Sudheendra Kulkarni – Author, NDTV.com

Opinion: BJP's Anti-Corruption Branding Took A Beating In Karnataka

Sudheendra Kulkarni | Monday May 15, 2023

BJP lost power not due to any specific scandal involving outgoing CM Basavaraj Bommai or his colleagues. Voters rejected it because of the widespread perception that the entire government machinery, from bottom to top, was steeped in corruption.

Opinion: India Looks All Set To Miss A Huge Chance This Week

Sudheendra Kulkarni | Sunday April 30, 2023

Why have India-Pakistan governmental attitudes become so inflexible as to leave no scope for readiness to avail even rare opportunities?

Opinion: When Vajpayee Worked With Opposition To Stave Off US Pressure

Sudheendra Kulkarni | Friday March 24, 2023

As an aide to Vajpayee in the Prime Minister's Office, I was privy to much that was happening then. Of course, I was firmly of the view that the US invasion of Iraq could not be justified on any count.

Opinion: With 2-Hour Speech, Xi Shows What Makes Him So Powerful

Sudheendra Kulkarni | Monday October 17, 2022

Preparation of the speech began almost a year ago, and a lot of leaders contributed to it and reviewed it at various stages. In short, China's leadership is far more collective and consultative than is the case in several democracies.

Opinion: 4 Reasons Why Nitish Kumar's Move Impacts National Politics

Sudheendra Kulkarni | Wednesday August 10, 2022

Clearly, Nitish Kumar is the man to watch as a National Mahagathbandhan takes shape in the run-up to 2024.

Opinion: BJP Betrays People's Mandate With Eknath Shinde As Chief Minister

Sudheendra Kulkarni | Friday July 01, 2022

The BJP has installed a dummy Chief Minister who can be fully controlled by Fadnavis in Mumbai and remote-controlled by Shah in Delhi.

Opinion: With Agnipath, PM Modi Repeats Mistakes Made With Farm Laws

Sudheendra Kulkarni | Friday June 17, 2022

To know why protests against the Modi government's new "Agnipath" (armed forces recruitment) scheme have become the angriest in Bihar, it is instructive to take a morning walk in the historic Gandhi Maidan in Patna.

Opinion: Gandhis' Ineptitude Costs It One State After Another

Sudheendra Kulkarni | Thursday September 30, 2021

The Congress has to do many things for its revival. But right now, Rahul Gandhi has to take one urgent decision. He must end the dangerous drift in the party.

Opinion: BJP's Principal Assets - Modi And Shah - Are In Trouble

Sudheendra Kulkarni | Sunday May 02, 2021

Much of this criticism will be on account of the BJP's abysmal failure to dethrone Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal.

Opinion: Uddhav Thackeray-Led Alliance Shows How To Defeat BJP

Sudheendra Kulkarni | Wednesday January 20, 2021

The BJP under Modi and Shah has often boasted that it is well on its way to becoming India's dominant party in every state - from "Panchayat to Parliament". It certainly occupies the Number 1 position at the Centre and in many states - including at the panchayat level, as the recent results in Maharashtra have shown. However, Uddhav Thackeray has shown that a robust '...

Opinion: Rahul-Priyanka Deliver A Big Win; What They Must Do Next

Sudheendra Kulkarni | Tuesday August 11, 2020

The credit should go mainly to the decisive action by the two leaders who now command the highest degree of support within the party - the brother-sister duo of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. They were ably assisted by party colleagues, both old and young, in their reconciliatory efforts to convince Sachin Pilot into a 'ghar wapasi'.

Opinion: Uddhav Thackeray Finds His Best Self In Corona Crisis

Sudheendra Kulkarni | Tuesday April 21, 2020

If Uddhav Thackeray remains true to his better self, it is safe to predict that he will emerge as a consequential leader in the post-Corona political developments at the national level - and also in the post-Modi governance architecture in India.

Opinion: The Modi-Shah Strategy Reduces <i>'Kamal'</i> To <i>'Keechad'</i>

Opinion: The Modi-Shah Strategy Reduces 'Kamal' To 'Keechad'

Sudheendra Kulkarni | Wednesday March 11, 2020

"The Modi-Shah strategy of making India "Congress-mukt" prompts me to think of what the previous generation of BJP leaders might have said about these murderous attacks on democracy. I am surmising this on the basis of my own active political life in the BJP between 1996 and 2013."

Opinion: Modi And Shah Must Take Blame For Mob Takeover Of Delhi

Sudheendra Kulkarni | Wednesday February 26, 2020

Whatever Modi might have wanted to achieve from hosting Trump in a grand manner - "event management" is after all his forte - there is no denying that India's democracy and India's civilization have been shamed by the kind of dangerously polarizing politics that he and Shah have been playing.

Opinion: RG's Latest Fumble Against Modi Exposes His Weaknesses

Sudheendra Kulkarni | Friday February 07, 2020

Rahul Gandhi, after the debacle he and his party suffered in the 2019 parliamentary polls, is both combative and prone to unforced errors. He is sometimes casual and careless to the point of looking downright immature. Moreover, he often fumbles against a powerful opponent like Narendra Modi who is out to finish both his party and his family's legacy in Indian politic...

OPINION