books next year.
If I were the BJP, I would not be celebrating quite so quickly. It can sweep its heartland in 2014, as it has shown it can do, but that heartland isn't quite big enough. And it can put up a good fight in towns and cities, too - but unless it neutralises AAP or similar political entrepreneurs, it may find itself tantalisingly short, just as has happened to it in Delhi, says Mihir Sharma.
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