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Sujata Anandan

I wonder if the Sena and the AIMIM know that Bal Thackeray was the first person ever in India to lose his voting rights and that to contest elections for hate speeches he had made during a 1987 byelection to Vile Parle.

Articles by Sujata Anandan

Sharad Pawar’s fascinating sense of history | Opinion

Pawar’s love of Maharashtra overcame any frustration or disappointment he may have had at being let down by the people

cities

Updated on Mar 18, 2020 07:32 AM IST

Hindustan Times | BySujata Anandan, Mumbai

All contradictions resolved, the hard work begins now

It is interesting that the chief minister’s Ayodhya visit came and went without much remark beyond the usual expectations

cities

Updated on Mar 10, 2020 11:46 PM IST

Hindustan Times | BySujata Anandan

Survival instinct of three parties

The government is playing hide and seek with the different parts of its electorate to keep both the saffron and secular sides happy

Former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had even peeved that he had not expected the Congress to team up with the Shiv Sena(HT FILE)

cities

Updated on Mar 03, 2020 11:31 PM IST

Hindustan Times | BySujata Anandan

Too much ideological inconsistency is politically damaging

Dalit leaders are upset not just by Ambedkar’s fruitless political/electoral ambitions but also by his ideological inconsistency

cities

Updated on Feb 25, 2020 11:51 PM IST

Hindustan Times | BySujata Anandan

Coming up: A big battle of three against one

Recent events in the state underline both the need to avoid premature obituaries as well as cling to hope in the persona of former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis

cities

Updated on Feb 19, 2020 12:17 AM IST

BySujata Anandan

Frequent about turns are politically unprofitable

After slamming the BJP and Narendra Modi through the Lok Sabha elections barely 10 months ago, he has now taken an about turn in support of the BJP

Senior leaders of Shiv Sena, NCP, and Congress(HT PHOTO)

cities

Updated on Feb 11, 2020 11:55 PM IST

Hindustan Times | BySujata Anandan

Why Raj Thackeray will find no Bangladeshi in Mumbai

How will he identify the Bangladeshis? By the food they eat? Or the clothes they wear? BJP leader from Madhya Pradesh, Kailash Vijayvargiya, thinks Bangladeshis can be identified by the poha (puffed and then flattened rice) they eat

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray.(HT FILE)

cities

Updated on Feb 05, 2020 05:59 AM IST

Hindustan Times | BySujata Anandan

The need for some patience and introspection

Earlier, in Nashik, when reporters asked Fadnavis what issues he would be challenging the government on, he said without batting an eyelash, “farmers, loan waivers, lack of industrial growth, failure to provide jobs” – in fact all issues associated with his government barely three months ago.

Devendra Fadnavis seems to believe he can blame the new government on all issues(HT FILE)

cities

Updated on Jan 29, 2020 12:14 AM IST

BySujata Anandan

Storm in a tea cup over Sai Baba

Uddhav Thackeray’s statement over the birthplace of Sai Baba led to a furore

cities

Updated on Jan 22, 2020 12:15 AM IST

Hindustan Times | BySujata Anandan, Mumbai

Why Shivaji was an incomparable king

The large portrait of the Maratha warrior king at the entrance of Mantralaya was set up by Antulay when he was the chief minister in the early 1980s.

Antulay had to resign a month before his appointment with Queen Elizabeth to negotiate terms for the return of the Bhavani Talwar.(HT Photo)

cities

Updated on Jan 15, 2020 12:05 AM IST

Hindustan Times | BySujata Anandan

The changing world of Uddhav Thackeray

As Uddhav Thackeray makes all the right political moves in his role as chief minister of Maharashtra, he has taken many critics and bitter opponents of the Shiv Sena by surprise

cities

Updated on Jan 08, 2020 12:15 AM IST

Hindustan Times | BySujata Anandan

Ajit Pawar: Always the bridesmaid, never the bride

Had Ajit not “approached” Devendra Fadnavis with support for the former chief minister’s (CM) government, there was no way that Narendra Modi and Amit Shah would have facilitated a government led by the Shiv Sena.

Ajit Pawar, Maharashtra deputy chief minister(HT FILE)

cities

Updated on Jan 02, 2020 06:56 AM IST

Hindustan Times | BySujata Anandan

Accidental CM with no sense of history | Opinion

Devendra Fadnavis needs to take some contemporary history lessons before dictating terms to the best home minister Maharashtra has ever had

Former CM Devendra Fadnavis(Satish Bate/HT Photo)

cities

Updated on Dec 25, 2019 11:05 AM IST

Hindustan Times | BySujata Anandan

Maha power and party: Walking the tightrope

Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, with each passing day, seems to be perfecting the art of the tightrope walk

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray’s audacious strategy helped his party keep its trust with its voters and miraculously brought them to lead the government in Maharashtra.(Sunny Shende/ HT)

cities

Updated on Dec 17, 2019 11:57 PM IST

BySujata Anandan

Ajit Pawar, the proverbial Trojan Horse

Sharad Pawar is now between the horns of a very serious dilemma – accommodating Ajit invites the risk of him running away with the government. Keeping him out entails the risk of tempting him to try and split the party again

It is also clear there really is a serious conflict between Ajit and his more illustrious uncle.(HT File)

cities

Updated on Dec 11, 2019 01:07 AM IST

Hindustan Times | BySujata Anandan

A veritable wrestler in the political ring

Fadnavis clearly forgot that Pawar began life in the ring as a wrestler with the same pugnacity

NCP chief Sharad Pawar leaves after meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss farmers' issues at Parliament House, in New Delhi, on Wednesday.(PTI)

cities

Published on Dec 04, 2019 01:00 AM IST

Hindustan Times | BySujata Anandan

Uncle-nephews who held nation to ransom

Modern-day politics has been wracked by ambitious nephews who wanted to grab all from their more illustrious and hard-working uncles without quite deserving it

NCP leaders Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar.(HT FILE)

cities

Updated on Nov 27, 2019 04:22 AM IST

Hindustan Times | BySujata Anandan

Will Congress lose a God-sent opportunity?

If they do not seize this munificence from God with both hands now, no God might be able to rescue them in the future

cities

Published on Nov 20, 2019 12:48 AM IST

Hindustan Times | BySujata Anandan

Forget and forgive? Very unlikely!

Over the years, Pawar has exhibited the patience of an elephant in getting even with his tormentors and I base this conviction on the age-old rivalry between Pawar and Vikhe Patils.

Pawar managed to defeat Udayan during the bypoll, but Shivendra won his assembly seat on a BJP ticket. However, this is unlikely to be the end of the story. Pawar never forgets or forgives.(HT file)

cities

Updated on Nov 13, 2019 12:27 AM IST

Hindustan Times | BySujata Anandan

People’s power versus political opportunism

The BJP, which had been able to form governments even when it was not the single largest party, has simply not been able to do so in Maharashtra

Common people pack a political punch through their right to vote.(HT Photo)

cities

Published on Nov 06, 2019 12:10 AM IST

Hindustan Times | BySujata Anandan, Mumbai

Analysis | Sena or BJP: Who will blink first?

The Shiv Sena will keep punching above its weight and needling the BJP over various issues and the BJP will have to grin and bear it, given that now it can afford even less than before to shake off its troublesome ally

cities

Updated on Oct 30, 2019 06:16 AM IST

Hindustan Times | BySujata Anandan, Mumbai

Sharad Pawar is still winning hearts of people

At almost 79 years of age, Pawar has proved he remains the sole grassroots politician in the state amid a generation of hothouse leaders dependent on Twitter and other social media to communicate to the people.

NCP president Sharad Pawar address a campaign rally ahead of the Assembly polls in Beed.(HT File)

cities

Updated on Oct 23, 2019 12:17 AM IST

Hindustan Times | BySujata Anandan

Rahul Gandhi plods on, and gets hated by all

He never gives up. Perhaps that is why BJP leaders and senior Congressmen detest him so much.

One cannot really fault Gandhi for doing the honourable thing and taking responsibility for the defeat and making way for someone who might be more capable of leading the party.(HT photo)

cities

Updated on Oct 16, 2019 12:13 AM IST

Hindustan Times | BySujata Anandan

Shiv Sena is now a willing lamb to the slaughter | Opinion

Uddhav rightly spotted Joshi’s sophistry and has sidelined him over the years, but the damage has been irrevocable

elections

Updated on Jul 08, 2020 07:00 AM IST

BySujata Anandan, Mumbai

Sharad Pawar, the cat with nine lives

Pawar turned the tables on the ED, taking the fight into the enemy camp and emerging not just victorious, but also ambushing the ruling dispensation and reviving the opposition weeks before elections to the Maharashtra Assembly.

Why Pawar could pull off such an audacious act is also because he knew the authorities could pin nothing on him with regard to the Maharashtra State Co-operative Bank.(HT file photo)

cities

Updated on Oct 02, 2019 07:34 PM IST

Hindustan Times | BySujata Anandan

Why should Aaditya Thackeray not be like Rahul Gandhi?

At a leadership conclave, Aaditya was asked if he would be contesting the upcoming elections in Maharashtra. He was polite about saying that the decision would have to be taken in consultation with party leaders.

cities

Updated on Sep 24, 2019 11:40 PM IST

Hindustan Times | BySujata Anandan, Mumbai

Coming up soon : A one-sided election

BJP had outsmarted and outmanoeuvred the Shiv Sena quite royally since the Lok Sabha polls

CM Devendra Fadnavis and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray at Matoshri during a press conference after BJP's victory in the Lok Sabha election.(HT Photo)

cities

Updated on Sep 19, 2019 10:20 AM IST

Hindustan Times | BySujata Anandan

High ambition in times of extreme polarisation

Based on the last Assembly results, Prakash Ambedkar is likely to discover that Muslim candidates, even on Congress tickets, do far better than Dalit candidates, more so because in the last few years the biases of Hindu society have only been reinforced rather than obliterated the way Sharad Pawar was hoping

The Congress wanted an alliance with the VBA for Lok Sabha elections but, as usual, Ambedkar had been very impractical, demanding 22 of the 48 seats from the Congress.(HT File)

cities

Updated on Sep 11, 2019 12:24 AM IST

Hindustan Times | BySujata Anandan

Now is the time to kick out all the crooks

Congress and the NCP, need to kick out any more crooks left in their parties

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Sharad Pawar should use the current party exodus to clean out the ranks of corruption.(HT Photo)

cities

Updated on Sep 04, 2019 12:53 AM IST

Hindustan Times | BySujata Anandan, Mumbai

Why I cannot worship Savarkar

If I have to choose between Bhagat Singh and Savarkar, should I be beaten up if I prefer to emulate Bhagat Singh rather than Savarkar

Savarkar, though there was no doubt about his love for the nation, I personally hold him responsible for the break-up of India at independence.(HT File)

cities

Updated on Aug 28, 2019 12:53 AM IST

Hindustan Times | BySujata Anandan

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Sujata Anandan

I wonder if the Sena and the AIMIM know that Bal Thackeray was the first person ever in India to lose his voting rights and that to contest elections for hate speeches he had made during a 1987 byelection to Vile Parle.

Pawar’s love of Maharashtra overcame any frustration or disappointment he may have had at being let down by the people

It is interesting that the chief minister’s Ayodhya visit came and went without much remark beyond the usual expectations

The government is playing hide and seek with the different parts of its electorate to keep both the saffron and secular sides happy

Dalit leaders are upset not just by Ambedkar’s fruitless political/electoral ambitions but also by his ideological inconsistency

Recent events in the state underline both the need to avoid premature obituaries as well as cling to hope in the persona of former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis

After slamming the BJP and Narendra Modi through the Lok Sabha elections barely 10 months ago, he has now taken an about turn in support of the BJP

How will he identify the Bangladeshis? By the food they eat? Or the clothes they wear? BJP leader from Madhya Pradesh, Kailash Vijayvargiya, thinks Bangladeshis can be identified by the poha (puffed and then flattened rice) they eat

Earlier, in Nashik, when reporters asked Fadnavis what issues he would be challenging the government on, he said without batting an eyelash, “farmers, loan waivers, lack of industrial growth, failure to provide jobs” – in fact all issues associated with his government barely three months ago.

Uddhav Thackeray’s statement over the birthplace of Sai Baba led to a furore

The large portrait of the Maratha warrior king at the entrance of Mantralaya was set up by Antulay when he was the chief minister in the early 1980s.

As Uddhav Thackeray makes all the right political moves in his role as chief minister of Maharashtra, he has taken many critics and bitter opponents of the Shiv Sena by surprise

Had Ajit not “approached” Devendra Fadnavis with support for the former chief minister’s (CM) government, there was no way that Narendra Modi and Amit Shah would have facilitated a government led by the Shiv Sena.

Devendra Fadnavis needs to take some contemporary history lessons before dictating terms to the best home minister Maharashtra has ever had

Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, with each passing day, seems to be perfecting the art of the tightrope walk

Sharad Pawar is now between the horns of a very serious dilemma – accommodating Ajit invites the risk of him running away with the government. Keeping him out entails the risk of tempting him to try and split the party again

Fadnavis clearly forgot that Pawar began life in the ring as a wrestler with the same pugnacity

Modern-day politics has been wracked by ambitious nephews who wanted to grab all from their more illustrious and hard-working uncles without quite deserving it

If they do not seize this munificence from God with both hands now, no God might be able to rescue them in the future

Over the years, Pawar has exhibited the patience of an elephant in getting even with his tormentors and I base this conviction on the age-old rivalry between Pawar and Vikhe Patils.

The BJP, which had been able to form governments even when it was not the single largest party, has simply not been able to do so in Maharashtra

The Shiv Sena will keep punching above its weight and needling the BJP over various issues and the BJP will have to grin and bear it, given that now it can afford even less than before to shake off its troublesome ally

At almost 79 years of age, Pawar has proved he remains the sole grassroots politician in the state amid a generation of hothouse leaders dependent on Twitter and other social media to communicate to the people.

He never gives up. Perhaps that is why BJP leaders and senior Congressmen detest him so much.

Uddhav rightly spotted Joshi’s sophistry and has sidelined him over the years, but the damage has been irrevocable

Pawar turned the tables on the ED, taking the fight into the enemy camp and emerging not just victorious, but also ambushing the ruling dispensation and reviving the opposition weeks before elections to the Maharashtra Assembly.

At a leadership conclave, Aaditya was asked if he would be contesting the upcoming elections in Maharashtra. He was polite about saying that the decision would have to be taken in consultation with party leaders.

BJP had outsmarted and outmanoeuvred the Shiv Sena quite royally since the Lok Sabha polls

Congress and the NCP, need to kick out any more crooks left in their parties

If I have to choose between Bhagat Singh and Savarkar, should I be beaten up if I prefer to emulate Bhagat Singh rather than Savarkar

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