Sheela Bhatt, arguably India's finest political journalist, has covered Indian politics for 40 years. You can e-mail the author at sheelakb@rediffmail.com
'Unlike India and Sri Lanka, there was no internal air travel needed.' 'For all 8 teams, different hotels are available, a separate one for the broadcasting team too.'
Just six years after his father's Rath Yatra, the BJP came to power in New Delhi in 1996, points out Jayant Advani.
'Does a secular nation not believe in its ancestry? The Constitution has a photo of Ram also.'
'If the Ram Mandir is made, it is because of the collective strength of our country.'
'The lockdown was for both: To flatten the curve or more correctly, delay the rapid spread of COVID outbreak, and to create healthcare infrastructure.'
'"The end" depends on two things.' 'Either you develop a vaccine which is effective or if you have a drug, you can terminate this infection very quickly.' 'Otherwise, you have to depend on herd immunity.' 'I think it should happen earlier. Far earlier, than we can imagine or achieve 'herd immunity'.'
'We should not worry too much about Indian capabilities, both military and otherwise.'
'The theme of death seems to be a theme about which many of us, raised in Western societies, have almost completely removed from consciousness; it represents a theme that is suddenly and forcefully resurging now.' 'And for some, this is scary and destabilising.'
'Why has the peace been kept?' 'Basically because there is a balance.' 'Maybe they think that balance has changed.' 'People can make mistakes. People can miscalculate.' 'If that is the cause, then I think what we have done, matching their build-up, etc, it is giving a good account of ourselves in the face-offs.'
'This Chinese behaviour we have not seen for a very long time.' 'This sort of build up on the border, this pattern in Chinese behaviour, and especially the aggression and brutality with which our people were attacked on the 15th of June, this is not something we have seen before.'
'And this mirror imaging is the most dangerous thing because it leads to tremendous misunderstandings.'
'It is the moment where compassion and empathy must supersede our identity, politics, or our ambitions.'
'The stimulus packages, sector reliefs, loans etc are coming to industry, but state governments have not got any money from GST, no money from excise, no money from any income source.'
'It has been a phenomenal effort at all levels of the government.' 'People were working 15-16 hour shifts in the central government, in the state governments, in the districts....'
'If the mandis were not working in Delhi, or the onion market in Nashik got affected, or there were disruptions because of unloading or loading in any sector in south India, we intervened.'
'This pandemic has given him a new platform to perform,' says a member of the government. 'He should feel lucky that he has got an opportunity now to demonstrate to the world his original talent.' 'He needs a visionary script to perform.' Sheela Bhatt reports on the politics of the pandemic.
Nothing is going to dramatically open up on May 3. There will be too many ifs and buts and terms and conditions and guidelines in leading one's life in various zones, reveals Sheela Bhatt.
'...If people follow the lockdown well.'
'On January 17, we had our first meeting with the Cabinet secretary.' 'Different secretaries belonging to different departments attended it.' 'It was only two weeks when China had said there is a new disease.' 'So, we gave the quickest response.'
'Don't panic. Believe in yourself.' 'This is a preventable illness. Only you can prevent it.'
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