Month: January 2015

With India aspiring for growth and looking to build smart cities, roads, bridges, infrastructure, power plants, etc., the country presents a great opportunity for American businesses. Obama’s visit was essentially a giant sales pitch to firm up business opportunities for American companies.

Likewise, there is plenty of opportunity for Indian businesses in the US market as reaffirmed by the “who’s who” of Indian industry queuing up for darshan of the US President.

Strategically, from an American perspective, a vibrant and growing India can act as a counterweight to China in the region and come in handy with regard to Pakistan and Afghanistan as the instability in these countries persists.

To read the rest of this post, please visit the Economic Times website where it was first published.

Kiran Bedi has pulled off the impossible. The supposed supercop has parachuted her way into the Delhi BJP leadership slot after waiting on the sidelines and intermittently showering praises at the party leadership from time to time for years. With the elections round the corner the time for courtship is over and its time to jump into the dirty world of politics whose sworn enemy she once was. Her Krane landing has been so immaculate that the BJP top brass has in addition to offering her the CM post in advance even agreed to cut down Modi’s face time on the Delhi campaign in order to make room for her (sort of an icing on the cake). Talk about having the cake and eating it too with icing on it!

Today, there is no BJP. Mr. Modi is the party. So Mr. Modi stepping aside from the limelight is a huge concession. Surely, this can’t be a long lasting arrangement since the BJP swears by a Modi everywhere policy.

To read the rest of his post please visit the Economic Times website where it was first published.

It appears that the BJP has discretely issued a memo to many that it will soon be shutting its doors and the time to board the bus is running out. There seems to be no other explanation for the flurry of people joining the BJP and others queueing up outside its doors. If you are one of those in politics or dabbling at its fringes and don’t know where you are headed, here are a few signs that will help you discover that you are headed the BJP way.

You were a part of the Anna movement. By virtue of this, you landed several times on TV debates and yelled and screamed but had little of substance to say. Nevertheless you are a known face – famous for being famous. But now, you badly miss the limelight. With the Anna movement gone, you have nowhere to turn. You are not a mass leader by any stretch of imagination.  You have antagonized the AAP leadership and your are of little value to most other political parties. You take stock of your USP and think “if I can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em”

To read the rest of this article please visit the Economic Times website where it was first published.

The BJP launched PM Modi the other day into the Delhi campaign in order to resurrect its fast sinking hopes in the upcoming Delhi elections. The PM reverted back to the familiar themes that the BJP think-tank had effectively conjured up for the Lok Sabha elections to counter AAP – bhagoda, Naxalites, governance, dharna, etc.

This is an unusual step for the PM who has thusfar tried to remain above the fray, so to speak. Even when the loony fringe of the BJP has gone to town with a series of crazy proclamations, the PM has maintained a stony silence. But here he was, mudslinging in Delhi politics.

To red the rest of this post please visit the Economic Times website where it was first published.