Who would have thought it? Over two weeks ago, when I left the country, the BJP was busy explaining to the world why it had expelled Jaswant Singh, one of its most senior leaders for either praising M A Jinnah (this argument was quickly junked when people asked why L.K. Advani had not been thrown out five years ago, in that case) or for committing the cardinal sin of daring to be critical of a Congress leader who had banned the RSS and prosecuted Hindutva icon Veer Savarkar for the murder of Mahatma Gandhi. Read more

It is tempting to dismiss the furore over Jaswant Singh’s expulsion from the BJP as a matter of no great consequence. After all, the BJP is a party that is out of power and seemingly in terminal decline. Jaswant Singh is at the end of his career and even if the BJP does manage to recapture power in five years’ time, he would probably have been too old to play an active role in the next government. Read more

Contrary to the impression that Rajnath Singh is trying to give, the internal war within the BJP is not winding down. It is just beginning. And contrary to the sentiments that have been put down in letters, the war is not about ideology. It is about: who runs the BJP. Read more

As the BJP begins post-mortems of its defeat in the General Election and tries to institute a generational change in its leadership, many suggestions have been put forward about how it can recast itself.

The first suggestion — made by Arun Jaitley in an article in the Indian Express — is that the party must abandon shrillness because voters prefer moderation. Read more

In the 15 years or so that the controversy over the Babri Masjid has been centrestage in Indian politics, I have managed, somehow, to offend nearly every side in the dispute. It is easy to see why my views should be at variance with the sangh parivar’s. I’ve never bought the line that a grand Ram temple at Ayodhya can — or should — be the centre of a grand national resurgence. Read more