All stories by Sheela Bhatt
How the Congress and BJP played a dangerous game on Telangana
Rediff.com21 Feb 2014As the Rajya Sabha passed the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill 2014 on Thursday, giving birth to India's 29th state, Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt takes final stock of how it was accomplished.
Sonia Gandhi's grim resolve created Telangana: Jaipal Reddy
Rediff.com19 Feb 2014There is nobody like Jaipal Reddy in Congress party. He is slotted to be the first Congress chief minister of Telangana if and when the Congress gets hold of the reins of power. Ten minutes after the Lok Sabha passed the Bill Reddy spoke exclusively to rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt in the corridors of Parliament.
Telangana: Costly victory for Congress, BJP stumped
Rediff.com19 Feb 2014Sheela Bhatt lists ten quick takeaways from the passage of the Telangana bill in the Lok Sabha.
How MPs guarded Chidambaram during his budget speech
Rediff.com17 Feb 2014Sheela Bhatt recounts the tension, suspense and disruptions during P Chidambaram's interim budget in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Explained: The Congress and BJP double-speak over Telangana
Rediff.com14 Feb 2014On the basis of many conversations with stakeholders on the Telangana issue, Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt presents an FAQ to help understand the politics of posturing and realpolitik on the ground to win seats. The questions are many and the answers are not straight
Exclusive: 'Sonia is treated as the mother of Telangana'
Rediff.com14 Feb 2014'The feeling in Telangana is that without her a separate state cannot be created... All the MPs and MLAs from Seema-Andhra have a business background. Their interest is to save their business,' Congress MP K Raj Gopal Reddy, who played a key role in Thursday's turbulent events, tells Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt.
Exclusive: How Congress pre-planned the action-drama today
Rediff.com13 Feb 2014A Congress MP reveals to Sheela Bhatt the Congress plan to protect the Speaker and home minister and muscle through the tabling of the Telangana bill in Parliament.
'Chaos in Lok Sabha over T-Bill shows it's time for PM to go'
Rediff.com13 Feb 2014It is time to pack up, sir! Please resign and save some honour of the Lok Sabha, an anguished Sheela Bhatt reports from the Lok Sabha press gallery after watching the shameful goings on over the tabling of the Telangana Bill.
NSA Menon: Not desirable for India to be a superpower
Rediff.com13 Feb 2014NSA Menon's wisdom says that the idea to be superpower is not really desirable, it is better to be different. Sheela Bhatt reports.
Jaitley, Dwivedi change the rules of political engagement
Rediff.com12 Feb 2014Arun Jaitley and Janardan Dwivedi have rewritten the rules of politics in the Age of the Internet and its young and restless user base, reports Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt.
Sonia's AICC pitch lacks emotion, shows discord with common man
Rediff.com17 Jan 2014'At a time like this when the country's politics is set to change, Sonia Gandhi's speech didn't reflect her take on the change for the aam aadmi'. 'Once again, it was clear that Congress has lost the narrative of the aam aadmi, notes Sheela Bhatt.
How the dynasty was kept alive at the AICC session
Rediff.com17 Jan 2014But the ways of the Congress high command are never so simple. It behaves as a State by itself, reports Sheela Bhatt from New Delhi's Talkatora stadium after witnessing how the clamour was kept up to name Rahul Gandhi as the Congress PM candidate.
Will SC be driven to implement a mechanism to deal with sexual harassment?
Rediff.com16 Jan 2014The highest court in the land will have to find a mechanism under which in future, if sexual harassment allegations are made against a judge, he/she will not go in the manner of Justice Ganguly. Hopefully, there will be some kind of system and guidelines to be followed by the accused and the victim, says Sheela Bhatt.
Khobragade case: Not the perfect solution, but a satisfactory compromise
Rediff.com14 Jan 2014India tried to work out a legal solution, but that has not been possible. The final outcome thus is not the best one, but the optimal solution to a sub-optimal case, reports Sheela Bhatt.
'All of us have multiple identities'
Rediff.com9 Jan 2014Ela Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi's grand-daughter and a peace activist on her PBD award
India seeking political solution to Khobragade issue, says Khurshid
Rediff.com9 Jan 2014'It is my job to resolve the issue, and we are looking at all options,' Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid tells Sheela Bhatt.
'At the UN, there were times I wished India had a stronger government'
Rediff.com3 Jan 2014'Under Narendra Modi's leadership, we will be able to regain our rightful place in the community of nations,' veteran diplomat Hardeep Singh Puri, who joined the BJP on January 2, tells Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt.
'At the UN, there were times I wished India had a stronger government'
Rediff.com3 Jan 2014'At the UN, there were times I wished India had a stronger government'
Rediff.com3 Jan 2014When Dr Singh played the perfect politician
Rediff.com3 Jan 2014The prime minister was aggressive during his interaction with the media, but no one came away enlightened on issues of governance of this complex country after hearing him for 75 minutes, says Sheela Bhatt, who attended the press conference on Friday, January 3.