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Showing posts with the label TN Seshan

The Crisis of Governance: Ruled, Not Served

  Recently, Amit Shah, the honourable Home Minister, while addressing a book launch, declared: “In a few years people who speak in English will feel ashamed.” This wasn’t a slip of the tongue. Shah has long shown his fondness for “One Nation, One Language” and his distaste for English. Read between the lines and the message is clear: India’s rulers want to dictate not just how we vote, but how we speak, eat, pray, and now, even how we play. Indian politicians have one hobby that beats all others: sermonising. Instead of governing—writing policy, enforcing contracts, ensuring safety—they prefer to instruct citizens. Governance becomes homily, laws become sermons. Take two excellent columns in Business Standard . Devangshu Dutta dissects India’s new Online Gaming Bill, 2025, calling it another example of politicians confusing governance with sermonising. The bill, with one sanctimonious sweep, outlaws fantasy sports, rummy, poker—any game where money is wagered in hope of winnin...

Democracy on a Short Leash: How the BJP Keeps Power in the Family

  https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/fix-the-flaws-on-rahul-gandhis-stolen-elections-allegation-and-the-election-commission-of-india/article69910219.ece The Hindu’s August 9th editorial nods politely to Rahul Gandhi’s “voter list fraud” allegations, but it tiptoes around the real culprit — the rotting foundation of India’s democratic architecture. This isn’t just about flawed lists; it’s about a ruling party that has weaponised appointments, bent laws, and turned neutral constitutional offices into extensions of its own party office. Let’s start with the Election Commissioners. In a fair system, the man should command the confidence of the whole political spectrum. But this government decided such lofty ideals were for sissies. When the Supreme Court suggested a balanced selection committee, the BJP tossed the idea into the dustbin and wrote a new law to keep total control. Result? A Commission that looks like an old boys’ club of retired babus from the Amit Shah finishin...