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THE
RNI NO. 28587/75
PRIYANKA
GAMBIT
Will her entry give the
Congress campaign a
boost or upset a
fragile Opposition
alliance in the
high stakes 2019 battle
for Uttar Pradesh?
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HALOI
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HIGH ON
PRIYANKA HEALTH
GAMBIT
W
Congress campaign a
boost or upset a
fragile Opposition
alliance in the
for Uttar Pradesh?
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SHRI NITISH KUMAR SHRI JAI KUMAR SINGH
Hon'ble Chief Minister, Hon'ble Minister
Bihar Department of Industries, Bihar
(A GOVT. OF BIHAR UNDERTAKING)
INVITES INVESTORS TO BIHAR

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TH
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Indira Bhawan, 1 Floor, R. C. Singh Path, East Boring Canal Road, Patna, Bihar - 800001 • www.bsidc.in
FROM THE
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
uildings can be allegories for the vision and of the Congress scion’s entry into a key battleground
B vitality of a political party. Last year, the

BJP’s sprawling new five-storeyed national
headquarters, the country’s largest, symbol-
ised a party bent on dominating the national narrative.
state. The accompanying essay by Consulting Editor
Ajit Kumar Jha provides a psephological analysis of UP.
The gambit is clearly the opening move of a long-term
strategy by Rahul Gandhi who realises that the Con-
This month, Nehru Bhavan, the Congress’s rundown gress cannot have a sizeable presence in the country or
party headquarters in Uttar Pradesh’s capital Luc- in an opposition alliance without a stake in UP. Fielding
know, started getting a facelift, a fresh coat of paint, Priyanka in the state not only galvanises the cadre but
new doors, windows and a conference room. The also frees Rahul to campaign across the country. He
makeover for a party out of power in the state for three is also creating more space for a tacit alliance with the
decades follows the Grand Old Party’s January 23 SP-BSP in key forward caste-dominated constituencies
proclamation of the formal entry of Priyanka Gan- where the Congress has an advantage. If the party can-
dhi into electoral politics. Priyanka, 47, the newest not reach an accommodation with the SP-BSP, it will
member of the Nehru-Gandhi family to formally enter face three-cornered contests in many constituencies
politics, will be general secretary in charge of eastern which could benefit the BJP. The trick for the Congress
Uttar Pradesh, which comprises Awadh, Purvanchal is to strike the right balance in UP’s complex electoral
and Lower Doab, together accounting for exactly half calculus without fracturing opposition unity.
of the state’s 80 Lok Sabha seats. It is still not clear Priyanka has her strengths. She struck me as being
whether Priyanka will actually contest the Lok Sabha an astute, instinctive politician when I saw her cam-
election, but if she does, the choice of the constituency paigning and village-hopping in her mother’s constitu-
will be an attention-grabbing one. ency Rae Bareli in 2014. She addressed people and
As evidenced by the refurbishing of the dowdy party held impromptu press conferences wherever she went.
office in Lucknow, Priyanka's entry has electrified a She seemed to be more effective in addressing smaller
party that has hit rock bottom in India’s most elector- groups of people rather than the large public meetings
ally significant state. From 83 seats and a vote share of that are Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s forte. Al-
51 per cent in 1984, the Congress crashed to just two though her Hindi oratory is far better than her mother
seats and a 7.5 per cent vote share in the 2014 Lok Sabha or brother can attempt, Priyanka the politician has not
election and a paltry seven seats in the 403-seat assem- been tested outside the family citadels. In eastern UP,
bly in 2017. In 2009, 18 of the Congress’s 21 Lok Sabha she has entered the bastion of UP chief minister Yogi
seats—the party’s best performance since 1984—came Adityanath and Prime Minister Modi, who holds the
from eastern UP. Even at its weakest in 2014, the party constituency of Varanasi. She, of course, reminds many
managed a 17.8 per cent vote share in Awadh. people of Indira Gandhi, but the moot question is how
The timing and reasons for Priyanka’s entry—in- many among the roughly 20 million first-time voters
deed the choice of eastern UP as her electoral battle- in UP recall the former prime minister. There are other
ground—seem to be part of a well-thought-out strat- imponderables, too. For instance, the shadow of her
egy. The daunting alliance of the SP and BSP already controversial businessman husband, Robert Vadra, who
threatens to completely marginalise the Congress in UP. faces a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation
The state’s eastern region also has a large upper caste, and the Enforcement Directorate in nearly two dozen
mainly Brahmin, vote base, which the Congress is hop- cases related to land acquisition and money laundering.
ing to snatch away from the BJP. In caste-ridden UP, Another concern is that with 100 days or less before the
Priyanka could be the Congress’s most potent magnet election, the Congress may have played its trump card
to attract recalcitrant BJP voters who might not want to too late in the game. Will Priyanka's induction reverse
vote for the SP-BSP alliance. The recent INDIA TODAY- the Congress party’s three-decade-old organisational
Karvy Insights Mood of the Nation survey projects 58 neglect? Only one thing is for sure: Rahul Gandhi is
Lok Sabha seats for the alliance if elections were held to- pulling out all the stops for a good showing by his party
day. This alliance presently excludes the Congress in all in the forthcoming general election.
constituencies save the two Nehru-Gandhi bastions of
Rae Bareli and Amethi. Priyanka’s entry, the Congress
believes, might prompt the alliance to rethink its stance,
particularly since she could appeal to the voters from
the Muslim community, who constitute 19 per cent of
the state’s population.
Our cover story, ‘The Priyanka Gambit’, by Senior
Associate Editor Kaushik Deka, analyses the impact (Aroon Purie)
F E BRUA RY 1 1 , 2 019 INDIA TODAY 1

DE
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UPFRONT
STATE OF THE OBIT: GEORGE
ECONOMY FERNANDES
PG 4 PG 6
BOOKS: A THE POLITICS OF

STRANGER TRUTH ‘MINIMUM INCOME’
PG 8 PG 11
RUBEN SPRICH/REUTERS
I C I C I B A N K I N V E S T I G AT I O N
Twist in the Kochhar Saga By M.G. Arun
R
eportedly on the verge of being also named a number of senior bankers, ley’s intervention. He accused officers of
dropped, the investigations into either currently or formerly associated “megalomania” in a blog post, essen-
the conduct of Chanda Kochhar, with ICICI Bank, in its FIR, prompt- tially condemned the CBI as unprofes-
former ICICI Bank managing director ing a sharp response from Arun Jaitley, sional, and asked if its investigation was
and chief executive officer, took a sharp the Union finance minister who is now “a journey to nowhere (or everywhere)”.
turn on January 25 as the Central Bur- minister without portfolio as he con- While agreeing with the thrust of his ar-
eau of Investigation (CBI) booked her valesces in the US. Jaitley accused the gument, critics such as former finance
for “dishonestly sanctioning loans to the CBI, the country’s premier investigating minister P. Chidambaram, also under
Videocon group”. Raids were conducted agency, of “adventurism”. the CBI scanner alongside son Karti,
on Videocon’s headquarters in Mumbai His criticism that the CBI casts its wondered why Jaitley waited until (in
and an office in Aurangabad, while net too widely and, as a result, often the latter’s words) “the who’s who of
there were searches at the offices of fails to secure convictions, received nods the banking industry” was implicated
NuPower Renewables, an alternative of sympathy from politicians and com- before articulating doubts about the
energy company co-founded by Venugo- mentators across party and ideologi- standard functioning of the CBI.
pal Dhoot, chairman of Videocon, and cal lines, though some eyebrows were On the CBI’s part, it maintains it
Chanda’s husband Deepak. The CBI raised at the strength and tenor of Jait- is still only asking questions of some
UPFRONT
of the high-profile figures named, and not casting aspersions. S TAT E O F T H E E C O N O M Y

Suspicions over Deepak’s dealings with Videocon first emerged
in a complaint filed by investor Arvind Gupta in 2016 and letters
he wrote to the prime minister’s office and the RBI. The com-
plaints were ignored at the time, but in May last year, ICICI was
PULLING OUT
forced, after complaints by an anonymous whistleblower, to set
up a committee to examine the allegations. While doubts were
expressed about Chanda’s conduct with other companies too,
ALL THE SOPS
the principal allegations concerned the Dhoot-Deepak Koch- With unemployment looming large and the economy
har dealings, and the granting of thousands of crores in loans by listing a bit precariously, the Narendra Modi govern-
ICICI Bank to Videocon. ment’s pre-election budget was always likely to be
The financial links between Dhoot and the Kochhars are populist. The BJP is suddenly fighting for political
tangled, but questions centre around Dhoot’s turning over his salience, and the Congress with its competitive
shares in NuPower Renewables to Deepak for a nominal sum carrot-dangling—in the shape of farm loan waivers
and a Minimum Income Guarantee in states it has re-
just months after Videocon had been granted a Rs 3,250 crore
cently won—has stolen a march on the saffron party.
loan by ICICI Bank. Chanda, the bank’s top executive at the time
At the time of going to press, it looked like the BJP’s
in 2012, was on the panel that sanctioned the loan, the majority
counter-offer would be a cocktail of direct benefit
of which became a so-called non-performing asset. ICICI Bank
transfer to landed farmers and minimum income
defended Chanda initially, denying that her actions were inap- guarantees to the landless poor. Maybe zero-
propriate. However, as regulatory authorities began to express interest loans for farmers and some concessions
curiosity about the transactions, and the bank appointed a for- to the salaried through tweaks in income tax slabs.
mer Supreme Court judge SMEs could be in for some tax concessions and pos-
to conduct a probe, Chanda
In July 2018, went on leave and then
sibly interest subvention. The government will also
hope that it will pay to please.
Jaitley described resigned from her position
the Prevention in October last year, just six
of Corruption months before her tenure GDP GROWTH FISCAL DEFICIT
Act, under which was to end. It took a knock after de- A bloating fiscal deficit
Kochhar is being On January 30, the monetisation in 2016-17
and has yet to recover to
remains the biggest
hindrance to the BJP’s
investigated, as bank made its internal
the 8.15% level of 2015-16 likely pre-poll carrots
probe report by Justice B.N.
a “most badly Srikrishna public. It said
drafted law” that Chanda had violated
8.5 (in %) Rs lakh crore %
10 5
the bank’s code of conduct 8
8 4
by refusing to recuse herself to avoid conflict of interest in the 7.5
6 3
Videocon matter. Chanda’s resignation has also been treated as 7
a “termination for cause” by the bank, which could result in the 4 2
6.5
revocation of all her existing and future entitlements. 2 1
Meanwhile, the CBI continues its investigations, though the 6 0 0
2013-14 2018-19 BE 2013-14 2018-19 BE*
investigating officer who filed the FIR, Sudhanshu Dhar Mishra,
has been transferred. The CBI is now inquiring into his conduct,
claiming Mishra leaked information related to the raids to the
media. The move prompted Congress spokesperson Priyanka INFLATION
Chaturvedi to tweet that the “interference of the government in Consumer inflation in December was among the
the CBI gets more brazen... CBI officer transferred because he lowest it has been in the Modi years
10
‘audaciously’ went after the government’s suited-booted friends”.
8
In July last year, Jaitley described the Prevention of Corruption CPI
6
Act, under which Chanda is at least partly being investigated, as 4
“one of the most badly drafted laws”. Amendments were passed 2
in August 2018, too late to affect Chanda, whose actions date 0
back to a time when the law was still in place. -2
But after Jaitley’s blunt assessment of the beleaguered CBI— -4 WPI
still reeling from the ugly public dispute between former director -6
Alok Verma and his deputy Rakesh Asthana—can its investiga- JAN. 2014 DEC. 2018 P*
tion into Chanda’s ‘quid pro quo’ dealings remain credible?
*BE: Budget estimates P: Provisional
4 INDIA TODAY F E BRUA RY 1 1 , 2 019

CURRENCY REVENUE/ EXPENDITURE
The rupee has weakened steadily Expenditure has consistently
in the past five years outstripped revenue
2.5 (Rs lakh crore)
85 (Rupee/ $)
Expenditure
75 2
65 1.5
Revenue
55 1
45 0
MAR. 2013 DEC. 2018 MAR. 2013 DEC. 2018
JOBS FUEL
The inability to create jobs was The fall in international crude
possibly the biggest failing of the prices, after an ominous re-
government. A CMIE household cent spike, has brought much
survey says 11 million jobs were relief to the economy
lost in 2018 alone
(Rs/ litre)
8 Jobs as 90
Petrol
7 per EPFO 80
6 (in lakh)
70
5
4 60
3 Diesel
50
2
40
1
0 30
SEP. 2017 NOV. 2018 NOV. 2011 DEC. 2018
10 Unemployment 150 Crude oil prices

rate (%) (USD/ barrel)
120
8 as per CMIE
90
6
60
4
30
2 0
MAR. 2016 DEC. 2018 NOV. 2011 DEC. 2018
FARM LOANS INVESTMENTS

Credit to the farm sector Foreign direct investment peaked in
has risen steadily 2015-16 but has fallen since; the Centre
has been withholding data since June 2018
(Rs crore)
($ 1,000 million)
12
42 FDI 50 FPI
10
36 40
8
30 30
6 24 20
4 18 10
2 12 0
0 6 -10
2013-14 2017-18 2013-14 2017-18 2013-14 2017-18
Graphics by TANMOY CHAKRABORTY by RAJEEV DUBEY

UPFRONT
O B I T UA RY
THE ETERNAL REBEL

BY RAJ CHENGAPPA
W
hen I first met George Fernandes in 1984 in to make a mark because the V.P. Singh government collapsed
Bengaluru, he was already a national hero. In soon after. George then set about building the Samata Party
the previous decade, he had built his reputation with compatriots Sharad Yadav and Nitish Kumar after
first as a fearless trade union leader who could breaking away from the Janata Dal.
bring the country’s railways to a halt. Then, as a fiery opponent It was when he was defence minister during the Atal Bihari
of the Emergency even willing to resort to violence to challenge Vajpayee government between 1998 and 2004 that he truly
the establishment. And, finally, as the champion of socialism came into his own. Always at the centre of a storm, George
by booting out Coca Cola and IBM when he was industries also exhibited a puzzling duality that was a hallmark of his
minister in the short-lived Janata government. chequered career. Having opposed the 1974 nuclear explosion
George was always where the action was. Except that in ordered by Indira Gandhi, famously saying that “without the
his home state Karnataka, while he was revered, he was never necessary economic infrastructure, all talk of a bomb can
regarded as a true local. He grew just be so much bombast”, he
up in coastal Mangalore (adjacent endorsed the 1998 tests Vajpayee
GEORGE FERNANDES
to my home district Kodagu). He conducted. “When I found that
1930-2019
initially wanted to be a priest and other nuclear weapon countries
even entered a seminary, but gave were unwilling to give up their
it up soon after, disillusioned by own capability, I decided we must
its practices. Thereafter, he left have them,” he told me at that
for Mumbai, where he earned time. George didn’t do himself
his spurs as a union leader and proud either when he failed to
then catapulted himself into the condemn the brutal killing of
national reckoning. Christian missionary Graham
He was contesting an elec- Stuart Staines in Orissa in 1999.
tion in his home state for the Controversy remained
first time—from the Bangalore George’s constant companion
North constituency—when I throughout his life. Soon after
covered his campaign as an the nuclear tests, he was involved
INDIA TODAY correspondent. in an unseemly battle with then
He was up against great odds as naval chief Admiral Vishnu
the election was being held soon Bhagwat and had him sacked
after the assassination of Indira for insubordination. Vajpayee’s
Gandhi and the sympathy wave coalition government sank after
for the Congress headed by Rajiv its alliance partner, the AIA-
Gandhi was evident. But George, ever the fighter, remained DMK, pulled out in protest over the sacking. The 1999 Kargil
undaunted. I recall him criticising Rajiv for building War saw Vajpayee return to power in the next general election
swimming pools for the Asiad games while the rest of the and George was back as defence minister. But, in 2001, he
country, including Bangalore, faced a water shortage. He had to resign when allegations of corruption implicated the
lost the election and though he became a member of the Lok defence ministry and Parliament came to a standstill. George
Sabha nine times, it was never from Karnataka. That didn’t stepped down and when I asked him how he saw the future, he
bother George—he was never parochial and fought and won said, “I have always fought against injustice in all forms and
most of his electoral battles from Bihar. will continue to do so.” Within months, Vajpayee reinstated
Five years later, I met him when he had become the Union him as defence minister. After 2004, he found himself out of
minister for railways in the V.P. Singh government. He was government but continued to champion causes of all kinds
his feisty self, his wavy hair askew, as he spoke passionately of till first illness and then death took him gently into the night.
the need to reform the railways. Though credited for having It would extinguish an extraordinary personality but not his
sanctioned the Konkan Railway network that connected contribution as a fiery and irrepressible socialist leader who
Mumbai to Goa and Mangalore, he didn’t get much of a chance left a permanent stamp on Indian polity. ■
16 INDIA TODAY F E BRUA RY 1 1 , 2 019 Illustration by SIDDHANT JUMDE

UPFRONT
GUEST COLUMN
Andaman’s Inner
Fault Lines
ZUBAIR AHMED
T
he recent Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB)
introduced by the National Democratic Alliance
(NDA) government has sparked widespread protest
in the Northeast over its repercussions on the demography
of border states. A similar conflict with troubling parallels
is brewing in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, where a
strong demand for an Inner Line Permit (ILP) regime has
been voiced by local communities concerned about the
growing number of migrants settling in the archipelago.
In an emotional remark during his recent visit to the
Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Prime Minister Narendra
Modi declared that there is no difference between the islands
and the mainland, and that for him they are one and the
same. The statement did not go down well with many local
residents, given the growing discontent over migrants from
the mainland competing for the scarce job opportunities and HERO WORSHIPPING In December, Prime Minister Narendra Modi
resources available here. renamed three islands as a tribute to Subhas Chandra Bose
Last year, this disgruntlement took the shape of a
movement when a joint action forum (JAF) was formed by the ILP issue, the Trinamool Congress has entered the fray
locals demanding an ILP to check the influx of new migrants. with a more openly pro-Bengali stance.
The movement was led by the oldest settlers’ group, the The islands, which have extensive forest land, have
Local Born Association (LBA), headed by Dr Prem Kishan reportedly seen large-scale encroachments by migrants,
(himself a descendant of a ‘penal settler’). The movement often in connivance with authorities, with politicians turning
also had its detractors, who claimed that the demand a blind eye. It’s notable that the Supreme Court in May
was unconstitutional. The ruling BJP initially supported 2002, while hearing a petition on mass-scale logging and
the cause, but soon changed course, demanding other uncontrolled plundering of natural resources in the islands,
instruments such as the domicile certificate and the National had accepted the recommendations made by the Prof.
Population Register identity proofs. BJP MP Bishnu Pada Shekhar Singh Commission. The commission had suggested
Ray declared that the ILP was against his party’s ideology. regulations to check population influx. It had recommended
The issue is bringing some long-standing undercurrents that to prevent any further encroachment and rampant
of ethnic rivalry to a head with some protesters raising immigration, the administration should regulate the entry of
slogans against ‘Bangladeshis’. In fact, Bengali islanders have people to the area within three months by having the islands
long been a dominant demographic here, and the islands’ declared as an Inner Line Area.
MP (whether Congress or BJP) has traditionally been from The elections may have pushed the issue off the agenda,
this community. There is a widespread perception here but Kishan says the demand for Inner Line Area restrictions
that Bengali migration has been tacitly encouraged and cannot be ignored whether or not there is political support
that encroachments of public land by Bengalis are swiftly for it. While maintaining that the new factor of the
regularised. Even the recent renaming of islands announced Citizenship Amendment Bill will only aggravate the problem
on Modi’s visit is viewed by many as pandering to Bengalis. of a migrant influx, he reiterated that the movement is not
Meanwhile, a parallel campaign by the Bengali against any community. For the moment, it seems that the
community, which felt targeted by the JAF, forced both BJP’s nationalist stance and the interests of a commercial
the Congress and the BJP to go silent on the issue. The ‘development lobby’ keen on migrant labour have stymied
community, formed the Bengali Joint Action Forum (BJAF), the demand for ILP restrictions. But the wider communities
and tried to outdo the JAF with bigger rallies and public of historic migrants are unlikely to remain silent on the
meetings, most recently with a show of strength on January perceived encroachment on their fragile islands. ■
23, Subhas Chandra Bose’s birthday. While most political
parties have been at pains to maintain their distance from The author is a journalist and researcher based in Port Blair

UPFRONT
BOOKS women and girls in its brothels, often

held captive for their first few years.”
FLAWED In truth, as Alexander points out, only

a tiny fraction—currently estimated at
TRUTH
below one in 10—of India’s sex workers
ever work in brothels.
Gupta, who has long been Kristof ’s
and Steinem’s interlocutor on this sub-
By Siddharth Dube ject, equally absurdly claims in a Wall
Street Journal op-ed that, in India,
“the average age for beginning sex
work is between nine and 10”. Such
Lessons in Love, stunning disregard for evidence and
O
Leadership and Courage
ver 20 million people had from India’s Sex Workers
truth is only possible where the exag-
died of AIDS before the by Ashok Alexander geraters know they are unlikely to ever
world’s elite paid heed to the Juggernaut; be held to account.
carnage. Then, belatedly, `699; 287 pages While A Stranger Truth deserves
the disease became the global cause to be widely read, it is a strangely
du jour. Billionaires and movie stars destructive campaign of disinforma- uneven book. The quality of Alexan-
vied to declare their abiding concern tion on Indian sex work conditions led der’s writing deteriorates after the first
for the AIDS-stricken, notably for ‘in- by New York Times columnist Nicholas hundred-odd pages, to the point that
nocent’ women and children. Bill and Kristof, feminist Gloria Steinem, it almost seems the work of another
Melinda Gates were in the vanguard journalist Ruchira Gupta and a motley writer. The analysis deteriorates too,
of this elite, though with a commit- crew of far-right US legislators and with the early insights giving way to
ment to public health matters that has evangelical zealots, who heatedly in- reverential anecdotes about the Gates
been laudably sustained since—and in sist that sex work is indistinguishable clan and needlessly exaggerated
2003, the couple selected Ashok Alex- from sex trafficking and that the only claims about the Gates-funded HIV-
ander to lead an HIV prevention effort acceptable solution is to abolish sex prevention effort.
backed by a $200 million gift. work, irrespective of the views of sex The gravest weakness is Alex-
A Stranger Truth is Alexander’s workers themselves or the considered ander’s neglect of the far-reaching
journey from the moneyed world of advice of the United Nations’ human efforts by India’s sex workers to fight
McKinsey & Company, the American rights experts. for their rights since the early 1990s,
consulting firm, into the India of pov- “The brothels of India are the slave endeavours that testify to the strength
erty, scorn and injustice suffered by sex plantations of the 21st century,” Kristof of grassroots democracy. Readers of
workers of every gender. pronounced in his trademark sensa- A Stranger Truth would never know
Alexander is perceptive and icono- tionalistic take on brutish Third World that India’s sex workers do not merely
clastic. He writes, in insights that will nations, stridently adding, “India prob- display the individual leadership quali-
surprise the many well-off Indians, ably has more modern slaves than any ties that Alexander rightly celebrates,
who seem unaware that ordinary Indi- country in the world. It has millions of but also have for decades led pan-India
ans muster heroism every day to sur- movements demanding a cogent agen-
vive a lifetime of blows: “These women da of rights, a cornerstone of which is
stand out for the capacity to judge Alexander marshals the decriminalisation of consensual
character and negotiate well. They sur- evidence against the sex work. My hope is that Alexander’s
vive because of their personal courage, disinformation ahistorical ‘great man leading the poor’
charisma and sense of humour. They account will be the impetus for more
are selfless. They exercise leadership
campaign on Indian readers to turn to Nalini Jameela’s
in the highest sense of the word, and sex-work conditions truly revelatory autobiography of life
with a combination of attributes I have by those who insist as a sex worker or the other recent ac-
rarely seen in business leaders.” For that sex work is counts that document how India’s sex
such deep insights, Alexander deserves workers have actually won progress. ■
praise and readers. indistinguishable
He deserves praise, too, for mar- from sex trafficking Siddharth Dube works on
shalling evidence that rebukes the social justice issues

UPFRONT
SONU KISHAN
BAHUBALIS
LEND A HAND
Vheartland states has
ictory in three Hindi
GL ASSHOUSE
earned the Congress
attention from some political
Prime Minister? heavyweights in Bihar,
Illustration by SIDDHANT JUMDE

though they are of the kind
Spare Me... the party should be wary of.
Former Janata Dal (United)
U
nion minister for road transport, highways and strongman Anant Singh,
shipping Nitin Gadkari is in the news for publicly who has a criminal past, has
questioning his government and the party leadership. launched a motorcycle rally
But if there’s one thing Gadkari would like to keep a distance to drum up support for Rahul
from it is the growing chatter suggesting his eligibility as the BJP’s Gandhi’s February
prime ministerial candidate. Gadkari was in Mumbai recently for 3 rally in Patna.
the wedding of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj And suspended
Thackeray’s son and inexplicably cancelled a scheduled meeting Rashtriya Janata
with the Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray. No reasons were
Dal (RJD) MP
given, but there is speculation this was prompted by a Mumbai
Rajesh Ranjan
daily quoting Sena leader Sanjay Raut as saying that Gadkari as
aka Pappu Yadav
prime minister was acceptable to his party. Raut clarified he had
is already seeking
been misquoted, but the damage had already been done. Gadkari
was not going to add a photograph to the caption.
support from the Congress
for his 2019 Lok Sabha
election bid.
SLOGAN OF THE DAY

I
t’s not yet known what the BJP’s PM Modi himself, have been riffing on
campaign slogan will be for the “How’s the josh?”, the catchline from
forthcoming Lok Sabha election, but Bollywood film Uri, based on the 2016
some big-name BJP leaders, including surgical strikes against Pakistan.
Talking Trump
U S president Donald Trump recently WHO WHERE WHEN
added American-made whisky to his Prime Minister Inaugurating the museum
pet peeves with New Delhi. The earlier Narendra Modi of Indian cinema in Mumbai January 20
one, of course, being Harley-Davidson
motorcycles, which Trump believes attracts
very high Indian import tariffs. But the Defence Minister Watching Uri in a
January 27
external affairs ministry has now learned Nirmala Sitharaman theatre in Bengaluru
to take Trump’s barbs in its stride. On the
contrary, as one seasoned diplomat says, it Goa Chief Minister Inaugurating a
is Trump’s silence that worries South Block January 27
Manohar Parrikar bridge in Panaji
more than his words.
Sandeep Unnithan with Sahil Joshi and Amitabh Srivastava

UPFRONT PULLQUOTE
“SAPNE DIKHANE
INDEX WAALE NETA LOGON
KO ACHHE LAGTE
We Need Education HAIN, PAR DIKHAYE
As the grim beast of the 2019 general election skulks closer, voters are
HUE SAPNE AGAR
girding themselves for tall claims and empty rhetoric, but never a serious PURAY NAHIN KIYE
speech about something like education and expenditure. Are we spending TO JANTA UNKI PITAYI
enough on primary and secondary school education and are we making
the most of what we do spend? Earlier this month, the NGO Pratham BHI KARTI HAI. ISLIYE
published its 13th annual status of education report (ASER) and while the SAPNE WAHI DIKHAO
overall picture is marginally brighter, with government schools reporting
an improvement in reading and arithmetical ability, the quality of Indian
JO PURAY HO SAKEIN”
education remains dismal. Development in a country like India, where the
demographic skews young, must include comprehensive education for all. Union minister NITIN GADKARI
However, India spends only 2.8% of its GDP on education, well below the warned the politicians who inveigle
world’s average of 4.8% (2015). India is also doing worse in international people into voting for them by
assessments than its South Asian neighbours and fellow BRICS nations. spinning tales of a glorious, if
illusory, future, to watch out. Those
same voters, he said, will turn
596 4.8% 28.1%

aggressive when those promises
prove false. Surely he couldn’t
mean Prime Minister Narendra
of India’s 640 districts girls (ages 15 to 16) out class III children can
Modi. After all, Gadkari is rumoured
(as listed in Census of school in WB, down do basic arithmetic
2011), 17,730 villages from 24.9% in 2006. (subtraction). Up
to be the RSS’s preference for the
visited by ASER 2018 Bihar 9.8% (28.2%). from 2014 (25.3%), top job, should the BJP’s majority
researchers. 546,527 But MP 26.8% (23.4%), but lower than 2008 drop in the general election. Or,
children (ages 3-16) Gujarat 24.9% (27.3%), (38.8%). Only 27.2% as the BJP insists, could he have
tested from 354,944 UP 22.2% (25.6%) can read at the been referring only to the Congress
households don’t fare as well appropriate level and Rahul Gandhi, with whom
Gadkari was seen engrossed in a
conversation at the Republic Day
96%
overall enrolment
72.8% parade? Recently, Gadkari called
on the BJP’s leadership to face the
of class VIII students flaws exposed by the defeats in a
of children (ages read at a class II level. series of assembly elections. He
6-14). Attendance Down from 2008 also spoke admiringly of Jawaharlal
(random day): >85% (84.8%) and 2014 Nehru and Indira Gandhi. Bona fide
Gujarat, Maharashtra, (74.6%). So, enrolment
Karnataka, Tamil evidence, in the current political
targets are being
Nadu. <60% UP, West met, but quality of climate, of conspiracy!
Bengal, Manipur, education is low
Bihar, MP
92,275
30.9%
children attend
single-teacher
government schools in
India, elementary and
private school in secondary, says Satya
2018, unchanged Pal Singh, HRD minister
since 2014 but up of state, in Parliament
from 18.7% in 2006 on January 7, 2019
13.5%
out of school girls (15-16)
66
on 100 on the British journal
10
years of schooling for
in 2018, down from 2006 The Lancet’s score for Indians on an average
(22.6%); 12.6% boys, down quality of education based on (2016 estimate by The
from 2006 (17.3%). 4.1% international tests. Pakistan Lancet). Compared
girls (11-14), down from (68); Bangladesh, Nepal (69); to 12 (Russia, South
RACHIT GOSWAMI
2006 (7.2%); 3.3% boys, Sri Lanka (75); Brazil (73), Africa, Brazil)
down from 2006 (5.5%) China (89), Russia (90) and 13 (China)

UPFRONT
POINT OF V IEW
Back to Basics
By Reetika Khera
I
t’s budget season in an election year. No contribution to old-age pensions has been stuck
wonder the idea of a ‘Universal Basic at Rs 200 per month since 2006! Similarly, in
Income’ (UBI), with its all-too-obvious the name of indexation, NREGA wages were
surface appeal, is getting a thorough raised by Re 1/day in Jharkhand in 2017.
airing: from Rahul Gandhi’s attention- There is, in fact, a workable alternative
grabbing announcement of a ‘minimum plan, recently sent up to finance minister
income support’ for the poor to Sikkim’s Arun Jaitley: to raise the central contribution
announcement a fortnight earlier that it would to social security pensions from the frozen-
become the ‘first state to roll out UBI’. in-time Rs 200 p.m. to Rs 500, along with
The two key principles of UBI are ‘universal’ universal maternity entitlements of Rs 6,000
coverage and an entitlement to a ‘basic income’, per child for women in the informal sector.
to enable dignified living in the absence of other That would account for most working women
earnings. For its votaries, a big part of its appeal as less than 10 per cent of the workforce
lies in the fact that UBI sidesteps the messy is in the formal sector, where maternity
and flawed process of identifying beneficiaries. entitlements are fairly generous. The plan has
The oxymoronic variants such as a ‘targeted the support of over 60 economists, proponents
universal basic income’ or the Congress’s of UBI included. Even if pensions were
‘minimum income support’ for the poor—walk universalised at Rs 1,000, it would still cost
right into the targeting trap UBI is supposed less than 1 per cent of GDP.
to avoid by making the cover ‘universal’. This The proposal is better than the so-called
tailoring is done to get around the vexed UBI on several counts: one, it is a financially
question of affordability. Any amount that viable universal transfer. The target group—
might even vaguely qualify as ‘basic income’ all elderly, single women (including widows),
would be unaffordable on a universal scale persons with disabilities and pregnant
because it would be next to impossible to create women—is well identified. Besides being
the necessary fiscal elbow room. affordable, it steers clear of the flawed and
One such proposal is former Chief fraught task of identifying beneficiaries.
Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian’s Pensioners and young mothers are among the
‘Quasi Universal Basic Rural Income’. At most vulnerable demographic groups. And
Rs 1,500 per month per family, for 75 per cent the proposal scales up without displacing any
of the rural population—requiring an outlay existing form of support. Other UBI proposals
of 1.3 per cent of GDP—it’s neither universal, require either ‘restructuring’ or discontinuing
nor basic. Economist Vijay R. Joshi’s proposal ‘non-merit’ subsidies. Incidentally, the
of Rs 3,500 per person per year (at 2014-15 government’s Pradhan Mantri Matrutva
By proposing prices) would cost more (3.5 per cent of GDP) Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) violates the
and still fail to guarantee a basic income. Both provisions of the National Food Security Act
to ‘target’
proposals require creation of fiscal space: say, (NFSA) 2013, which mandated Rs 6,000 per
beneficiaries, by winding down the fertiliser subsidy or crop child; the PMMVY has cut this entitlement to
the proposed insurance etc. Rs 5,000 for the first child only.
variants of Besides its unaffordability, UBI faces Rahul Gandhi’s announcement is welcome
a Universal the question of equity: should I get the same only to the extent that it is the first substantive
Basic Income amount as, say, a rural widow? And if indeed proposal ahead of the upcoming elections.
become fiscal room can be created, aren’t there arguably What is urgently needed, though, is to fix the
oxymorons, better uses for it—directing it towards primary existing social security pensions, maternity
healthcare, for example? Another serious entitlements, NREGA wages etc. That would be
and they
concern is that inflation can erode the value of to put money where their mouth is. ■
are hard to the transfer. And the experience with inflation-
implement indexing, the obvious workaround, has been Reetika Khera is a development economist
disappointing. For instance, the central based in IIM Ahmedabad
Illustration by TANMOY CHAKRABORTY

STATES
MAHARASHTRA: WEST BENGAL:
SENA PLAYS ENEMY AT THE
HARDBALL PG 1 4 GATES PG 1 6
ANDHRA PRADESH: TELANGANA:

NAIDU TO GO IT CABINET IN
ALONE PG 1 9 WAITING PG 20
SONU KISHAN
ALL FOR ONE... Bihar

Congress in-charge Shakti
Sinh Goyil (centre), state
president Madan Mohan Jha
(second from right) in Patna
adaquat Ashram, the Congress
S
BIHAR
headquarters in Patna, is buzz-
ing with activity. State leaders
SIGNS OF led by Pradesh Congress chief

Madan Mohan Jha are preparing for Ra-
hul Gandhi’s Jan Akanksha rally (rally for
people’s hopes) on February 3, the Con-
A REVIVAL
For the first time in decades, the Congress
gress’s first ‘stand-alone’ public meeting
in Patna in years. Ninety-five ‘observers’
have fanned out to Bihar’s 38 districts to
bring people to the event.
“Rahul has laid bare the NDA, and
looks upbeat in the state
Narendra Modi has been exposed for
failing to deliver on his big promises.
By Amitabh Srivastava Radicalism has trumped the prime
minister’s promised vikas,” says Chandan
12 INDIA TODAY F E BRUA RY 1 1 , 2 019 PATNA

Yadav, AICC secretary in-charge of they are working overtime to make the
Chhattisgarh, who is helping out with Rahul rally a talking point in the state.
the preparations in Patna. If successful, they believe the Congress
The mood in the Bihar Congress can win back the upper-caste vote
has been upbeat since December bank it has lost to the BJP. Until 1990,
when the party snatched three the Congress also had the largest share
‘heartland’ states from the BJP. “And of Dalit and Muslim votes. Although
now, we also have Priyanka Gandhi. the Congress has shared an amicable
Her formal entry into politics will alliance with the RJD, the party is
have a spillover effect in Bihar,” says now evidently looking to reclaim lost
a senior Congress leader. “This is like political ground. Jha’s appointment
a booster dose for the party after the last September, the first Brahmin to
assembly election victories.” head the Bihar unit since Jagannath
The party suddenly has more Mishra in 1991, is widely seen as the
takers in the state too. Former JD(U) start of the Congress’s big push.
bahubali (strongman) Anant Singh Though the upper castes make up
is among the several ticket aspirants only 11-12 per cent of the population
for the coming Lok Sabha poll. “Ir- in Bihar, they can swing elections,
respective of whether they (Congress) given the division of other caste votes
give me a ticket or not, I will back the
Congress. And I will win,” he says.
Another equally notorious bahubali, WINNING BACK THE
Rajesh Ranjan aka Pappu Yadav, also
wants the Congress to back his candi- UPPER-CASTE VOTE
dature from Madhepura. His wife
Ranjeeta Ranjan is a sitting Congress
WILL BE KEY TO
MP from Supaul. A senior Congress THE CONGRESS’S
leader points to the rush for tickets
as proof of the traction the party now SUCCESS IN BIHAR
has in Bihar. And it’s not just the
strongmen, estranged BJP leaders
such as Shatrughan Sinha too are said
to be eyeing Congress tickets here. among the RJD, JD(U), LJP, Up-
But the problem for the Congress endra Kushwaha’s RLSP and other
is that the party is quite low in the ‘po- smaller parties. Congress leaders
litical pecking order’. The party needs contend this is what prompted the
Lalu Prasad Yadav’s RJD to make any BJP’s last-minute 10 per cent quota
impact. Consider this: for successive sop for the economically weak among
elections, including Lok Sabha 2014, the upper castes.
when the BJP-led NDA won 31 of the The first signs of the upper castes’
40 seats in the state, the RJD’s vote disenchantment with the BJP were
share has hovered around 18 per cent. visible in the 2015 assembly poll,
Together, the RJD and Congress have when the Congress won 27 seats. As
a sizeable 29 per cent vote share, but it many as 12 of the 16 upper-caste can-
is still below the combined 2014 votes didates fielded by the party won.
polled by Nitish Kumar’s JD(U), Ram This time, the Congress is looking
Vilas Paswan’s LJP and the BJP. for a bigger comeback in the company
Congress leaders, however, say of old allies and some new ones like the
this calculation has too many im- RLSP, Jitan Ram Manjhi’s HAM and
ponderables. “The BJP is unlikely to Mukesh Sahni’s VIP party. Rahul’s
catch a second ‘Modi wave’, in Bihar Jan Akanksha rally will offer some
or anywhere else,” says a state leader. clues to the puzzle of the party’s future
So enthused are partymen that in the state.
STATES
KUNAL PATIL/GETTY IMAGES

WILL THEY, WON’T THEY?
Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis
with Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray
second most important state in terms

of the number of Lok Sabha seats,
Maharashtra will be important for the
BJP to retain power in Delhi.
At a function in Nashik last
month, Maharashtra water resources
minister Girish Mahajan had bluntly
told Thackeray that without an alli-
ance, the Shiv Sena will win only four
seats in the election. A Shiv Sena MP
said that almost all Shiv Sena MPs
have told Thackeray that he will face a
tough time if the BJP is not on board.
Maharashtra revenue minister
M A H A R ASHTR A Chandrakant Patil, a BJP negotiator,
said there was no possibility of the Lok
Sena Plays Hardball

Sabha and state assembly polls being
held simultaneously, but they have
been asked to start reaching out to
people in their various constituencies.
Sensing the BJP’s desperation to re-stitch a poll alliance, Fadnavis has asked the cadre to re-
Uddhav ups the ante and demands equal share in power mind the masses of the government’s
achievements. Addressing the BJP
By Kiran D. Tare office-bearers in Jalna on January 28,
he said that the party wanted an alli-
ance with the Shiv Sena to strengthen
hiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray Ratnagiri district in view of the Shiv the Hindutva cause and to prevent the
S is playing his cards close to his

chest when it comes to a possible
pre-poll alliance with the Bharatiya
Sena’s objections. Fadnavis has also
given his nod to a proposal by Aditya
Thackeray, Shiv Sena youth wing chief
parties who have looted the country in
the past from coming to power, but it
does not mean that “we are helpless”.
Janata Party (BJP). While a desper- and Uddhav Thackeray’s son, to revive “We will take you on board if you wish
ate BJP has appealed to the Shiv Sena Mumbai’s nightlife. These steps have or we will march alone,” he said in a
to join hands for the Hindutva cause, been taken to pacify the tiger, who has message to Thackeray.
Thackeray has his eye on something felt slighted by the BJP. Thackeray told Shiv Sena MPs on
else. If sources are to be believed, he A source in the BJP says the party January 28 that he has not junked
will agree to an alliance if the BJP of- will not be able to win 23 of the state’s the idea of an alliance, but the BJP
fers the Sena a 50 per cent share of the 48 Lok Sabha seats again and would go needs to present a “respectable pro-
chief minister’s term in the office. below 20 in the absence of an alliance. posal”. According to a Shiv Sena MP,
The BJP, meanwhile, has been try- Shiv Sena too will come down to around Thackeray will not accept anything
ing to woo Thackeray in various ways. five seats from its present 18. Being the that is humiliating for party workers.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, on “We are hurt. I would like Narendra
January 23, handed over 2.5 acres of Modi to deal with us as he used to do
prime land in Mumbai’s iconic Shivaji
Park for a proposed memorial dedi-
SHIV SENA IS WAITING before he became the prime minister,”
Thackeray said.
cated to Thackeray’s father and Shiv FOR A “RESPECTABLE Sources say that BJP chief Amit
Sena founder Bal Thackeray, along Shah will speak to Thackeray about
with a fund of Rs 100 crore allotted for
PROPOSAL” FROM THE the alliance if he sends his represen-
the same. Earlier, Fadnavis had stayed BJP BEFORE AGREEING tative at the National Democratic
the land acquisition for a controver- Alliance rally to be held on February
sial chemical refinery proposed in TO AN ALLIANCE 3 in Patna.

STATES
SAMIR JANA/GETTY IMAGES
SAFFRON SURGE
Amit Shah with BJP leaders
at the Jan. 22 rally in Malda
W EST BENGA L
ENEMY AT THE GATES

Shah’s rally on January 29 in the
paddy fields of a BJP supporter at Kan-
thi, East Midnapore, faced uncertainty
the night before as the TMC allegedly
Led by PM Modi and Amit Shah, the BJP plans a blitzkrieg forced the owners of adjacent fields to
on Mamata’s turf to face the mahagathbandhan head on go to the district police demanding that
the crowd should not spill over to their
By Romita Datta land. On January 23, Union minister
Smriti Irani had to cancel her rally at
Suri in Birbhum since the Mamata
government sat on the request to allow
he united opposition, hosted by where Mamata and others had vowed her helicopter to land on a government
T a beaming Mamata Banerjee

at Kolkata’s Brigade Parade
Ground on January 19, was dismissed
to end the BJP’s ‘tyranny’.
From all accounts, the BJP is
planning a point-by-point rebuttal of
helipad. Irani had to land at the Ka-
laikunda air force base, an hour’s drive
from the first rally venue at Jhargram.
by Prime Minister Narendra Modi the all that the opposition leaders threw The resultant delays made her miss the
same afternoon as corruption-tainted at the party and Modi. Hurdles along second rally at Suri.
leaders ganging up to save themselves. the way are being taken in stride. Like The BJP sees a pattern in all this.
Now, the BJP intends to sharpen its the unavailability of the venue chosen “The government used the same dirty
attack on the prospective mahagath- for Modi’s February 2 rally at Thakur- tactics for Amit Shah’s rally on Janu-
bandhan with a series of rallies by nagar in North 24 Parganas—due to a ary 22,” says Dilip Ghosh, the party’s
Modi and party chief Amit Shah across pre-booking by the Trinamool Con- state president. Shah gave it back by
West Bengal, to be rounded off with a gress (TMC). The BJP perforce shifted vowing to fight every inch to uproot
mega show in April at the very venue its programme to an alternative site. the TMC from Bengal. “If they don’t

allow the helicopter to land, I will ad-
dress people from the chopper. If they
MAMATA HAS TOLD ably no mention of who would lead
the mahagathbandhan if it succeeded
don’t allow the [save democracy] rath TMC LEADERS TO in toppling the saffron alliance at the
[yatra], we will take out processions, Centre. While Mamata had emphasised
walk on foot, but we will challenge
HOLD COUNTER- the importance of collective leadership,
them,” he said at the rally. RALLIES AGAINST Shah responded with sarcasm at his
Expect more such ultimatums and January 22 rally: “This is an alliance for
war cries as BJP heavyweights, includ- THE BJP IN THEIR the lust of power. Recently, Mamataji
ing Rajnath Singh, Yogi Adityanath CONSTITUENCIES brought a handful of leaders to the
and Shivraj Singh Chouhan, get set Brigade Parade Ground. Of the 23, nine
to address over 100 rallies across 32 want to be prime minister,” he said.
Lok Sabha seats in the state in the next The alliance is grappling with
two months. In all, the party plans to TMC leaders to camp in their respective fresh challenges. On January 28,
hold more than 300 rallies in the run- constituencies and hold counter-rallies the Congress’s Malda (North) MP
up to the Lok Sabha election. “Modi against the BJP. “Make sure to retaliate Mausam Benazir Noor joined the
will focus on how such opportunistic against them (BJP) wherever they come TMC in the presence of Mamata.
coalitions in the past resulted in the down to spread lies,” she said. “Mamata talks of a grand alliance on
collapse of governments and frequent The January 19 rally hosted by the one hand and poaches our leaders
elections,” said BJP state vice-presi- Mamata was a rare coming together of on the other,” said a Congress MP from
dent Jayaprakash Majumdar. over two dozen opposition leaders from north Bengal on condition of anonym-
With Shah setting a target of at least various parties and ideological hues, ity. These are chinks in the opposi-
22 Lok Sabha seats in 2019, Mamata’s but the ‘glue’ cementing them was Modi tion’s armour that Modi and Shah will
turf war with the BJP is intensifying and his party. While they all espoused surely exploit as they crisscross Bengal
by the day. She has already instructed a common cause, there was predict- in the coming weeks.
STATES
C H H AT T I S G A R H
Baghel on the Scent of a Scam R AIPUR
The probe into the alleged irregularities in Raman Singh’s tenure intensifies
By Rahul Noronha
resh investigations ordered by
F the new Congress state govern-

ment into decisions taken under
the previous BJP regime have kicked
up a political storm and pitted arch
rivals, chief minister Bhupesh Baghel
and his predecessor Raman Singh,
against each other. Vigilance agencies
have been asked to re-examine certain
aspects of the ongoing investigation
into the Chhattisgarh State Civil
VINAY SHARMA
Supplies Corporation scam and to

probe irregularities in e-tendering and
various purchases made by the previ-
ous government. The distribution of ON THE OFFENSIVE
free mobile phones under the Sanchar Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel
Kranti Yojana, ostensibly aimed at
increasing mobile penetration in the
state, is also under the scanner. tion’s managing director. The Congress Former chief minister Raman
The Rs 36,000 crore civil supplies claimed that a diary read ‘CM Madam’, Singh has challenged the government
scam allegedly involved pay-offs by but it was not investigated. Gupta had to prove his complicity in the scam.
traders to corporation officers and claimed the entry referred to the wife of “The (new) government is being run by
employees in return for the govern- a corporation employee. one individual. Let them investigate
ment purchasing substandard rice for After the assembly election, Tuteja all matters, but they will not be able to
the public distribution system (PDS). wrote to Baghel that the ACB had not find anything against me,” Singh said
During the 2018 assembly election investigated matters thoroughly and on January 22.
campaign, Baghel had promised to demanded a fresh probe. Citing the let- In the e-tendering scam, the govern-
get the investigation completed. After ter, the chief minister set up the SIT. ment has asked the economic offences
taking over, he appointed a 12-member “The SIT is ensuring that all as- wing to register an FIR. A Comptroller
special investigation team (SIT) and pects of the investigation are covered. and Auditor General (CAG) report had
moved out Mukesh Gupta, the director How can some names mentioned in the pointed out that bids for tenders worth
general of the Anti-Corruption Bureau diary be probed while other references Rs 4,601 crore announced by the Singh
(ACB) that was investigating the scam. are left out?” Baghel told INDIA TODAY. government were placed using the same
The ACB had searched the premises computers through which the tenders
of corporation officials in February were floated. This raised the suspicion
2015 and found more than Rs 3 crore RAMAN SINGH that the departments unveiling the ten-
in cash. Cases were filed against 18 offi- ders were in cahoots with the bidders.
cials, including IAS officers Alok Shuk- HAS DARED THE Even as the investigations gather
la and Anil Tuteja. Eventually, charge- GOVERNMENT TO pace, Baghel, it seems, has more sur-
sheets were filed against 15 officials. At prises up his sleeve. “I have just dusted
the core of the investigation is a diary INVESTIGATE: “THEY a few files and there is an uproar. There
recovered from Girish Sharma, the per-
sonal assistant to Tuteja, the corpora-
WILL FIND NOTHING” are many more to come,” he said in
Raipur on January 25.

STATES
AMAR AVATI
A N DH R A PR A DE SH
Standing
Alone
Tom-tomming welfare schemes,
development projects and an
NTR biopic, Naidu prepares to
face the elections alone
By Amarnath K. Menon WAR CRY Naidu addressing the Jayho rally on January 27
howering benefits on back- ‘Sunrise Andhra Pradesh’. His rivals, per cent reservation for Kapus out of
S ward classes and projecting

himself as the sole inheritor of
the NTR legacy, Nara Chan-
drababu Naidu is pulling out all the
stops to retain power in his state. After
on the other hand, say that invoking
the legacy of the famously anti-Con-
gress NTR, may boomerang and the
intention behind such a move is only
to elevate Naidu’s son Nara Lokesh in
the 10 per cent quota for the economi-
cally weaker sections provided by the
Centre. This is to woo sections of the
Kapus, who may support Pawan Kaly-
an’s Jana Sena. The Jana Sena and the
his Telugu Desam Party’s alliance with the party. BJP were the TDP’s allies in 2014. This
the Congress failed to deliver in the Coinciding with the release of NTR’s will be the first time that the TDP will
recent Telangana election, his party biopic, Naidu unveiled a pylon marking face an election without a poll ally. The
plans to go it alone in the simultane- the construction of a five million tonne YSRC, the Congress and the BJP will
ous polls to the 175 assembly seats and capacity paper mill at Ravuru. Foreign also go it alone. The main fight, how-
25 Lok Sabha seats in the state. Naidu direct investment of Rs 24,500 crore for ever, will be between the TDP and the
is looking at it in the larger context of the project is said to be the biggest sum YSRC. But much of Naidu’s campaign
“saving the nation from the BJP”. for any such project in India. He also is directed against Prime Minister
As his co-brother Daggubati Ven- laid the foundation stone for the Ra- Narendra Modi for not granting special
kateswara Rao decided to support the mayapatnam port, the 15th in the state. category status to Andhra. Modi, on
rival YSR Congress, Naidu was back to Naidu is to make fresh announcements his part, has mocked Naidu for pushing
harking on the glory of his father-in- of what his government is to offer to dif- the state into the ‘sunset’ to see his ‘son
law and TDP founder N.T. Rama Rao. ferent sections, unmindful of its impact rise’. Calling NTR a ‘true icon of Telugu
On January 27, a book by two retired on the state’s finances. He has already pride’, Modi has said, “his son-in-law
civil servants was released, a fortnight announced the doubling of old-age pen- (Naidu) has bowed his head before the
after the first part of a biopic—NTR: sions from Rs 1,000 and a grant of Rs Congress to save his chair”. Countering
Kathanayakudu—hit the screens. The 10,000 to women’s self-help groups. this, Naidu has said, “Modi is afraid
second part, NTR: Mahanayakudu, On January 22, he announced five that Andhra Pradesh will surpass
will be released soon. NTR’s son N. Bal- Gujarat in development.”
akrishna, who plays his father, has fi- Analysts, however, say that a zeal for
nanced the film. However, the response THOUGH HIS MAIN development may not be enough. Cha-
at the box office has been tepid so far. lasani Srinivas, president of the Andhra
Analysts say Naidu needs all the RIVAL IS THE YSRC, Pradesh Intellectuals Forum, says, “The
gimmicks he can find to fight the NTR charisma is a help, but unless
NDA, which he accuses of “betraying
NAIDU’S CAMPAIGN Naidu changes his priorities—from
the state”. The chief minister is also IS DIRECTED brainstorming sessions to understand-
banking on the impact of the schemes ing the common man’s problems, it will
initiated by him to build what he calls
AGAINST MODI be difficult for him to come back.”
STATES
TEL A NGA NA
The Long Wait Lengthens

Almost two months after re-election, KCR has yet to announce his cabinet
HYDER ABAD
By Amarnath K. Menon
a vote-on-account budget, and go for a

full-fledged one after a new government
assumes office at the Centre. As per the
CM’s calculations, the state government
would have about Rs 8.9 lakh crore left
over after debt servicing, half of which
would be spent on development.
KCR also promised to fulfil all
“promises made in the TRS election
manifesto, along with those initiated in
the first term”. But, for the moment, he
is pursuing a bureaucracy-driven gov-
ernment. He has had officials work to
reorganise and cut the 33 government
departments down for ensuring their
effective functioning. The administra-
tion is also gearing up to fill up 15,000
vacancies by March-end, with 95 per
cent of the new jobs going to ‘locals’.
Party insiders first said the much-
awaited cabinet expansion is likely
after the Sahasra Chandi Yagam, a
five-day religious ritual at his farm-
A HIGHER LOGIC KCR at the ‘sahasra chandi’ yagam at his farmhouse
house in Erravelli, which concluded on
January 25. The speculated new D-Day
. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) is a ime. We do not want to shoot arrows in is February 10, Vasanta Panchami day.
K superstitious man, which is why

he allegedly delayed the swearing-
in of new MLAs for more than a month
the dark, but take firm steps,” the chief
minister had declared during his first
The delay in installing a full-
fledged government has predictably
policy speech after the four-day inaugu- drawn criticism from the opposition.
after the assembly election results were ral assembly session on December 20. Congress party spokesperson Dasoju
declared on December 11. The Telan- KCR says his first priority is to bring Sravan has written to governor E.S.L.
gana chief minister is also yet to name irrigation to 12.5 million acres within Narasimhan, alleging the TRS had vio-
his cabinet, and is currently running the the next three years and link lated constitutional norms
government with just one minister— Telangana’s 12,700 villages by not having the minimum
1
home minister M. Mahmood Ali. Ap- with black-topped roads prescribed number of min-
parently the wait is for an “inauspicious that “shine like mirrors”. isters in the cabinet. But
period” to blow over. That said, despite He expects to spend Rs 10 KCR remains unfazed.
the Telangana Rashtra Samithi’s (TRS) lakh crore over the com- Analysts say it is the
commanding position—it won 88 of the ing five years, and possibly MINISTER CM’s way of establishing
120 assembly seats—KCR’s ‘managers’ an additional “Rs 1.5 lakh KCR has allotted supremacy within the party
are still out wooing legislators of the crore if there is a favourable only one portfolio so and government. And it’s
decimated opposition. government [in Delhi] far—M. Mahmood Ali working. There hasn’t been
“My government is passing through after the Lok Sabha poll”. To mans the home dept a peep from anyone within
a transition, from an old to a new reg- that end, he plans to present the TRS fold yet.

C O V E R S T O R Y: C O N G R E S S
THE
POWER OF
PRIYANKA
With the Congress revealing its new trump card in Uttar
Pradesh, the party’s political adversaries must recalibrate
their electoral calculations for the summer of 2019
By Kaushik Deka
I n the late summer of 1999, a

27-year-old Priyanka Gandhi was
in Amethi to campaign for her
mother and then Congress president
Sonia Gandhi who was contesting her
first Lok Sabha election. During a media
but also suddenly changed the elector-
al landscape of 2019. UP, which often
determines who forms the government
in Delhi, is likely to see a three-cornered
contest with the Priyanka-led Congress
emerging as the third force besides the
HERE COMES THE
NEW MRS G
Ô Her entry has energised a listless
interaction, a reporter asked Priyanka BJP and the Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Congress organisation in UP
what she thought of the opposition attack Samaj Party alliance. “She is a game-
on her mother’s foreign origins. Reaching changer,” says former Union minister Ô Her public speaking skills,
out to the journalist, Priyanka extended Jitin Prasada. “There is a visible resur- connect with workers and voters
her hand and asked: “Do you think I have gence among Congress workers.” The and striking resemblance to grand-
foreign blood in my veins?” mood in the party is certainly upbeat, mother Indira Gandhi are draws
That was perhaps the first sign of the with many even demanding that she con-
politically savvy mind the Congress is test the general election from Varanasi, Ô Has to wean upper-caste votes—
relying on two decades later to revive its directly challenging Prime Minister particularly Brahmin—from the BJP,
fortunes in Uttar Pradesh, the state that Narendra Modi in his own constituency. woo non-Jatav Dalits and
sends 80 members to the 543-strong The unprecedented enthusiasm of non-Yadav OBCs
Lok Sabha—more than any other state. Congress workers for Priyanka, who till
In 2014, the Congress took just two seats now has remained untested in electo- Ô Is in-charge of Brahmin-dom ina-
in UP, both won by the members of the ral politics, is not entirely misplaced. In ted eastern UP, where the Congress
Nehru-Gandhi family—Sonia in Rae 1999, Arun Nehru—Rajiv Gandhi’s cou- has traditionally fared better; can
Bareli and Rahul in Amethi. sin and also a member of his cabinet— challenge Modi-Yogi directly
Priyanka’s entry into formal poli- contested the general election against
tics—as eastern UP in-charge (see Sonia on a BJP ticket, following a bit- Ô Will appeal to youth and women
map)—has not only breathed new life ter parting with the Congress. Priyanka
into the moribund Congress in the state, addressed just one meeting, telling the
22 INDIA TODAY F E BRUA RY 1 1 , 2 019 MANEESH AGNIHOTRI

SOFT POWER
At Dharai village
in Rae Bareli in
October 2013
crowd with electrifying effect: “How did

you let a man who committed treachery
with my family in this area? Someone
who, despite being in the Congress, joi-
ned hands with communal forces and
stabbed his brother in the back?” It was
the end of Arun Nehru’s political career.
Two decades later, it will be a bap-
tism by fire for Priyanka. As in-charge of
UP East, she’ll be challenging the combi-
ned might of Prime Minister Modi and
UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath,
whose bastion Gorakhpur also falls in
eastern UP. There is a reason why Pri-
yanka—a graduate in psychology from
Delhi’s Jesus & Mary College—has been
given charge of this region just 100 days
before the election. Eastern UP, broadly
consisting of Awadh, Purvanchal and
MANEESH AGNIHOTRI
Lower Doab, has 40 Lok Sabha seats. In

2009, when the Congress won 21 seats,
its highest tally since 1984, 18 came
from this region. Even at its weakest in
2014, the party had a 17.8 per cent vote
share in Awadh.
The region also has a large upper-
caste population—mainly Brahmins—a
vote base the Congress is hoping to sna-
tch from the BJP with Priyanka’s appeal. WHY UP MATTERS
There will be an effort to highlight her
Hindu identity to attract the vote of the FOR THE CONGRESS
Brahmin community, which forms 13
per cent of the population and is report-
edly unhappy with the BJP for various
reasons—from the Modi government’s 404 The party could never recover from its massive
decision to overturn the Supreme Court slide in the 1989 Lok Sabha election
verdict diluting the provisions in the
Seats won across India
SC/ST Act to the growing influence of
Seats won in UP (vote share)
the Thakurs in the Yogi administration.
Priyanka is likely to flag off her politi-
232
cal innings on February 4, after taking
197
a holy dip in the Ganga at the Kumbh 206
Mela along with brother Rahul. “These
upper-caste voters are unhappy with the 140 141 145
saffron party but may not be willing to 83 114
support the SP-BSP alliance, primarily (51%)
a combination of backward and Dalit 15
votes,” says a Congress Rajya Sabha MP. 5 5 10 9 21
(32%) 0 44
Backward classes make up nearly 40 (18%) (18%) (6%) (15%) (12%) (18%)
per cent of UP’s population while Dalits 2
account for 22 per cent. (7.5%)
An analysis by CSDS (Centre for
the Study of Developing Societies) of its 1984* 1989 1991 1996 1998 1999 2004 2009 2014
election data shows that the Congress’s
*Total seats: 85

BATTLEGROUND THE
UTTAR PRADESH PRIYANKA
FILE
Rae Bareli
DATE OF BIRTH: January 12, 1972
Gorakhpur
EDUCATION: Studied at Modern
School, Barakhamba Road, New
Delhi till the assassination of her
grandmother Indira Gandhi, after
which she and Rahul were home
tutored. Graduated in Psychology
from Jesus and Mary College, DU
Amethi MARRIED: Childhood friend
East UP
West UP Varanasi Robert Vadra (now 50), on February
18, 1997, in a Hindu ceremony
RESIDENCE: Stays at 35, Lodhi

Estate, Delhi. and has two chil-
dren—son Raihan (18) and daughter
Miraya (16). Priyanka also has a
house at Chharabra, 14 km from
Shimla. The 3.5 bigha plot is located
SIBLING REVELRY
at a height of more than 8,000 feet
En route to filing Rahul’s
nomination from Amethi in 2014 EARLY INFLUENCES: As a teen,
was influenced by her grandmother
and wanted to become a politician.
superlative performance in 2009 was a for its crackdown on slaughterhouses, Has taken her three decades to
take the plunge. Has always been
result of the vote share it gained since as government-run ones have failed
political counsellor to mother Sonia
the 2007 state election among the to tackle the increasing number of
and brother Rahul and looks after
Kurmis, other upper castes, Brahmins, unproductive cows, not only adding to
their constituencies. Undertook her
Muslims, non-Jatav SCs and Jats. In the farmers’ financial burden but also
first political campaign in 1997, at
2014, the Congress lost upper-caste resulting in destruction of their crops.
age 27, for her mother
and Kurmi votes to the BJP and Muslim Caste calculations apart, Priyanka,
votes to the SP. But it remained the at 47, will also have a direct appeal PRIVATE MOMENT: Regularly vis-
second choice for Brahmins and non- among youth and women. In the 2014 its one room in the Nehru Memorial
Thakur upper-castes. Now, Priyanka election, the BJP benefitted a great deal Museum and Library, where the
needs to win back the support of the from the support of young voters—51 clothes, shoes and other items her
Kurmis, Brahmins and non-Thakur per cent voters in the 18-22 age group father used are kept, and cleans
upper castes. voted for the party. The importance of them. In the one hour she spends in
the women’s vote is also evident from that room, nobody is allowed inside
hile traders and busi- the fact that in the past two assembly
W
FORGIVING SOUL: Visited Vellore
nessmen played a key elections the female turnout has been jail on March 19, 2008, to meet
role in the BJP’s 2014 higher than the male turnout. Nalini Sriharan, arrested in 1991 for
and 2017 successes, Despite the enthusiasm among her role in Rajiv’s assassination.
many of them are unhappy with the Congress workers, Rahul is not too “It was my way of coming to peace
party because of demonetisation and hopeful of a significant electoral divi- with the violence and loss I’ve
the rollout of the Goods and Services dend in the coming election. That’s experienced,” she later said
Tax (GST). The disconnect with farm- the reason why he keeps insisting that
RELIGIOUS INCLINATION:
ers is another factor the Congress hopes Priyanka’s appointment is not a short-
Believes in Buddhist philosophy and
to exploit, with Rahul making the agra- term strategy but the beginning of a
practices Vipassana
rian crisis one of the core themes of his grand revival plan that will be tested in
poll campaign against the Modi gov- the 2022 UP election. The timing of her DOTING MUM: Never misses her
ernment. UP farmers are particularly entry—a month after the Congress won children’s PTAs. Loves making
unhappy with the Yogi government the assembly elections in three heartland cupcakes for them
states—was a carefully planned one. effective campaign in UP, the party need-
Without a victory, Priyanka’s entry ed a strong leader. Priyanka fit the bill
would have been seen as evidence of perfectly. What sets her apart from the
Rahul’s weakness. Instead, the Congress other members of her family is that she
president has now won three elections, doesn’t carry the baggage of the past and
engages on social media far more than can reach out to even those with whom
Modi, who has a larger following, and his the family has fallen out. Also, unlike
criticism of the Rafale deal has generated Rahul, she keeps in touch with most
some traction, as indicated by the INDIA leaders through SMS or on the phone.
TODAY Mood of the Nation poll. Now the “In UP, she kept in touch with even
Nehru-Gandhi family has the perfect those leaders who did not have a good
opportunity to launch a third member rapport with Sonia and Rahul, and got
into the organisational structure of the them on board,” says a Congress general
party from a position of strength. secretary. She had no qualms in admit-
T
ting that her excellent Hindi diction
hough the January 23 and vocabulary are a result of personal
announcement merely for- tutoring by Teji Bachchan, mother of the
malised Priyanka’s role in superstar Amitabh Bachchan (before the
SUBHANKAR CHAKRABORTY/GETT Y IMAGES

the party, she had always latter’s mysterious falling out with the
remained the political counsellor to her family). In 2013, her son Raihan lit the
mother and brother. Her public par- funeral pyre of Arun Nehru, whom she’d
ticipation in politics remained limited dubbed a traitor in 1999. Insiders say her
to the family boroughs of Amethi and Buddhist leanings and Vipassana prac-
Rae Bareli, but she has been involved— tice have helped her evolve not only as
directly or indirectly—in several major an individual but also as a politician who
Congress decisions. In December always keeps the larger picture in mind.
2018, she was part of several closed- What makes Priyanka a formidable
door meetings to help Rahul decide force is her instant and natural connect
the chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh, with the masses—a quality she arguably
Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. Earlier, in shares with Modi. She reminds many
2017, it was Priyanka who finally swung Congress supporters of her grandmother
the Congress-SP alliance for the UP both for her charisma and the stunning
assembly poll. “She knows how to con- likeness—something they hope to cash CONGRESSMEN
nect with different individuals and irre- in on to counter Modi. Priyanka also HOPE
spective of their stature and priorities
present a convincing scenario to each
speaks fluent Hindi, often laced with
Awadhi inflections.
PRIYANKA’S
one of them,” says a political strategist. She is constantly compared to her ENTRY WILL
On her effective management of pro- brother Rahul but most analysts feel she MAKE THE
tocol details, a senior Congress leader
says: “She never summons any leader,
is the more natural and outgoing of the
two. However, Priyanka has always been
SP-BSP
big or small, to her home. She either careful not to upstage Rahul in public RECONSIDER A
drives down herself or meets them at life and is more than willing to share COALITION WITH
the residence of her brother or mother.” her grandmother’s legacy with him. MORE SEATS FOR
The Priyanka card was also necessita-
ted by the Congress decision to go solo
“His understanding of politics is really
very good—much better than he is given
THE PARTY
in UP. Many grassroots Congress lead- credit for. And that I think comes from
ers had told Rahul that playing junior my grandmother,” she has said.
partner with 10 Lok Sabha seats in the A natural understanding of politics
SP-BSP alliance would be fatal for the may be one of the many advantages of
party. That’s why the Congress stayed being born to an illustrious political fam-
away from the alliance even as Rahul ily, but Priyanka’s dynast status will also
continued to pitch for a united opposi- be a tool in the hands of the BJP to pit her
tion against the Narendra Modi-led privileged background against the hum-
BJP in 2019 nationally. But to lead an ble origins of its two mascots in UP—PM

WILL PRIYANKA
HURT BUA AND
BHATIJA?
Ô The SP worries she’ll take
away Muslim votes, but
believes the Congress will
damage the BJP more
Ô If she pulls in non-Jatav Dalit

votes, which had moved to
the BJP, she’ll indirectly help
the BSP
Ô May also help the SP-BSP by

wooing non-Yadav OBCs such
as Kurmis away from the BJP
Ô Her entry may prompt the

SP-BSP to rejig the poll
alliance, though Mayawati is
yet to relent
Ô Party insiders say leaders of

the three parties are likely to
informally agree on constituen-
JOINT MISSION cy-wise assessment to put up
Akhilesh greets
friendly fights, wherever need-
Mayawati on her
ed, to minimise damage
birthday on January 15
this year
Modi and CM Yogi. Social media is beautiful faces. He also pointed

already abuzz with digital campaign- out that she was the wife of Robert
ers snarking that in the Congress, the Vadra, “accused in several corrup-
family is the party while in the BJP, tion cases”. That baggage may indeed
the party is the family. weigh down Priyanka. Her busi-
T
nessman husband—a friend from
hough political rivals have schooldays whom Priyanka married
spared her personal attacks in a Hindu ceremony at her mother’s
so far, her formal entry into home on 10, Janpath, in 1997—faces
politics has opened the probes by the CBI and ED in near-
floodgates. BJP MP Subramanian ly two dozen cases related to land
Swamy was at his vicious best when acquisition and money laundering.
he announced, “She has a disorder of The couple, who stay at 35, Lodhi
bipolarity. She beats up people. Her Estate, Delhi, have a son (Raihan, 18)
ailment does not make her fit to lead and a daughter (Miraya, 16). Vadra’s
a public life. The public should know father Rajendra ran a brassware
when she is likely to lose mental export business in the west UP town
balance.” BJP leader Kailash Vijay- of Moradabad. Robert, his brother
vargiya said that the dearth of strong Richard and sister Michelle spent
leaders had made the Congress pull most of their childhood in Delhi,
out “chocolatey” faces. Bihar minis- where his mother Maureen taught
ter Vinod Narayan Jha said votes in a school. The family has seen hard
could not be won on the basis of times and personal tragedies, such as
THE SUPREMOS
The BJP’s aces in UP,
Modi, Yogi and
Amit Shah
SANJAY KANOJIA/GETTY IMAGES
when Michelle was killed in a road acci- from non-Yadav OBC groups, non-Jatav government posts are lying vacant as
dent in 2001, or when Richard commit- Dalits and farmers. One of the BJP’s poll the CM and the party apparatus cannot
ted suicide in 2003 or when Rajendra strategies will be a continuation of this agree on candidates. Yogi doesn’t know
was found hanging at a guesthouse in caste management. The party recognises the district level leaders well and spends
Delhi in 2009. The Congress has always the resentment among upper castes and more time in his home constituency,
maintained that the allegations against believes their announcement of 10 per Gorakhpur, than in the state capital
Vadra are a case of political vendetta by cent reservation for economically back- Lucknow. His supporters, on the other
the BJP. And that despite BJP govern- ward upper castes will alter the mood hand, claim that he is not getting enough
ments at the Centre and in several states, on the ground. The BJP also hopes to support from the party structure, which
they have been unable to prove a single coalesce all castes under a larger Hindu is virtually run by Sunil Bansal, the state
charge against Vadra in these five years. umbrella by raising the decibel level general secretary (organisation).
Going by her past record, however, it on the Ram temple issue. The RSS has BJP president Amit Shah has also
will be difficult to win against Priyanka been upping the ante on the issue since been planning to rope in members of the
in a political slugfest. She has shown her last year and has also been active on the old guard such as Rajasthan governor
ability to give as good as she gets. In 2014, ground, appointing prabharis in each of Kalyan Singh and West Bengal governor
when Modi claimed that the Congress the 71 seats the BJP won for feedback on Kesrinath Tripathi to iron out differenc-
had gotten old, Priyanka quipped in a the performance of the local MP. es in the state organisation. Union health
rally: “Do I look old to you?” Later that However, one factor that could crip- minister J.P. Nadda has been appointed
year, in another election campaign in Rae ple the BJP’s electoral management is Lok Sabha election in-charge. Gujarat
Bareli, she countered Modi’s RSVP— the disconnect between the Yogi gov- BJP veteran Gordhan Zadaphia has
Rahul, Sonia, Vadra and Priyanka—and ernment and the party. Around 600 been made party in-charge in UP, given
ABCD—Adarsh scam, Bofors scam, coal his proximity to Hindutva force.
scam and damaad ka ghotala (scam of Even as the BJP is yet to firm up its
the son-in-law)—digs with: “You’re not final strategy to counter Priyanka, the
teaching in a primary school, you’re add- THE BJP PLANS SP-BSP alliance may rethink its strat-
ressing the nation. Don’t teach people the TO PLAY THE egy. This alliance of two arch-rivals is
English alphabet like RSVP or ABCD. “
If not the English alphabet, Modi
CASTE CARD a repeat of the exercise that was able to
stop a belligerent BJP from forming a
and BJP will certainly focus hard on THAT STOOD IT government in 1993 in the wake of the
the caste arithmetic that helped the IN GOOD STEAD Babri Masjid demolition. At that time,
party sweep the state in 2014 and 2017.
The massive successes were a result of
IN 2014 AND 2017 the OBCs, led by Mulayam Singh Yadav,
and the Dalits, led by Kanshi Ram, came
well-planned social engineering at mul- together. This time the alliance looks
tiple levels—coalitions of upper castes formidable on paper, as it’s likely to win
(Brahmins and Thakurs) and support 58 Lok Sabha seats, according to the

the past four years. The party brass

is in talks with Dalit leaders such
HOW’S THE as Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani
JOSH IN BJP? and Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan,
founder of the Bhim Army.
Rahul understands the dam-
Ô The BJP brass agrees, in
private, that Priyanka may take
age it may cause the alliance but the
away upper caste votes; the Congress brass also realises that this
party recognises resentment may prompt an SP-BSP rethink on
among upper castes and hopes offering the party more seats in a
10 per cent reservation for the rejigged coalition agreement. Rahul
economically backward among has already sent a veiled message:
upper castes will alleviate it “We’ll work in sync with Akhilesh
Yadav and Mayawati wherever pos-
Ô Plans to finesse the caste sible. At the same time, it’s important
arithmetic of the past two for us to create space for the Congress
polls—coalitions of upper castes ideology.” Congress insiders claim
(Brahmins and Thakurs) and sup- the leaders of the three parties are
port from non-Yadav OBC groups, likely to sit down informally for con-
non-Jatav Dalits and farmers stituency-wise assessment in order
to put up friendly fights wherever
Ô Plans to bring all castes under needed to minimise damage.
Hindu umbrella by raising tempo The challenge for the SP-BSP
on building the Ram temple is not just to arrest the division of
Muslim, Dalit and OBC votes but
also to expand its social base and
connect the other marginalised
INDIA TODAY MOTN survey. groups as equal partners. The SP
However, Priyanka’s entry may right now is concentrated among
split the Muslim vote, so far in favour the Yadavs—9 per cent of the pop-
of the SP-BSP combine. Muslims, ulation—and the BSP among the
who form 19 per cent of the popula- Jatavs—12 per cent of the popula-
tion, want to support the SP but are tion. The effort to expand this base
uncertain about the BSP because the was visible during the bypolls. In
Mayawati-led party does not have a Gorakhpur and Phulpur, the SP
strong Muslim leadership. After the had Nishad and Kurmi candidates,
2017 state election, the BSP’s Muslim communities which were earlier seen
face and its former general secretary to be locked with the BJP. But find-
Nasimuddin Siddiqui joined the ing the winning caste combination
Congress. In the past one-and-a- for 80 seats, never an easy task, will
half years, more than 50 prominent be complicated by Priyanka’s entry.
Muslim BSP leaders have joined Even for Priyanka, the task
Congress ranks. The SP’s Muslim remains mammoth: to revive a party
face and Rampur MLA Azam Khan that has slipped from a 51 per cent
has already asked the Congress not to vote share in 1984 to 7 per cent 30
cut into the alliance’s votes. years on. In 1999, asked when she
But Priyanka’s presence may would join politics, she had said:
also bring the non-Jatav Dalit vote, “You’ll have to wait a long, long time.”
which went to the BJP in the past Now that she has finally taken the
two elections, back to the Congress, plunge, she doesn’t have the luxury
and helping the alliance eventually. of time to deliver a winning result.
The party has an elaborate plan to
highlight the incidents of atrocities with Uday Mahurkar
against Dalits across the country in and Ashish Misra
C O V E R S T O R Y: U T TA R P R A D E S H
THE CASTE
CALCULUS
Can Priyanka Gandhi’s star power revive the Congress in UP?
Will the disenchanted forward castes desert the BJP? Can
the SP-BSP alliance corner the OBC-Dalit-Muslim vote? The
changing poll arithmetic of India’s most complex state
By AJIT KUMAR JHA
S he has a striking resem-

blance to her grandmother,
the late prime minister
Indira Gandhi. Ever smiling, dimples
in place, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has
a fresh and youthful disposition even
leaders, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Raj
Babbar, decided to contest all 80 Lok
Sabha seats with the help of smaller
allies. The move to compete as a third
front might help increase the Cong-
ress’s vote share from the paltry 7.5
a key role in stitching up the alliance
between Rahul Gandhi and SP leader
Akhilesh Yadav for the 2017 assem-
bly election. But it failed to help the
Congress, as it won just seven of the 403
seats in 2017. This time it might fare
at 47. A shrewd communicator, and per cent it got in 2014, but will it fetch better, given that it is a Lok Sabha elec-
always warm and compassionate, more seats? That is still a big unknown, tion and that the ruling BJP is facing
she has in the past displayed an but Priyanka’s induction in east UP is double anti-incumbency in the state.
extraordinary connect with voters when sure to make her a thorn in the flesh for The Congress’s national party status
campaigning for her mother Sonia in both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the freshness quotient Priyanka’s
Rae Bareli and her brother, Congress (who contests from Varanasi) and UP leadership will bring might add some
president Rahul Gandhi, in Amethi. chief minister Yogi Adityanath, whose further zest to that challenge.
But can Priyanka, roped in as gen- home base is Gorakhpur.
eral secretary in charge of eastern Uttar In the past, Priyanka has played 2009 versus 2014
Pradesh just 100 or so days before the So what is the new Congress narrative?
Lok Sabha election is scheduled, change Dismissing the 2014 Lok Sabha elec-
the grand old party’s fortunes in this piv- tion as an “unusual anomaly” due to
otal state? Can an organisational decline the Modi wave, senior party leaders in
of three decades be reversed in this brief THE NATIONAL UP say the “Congress is aiming to rec-
interval through her induction? reate the results of the 2009 Lok Sabha
PARTY STATUS polls, when the party under Rahul
Electoral compulsions AND THE FRESH- Gandhi had won 21 seats, 18 of them in
These questions are difficult to answer. NESS QUOT IENT eastern Uttar Pradesh”. Eastern UP is
It is clear that Priyanka’s formal induc- composed of Awadh, Purvanchal and
tion is an electoral consideration and a
PRIYANKA BRINGS Lower Doab which together comprise
compulsion. And there is no doubt the SHOULD HELP 40 Lok Sabha seats, half of the total 80
Gandhi mystique will influence social THE CONGRESS seats in the state. With its large upper
media and add a new narrative to the CHALLENGE caste (mainly Brahmin) voter base,
Congress campaign. Left a paltry two together with Scheduled Castes and
seats—Rae Bareli and Amethi—by the Muslims dominating key constituen-
SP-BSP formal alliance on January cies, eastern UP voted overwhelmingly
12 in Lucknow, the Congress’s senior for the Congress and the BSP in 2009.

SAFFRON
WASH
The 2014 Modi tsunami
effectively swept away
differences in a state
that was more diversely
LOK assertive in 2009
SABHA
2014
BJP 71
INC 2
SP 5
AD 2
LOK
SABHA
2009
BJP 10
RLD 5
INC 21
SP 23
BSP 20
Others 1
THE BIG PUSHBACK

A 2019 LS poll scenario: the BJP is with Apna Dal, SP
with BSP and RLD, and the Congress is on its own
MOTN*, JAN. 2019 LOK SABHA 2014

Total seats 80 Total seats 80
Seats Seats
58 71
4 2
18
12 46 8 22
1 5
42
20
36
2
7
6
Votes % Votes %
BJP INC RLD+SP+BSP Others BJP INC SP AD BSP Others
*India Today-Karvy Insights Mood of the Nation poll
Graphics by TANMOY CHAKRABORTY

two seats—the family bastions Rae

THE SUPPORT BASE Bareli and Amethi. So stunning was
An SP-BSP alliance will corner a big chunk of the Dalit-OBC-Muslim vote and the defeat of the secular forces that
the BSP did not even open its account
the Congress will likely threaten the BJP’s solid support among forward castes
and the SP managed a mere five seats,
all contested by family members of SP
NATIONAL ELECTION STUDY 2014, CSDS patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav. Three
FORWARD years later, in March 2017, the BJP, in an
CASTE OBC SC/ST MUSLIM even more stunning victory, swept the
UP assembly poll, winning an unprec-
% 4
%
7% 9
%
3% 10 %
11 edented 43.5 per cent of the vote and
32
11
312 of the total 403 seats.
48
9%
%
%
35 %
%
75 %
76
hat are the challeng-
3%
W
%
7
5
11% es Priyanka faces in
reviving the Congress
in eastern UP? First,
BJP INC SP+BSP Others unlike in 2009 and 2014, which were
four-cornered contests, 2019 might be
a three-cornered one. In three-cornered
MOOD OF THE NATION POLL, JAN. 2019
FORWARD contests, in a first-past-the-post-system,
CASTE OBC SC/ST MUSLIM the top player gets a disproportionately
larger number of seats, the second gets
% 6% 7% 10
%
23 1% 7 %1 much less and the third mostly gets left
2 2
12 % 1
out in the cold. With the SP-BSP alli-

%
%
39
%
ance contesting 38 seats each, the INDIA

8%
40
69 %
TODAY-Karvy Insights Mood of the

%
%
0
15 6 8
% Nation (MOTN) January 2019 poll pre-
dicts the combination will win 58 seats,
with the BJP getting 18, leaving a mere
BJP INC SP+BSP Others four for the Congress.
A simple sum-up of the SP and BSP
votes from 2014 gives the two regional
Part of the reason for this was that parties an advantage in 53 seats, in
THE CIRCLE OF the Congress-led UPA had already been addition to the five seats the SP won by
INFLUENCE in power in New Delhi for five years. itself (a total of 58, as MOTN predicts).
Incumbency advantage and the long his- In 36 of these Lok Sabha seats the BJP
In UP, an OBC-Dalit-Muslim
axis is hard to beat torical ties the Congress has with eastern had won in 2014, the combined SP-BSP
UP helped the party bag 18.5 per cent of vote is much more than what the saffron
the vote and 21 seats in 2009. The BSP party got. In 17 of them, the combined
% 19 % had the highest vote share of 27.4 per vote trailed the BJP by less than 10 per
19
cent (Mayawati was then CM), but got cent. Clearly, the SP-BSP alliance is the
only 18 seats, while the BJP, with 17.5 per BJP’s main challenger.
cent of the vote, managed just 10 seats. UP BJP general secretary and the
8%
9%
Demographic
The SP, with 23.3 per cent votes, had got party’s chief strategist there, Sunil
break-up
the highest number of seats, 23. Both the Bansal, admitted as much. “The SP-BSP
%
12 %
12
SP and BJP, though, won the maximum alliance is the most formidable chal-
20 % share of their seats in western UP. lenge for the BJP. In response, we plan
The Modi wave in 2014 complete- to highlight the achievements of the
ly changed the electoral contours of Modi government through 250 meet-
the state. The saffron party swept UP, ings planned between December and
Upper castes OBCs (Yadav) winning 71 seats (plus 2 seats for NDA February all over Uttar Pradesh. But,
Non-Yadav OBCs Lower OBCs ally Apna Dal) with a voter base of in the end, destiny will determine who
Dalits (Jatav) Other Dalits Muslims 42.5 per cent. The Congress won just wins this election,” he said.

The Caste Conundrum to wean away the upper castes, mainly

In 1989, despite a Congress defeat in Brahmin voters, away from the BJP.
the Lok Sabha election, the forward HOUSE FULL A competition between the Congress
castes (mainly Brahmins), the Schedu- The Modi wave was still on, and the and the SP-BSP, however, could end
led Castes and Muslims constituted the BJP swept the assembly polls in 2017. up helping the BJP because any split
bulk of the party vote in UP. A CSDS The SP regime was blown away in the Muslim vote—who may favour a
(Centre for the Study of Developing national party, the Congress, for the Lok
Societies) post-poll survey in 1989 Total seats 403 Sabha—will affect the SP-BSP minority
(Congress won 39.5 per cent of the over- vote. A competition, then, is likely to
all vote then) revealed that the party got 2017 help the third player, the BJP, in a three-
41 per cent of the Brahmin, 44.2 per cornered contest.
cent of the SC/ ST and 45.8 per cent of
Seats
the Muslim vote. hen it comes to gender
Twenty-five years later, with the 25
W preferences, a com-
3
Modi wave in 2014, the entire politi- parison shows quite a
47
cal sociology of UP underwent a total 7 contrast and reveals a
22 22
19
transformation. A decimated Congress, lot about the three parties. While a clear
which won a mere two seats and 7.5 per majority of Congress voters are male (59
39
cent of the popular vote, ended up with 9 10 5 per cent), with only 41 per cent female
6
per cent of the forward caste vote, 11 per voters, for the SP-BSP it is the other way
cent of the OBC vote, 3 per cent of the Votes % around—53 per cent female voters and
SC/ST vote and 11 per cent of the Muslim 47 per cent male. The BJP also has more
vote. The SP, which won 5 seats, won 7 male voters (52 per cent) than female
per cent of the forward caste vote, 25 per 2012 (48 per cent). A Priyanka-led campaign
cent of the OBC, 8 per cent of the SC/ST swaying more female voters in favour of
and 58 per cent of the Muslim vote. The
Seats the Congress might correct the gender
BSP, which drew a blank, won 49 per gap for the party but, here again, it is
22 4
cent of the SC/ ST vote, but did dismally 4 likely to affect the SP-BSP more than
with all other caste groups. the saffron party.
7
Although each party contested 24 Priyanka Gandhi, the “X factor in the

28
26
80
separately in 2014, in the graphic (The 1 2019 polls” in UP, has quite a big respon-
29
Support Base), we have combined the sibility on her relatively young shoulders.
2
SP-BSP caste votes for the sake of com- While reviving the Congress’s fortunes,
15
18
parison with 2019. The MOTN poll pre- she has to see that SP-BSP votes take a
dicts that the BJP will get 69 per cent of Votes % minimal hit while effecting the maxi-
the forward caste votes, 39 per cent of BJP SP BSP INC Others mum damage to the BJP, which is easier
the OBC vote, 23 per cent of the SC/ST said than done. A more effective solution
vote and 7 per cent of the Muslim vote. would have been to negotiate an alliance
Compared to 2014, the BJP is losing sup- between all secular groups, the SP-BSP
port among all sections, but it’s the maxi- plus the Congress. An across-the-board
mum among the OBCs and SC/ STs as a anti-BJP alliance, the MOTN predicts,
result of the SP-BSP alliance. the party, especially the forward caste would have left the BJP in tatters with a
The alliance, on its part, is likely votes. After all, she is “one of the most mere five Lok Sabha seats out of 80.
to get only a paltry 12 per cent of the awaited entries in Indian politics...”, as It sounds far-fetched, though, given
upper caste vote, but it scores big with JD(U) vice-president, poll strategist the competition between the Congress
the OBCs (40 per cent), SC/ STs (60 per and former advisor to the Congress and the SP-BSP at the ground level.
cent) and Muslims (80 per cent), who Prashant Kishor tweeted when the But the reality of competitive politics
constitute the bulk of the UP electorate. news came out. and the formidable challenge from the
The MOTN poll saw the Congress Although the Congress vote base in BJP dictates that all secular forces need
ending up with 12 per cent forward UP is much smaller than the BJP’s, the to come together to oppose the Modi-
caste votes, 15 per cent OBC votes, 8 main fight between the two national led juggernaut. Otherwise, the battle
per cent SC/ ST votes and 12 per cent parties is for the upper caste vote. In the between the SP-BSP and the Congress
Muslim votes. But Priyanka’s arrival next 100 days, the Congress campaign might end up helping the BJP in the
should shore up the numbers a bit for led by Priyanka will seriously attempt Mahabharat of 2019.

THE BIG STORY | ENCLAVES
PRISONERS
Four years after the
exchange of enclaves
between Bangladesh and
India, the new citizens of
OF THE PAST
India are still waiting for
basic rights
By Romita Datta
COST OF CITIZENSHIP
Lack of street lighting
means the residents of
Shib Prosad Mustafir
chhit have to use lamps
if they want to step out
of the house after dark
corner. The new Indian citizens looked forward to a future
filled with hope and possibilities.
Almost four years later, they are still fighting for proper
documentation, land allotment, infrastructure and ac-
cess to sanitation and benefits from various government
schemes, such as the Kanyashree Prakalpa, incentivising
a child’s higher secondary education, or Yuvashree, to pro-
vide financial assistance to young job seekers. For a while,
government funds were available to build pucca struc-
tures like Integrated Child Development Services centres,
community development
centres, solar irrigation
pumps and greenhouses, “Yes, we have
but most of these are now voter ID and
defunct. Thirty tube wells
installed in Batrigachh, Aadhaar
a former enclave which is cards, but
now part of West Bengal’s
Cooch Behar district, in
we’re still
2018, have long stopped foreigners on
working, as have half the
solar panels meant to pow-
our own land”
MOHAMMAD ALI,
er the irrigation pumps.
Fisherman in
“The government spent Batrigachh chhit
five lakh rupees to build
[a greenhouse] without
training us on how to use it. They should have used the
money for building toilets instead,” says Bipin Chandra Bar-
man of Bakalichhara, another former chhit (as the enclaves
are called), which houses 215 families but only 704 voters.
Batrigachh residents, too, are facing similar quandaries.
SUBIR HALDER
“The block development officer (BDO) came the other day

and threatened to arrest us for defecating in the open. I
asked him what we were supposed to do in the absence of
even a single toilet here in our chhit of 238 families,” says
Noor Haq. Since the district administration had already
declared Cooch Behar district, of which Batrigachh is now
a part, ‘Nirmal Bangla’ (being 100 per cent free from open
defecation) in 2017, Haq was publicly reprimanded by BDO
Souvik Chanda for his impertinent question.
T THE STROKE OF MIDNIGHT ON Under Mission Nirmal Bangla, essentially a rebrand-
JULY 31, 2015, 51 enclaves in Ban- ing of the Swachh Bharat Mission by West Bengal chief
gladesh were celebrating becoming a minister Mamata Banerjee, an individual is supposed to
part of India. After decades of state- get a subsidy of Rs 12,000 for a constructed toilet, with the
less existence, their inhabitants finally Centre and the state sharing the funds in the ratio of 75:25.
e landmark Land Boundary Agreement The funds are yet to trickle down to the enclaves. The one or
signed in 1974 had finally come into force, and 162 pockets two toilets constructed have been built by individuals who
of land that existed as enclaves in Indian and Bangladeshi bore the whole cost themselves by taking out loans or mort-
territories were merged with the countries that surrounded gaging a portion of their land to the local sanitaryware shop.
them. To mark the day, they sang the national anthem, Chanda admitted that the erstwhile enclaves could not
distributed sweets, the festivities lasting for days. Voter ID be covered under Mission Nirmal Bangla because the base-
cards, Aadhaar cards and some ration cards were promptly line survey for toilets was conducted in 2012 when they were
distributed since the state assembly election was around the not a part of the Indian territory. “We have just completed

THE BIG STORY | ENCLAVES NATIONAL
INTEGRATION? West
India has failed its new citizens in Bengal
more ways than one
the survey of the houses left out. It will take time,” says Jalpaiguri
Chanda. He has no answer as to why no action was taken in WEST BENGAL
(INDIA)
the past three years since the exchange of enclaves.
NO COUNTRY FOR NEW CITIZENS Cooch Behar

Four years after getting the status of Indian citizens—
Aadhaar cards and voter IDs—Batrigachh residents are still
BANGLADESH
running from pillar to post to meet their basic needs. Politi-
cians have little time and no interest in addressing their con- Enclaves that became a part of India
cerns since out of the population of 14,215 in the 51 enclaves Enclaves that became a part Bangladesh
spread over an area of 7,110.02 acres, only some 8,000 are
Ô The 51 enclaves in India are spread over 7,110.02
registered voters. The enclave dwellers are yet to receive job acres and have a population of 14,215
cards, pensions, unemployment allowances, widow allow-
ances and other social benefits from government schemes. Ô The Aadhaar and voter ID cards given to the new
“Yes, we have a voter ID card and an Aadhaar card, but we citizens are full of errors
are still the outsiders, foreigners on our own land,” says
Ô Former chhits, located within Cooch Behar, a district
82-year-old Mohammad Ali from Batrigachh, while repair-
declared as “Nirmal Bangla”, still lack toilets
ing his fishing net, his main source of sustenance. Ali was
a prominent spokesman for the inhabitants of the enclaves, Ô Greenhouses, solar panels, irrigation pumps built in
pressing for both countries to complete the exchange and the chhits are already defunct
has, over the years, faced it all—humiliation, harassment,
Ô Land allotment in the former chhits remains
bullying from the Border Security Force, the state police and
incomplete
the political leaders—all to just be recognised as a citizen of
India. But citizenship has brought fresh woes. Ô Residents complain that they have become pawns in
While Bangladesh has completed the process of land a vote-bank war between the BJP and Trinamool for
distribution among the residents of the former Indian en- the Rajbongshi vote in 2019
claves it acquired by July 31, 2016, West Bengal has been
more lackadaisical about integrating its new citizens and
their lands.
Within a few weeks of being issued identity cards,
people saw that their IDs were full of errors, which made families, are yet to get even the ration cards. Though they
getting a job difficult. “For most of us, the first letter of have electricity in their homes, there are no street lights or
our names is used, N for Najemul, for instance. Employers pucca roads, only slim, muddy paths that become swamps
don’t accept such cards for recruitment,” says the resident during the monsoon. “Between the electric wires and poles
of Batrigachh. “There are few jobs for the enclave people. hanging loose and the kuchcha roads, we shudder to think
Local people treat us with suspicion even though we are what will happen if the area gets one or two spells of heavy
citizens. The men are all going to Delhi, Haryana, Benga- showers,” says 65-year-old Biswabandhu Barman of Shib
luru and Kerala,” says Roushan, who works as a labourer Prosad Mustafir chhit, who maintains that his enclave
in a cashew factory in Kerala. is among the most ne-
“Our boys are not even considered for the civic police. glected ones. “It’s be-
They have set up ICDS centres but don’t employ people from cause we support the
within the enclaves,” says Nitai Chandra Das of Shib Prosad Bharatiya Janata Par- “The land
Mustafir chhit. The young people living in the chhits espe- ty (BJP) in a district allotment was
cially have a deep sense of dissatisfaction with their new lives which is a Trinamool
in India and even held a demonstration last year to express Congress stronghold.
done in haste and
their wish to go back to Bangladesh. We often get picked up just prior to the
by the police on false election, obviously
POLITICAL BATTLES
According to Haq, the biggest benefit of the exchange so far
charges. We were not
even allowed to vote
to serve a purpose
has been the allotment of ration cards which entitles them during the panchayat and not with
to subsidised ration of 15 kilos of rice and 20 kilos of wheat. elections,” he adds. serious intent”
“Even here, we have to shell out a portion of our ration to the Though initially all DIPTIMAN SENGUPTA,
ration dealer,” he says. the chhits suffered the Coordinator, Bharat Bangladesh
People of Shib Prosad Mustafir chhit, which houses 65 same deprivation, things Enclave Exchange Committee

EMPTY PROMISES
Residents of Batrigachh chhit
stand in front of solar panels
which became defunct within
months of being installed
SUBIR HALDER
changed after the BJP increased its vote share from 10.5 government is giving us land without specific location and
per cent to 28.5 per cent in the 2016 Lok Sabha by-election demarcation. Even the quantities distributed do not match
in Cooch Behar. The penetration of the BJP in the former with what we had in the enclaves,” says Ali, who says that
enclaves, which are spread over five assembly segments of before the exchange, he owned 96 bighas of land, most of
Cooch Behar, as well as the rest of the district, might prove to which he had lost due to river erosion. The administration
be dangerous for the TMC ahead of the 2019 general election. has now allotted him papers for possession of a mere six
In enclaves with a concentration of Muslim population, kottahs, or about 0.3 bigha.
such as Mashaldanga, development has been fast. Accord- Siddiq of Poaturkuthi enclave has been allotted 16 kot-
ing to Diptiman Sengupta, the coordinator of the Bharat tahs of land (about 0.6 bigha) whereas he used to once own
Bangladesh Enclave Exchange Committee, this is the TMC’s nine bighas. “These are not isolated cases. There are com-
way to appease the minority group. Sengupta, an active plaints in close to 90 per cent cases. The papers or deeds
member of the BJP now, believes this tactic will not work handed over to them just mention the size of the land with
since a majority of the chhit people belong to the indigenous no other specification. This land allotment was done in
Rajbongshi tribe of North Bengal which constitutes 51 per haste and just prior to the election, obviously to serve a pur-
cent of Cooch Behar’s population. “Though the Muslims pose and not with serious intent,” says Sengupta. According
constitute 28 per cent of the population, they are essentially to Joinal Abedin, a resident of the Madhya Mashaldanga
Rajbongshis, and ethnicity cannot be ignored for religion,” chhit, land without ownership rights makes them ineligible
says Sengupta. He added that his party is trying to cash in for agricultural loans, kisan credit cards, potato bonds and
on the discontent among the Rajbongshis with the TMC. farm subsidy.
Meanwhile, the TMC has begun the process of land According to TMC MLAs Rabindranath Ghosh and
allotment. The land distribution started only a few weeks Udayan Guha, the BJP is trying to play with fire. “Every-
ago even though Mamata had asked the Cooch Behar ad- thing will be done legally. They are trying to incite the en-
ministration to speed up the process at a public meeting on clave people and Rajbongshis against the Trinamool, but
October 31, 2018. But the citizens are still unhappy. “The such cheap politics will not pay dividends,” says Guha. ■

CANCER PROJECT
BEATING
CANCER
How far are we from a cure for the most feared
disease of our time? Here’s what top doctors
have to say on the eve of World Cancer Day
2019. Plus, a look at some new research
B Y D A M AYA N T I D AT TA
I l l u s t ra t i o n b y N I L A N J A N D A S
Is cancer still OUTSIDE THE
a death sentence? COOKIE-CUTTER

Cancer treatment is going
beyond the troika of surgery,
chemotherapy and radiation
Most cancers are preventable and
“No. also treatable. Cancer diagnosis and

treatment have grown by leaps and
bounds. We know the cause of at
least 70 per cent of cancers now, around 60 per cent of
cancers are now preventable and 80 per cent of all stage
1 and 2 cancers are completely treatable. I have over two PRECISION MEDICINE
lakh cancer patients who are now doing well. It is unfortu- Using the genetic changes in a
nate that the largely preventable disease comes in for clinical patient’s tumour to determine
treatment at the third or the fourth stage, when the survival rate is only 20 per its treatment
cent. Half of all cancer patients now survive at least 10 years. The survival rates
for all cancers have gone up; topping the list are prostate, breast, bladder and
kidney cancers. Childhood leukaemia, a disease that was a big killer of the chil-
dren when it struck in the 1970s, is now one where 70 per cent patients survive.
The glass, however, remains half-empty as many other cancers still defy treat-
ment: lung to pancreas, liver to oesophagus. There is no need to fear cancer. I
am confident that scientific research is going to provide the lead in resolving TARGETED THERAPY
most of the issues of human sufferings from cancer in the coming years.” Drugs that zero in on specific
molecules that allow cancers to
DR G.K. RATH, Chief, National Cancer Institute, AIIMS grow fast and abnormally
Can it come IMMUNOTHERAPY

Treatment that helps your
without a immune system fight cancer
warning?
CRISPR-CAS9
or most of cure and survival. ing. As a society, we have
“F
Fast and precise software that
cancers, there We find that patients particularly poor “sus- allows scientists to edit, remove
are warning often dismiss their early picion index” for cancer or replace abnormal genes
signs and symptoms, especially if and it leads to delayed
symptoms and the “red-flag” warning diagnosis and treatment.
the benefits of early symptoms are painless For any symptom that
detection are indisput- or sporadic. Some just continues for more than
able. How people with watch and wait, some are three weeks, do not rule
possible cancer symp- afraid of poor prognosis, cancer out. Treating
toms decide whether or some lack confidence in cancer early means you ARTIFICIAL
not to seek medical help doctors, some think their have a far better chance INTELLIGENCE
determines their chances problem is related to age- of beating the disease.” AI, machine learning and deep
learning are revolutionising
DR HARIT CHATURVEDI, Surgical oncologist, Chairman, Max cancer detection
Institute of Oncology and Indian Cancer Society
CANCER PROJECT
PUNJAB
All cancers higher GEOGRAPHY GANGETIC PLAIN
(UTTAR PRADESH,
BIHAR)
than average
TOP: Kidney, urinary
bladder, breast
OF CANCER TOP: Gall bladder, head and
neck cancers
cancers RISK: Water pollution, diet
RISK: Pollution, rich in animal protein
pesticide, toxin in
food
NORTHEAST
HIGHEST CANCER
GUJARAT AND RATES
RAJASTHAN TOP: Oral and stomach
TOP: Head and throat RISK: Tobacco,
cancers household burning of
RISK: Tobacco and firewood
paan masala
MADHYA
PRADESH
WEST BENGAL
TOP: Oral cancers
TOP: Lung, urinary
RISK: Tobacco and bladder cancers
paan masala SOUTH AND
GOA RISK: Air and water
COASTAL INDIA pollution
TOP: Colon cancers
TOP: Stomach cancers
RISK: Red meat,
alcohol, tobacco RISK: Diet rich in spices
and salt
1.1
MILLION
0.7 2.2 >30
MILLION MILLION PER CENT
8
PER CENT
New cases diagnosed Number of Number of 5-year survival of global cancer
in India each year deaths people afflicted rate in India deaths in India
7 in 10
Indian patients consult doctors at
40
PER CENT
25
PER CENT
the terminal stage
lower death rate from higher cancer in men
cancer in Indian men, than women globally;
30% in women, compared in India, cancer afflicts
with the UK or the US more women than men
CANCER PROJECT
What has
changed in the
way cancer is
understood, THE BIG TEN
diagnosed and The most common cancers that impose the
heaviest suffering in terms of years of lost
treated? health and expense for individuals as well
as society—expressed as percentage of
Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALY) of all
“T here are major
developments happen-
ing in cancer. Newer
techniques and tech-
cancers in India
nologies are being developed that have

helped in the better understanding of the
3·5% 7.2%
Brain & Nervous Lip & Oral
biology of cancer. This, in turn, is improv-
System
ing the ways we could help diagnose
and treat cancers. For
6.8%
example, the grow-
ing list of ‘targeted 8.2% Pharynx
therapies’ available Breast
is a shift away from
7.5%
the conventional
toxicity-prone che- 4.3% Lungs
motherapy. One of Oesophagus
the targeted therapy,
5.8%
Imatinib, used in a form of
chronic blood cancer, has not only helped 7.5 %
Colon &
control the disease much longer than we Stomach rectum
could do earlier using the conventional
5.2% 5.2%
chemotherapy but also several patients
can be considered to be cured. Another
major advance over the past few years Cervix Blood
is Immunotherapy, wherein the patient’s
immune cells are being helped to fight
and eliminate cancer. In particular, new
25% 40%
monoclonal antibodies targeting an
immune pathway called PD-1 and PD-L1,
which is used by cancer cells to escape Unknown: 200 Tobacco and
detection by the host immune cells, have different cancers from paan masala: Lung
shown some very good results in ad- blood, pancreatic, and oral cancers
vanced cancers and have been approved eyeball to bone
by the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) for treating cancers, including that
of malignant melanoma [an aggressive 15%
THE TRIGGER
4%
skin cancer], kidney cancer, lung cancer, Obesity: Breast,
urinary bladder cancer, a form of lym- uterus, large
phoma. The downside, however, is that Genetic: Breast What affects
intestine, kidney
these newer therapies cost a fortune. and ovarian cancer risks cancers
Pembrolizumab could cost upwards of Rs cancers and how
50 lakh, which most Indians may not be
able to afford.”
6% 10%
DR T. RAJKUMAR, Professor and Diet and poor Lack of personal
Head, Dept. of Molecular Oncology, preservation of food: hygiene: Cervical and
Cancer Institute (WIA), Adyar, Chennai Stomach cancers liver cancer
42 INDIA TODAY F E BRUA RY 1 1 , 2 019 I n fo g ra p h i c s b y TA N M OY C H A K R A B O R T Y

CAUSE & AIR POLLUTION PRECAUTIONS
In the first study of its
IMPACT kind, air pollution has

been linked to height-
BE AN EARLY BIRD
Women who are ‘larks’, functioning
Avoid processed meat and ened risk for mouth cancer; high better at the beginning of the day
alcohol and beware of air levels of pollutants, especially fine than the end of the day, have a lower
pollution particulate matter (PM2.5) and to risk of breast cancer, according to
a lesser extent, ozone, may be key, a new study by the National Cancer
according to BMJ, Oct. 9, 2018 Research Institute, Nov. 2018
PROCESSED
MEAT TAKE A VITAMIN D PILL
43 %
Red meat and processed meat have higher risk of A new study by the American Cancer
been linked to the increased risk of mouth cancer Society finds that higher circulating
colorectal cancers for those ex- vitamin D concentrations are
posed to high significantly associated with lower
9
air pollution colorectal cancer risk
%
higher breast cancer
risk from processed HAVE DINNER EARLY
meat, according to the People who have their evening meal
Wear a mask before 9 pm or wait at least two
International Journal
of Cancer, Oct. 2018 when going out, hours before going to sleep have
avoid smoking lower risk of breast and prostate
cancer, says the Barcelona Institute
The World Health Organization defines for Global Health, July 2018
processed meat as follows: “Meat that ALCOHOL
has been transformed through salt- Scientists have shown SAY NO TO FAT
ing, curing, fermentation, smoking, or how alcohol damages A 2017 study by the Michigan State
other processes to enhance flavour DNA in stem cells, helping University shows that a certain
or improve preservation” to explain why drink- protein (fibroblast growth factor-2
ing increases your risk or FGF2) released from fat in the
Go for whole grains, of cancer, according to body can cause a non-cancerous
Cancer Research UK, cell to turn into a cancerous one,
vegetables and fruits and a lower layer of abdominal fat is
Jan. 2018
the more likely culprit
Where does India stand in cancer

research and treatment?
“T
here are many hospi- residual disease detection) test that expensive and many of our patients
tals and laboratories finds evidence of residual malignant can neither afford the tests required
in the country that cells are now being developed in many for personalised medicine nor the new
offer targeted next tertiary care centres and commercial small molecules which specifically
generation DNA sequencing which al- labs. The radiotherapy departments in target the tumour cell. A patient with
low us to determine the specific genetic many centres have the best equipment chronic lymphatic leukaemia with a
change driving the tumour. Thankfully, available anywhere in the world. Stem 17p mutation requires treatment with a
these labs offer such tests at a fraction cell transplantation for blood cancer is BTK inhibitor, ibrutinib, which costs Rs
of the current western costs. The FISH available in India at Rs 12 to 25 lakh as 24 lakh for one year. Also, the infra-
(fluorescence in situ hybridisation) compared with $250,000 for a similar structure to treat cancer is inadequate
test that maps the genetic mate- transplant in the US. considering the population that needs
rial in human cells and MRD (minimal However, cancer treatment is such treatment.”
DR MAMMEN CHANDY, Director, Tata Medical Centre, Kolkata

CANCER PROJECT
7 SIGNS YOU SHOULD

NOT IGNORE
Beware of unexplained changes in your body. There
What percentage
of cancers are
hereditary in
nature?
is a vast array of symptoms for the 200 different
types of cancer: Here are the most common signs
FATIGUE
Feeling extremely tired can be a
UNEXPLAINED
BLEEDING
“T here are two cat-
egories. The first is
familial or cancer
running in the fam-
symptom of cancer in your body. Blood in the urine, bleeding
ily—gene flaws that can be transferred
A lump or thickening of skin can be between periods, bleeding
from one generation to another. About
an early or late sign from the bottom, blood when
10 per cent people belong to this. The
of cancer. People coughing and blood in vomit
other is when fam-
with cancers in the should always be checked
ily members have
breast, lymph nodes, out by a doctor. Unexplained
cancer, but there is
soft tissues, and bleeding, depending on where
no genetic inheri-
testicles typically it is coming from, can be a sign
tance involved. It
have lumps of cancer, including prostate,
could be because
cervical, bowel and lung
a family is living in
cancers
MOLES a coal mine area or
If you notice a mole that has an near farms that are
irregular or asymmetrical shape,
BOWEL HABIT always full of insecticides
CHANGES and chemical fertilisers. Such families
is more than one colour, is bigger
than 7 mm in diameter, and is See a doc- are exposed to so much environmental
itchy, crusty or bleeding, see your tor if you pollutants that they end up developing
doctor. It could be a sign of skin experience cancer. Another 10 per cent get this.
cancer bowel Cancer does not develop in a day. It’s a
changes complicated process that takes time.
lasting for Your stress levels, your body physique
LUMPS
more than a (tall people are at slightly greater risk
Always see a doctor if you few weeks. as they have more cells in their body in
notice a lump in your breast, or These can which dangerous mutations can oc-
elsewhere on your body, that include blood cur), if you are obese, if you are a red
is rapidly increasing in size. in the stools, diarrhoea, consti- meat eater, if you don’t take plenty of
Lumps can be caused by pation, pain while urinating and fibres and vegetables—all these factors
non-cancerous things like persistent bloating. Changes play a significant role. Cancers of the
cysts, but they need in bowel habits could also be a bowel, breast, ovaries, colon-rectum,
treatment sign of something less serious, kidney, skin (melanoma), pancreas,
regardless. like an irritable bowel syndrome prostate, eye (retinoblastoma) and
thyroid are some that have a genetic
COUGHING component. It is possible to get genetic
A persistent cough tests done to check if you are carrying
UNEXPLAINED any risk in your genes. However, I have
lasting more than
WEIGHT LOSS seen people with a strong genetic his-
three weeks could be
a sign of lung cancer Unexplained weight loss in the tory of cancer not getting the disease,
or throat cancer. A space of a couple of months, even at age 70, because they lead a
long-lasting cough which can’t be explained by diet very healthy lifestyle.”
could also be a sign changes, exercise or stress
of pneumonia, which is a symptom of cancer. It is DR AMIT VERMA, Molecular
would also need medi- important to see a doctor so oncologist and cancer geneticist,
cal attention that he can investigate Max Cancer Care, Delhi
THE BIG STORY Women in Art
A FEMINIST
MORE THAN HALF THE ARTISTS AT THE KOCHI-MUZIRIS BIENNALE THIS YEAR WERE WOMEN,
ARRIVING, ANON
The Guerrilla Girls, an anonymous collective of
‘artivists’ were guests at this year’s biennale in Kochi
BIENNALE
SETTING THE STAGE FOR A FEMINIST MAKEOVER OF THE INDIAN ARTSCAPE BY CHINKI SINHA
Photographs by BANDEEP SINGH
was the opening artist at the fourth edi-

tion of the Kochi-Muziris biennale this
year. Her work at the biennale might
have been about Kerala nurses, but was
of a piece with the themes she engages
in: displacement, longing, historical
“Give it to the women” lineage, domestic violence and the ideas in Kerala. Amidst all the chaos, Dube
—Anita Dube, curator, Kochi-Muziris of femininity. kept at it, to make real the “possibilities
Biennale for a non-alienated life”, the curatorial
*** vision for the biennale. “At the heart of
At the Aspinwall House in Fort Kochi, This could well be India’s first feminist my curatorial adventure lies a desire for
you cross a dark hall to emerge into biennale, much as Maria de Corral liberation and comradeship (away from
the light and come face to face with a and Rosa Martinez’s curation of the the master and slave model) where the
collage that is a mix of poetry, text and Venice Biennale in 2005 came to be possibilities for a non-alienated life
miniature painting. Titled ‘Salam Che- heralded as the world’s first feminist could spill into a ‘politics of friendship’.
chi’, the work is artist Nilima Sheikh’s biennale. More than half of the 95 Where pleasure and pedagogy could sit
ode to the Malayali nurse. artists chosen for the biennale this year together and share a drink, and where
In one frame, against an intense are women, signalling a shift in the we could dance and sing and celebrate
blue background is an outline of a girl Indian artscape. India’s foremost art a dream together,” her curatorial note
and a hospital bed in stark white. exhibit this year is a celebration of the reads. “I haven’t seen this kind of in-
“It could be me,” says Sheikh. marginalised, especially women, who clusive expression of women’s concerns
Indeed, there is a touch of the autobio- have been under-represented in art and it is a marvellous step,” Sheikh says
graphical, a portrait of the artist as a so far. Gender informs their work, of about the curation.
young girl. She would often accompany course, but it also goes beyond gender
her doctor father to hospital, sketch- to address other issues such as climate ***
book in hand. It is where she learnt to change, the agrarian crisis, environ- In another room in Aspinwall House,
paint suffering. ment and labour. a cluster of 300-odd rusted iron sickles
In another frame, a woman is It hasn’t been easy for Anita Dube, crawl along the ground and climb up
shown being tended to by two nurses. co-founder and member of the KHOJ the wall. They are part of Shambhavi
She is a victim of domestic abuse. The International Artists’ Association, and Singh’s ‘Maati Ma’ installation. The
words of poet-nurse Constance Studer the first woman curator of the KMB. social and metaphysical condition
flow alongside: First, the #MeToo movement rocked of the agricultural worker has long
“…an admission arrives the Indian art world too when KMB been this Delhi-based artist’s preoc-
domestic abuse co-founder and programme director cupation, expressed variously through
we know this woman well Riyas Komu faced allegations of sexual the instruments of the agricultural
the ER nurse says. misconduct and stepped down from workers’labour: the hasiya (sickle) and
We couple the fragile woman all official positions. Production took a rehat (Persian wheel). And the farmer,
To bubbling tubes and catheters further hit with the devastating floods for Singh, most often is a woman, her
And monitors unconscious, thumb impression “a metaphor and
Fine skin with deeply incised actuality of the real transfer of land, of
by both eyes…” livelihood, of sustenance, of despair, of
The panel in the middle has a BEFORE 2013, the ultimate migration”.
woman supported by two nurses on NEITHER THE Born in Patna in 1966, Singh draws
either side while a third stands on her inspiration, metaphors and tools
the side with a drip. “That image is
MET NOR MOMA from the dark and unforgiving land-
interesting,” says Sheikh, “because it NOR GUGGEN- scape of her state, the protests such as
is very dear to me. There is a famous HEIM HAD after the 1975 floods of Bihar, and the
15th century fresco by Fra Angelico of triumphs of its people over adversity.
a man and woman supporting Mary.
FEATURED A The rusted iron sickles, sieves and giant
I have used that image as a reference SOLO EXHIBITION fans are at once a symbol of the state
but changed it to two women to make BY A SOUTH of her state—raw and rusted—and of
it about female support and feminine strength and regeneration. An inverted
bonding.” A Baroda-based artist who ASIAN WOMAN sickle could be representative of suf-
has always been fascinated with the fering, of a farmer’s bent back. Or of
traditional Indian art forms, Sheikh Shakti, as epitomised by the goddess

‘MAATI MA’
Preoccupied with the social and
metaphysical condition of the
agricultural worker, the ‘hasiya’
and ‘rehat’ are an integral part of
Shambhavi Singh’s practice, as seen in
this installation at the biennale
“You have seen us with without our

masks,” she says.
A big deal, as anonymity is the
calling card of this shifting collective
of artivists formed in 1985. Frida and
Kathy are original members of the
American sorority that has around 60
Kali. Singh has always been drawn to members today. Over the years, the
the dark deity, an embodiment of the stickers and posters the Guerrilla Girls
eternal feminine powers of creation and have used in their campaigns have
destruction. Kali’s anger and capability made their way into Tate Modern’s per-
for violence are manifest in her use of manent collection. Their protest mate-
the sickle. “This inevitability of violence rial has also been showcased at the
in the face of evil has always intrigued Venice Biennale. This year, they were
me,” she says. guests at the Dube-curated biennale.
The woman’s point of view, Singh On the stage in Cabral Yard, the two
believes, is ready to prevail. From the women in gorilla masks threw bananas
mundane and the everyday will rise at the audience. It was part of their per-
the challenge to established norms, formative talk. The audience broke into
patriarchy, leading to freedom. The peals of laughter. The metaphor was
transformation, she is certain, is nigh. hard to miss, the audacity infectious.
A bunch of women and men took
*** the mic and spoke about “the elephant
Already, Indian women artists are in the room”—the allegations of sexual
making their presence felt in the niche harassment by two senior artists associ-
museums and art galleries of the world. ated with the biennale. A night before,
“How many women had one-person they had convened to ask the KMB
exhibitions at NYC museums last year?” board to answer questions. At the end,
The Guerrilla Girls have been ask- curator Anita Dube took the mic.
ing that question since 1985. Ask that “This is a space for insurrection,” she
question in the South Asian context, said. “Everything you considered infal-
and you find that, before 2013, neither lible and sacred can be questioned.”
the Met nor the Museum of Modern
Art (MoMA) nor the Guggenheim had ***
featured a solo exhibition by a South It was in the 1970s that feminist
Asian woman. Last summer, Ranjani perspectives in art emerged from a
Shettar’s installation, ‘Seven Ponds and combination of political activism in
a Few Raindrops’, was shown at MoMA. the contemporary art world. While
The year 2018 has been better, with
several exhibitions by Indian women
artists, be it Mithu Sen, who works with
sexuality and subversion, or Bharti
Kher, who maintains that it is up to
women to come forward and challenge
the patriarchy with their work, or the EARLIER THIS YEAR,
anonymous Princess Pea, a flaneur KUNSTMUSEUM WOLFSBURG IN
trying to document the experiences of
invisible, unknown women. GERMANY CURATED AN EXHIBITION,
In the coastal town of Kochi, it’s too ‘FACING INDIA’, THAT FEATURED SIX
hot to wear the guerrilla masks bought
at Halloween stores in New York. Frida
WOMEN ARTISTS FROM INDIA
Kahlo is tired. Kathy Kollwitz, in green
rimmed glasses, is more enthusiastic.

‘SALAM CHECHI’
The opening artist at the
biennale, Nilima Sheikh’s work
is an ode to the Malayali nurse
women’s status in society continued Bharti Kher melted 10 tonnes of bangles among the hundred books by women
to be a subject of endless debate, the to make glass bricks to build a room. authors that form part of the ‘Sister
Indian art world witnessed a revolution She called it ‘The Deaf Room’. Library’, a travelling library conceptual-
of its own with women artists using ised and mounted by artist and activist
the “feminist aesthetic” to explore their *** Aqui Thami. The bright pink shelves are
social responsibility and finding a per- Enter Pepper House in Kochi, turn a stark contrast to their grey counter-
sonal and political vocabulary. Earlier left and you find yourself in a library parts, an exclusive space for women.
this year, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg in lined with grey shelves. Except one Originally from Darjeeling, but
Germany curated an exhibition, Facing corner. Here, on neon pink shelves now living in Mumbai, Thami calls
India, that featured six women artists Sister Outsider, a book by black feminist herself a ‘gender abolitionist’. “In a
from India exploring the past, present lesbian Lorde shares space with a book world where women are told there’s
and future from the female perspective. of poems by Emily Dickinson. They are really no point in studying too much,

works of women are not valued. The

only solution to this problem is to be
mindful of the problem and allow for
a fair representation,” she says. “Also a
sidenote to all the women in positions
not only have we been kept away from of power, lift your sisters up.” favourite authors, Premchand, were
spaces where knowledge is produced burnt and he had to deal with imposi-
but also from sharing and generating *** tions by the regime, including being
knowledge. This epistemic hierarchy In a semi-dark room, voices whisper charged with sedition. I came across
needs to be broken, and libraries play next to you and then jump to another the Turkish writer Aziz Nesin, who had
a very huge part in it,” she says in an speaker and then another. You strain to challenged the right wing and their vio-
e-mail. Her e-mail id—ilovereading- hear the words in the strange medita- lence against him. I started looking at
women—reflects her approach of using tive silence interrupted by whispered moments when words caused discom-
libraries as a means of intervention to shards of poetry. It is a landscape of fort—to those who sought to restrict
challenge the heteropatriarchal world. sheets of paper, microphones, memory, imagination through the mobility of
“Both public intervention and self- desire and oppression. a writer. This, along with the chang-
publishing in my practice emerge from And then another whisper: “Where ing atmosphere in India, which has
a need to reclaim and change,” she says. is love? Outside this world?” been turning restrictive, with liberal
Why pink? “The colour has lost its You are in the middle of artist thinkers, writers and filmmakers being
position as a colour of strength and Shilpa Gupta’s work, ‘For, In Your targeted, first triggered this work and
is now associated with weakness and Tongue, I Can Not Fit: 100 Jailed I became interested in the power of
femininity. Having the library in pink Poets’. Inspired by another project, words and the nervousness around it
is my attempt to reclaim the colour. I ‘Someone Else, 100 Books’, written felt by those in power.”
call it the Sister Library because it is for anonymously and under pseudonyms. Born in Mumbai in 1976, Gupta
all my sisters everywhere,” Thami says. The work on showcase in Kochi uses graduated from the Sir JJ School of
Thami is also the co-founder of excerpts from poems written by poets Fine Arts in Mumbai in 1997. She
community spaces like the Dharavi who served time in prison. works with found objects, photogra-
Art Room in Mumbai and the Bombay Somewhere among them, Allen phy, video, interactive computer-based
Underground, an artists’ collective that Ginsberg whispers: installation and performance. In her
stands for art, expression and creative “And be kind to the poor soul that cries previous works, she has used body hair,
social exchange and is dedicated to in a crack of the pavement because he marks on the skin or given women
celebrating the undocumented, the has no body...” pieces of cloth to stain with menstrual
underground, the lost, the forgotten. “During the research,” says Gupta, blood and used them in her work.
Thami says she believes in creating “I found that the books of one of my “Being a woman does inform one’s
art that is grounded in the act of ‘doing’ practice,” she acknowledges. “It makes
and addresses political/social issues. one more conscious to the act of listen-
“The core of my art practice is healing ing which is what the work in Kochi is
as I work with experiences of margin- DUBE’S BIENNALE also about.”
alisation and resilience—my own and ENVISAGES A ***
that of the people I work in collabora-
tion with,” she adds. FUTURE FOR ART For too long, to borrow Marxist ter-
The books in ‘Sister Library’ are WITH WOMEN AT minology, capitalism’s annexation of
exclusively works by women, a mix of women’s bodies has done a disservice
fiction, non-fiction, academic writing,
THE FOREFRONT. to the gender. Together, women at the
comics, zines, periodicals, community WE COULD BE ON biennale are reclaiming their space,
news, protest leaflets, etc. They offer THE THRESHOLD through confrontation and accom-
a glimpse into the perception of the modation. There is an audacity to that
women who have used writing as a way
OF A RADICAL hope that the market will adapt, mak-
of sharing, she says. REORDERING OF ing room for parallel and alternative
The library is a political statement THE PATRIARCHAL discourses. Dube’s biennale envisages
that addresses gender violence and in- a future for art with women at the fore-
justices in order to change things. “The WORLD ORDER front. We could be on the threshold of
arts, like everything else, have been in- a radical reordering of the patriarchal
fluenced by the world we live in where world order. ■

LE
THE INDIAN MUSIC A TRIBUTE TO
EXPERIENCE SHAH HUSSAIN
MUSEUM PG 5 4 PG 56
AMERICAN SINGER Q&A WITH

BETH HART IN INDIA YAMI GAUTAM
PG 58 PG 6 4
W ILDLIFE
JUNGLE
HERO
F
Five years ago, while playing
golf, Indrajit Ghorpade had an
epiphany that would change
the course of his life.
Wildlife and
He overheard a conversa- rapher
photog ationist
tion about the golf club’s plan v
conser JIT
IN A DE
D R
to bring out a book on the A
GHORP roduce
birds commonly spotted on the o int
hopes t tching into
course and it struck him that ist
a
wolf-w ineraries
it
tou r
he had little to show for the
four days a week he had spent
surrounded by nature on the
links for 30-odd years. Why
not take up wildlife photogra-
phy instead, he thought? After
all, he was familiar with the
LEISURE
wildlife around the grasslands near his ancestral home in the survival of the beautiful animals—of which only around
Koppal, Karnataka. Plus, he had dabbled in photography 2,000 to 3,000 remain in India. Working with the Bengalu-
in his youth and spent hours in the darkrooms of some of ru-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), he has made
India’s best wildlife photographers. great strides in eliminating poaching in Koppal.
However, Indrajit soon realised that he wasn’t content Indrajit hails from the Sandur royal family, which has
with just pretty pictures, and turned to conservation. It was historically been a patron of those studying and conserving
an encounter with the Indian wolf that sparked his pas- nature. Maharaja Yeshwantrao Ghorpade is known to have
sion for conservation. It had been about a year since he had employed wildlife photographer and naturalist M. Krishnan
started photographing seriously when, one morning, while in the 1940s and wildlife photographer T.N.A. Perumal
sitting in his 1947 4x4 Willys Jeep, watching later, to document wildlife in sanctuaries
a herd of blackbucks, his companion quietly across India for a book. M.Y. Ghorpade, the
pointed out a wolf to him. It was the first Not content titular Raja and Indrajit’s first cousin, was
time in decades that he had come across this with just photo- a renowned wildlife photographer himself.
dwindling species. He crept closer and took a graphing wild- Growing up in Bengaluru, Indrajit lived
picture. The shot marked a turning point for life, Indrajit next door to the naturalist Zafar Futehally,
Indrajit, who realised something: “There is no while O.C. Edwards, a pioneer in black and
turned to
wildlife photography without wildlife.” Soon white wildlife photography, was a dormi-
conservation
after, Indrajit founded one of India’s most suc- tory warden at his school. However, the most
cessful wolf-preservation projects—the Deccan
after a rare important reason for Indrajit’s interest in the
Conservation Foundation (DCF). sighting of the subject was that Koppal, his home, is teeming
He bought around 25 camera traps, hired Indian wolf with wildlife.
four workers, enlisted 20 volunteers and Located an hour’s drive from the spec-
started DCF in 2015 with the aim to ensure tacular ruins of the Vijayanagara empire in
M USIC
Listening to
History
he much talked about Indian Music
Experience (IME), a first-of-its-kind in-
teractive music museum in Bengaluru,
has opened its doors to the public.
The museum, which is planning a
formal inauguration later this month, is
spread over three floors with sound
exhibits, full of memorabilia and histo-
ry. While one section houses Ustad Bis-
millah Khan’s paan box within a glass
case, another displays Daler Mehndi’s
shimmery velvet gown. However, the
physical exhibits and the abundance of
textual information pale in comparison

Hampi, Koppal is geologically very unusual. “It is at a tran- wolf, believing that the predators ensure the sheep remain
sition zone—lying in the doab between the Tungabhadra healthy by culling the weakest of the herd, and that the
and Krishna rivers,” he says. The vast grasslands and the spike in the adrenaline that the wolf causes in the sheep
rocky outcrops, with both red and black cotton soil, make it makes the meat especially delicious. “People from Hyder-
ideal for wildlife. Striped hyenas, jungle cats, rusty spot- abad come to Koppal to buy the sheep because the meat is
ted cats, leopards, blackbucks, jackals, and foxes can all be so tasty,” he says.
found here. “Since I had good knowledge of the terrain, the Still, hunting by people living in villages nearby meant
feeding habits and breeding season, I started getting good poaching remained a big problem. Over the past four years,
photographs,” he says. DCF has managed to stop poaching across 200 acres
DCF’s initial plan to conduct a biodiversity study to surrounding Mandalmari village, the highest point in Kop-
identify the remaining habitats in Koppal and the wildlife pal. “I saw a wolf in Mandalmari and said let’s protect this
within them didn’t get the government’s support. Then, one area. In three years, by putting 8-10 camera traps and two
day, he got a call from a WCS researcher. They had received watchers, we have ensured there is no poaching,” he says.
a grant to study the Indian wolf, but were about to lose it “In the beginning, we would catch a poacher every week.
because they hadn’t been able to find one for a year. Indrajit Now they avoid Mandalmari.”
volunteered to take them around Koppal. Sceptical at first, Next up, he wants to tap into the tourists arriving at
WCS sent another researcher for a reconnaissance trip. “We Hampi and promote wildlife tourism in the area. A coracle
got into a jeep at six in the morning and by 6.40 am, we ride on the Tungabhadra is on the cards. But raising
had seen five wolves,” recounts Indrajit. The WCS spent the awareness among the local children remains his first love.
next two years at Koppal, conducting anti-poaching camps, “I want to tell the small boy on the road, ‘Hey, do you know
setting up camera traps, spreading awareness, carrying out where the dog came from? It came from the wolf ’,” he says.
studies and dealing with man-animal conflict. “It will trigger a subconscious thing, and that’s all I need.”
According to Indrajit, the local shepherds worship the —Shamsheer Yousaf
temple bells leads you to the exhibits

dedicated to Hindustani, Carnatic and
devotional music. Each is exhaustive
and takes you through famous families
and matching the various ragas with
times of the day and seasons. An
instruments gallery, with a fascinating
display of 108 musical instruments,
IAN allows you to see rare ones from folk
The IND
MUS C E
I traditions.
IENC
EXPER engaluru A floor dedicated to songs of resis-
in B
museum ue collection tance from the freedom struggle and
is a uniq usic and Bollywood, complete with posters of
of m
legacy to the actual music at IME. Each exhibit films, like 3 Idiots, is as kitschy as you
allows you to listen to music, understand could imagine.
notes, forms and gharanas with real IME also tips its hat to its home city
recorded examples. and takes you through the history of Kan-
Quite surprisingly, the tour begins nada music.
with a section on contemporary Indie mu- The tour ends in a hall of fame with
sic, with an exhibit of bands like Indian names of artists etched on a wall and
Rhythm city Ocean, Euphoria and Pentagram. Here, memorabilia on display. Different from
The instruments autorickshaws are turned into listening any other Indian museum, IME is a
gallery at the booths and the sound of Swarathama’s unique collection of music and legacy oth-
IME (left); the
entrance to the Topiwale reverberates through the room. erwise stored and forgotten in archives.
museum An arched entryway with chiming —Prachi Sibal
DA N C E
In Life and Death
I
nspired by the kafis (poems) of the
16th century Punjabi Sufi poet Shah
Hussain, vocalist Radhika Sood
Nayak and dastango Ankit Chadha
began collaborating on a musical sto-
rytelling piece in 2017. They hoped Poetic license
to premiere it at the Kabir Festival Hitesh Dhutia
and Vinayak
in Mumbai and someday even take Netke (top) and
it to Mela Chiraghan, an annual Sanjukta Wagh in
celebration honouring the poet at his shrine in Faqeer Nimaana
Pakistan—where he lies next to his upper-caste
Hindu lover, Madholal. However, Ankit, one of
the bright stars of the storytelling tradition, died
in a drowning accident in May 2018.
Nayak ensured that the project lived on. Her
efforts paid off and Faqeer Nimaana, dedicated
to Ankit, was performed at the Kabir Festival in
January. To make it happen, Nayak turned to
Kathak dancer Sanjukta Wagh, also an award-
winning theatre actress, who went on to com-
pose the melody for some of Hussain’s poems.
Faqeer Nimaana is Nayak’s first live collabora-
tion with a dancer. “Hussain’s poems radically
break across concepts of nation, gender, caste In ‘FAQEER
ur
NIMAANA’, fo
and class hierarchies, and need to be celebrated,” artists com e to ge ther
e th e
says Wagh. “Poets like him have the ability to to celebrat
Pu njab i Sufi
lead us to a space which is spiritually connected works of
in
poet Shah Hussa
and individually empowering.”
The two roped in guitarist Hitesh Dhutia
and tabla player Vinayak Netke. Sociologist
Gita Chadha came on board to strengthen the
script written by Nayak and Wagh, and Faqeer
Nimaana, meaning the egoless seeker, as audi-
ences will see it now, was born.
Wagh did not want to include unnecessary
ornamentation in the choreography. “We just
worked on the musical and sonic space that each
kafi creates before I began to inhabit them in
my body.” The team’s approach to each of the
seven poems is varied. In some, like in Jeti Jeti
Dunian Ram Ji, Wagh and Nayak simply sit on
stage and sing together. In others, Wagh dem-
onstrates her Kathak skills and her versatility
as she shifts effortlessly from classical to a more
contemporary dance style and even does baithak
abhinaya. In Faqeer Nimaana, the four artists
showcase a fluid amalgam of poetry, music and
dance. However, the biggest accomplishment
of the show is Hussain’s message of unity—the
need of the hour.
—Suhani Singh
LEISURE
Symphonic
stories
Tabla maestro
Zakir Hussain with
the Symphony
Orchestra of India
REVIEW
BLIGHTY
Hussain, SOI music director Bisengaliev, too, will surely
experience a bit of exhilaration.
The season, beginning on February 4 at Mumbai’s
AT LAST
Jamshed Bhabha Theatre, promises variety and appeal.
While Berlioz’s concert overture, Roman Carnival, is a
crowd-pleaser with its exuberant carnival spirit, Carl Maria
von Weber’s Oberon has been described as “a masterpiece
F
or National Centre of of operatic orchestration”.
Performing Arts (NCPA) In Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade and Hus-
chairman Khushroo N. sain’s tabla concerto Peshkar (an SOI commission), east
Suntook, the Symphony Orchestra of will not only meet west, but merge ideas and perceptions
India’s (SOI) maiden tour of the UK this in a marvellous cross-cultural exchange. It is clear why the
spring season is “a dream come true”. two have been paired together. The former is music of the
For its spring
The tour is a realisation of the vision of Orient viewed through the filter of a western aesthetic in in-
season, the
NCPA founder Dr Jamshed J. Bhabha. strumentation and structure, while Hussain’s work “blends
Symphony
It was Suntook who conceived the rhythmic elements of Hindustani music with expressive
Orchestra
the plan to create India’s first profes- melodies for symphonic instruments”, says Zane Dalal, SOI
of India will
sional symphony orchestra over a associate music director. “It is a great honour to introduce
tour the UK,
decade ago and convinced Marat this marvellous piece to British audiences.”
as well as
Bisengaliev (who was “intrigued by Dalal will share the podium with the English National
India, with
the challenge”) to form an orchestra Opera’s (ENO) conductor Martyn Brabbins, who describes
tabla maestro
of musicians from his native Kazakh- the SOI as “an orchestra that wants to give all it can”. Under
Zakir
stan and India in 2004. his baton, the SOI will play Sergei Rachmaninov’s Sym-
Hussain
This season, as he performs as phony No. 2 and Ludwig van Beethoven’s masterful Ninth
the soloist in violin concertos by com- Symphony. The choral movement of the latter will feature
posers Camille Saint-Saëns and Max soloists from both India and abroad, and a choir compris-
Bruch in London with his team, along ing Kazakh and Indian singers.
with the eminent tabla maestro Zakir —Nikhil Sardana

LEISURE and James Taylor, her list of inspirations include jazz
greats such as Billie Holiday and Dinah Washington.
Her brother introduced her to reggae royal Bob
Marley and hard rock heavyweights Led Zeppelin.
M USIC She credits an ex-boyfriend for turning her on to
blues boss Big Joe Turner. She came to love alt-rock
BLUE FROM emissaries Soundgarden and Alice Chains listening

to the radio in her early 20s, and she discovered soul
legend Otis Redding through a compilation tape
THE BLUES somebody handed her at one of her gigs.

Hart says they each share a quality. “They don’t
use the genre as a place to lean on but really use
their heart and soul,” she said. “To me, they’re really
leaning on their story.” As far as stories go, Hart
has plenty of her own to share. It might come as a
A surprise, though, that the melodies and arrange-

ments of her compositions come to her more eas-
ily than her lyrics. “I torture myself over [them],”
she said. “But I love it. That feeling of searching for
American vocalist Beth Hart, who will headline something. I know how I feel but [not] how [I’m]
this year’s edition of the Mahindra Blues Festival going to relay it to where it makes me cry or move
in Mumbai in the second weekend of February, has or feel like I’m finding the truth. [Songwriting is]
released a dozen studio albums over the course of a always a spiritual experience.”
25-year career. She believes her being prolific has a —Amit Gurbaxani
lot to do with her personality. “One of the things I
attribute it to is being overly sensitive as a kid and
just being in so much pain all the time,” said Hart,
who’s always been candid about both the drug addic-
tion that almost derailed her career and the mental
illness she deals with daily.
Her eventful life has informed the songs that
make up her discography, which includes three col-
lections of cover versions recorded with American
blues-rock guitarist Joe Bonamassa. Classics from
those albums, such as ‘I’d Rather Go Blind’ by Etta
James and ‘I’ll Take Care of You’ by Bobby Bland, are
likely to feature in her set. But Hart, who Bonamassa
hailed as a modern-day Janis Joplin, doesn’t call
herself a blues musician. “First and foremost, I am
really a songwriter,” said Hart. Her influences cut
across genres, starting with western classical and
Beethoven, with whom she fell in love when she
started playing the piano at the age of four.
Along with songwriting stars such as Carole King
American
vocalist Beth
Hart headlines
this month’s
Mahindra Blues
Festival in
Mumbai

LEISURE
Theatrical note
Artist Pushpamala
N. has used
selective works
from her photo
performance
series along with
her installations
for the show Body
Politic
A RT
The Last
Laugh Artist
AMALA
PUSHP s her
N. use edium
sam
body a on the
to t ke tate
a
nation s
Mata, dissembling the medical model
of a ‘bisexual’ torso in a satirical take
on the idea of the ‘ideal’ citizen. Simi-
larly, in the three videos of ‘Good Hab-
its’, the artist performs ‘operations’
on models of the human body, again
dressed up as Bharat Mata to com-
eople laughed at me presented at Gallery Chemould ment on government programmes in
P when I first started
photo performances,”
in 1998—is based on Bollywood’s
Fearless Nadia (aka Mary Ann
health and education.
In the ‘Transcripts’ sculptures,
says artist Pushpamala N., whose Evans), a superheroine, seen in a Pushpamala explores her experience
early work riffed on proto-feminist setting reminiscent of film noir. with a vitrine containing ancient cop-
legends like Fearless Nadia. In The Body Politic—a reference per plates on a visit to the archaeo-
However, with her solo show, to her use of the body as well as logical museum in Bengaluru. These
The Body Politic, hitting New a play on the phrase used to de- were records of land grants given by
Delhi’s Nature Morte art gallery scribe the citizenry of a state—she the kings centuries ago and for the
this month, it’s Pushpamala who illustrates how individual bodies artist, these connect to the idea of
is having the last laugh. “You have suffer political violence and wield body politic. “There is an attempt to
to keep fighting,” she says. “As a political authority. “It is a pun,” she make pseudo-history now,” she says,
woman artist, I am no the title.” explaining that the transcripts offer a
as seriously as I shou aborate tableaux counter-viewpoint to that notion.
In the early photo many nuanced To understand Pushpamala, you
Pushpamala cast hers rs. ‘Kichaka- have to ask her “silly questions”, like
as the Phantom Lady, andhri’, for insta- when did you start dressing up. She
wraith-like masked su e, is inspired by the lights a cigarette and talks about how
perhero who uses he 890 oil painting by her mother, an amateur theatre artist,
psychokinetic powers Raja Ravi Varma. would play pranks dressed up as a
to fight injustice in n the video piece sadhu, etc. “My work always has a
Bombay. ‘Phantom ‘Model Citizen’, she theatrical note to itself,” she says.
Lady or Kismet’—first appears as Bharat —Chinki Sinha
LEISURE
I N T E RV I E W
Building the Bridge

The name Markus Zusak may not ring a bell. But The Book Thief almost certain-
ly will. Adapted into a film starring Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson in 2013, The
Book Thief is the story of a young girl who learns to read from a Jewish refugee
her family is hiding from the Nazis. It went on to be a best-seller. Now, more than a
decade since its publication, Zusak is back with his much-anticipated next novel,
by Markus Zusak
Bridge of Clay, a family saga of five brothers who are bringing themselves up
DOUBLEDAY
without any adults. He spoke with INDIA TODAY about how the book evolved.
` 799; 544 pages
Q: You’ve said you conceived of Bridge of Clay when you were 19. What
sparked the idea?
I was 19 or 20 years old, and in my mind I saw a boy who was building a bridge. I
named him Clayton, which was the one piece of luck I needed. I thought I would
call the book ‘Clayton’s Bridge’, and to set it. That was when I knew there Q: You have said elsewhere that
then a few months later, I thought: No, was a book to write. instances from your own life have
not ‘Clayton’s Bridge’—make it ‘Bridge inspired bits of the book.
of Clay’. And that was when a whole Q: How did the book evolve in the It’s usually just the very small things,
new depth of meaning and emotion decade that it took to write it? and they never exist in a book exactly
instantly entered the idea. I thought When I finished The Book Thief, I knew as they happened in real life. In my own
of a boy who was building a bridge of somehow that I had published four house, for example, we have two
stone or wood, but it was also made books previously that really meant children, two dogs and two cats, and
of him—of Clay. I immediately saw something to me, and that book meant in the Dunbar household in the Bridge
the dual meaning of Clay (the name) everything. I never wanted to go back of Clay, there are five brothers and five
and clay (the material), which can be to writing books that meant just some- animals. There is plenty of chaos in our
moulded into anything, but needs fire thing to me ever again. household with our foursome of pets,
REVIEW
NO REFUGE
IN THE
hing
ft er the smas
A s of The
succes hief,
Book T USAK
US Z
MARK re than a
RUINED CITY
o
spent m riting his
w
decade novel
new
but I elevated it to make it five.
T
The cat in the book named Hec- he protagonists are damaged children, star-
tor is based on one of our cats, ving and scrounging amidst the rubble of a
named Brutus, but he grows in ruined city. Nothing is clear at the outset of this
the writing of the novel. That’s science fiction novel except that some sort of
why I love writing. We see the unholy conflict centred upon Ceylon has pro-
world in a totally unique way duced tribes of feral youngsters.
that is also somehow familiar. Wait: Ceylon?
Yes. Because the British Empire is still
Q: The Book Thief had death intact, China never became Communist and
as a narrator. Do you feel
because this is 2033 and history as we know
that death continues to be a
it is just another mirage in the reader’s mind.
character in this book?
I guess death is a kind of friend Even the little children who seem so pathetic in
to all of us in a way, because the opening pages are not what they seem. The
knowing it hangs over us is Silent Girl for instance, is a vicious little war-
what makes everything we rior. She wields a wooden spear and can only
do worthwhile. Death is still a speak via a cassette player she uses in place of a
major force in Bridge of Clay voice. She befriends a boy named ‘the Pissa’, a
and there are a few cameos, word which, according to the internet, means
where Matthew imagines Death ‘crazy’. Together, these two scale a towering
hanging from the power lines,
mountain of garbage, and fight their way into
or sitting on the curtain rod in
a refuge called Halfway House. Except it’s not
the kitchen. This time around,
what hasn’t changed is finding a refuge at all and the man who runs it is to be
great life in the face of death. feared rather than trusted.
Wijeratne backs his way into this tale of
Q: The premise of The Book horror and degradation with a series of nested
Thief—a family shielding a revelations, involving the ruling élite of Ceylon
Jew from the Nazis during and their pale-skinned, Caucasian administra-
World War II—was familiar tors. He holds our attention by concealing the
to readers in the subconti- THE INHUMAN
RACE true scale of the betrayal ticking at the heart of
nent. Bridge of Clay is more the story until well past the mid-point. Once
b Y dh j
foreign ground.
the mystery is revealed however, the final third
It’s a very Australian book in
of the book settles into predictability. There’s a
some ways, and I think our
countries do have a bond over a clunky court scene, some amusing caricatures
particular sport. All of my books and a sari-clad heroine is introduced before the
are about family. About trying to story comes to an open-ended conclusion. This
live decently, to look for laugh- book is, according to the front-cover sticker,
ter and ambition in our lives the first of what will be the Commonwealth
and, having been to India once Empire trilogy.
before, I know the people are While the plot is mildly innovative in terms
generous and warm, and talk- of science fiction, what makes the
ative and kind. These are all the
novel interesting and strangely poignant is
elements I look to write with,
its setting. The depiction of lush, beautiful
and so I hope Indian readers will
connect with the Dunbar family, Ceylon/Sri Lanka as the site of extreme devas-
and with Clay, whose story is tation is an absolute perversion of reality. This
about building a bridge, to make is the kind of future we must hope will never
one perfect, beautiful thing. come to pass.”
—with Farah Yameen —Manjula Padmanabhan
LEISURE
N OW S T R E A M I N G
Women at Work
wara Bhasker has more gumption than Writer Charudutt Acharya creates believable,
S most Indian actors. In just five years, she
went from playing the teenaged daugh-
upper-middle-class characters with shades of
grey, and they mostly speak like real people, but
ter of Deepti Naval (Listen... Amaya, 2011) to play- he succumbs to television dramatics with multiple
ing the mother of a teenaged schoolgirl (Nil Battey subplots involving affairs, workplace wars, past
Sannata, 2016). In 2015, she was both a hoity-toity betrayals, and even a long-lost offspring.
sister to Salman Khan’s stuffy prince in Prem Ratan Despite the low production values and Danish
Dhan Paayo and an evil seductress aunty in X: Past Aslam’s over-dramatic direction, there is fun to be
is Present. Her most recent big screen outings—as had and gender politics to be thrashed out, even if
Anarkali of Aarah’s irrepressible risque songstress in a slightly proselytising manner.
and Veerey Di Wedding’s rich Delhi girl caught In Season 2, streaming on Voot, the world keeps
masturbating—seem of a piece with her openly showing Mira her aukaat as a woman—and Mira
political, unapologetically feminist makes sure to point it out to us. Men
Twitter presence. who say such things as “You’re nothing
It’s Not That Simple riffs off this
Swara Bhasker but a c*** tease” and “Jab ladki gusse
persona, creating a female protagonist shines in mein ho, sorry bolne mein hi bhalaai
still rare for Indian television. Like a Season 2 of hai” are pretty grave provocations.
younger Alicia Florrick (The Good the politically Happily, the women are not beyond
Wife), Mira Verma is a single mother savvy, if some- professional intrigue, road rage or
trying to re-enter the world of work times preachy, social media fights.
after a long marriage-and-mother- It’s Not That Bhasker makes the most of her
hood hiatus. Still to get a divorce from Simple writer-backed role, ably aided by a
her husband, she finds herself the decent ensemble cast, especially Purab
object of attention of male friends and Kohli’s rakish journalist.
male colleagues alike. —Trisha Gupta
WAT C H L I S T
LUTHER
Admit it, you would even watch
Idris Elba paint a house. Luckily,
HITLIST Season 5 of Luther–a gritty,
sometimes moving police proce-
dural that teams Elba up with Ruth
Clarkson and Wilson’s psycho killer–means you

don’t have to.
Crew x 3 NETFLIX
T
he legends of televised motor- banter, the first episode leaves you SONI
ing series are back. With a total wanting more. Billed as Netflix’s best Hindi film
of 70 years of experience be- Named ‘Motown Funk’, the episode to date (okay, faint praise), this
story of two policewomen battling
tween them, it is only fair to call features highly tuned versions of the
sexual harassment has impressed
them masters of the modern Ford Mustang, the Chevrolet Ca- critics with its power and subtlety.
motoring shows on television. maro ZL1 and the Dodge Challenger NETFLIX
Jeremy Clarkson, James May and SRT. With a complete review of the
Richard Hammond have moved ahead McLaren Senna, Clarkson puts you in
with the times to now present their the driver’s seat of the limited produc-
witty takes on cars on The Grand Tour tion supercar, which goes on to clock
on Amazon Prime. the fastest time on the lap board, set
With two seasons of the promised by British racing driver Abigail Eaton
36 episodes already on Prime, 2019 on the Eboladrome track.
welcomes the third instalment of The May describes the battle be-
Grand Tour with the first episode that tween the three as good versus evil,
was released on January 17. referencing the names of the cars—the
A STAR IS BORN
The teasers posted on social Exorcist Camaro and Challenger SRT Everybody went, well, gaga over
media and a short trailer aired at the Venom. Of course, the less-powerful Lady Gaga’s feature film debut in
end of December last year, promised Mustang had to be given a nickname to a flick produced and directed by
a grand spectacle. Already garnering go along with the three and was called Bradley Cooper. Now you can see
for yourself if the Lady outdoes
over 2 million views, the introduc- the Blue Nun (a reference to a much-
Barbra Streisand’s 1976 perfor-
tion scene shows Hammond stuck in lampooned German wine brand). mance in the same role.
an old Chevrolet pick-up on a fragile Humour aside, no celebrities iTUNES
wooden bridge hoisted at a dizzy- came into the tent that doubles as
ing height. A series of breathtaking the show’s studio in the first episode.
views featuring period correct cars Clarkson signs off promising a mega
follow, before the real theme of the road trip beginning in the next
first episode is revealed—three episode, “the Grand Tour” of
American muscle cars storm- on 3 o f the season, and offering
In Seas AND
ing the streets of the original THE GR , top-class motoring
TO U R
motor city, Detroit. Offering n entertainment for the
rem y Clarkso it
only a glimpse of the cars Je th next 13 weeks. ■
co-hos
and his he original
and tongue-in-cheek –t —Abhik Das
Detroit ity
motor c
Q A
Stri k e
h
W otile
She’s H o r, o n ‘ josh ’,
a ct nd
i G a ut a m, e mini ster, a
Ya m e d e fe n c a l s t r i k e
g t h c
m e e t in l a te st s ur g i
he r
Q. Did you anticipate that Uri “More than the It’s unfair and disappointing
would be so successful? screen time, to do that to the army. We
I did. When I read the what’s impor- heard from people in the
script, I got the intent tant is that you forces about the levels to
with which Aditya [Dhar, are bringing which they go to selflessly
filmmaker] was making guard us. We don’t have
something
it and what he wanted to many patriotic films that
express. He said he wanted
substantial to
depict the army’s valour.
to make a film that not just
the film” Here’s a film on a real-
audiences love but also one life incident and we have
Are people still asking you the army would be proud tried our best to keep it as
‘How’s the josh’? of. It’s a sensitive subject We met them on Army Day. authentic as we could.
I will never tire of it. I am and he understood the They hadn’t watched it then,
getting videos on my social responsibility. I remember but they said that people Q. Would you have liked
media feed, some with two- standing at the air force base in the army had told them longer screen time in Uri and
year-olds asking ‘How’s in Serbia and watching the about how they loved the Batti Gul Metre Chalu?
the josh’ (a dialogue from choppers and feeling proud film. The President and his In any film, you have to
the film Uri: The Surgical of being a part of this film. wife loved it too. One could justify your work and pre-
Strike] and replying ‘High, see they actually meant it. sence in it. What’s important
Sir’. It’s just overwhelming. Q. You met defence minister is that you are bringing
I have happily made peace Nirmala Sitharaman and Q. What do you say to people something substantial to the
with the fact that I will be army chief Gen. Bipin Rawat who call Uri: The Surgical film. I feel I have done that,
asked this all year round. recently. What was their take? Strike a propaganda film? be it Batti... or Uri.
--with Suhani Singh
64 Volume XLIV Number 6; For the week February 5-11, 2019, published on every Friday Total number of pages 84 (including cover pages)
DIGITAL EDITION
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TO YOUR FREE MAGAZINE
FEBRUARY 2019
FORM AND
PLAY BY
ARTIST GANESH
HALOI
A MONTHLY CITY MAGAZINE
HIGH ON
HEALTH Saroj Sharma,
co-owner, Wabi Sabi
FEBRUARY 2019
FORM AND
PLAY BY
ARTIST GANESH
HALOI
A MONTHLY CITY MAGAZINE
HIGH ON
HEALTH
LIGHT MEALS, NEW WORKOUTS, ORGANIC Saroj Sharma,
BEAUTY PRODUCTS & MORE co-owner, Wabi Sabi
Editor-in-Chief
Aroon Purie
Group Editorial Director
Raj Chengappa
Group Creative Editor
➜
4
Cover Story
Nilanjan Das
Group Photo Editor
Bandeep Singh Road to Fitness
Whether it's going out for a meal or working
Deputy Editor out, healthy no longer equates to boring.
Prachi Bhuchar
Special Correspondent
We bring you fun ways to stay fit in the city
Malini Banerjee
Consulting Editors Cover photograph by SUBIR HALDER
Mohini Mehrotra, Rewati Rau
Photo Department
Vikram Sharma, Subir Halder
Photo Researchers
Prabhakar Tiwari, Saloni Vaid,
Visual Treat
Shubhrojit Brahma
Design
Angshuman De, Rajesh Angira
Production Till February 11
Harish Aggarwal (Chief of
Production), Naveen Gupta, Check out Form And Play an
Vijay Sharma, Prashant Verma exhibition of the works by Ganesh
Layout Execution Haloi. Evocative abstract paintings
Ramesh Kumar Gusain
Pradeep Singh Bhandari in diaphanous colours are brought
to life by the artist who won the
Publishing Director Lifetime Achievement award In the
Manoj Sharma India Today Art Awards this year.
Associate Publisher (Impact)
Anil Fernandes
At Akar Prakar, P238, Hindusthan
Park
Impact Team Tel 24642617
Senior General Manager: On Monday to Saturday
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2 INDIA TODAY KOLKATA ✦ FEBRUARY 2019

Cover
Story
to
Fitness
Whether it's going out for a meal or working out,
healthy no longer equates to boring. We bring you
fun ways to stay fit in the city. ■ By Malini Banerjee
Photographs by SUBIR HALDER

Soccer
Punch
ACADEMEY OF WOMEN’S FOOTBALL,
V/S SPORTING ARENA
I
f you prefer to play a sport rather than sweat it
out in a gym, here is your chance to try some-
thing new. Shatadru Dutt, 26, coach and co-
owner of VS Sports Arena coaches a women’s
football team thrice a week with no restrictions of
age, fitness or qualifications. Also coaching them
is Ria Rao, 23, a young footballer who represented
West Bengal in national competitions in the under
17 and under 19 category. A motley crew made
up of homemakers, national rowing champions,
marathon runners, basketball players and young
corporates, have now made it a point to play the sport
religiously for two hours thrice a week. More are fol-
lowing suit. “The batch is expanding so we might just
start another one soon,” says Dutt.
The idea behind the academy was two-fold. One
was for people like Ria Rao who loved the sport and
played it in school and college but had nowhere to
keep playing football as a working adult. The second
was to develop the game further. Dutt who coached
Rao in St Xavier’s College spotted the gap when he
met more women like her. “The Calcutta Football
League which is a fifth division football league has
one of the oldest women’s football team and not
many know about it. My aim is to build interest in
the sport from the ground up so that more can play
those leagues,” says Dutt.
The results of their experiment speaks for
itself. Barely a couple of months since the start of
the Academy, Dutt says that “the girls are already
fitter and have greater stamina and endurance,
better technique.” Rao believes that football can
transform your mind body and soul. “I am a differ-
ent person when I am playing. I eat better and sleep
better,” says Rao.
The women's
At VS Sports Arena, 5A Sarat Bose Road, Lane
football team at beside Chandrani Pearls, Opposite Ashok Hall Girls
VS Sports Arena Tel 7980116259 Price Rs 1,000 a month
Email [email protected]
5
FEBRUARY 2019 ✦ INDIA TODAY KOLKATA
Cover
Story
S
ienna Cafe and Store started
as a space to promote the
brand’s range of ceramic
tableware and handicrafts
from their workshop in Shantiniketan.
The food and the menu became some-
thing of an accidental success. “We
started with some of the things that
were made in our own family kitchen,”
says Sulagna Ghosh, 32, co-founder,
Sienna. Its roots in a family kitchen
may explain the menu’s light whole-
some vibe. “People were sceptical when
they found light salads in a Kolkata cafe
menu. People in this city generally like
deep fried, cheesy dishes,” says Ghosh.
But the avocado tortilla salad turned out
to be a dish that has been there since
inception and lasted through at least two
new menus. Also on the salad menu is the
black rice salad with an Asian dressing
with sesame and peanuts. "This used to
be an Asian salad before. Later we added
black rice to it and the flavours ended
up working well together," says Anindita
Rawat who is consultant for the Sienna
menu. Rawat is a home cook and has
also introduced the popular Aubergine
pesto crostini on the menu. "Ingredients
like oyster mushroom and basil come
from Rawat's family farm and a lot of
vegetables from the Ghosh’s vegetable
patch in their Shantiniketan workshop."
If you are down with a cold, Ghosh
promises that the clear chicken soup
with bok choy, carrot, baby corn and
mushroom is an instant pick-me-up.
Their focus is not so much on calories
Sulagna Ghosh, as much as on freshness and authentic-
co-founder, Sienna
ity. Their breads, cakes and pesto are
made in-house and everything, if not
low calorie, is at least nutrient or fibre
Eat Out Healthy

rich such as the date almond walnut
cake. “Its decadent but also loaded with
micro-nutrients,” says Ghosh.
Meal for two Rs 600 onwards
SIENNA CAFE AND STORE At Sienna, 49/1 Hindustan Park

Cover
Story Saroj Sharma,
co-owner, Wabi Sabi
Veggie If eating healthy means having hearty salads, check
Haven
out their couscous salad or chickpea salad. “Both have
very light vinaigrette-based dressing and are rich in
dietary fibre. Our watermelon salad is another option
that is so delicious that you don’t even think of it as eat-
ing healthy,” she says.
WABI SABI The gluten-free momos are made with potato
starch and are another light option that will spare
you the bloating caused by flour-based dishes. Want
C
afe-store Wabi Sabi is inspired by the your meal to pack in vegetables and proteins? Try
idea of “finding joy and acceptance the zucchini roll up which is a cold dish made up
in imperfections”. The store stocks of zucchini slices filled with crumbly cottage cheese
a number of organic or nutritious and asparagus.
cereals like black and red rice and organic pulses. Most of their rice-based mains use black or
The cafe on the other hand serves all kinds of Bhutanese red rice so it is possible to have a full meal
vegetarian and Jain friendly contemporary global here without feeling too guilty. “Even our pastas come
cuisine. “The menu is designed in such a way that with an option of whole wheat, and we do not use flour
none of the dishes will make you feel uncomfort- or corn flour to thicken our sauces,” adds Sharma.
ably full. Most of our dishes are very light and Price Rs 800 for two
fresh,” says co-owner, Saroj Sharma, 45. At Wabi Sabi, 10 Sarat Banerjee Road

Cover
Story
Founder Surhid Chandra

with chief knowledge officer
Suvendu Sekhar Das, at the
Hari Mitti nursery
Choose to
potency of the nutrient rich greens.
“We have had clients who say they
cannot stomach coriander and toma-
Grow organic
toes from the vegetable seller after
growing their own,” he says.
From your garden variety
beans to “exotic vegetables like bell
HARI MITTI peppers broccoli and oyster mush-
rooms” they grow it all. “We have studied
that if one opts for about 30 to 35 crates,
then a family of three can sunstain on
F
arm-to-table or garden to table and only bring plants to you once they what they grow and need to only buy
are concepts that may have are “hardy enough to survive beyond potatoes and onions,” says Chandra.
seemed unattainable for city the nursery.” “Most plants need a lot If you want to pass on the gift of
dwellers with busy lives till now, of care during the seedling stage. Our growing to friends and family, Hari
but Hari Mitti will make it possible for aim is to take away the hassle of urban Mitti has also designed pinewood
you. The New Town-based start-up gardening. All you need to do is water boxes of herbs. “These small pots
grows over 40 varieties of vegetables, them,” says founder Surhid Chandra. already come packed with enough
fruits and herbs and air purifying plants Maintenance of the plants is all natu- nutrients that they continue to grow
that you can plant in your own homes. ral and free of harmful chemicals. “You without needing extra maintenance,”
If you do not have a green thumb, may even call it organic but we avoid says Chandra.
do not worry. Hari Mitti provides soil- the label since there is no accounting Price Rs 500 per crate or box plus
free mulch lined crates that are loaded for acid rain or even groundwater,” says installation cost
with vermicompost and cocoa peat Chandra. What he can vouch for is the Details harimitti.com

Kettle minutes. Sen has represented the
Calling
country in this sport in Thailand
and Malaysia.
But Sen is not just a kettle-
ball athlete. He is also a Master
Kettlebell Coach as well as a certi-
SAMRAT SEN, COREFIT fied animal flow coach and a func-
tional trainer. If he were to have
a fitness mantra it would be
S
amrat Sen, 32, a former PR “lengthen your front and strength-
professional, was always en your back.” His outfit is called
passionate about fitness.“I Corefit, which as the name sug-
was into kickboxing and gests, is about focusing on the core.
martial arts and using the kettlebell Sen believes in a completely
as well. However, I started taking personalised approach where he
it more seriously as a sport when designs different programmes for
I began to benefit from kettlebell people of different fitness levels
training,” said Sen. Kettlebell lift- and different targets. His biggest
ing as a sport is a test of “endur- success? “One of my students, a
ance since it relies on an equal mix 53 kg mother of one, who couldn’t
of strength, endurance, flexibil- lift 12 kg kettlebells, recently rep-
ity and cardiovascular stamina. Also resented India and lifted two 16 kg
called endurance lifting, the sport kettlebells in tandem,” says Sen.
requires lifters to complete as many Price On request
repetitions as possible within 10 At corefit.co.in
Samrat Sen,
owner, Corefit
Cover
Story
Aishwarya
Biswas,
founder and
MD, Auli
Lifestyle
Au Natural
AULI LIFESTYLE such as cuts, burns, acne, tanning and rashes and can
also be used as a make-up primer and sunscreen. “In
fact I did not know it could be so successful until I heard
I
f you are eating organic, then it goes without saying that praise from my buyers who cannot get enough of it,”
you should opt for "natural" when it comes to skincare as she says. Also popular is Luminous, a fragrant all-natu-
well. Auli Lifestyle, a homegrown Kolkata-based com- ral shampoo that is good for all hair types. “It is packed
pany, makes a variety of skin and haircare products that with ingredients that are great for hair, such as brahmi,
are completely natural, paraben and chemical free. olive oil, aloe vera, essential oils and other ayurvedic
Founder and MD Aishwarya Biswas, 35, started using extracts,” says Biswas.
honey and beeswax from her country farm in suburban south Even if you don't have a beauty regimen, Auli has
Kolkata to formulate her products, and slowly expanded to starter kits for men and women, anti ageing skin ritu-
use “only the best organic and natural ingredients she can als and rituals for dry oily and combination skin, facial
from across the country.” kits, hair kits, pamper bath rituals, de-tanning kit and
She gets glowing reviews about her products online— the ultimate indulgence in the form of a bridal kit.
which is her primary market. An ex-model-turned-entre- They also make honey-based snack boxes that
prenuer,she is a firm believerin her ownproductsand it is easy include green tea, a small pot of honey and honey
to see why. Her bestsellers include Magic Potion, an aloe-vera roasted almonds.
massage gel that she says helps tackle a variety of problems Price Rs 300 onwards At aulilifestyle.com

Cover
Story
E
ntrepreneur and director of The
Yoga exponent
Belgadia Palace and princess from
Mrinalika Bhanjdeo the Royal Family of Mayurbhanj,
Mrinalika Bhanjdeo, 28, start-
ed practicing yoga seven years ago and
three years ago, she started teaching it
too. It seeped into my everyday life and
even though I did not enter the practice of
yoga with the intention of making chang-
es in my lifestyle, it made me aware of
how I live my life—from what and how
I eat, to having a phone-life balance,”
says Bhanjdeo.
The stress caused by the digital
medium is one of the main things yoga
helps address, says the hatha yoga expo-
nent. “The practice of yoga helped me
mastermybreath,whichwasthefirststepto
learning how to control my mind.
We are bombarded with external
stimulation which throws us off bal-
ance, especially as we live in the digi-
tal age where our biggest health
concerns are related to poor lifestyle
choices,” she says. Those choices are
what you can address with mindfulness.
Bhanjdeo especially recommends
“meditation to relax the body and
mind” with nadi shodhana (alternate
nostril cleansing) and sheetal pranaya-
ma which helps improve the flow of
oxygen into the body, lowers blood
pressure, and calms the mind and body.
For common ailments and problems
she suggests cat/cow poses to improve
circulation through spine and core and
the cobra pose to “open up the chest
Breathe
and improve lung capacity” as well as
alleviate lower back pain. She also advo-
cates popular and relatively simpler poses
Free
like the standing forward bend and tree
pose that help improve flexibility and
balance.
At Calorie Burn Centre, 3B
Lovelock Place; The Salt
YO GA House, 40 Shakespeare Sarani
Tel 9830290530

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