All stories by AAKAR PATEL
How the BJP has CHANGED India
Rediff.com27 Aug 2021Since 2014, India has left its moorings as a pluralist, modern, secular State because that is how the BJP wants it to be, notes Aakar Patel.
Is Modi's political capital depleting?
Rediff.com17 Aug 2021It is hard to escape the feeling that solving the problems of 2020 and 2021 will require something special which at the moment is not on view, observes Aakar Patel.
Olympics Are Past Their Peak
Rediff.com10 Aug 2021Perhaps it says something more deep and profound about the time we live in and how it has shaped us, observes Aakar Patel.
Middle Class STOPPED GROWING Under Modi
Rediff.com2 Aug 2021Like on Pegasus, like Covid, there have been no answers from the government about why the situation on the economy and India's future is where it is today, notes Aakar Patel.
Why Modi is HARSH on NGOs
Rediff.com24 Jul 2021It should stop what it is deliberately doing to the NGO sector and let it operate as freely as the rest of the private sector, asserts Aakar Patel.
Why were the BK 16 Arrested?
Rediff.com17 Jul 2021None of them had anything to do with the violence at Bhima Koregaon, where they were not even present, points out Aakar Patel.
Modi Failed India on the Economy
Rediff.com10 Jul 2021The government did not tell us why our economy had imploded. The prime minister simply stopped speaking on the subject, asserts Aakar Patel.
Modi's Huge Challenge: The Economy
Rediff.com30 Jun 2021After 24 months of slowdown beginning in January 2018 before the pandemic and then 18 months of collapse since January 2020, we have become the world's worst performing economy, observes Aakar Patel.
What Vikas Yatra is Modi talking about?
Rediff.com14 Jun 2021A report by the Azim Premji University showed that during the pandemic 270 million Indians were pushed into poverty. Meaning that they were not poor according to the government poverty line before, but have become now. Aakar Patel mulls on the state of the nation as the Modi government enters its eighth year.
Why is Modi angry with Twitter?
Rediff.com27 May 2021Social media is reflecting a reality that the BJP does not want communicated. More people are saying things on social media that are upsetting the government, asserts Aakar Patel.
Why did Modi fail to anticipate a second wave?
Rediff.com18 May 2021'We had decided that India was unique and had overcome Covid.' 'Other nations ordered vaccines on time.' 'They let their scientists determine whether the battle against the pandemic was won instead of a divinely inspired leadership,' asserts Aakar Patel.
Is India hiding Covid death numbers?
Rediff.com14 May 2021A person who has Covid but also has another disease can be classified as a Covid death or not. It serves the immediate purpose of the government to pretend that the official number is low because it makes it appear less incompetent and helpless than it is, points out Aakar Patel.
Why Modi's Gujarat model has failed
Rediff.com9 May 2021As India suffers and the ruling party is on the defensive, the truth is that the only way that this wave will pass is if exponential growth of the virus stops on its own, asserts Aakar Patel.
Mr Modi: How will the poor pay for the vaccine?
Rediff.com8 May 2021We are today carrying out the reconstruction of New Delhi which will cost us Rs 20,000 crore and give the prime minister a new house while crores of people have no means and no money to buy vaccines for their children, observes Aakar Patel.
What do Indians Vote For?
Rediff.com3 May 2021'Many Indians are not voting mostly on the basis of issues like the economy and their own well-being as measured by data provided by the government.' 'They seem to be as concerned and perhaps more concerned about other things, especially those that have to do with the harassment of India's minorities,' asserts Aakar Patel.
Why India needs an independent media
Rediff.com10 Apr 2021The government is attempting everything it can to make sure that this does not happen, observes Aakar Patel.
Is this how India is fighting COVID-19?
Rediff.com26 Mar 2021Why did we go into nationwide lockdown when we were adding 100 cases a day and why are we not going into lockdown but allowing cricket stadiums, political rallies and Kumbh Melas when we are adding 40,000 cases a day? asks Aakar Patel.
What parivartan does Modi want?
Rediff.com18 Mar 2021The prime minister says he will bring real change to Bengal. Perhaps he will. The interesting thing is that his party has never defined what this change is, observes Aakar Patel.
Modi's Dilemma
Rediff.com13 Mar 2021Our precipitous decline is being noticed and recorded abroad with alarm. It is strange that within India we are carrying on as if it is business as usual, observes Aakar Patel.
Does Modi really care about Indians?
Rediff.com6 Mar 2021The Indian government today does not care what it does to Indians as long as it can continue on its path, observes Aakar Patel.