Sunday View: The Best Weekend Opinion Reads, Curated Just for You

Kovind Committee Report: Dead on Arrival

In his column for The Indian Express, former finance minister P Chidambaram writes that the High Level Committee on Simultaneous Elections had an "implied mandate" -- to recommend that simultaneous elections to all states and Union Territories were feasible and desirable. He is also said that the Committee was not composed of constitutional scholars.

P Chidambaram, The Indian ExpressSuppose the Constitutional amendments are passed in November-December 2024 (as hinted by the government) and simultaneous elections are scheduled in 2029. State Assemblies that will be elected in 2025, 2026, 2027 and 2028 (altogether 24) will have their term curtailed by 1 to 4 years! Imagine electing a State Assembly in 2027 for only two years or in 2028 for just one year! Why would the people of the State and the political parties accept such an election? Worse, if an election threw up a hung Assembly; or if an elected State government is defeated on the floor of the Assembly; or if a chief minister resigned and no one is able to muster a majority: in such situations there will be a fresh election for the remainder of the term of five years which could be even for a few months! Delhi CM’s Statement Highlights Loyalty Dilemma in Indian Parties

In her column for The Times of India, Ruchi Gupta writes about the recent change of guard in the Delhi government, with the resignation of AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal and the appointment of Atishi Marlena as the chief minister of Delhi. In her very first speech after she was appointed, Atishi said, “Delhi has only one CM and his name is Arvind Kejriwal,” adding that the “sole objective” would be to make him CM again -- which the author thinks exemplifies the culture of sycophancy plaguing Indian politics.

Ruchi Gupta, ToIAs CM, her primary responsibility is towards the people of Delhi. Indeed, the signs of collapsing governance are all around us — in the streets flooded after a spell of rain, unchecked pollution, water crisis — but instead of talking about these and other civic issues, she framed her sole aim as reinstating Kejriwal as CM, placing the party leader’s interests above the public’s. By foregrounding internal organisational preoccupations in its external communication, AAP is making the same mistake that established parties have made at one time or another — to their inevitable detriment — of inadvertently communicating that the party exists to serve the interests of leadership rather than representing the interests of the people. Sita, a Man of Wit Who Stood by What He Said

In his column for Hindustan Times, Karan Thapar remembers CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, who died on 12 September at AIIMS in Delhi. Thapar remembers Yechury to be one of the few politicians who always stand by what they have said. He also remembered Yechury to have a formidable memory, which was "a powerful weapon" in his interviews.

Karan Thapar, Hindustan TimesThe evening, before the interview’s broadcast, Sita called. “I’m not ringing to ask you to drop what I said,” he laughed. It was an infectious good-natured chuckle. “I’m ringing to make sure you don’t because I’ve already told my colleagues about it and tackled their response. Now, if you cut it out, we’ll both look stupid!” Kashmir and Pakistan

In her column for The Indian Express, Tavleen Singh writes about the BJP's election campaigning in Jammu and Kashmir, particularly speeches made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, where they attack the Opposition of being hand in glove with Pakistan.

Tavleen Singh, The Indian ExpressWhen India’s two most important leaders turn an election campaign into a war zone in which political opponents become the enemy, it harms India. Rahul Gandhi is the Leader of the Opposition now, so to charge him with treason is a serious matter. Is there proof? Or is it just part of the hysterical attack on him and his mother that has lately been playing out on social media? The BJP’s dirty tricks department has run a campaign of innuendoes and lies that seeks to prove that the Gandhi family works as agents of Pakistan’s ISI. Prove this or stop. Decolonisation Much? Renaming of Port Blair Speaks of Different Baggage

In her column for The Times of India, Aparna Vaidik argues that the latest renaming of Port Blair to Sri Vijaya Puram has generated three misconceptions -- that the Srivijaya kingdom was an Indian empire; the word Srivijaya is a Sanskrit name for the Chola or Vijayanagar Empire; and the Andamans were an integral part of the Chola Empire.

Aparna Vaidik, ToIThe Andamans and its residents are simply a ruse and, at best, a quarry of the hypernationalist discourse. It is the vision of world conquest that brings the Islands into focus for public glorification, which otherwise struggle for their basic needs. How uncannily similar it is to the way the British saw and treated the Islands, as a pawn in their ocean conquest. The renaming is an act of epistemic colonisation masquerading as decolonisation. What is the difference between the name Port Blair and Sri Vijaya Puram? It is simply more of the same. Inside Track: Shift from Nagpur

In her column for The Indian Express, Coomi Kapoor writes about the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) moving into its new, swanky quarters in Delhi in the run up to its centenary celebrations next year.

Coomi Kapoor, The Indian ExpressWith the RSS’s key decision-makers stationed in Delhi, will its headquarters in Nagpur, where sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat resides, continue to remain its head office? Incidentally, at the recent closed-door session of the RSS meet in Palakkad, Kerala, Bhagwat had asked members to reduce their dependence on the government and not look at the RSS as a potential gateway for entry into the BJP. Zelenskyy Has a Gamechanging Plan to Win Peace. For It to Work, Biden Must Back It – Fast

In his column for The Guardian, Timothy Garten Ash writes about the future of the largest war in Europe since 1945 -- the Russia-Ukraine war -- which has been ongoing for more than 900 days. He argues that while Russia has ruthlessness and mass, Ukraine has courage and innovation.

Timothy Garten Ash, The GuardianA central Asian leader who knows Putin well was asked by a western interlocutor whether the Russian president will negotiate. Yes, came the prompt reply, “when his generals tell him he’s losing”. That’s what the president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, had in mind when he told the Yalta European Strategy (YES) conference in Kyiv last week that we need “a gamechanger to make Russia make peace”. As the UN general assembly meets in New York next week, Zelenskyy will personally present his plan to Biden. Top of the list is getting American permission to use western missiles – including British Storm Shadow missiles, which have US targeting technology – to strike more of the sites in Russia from which attacks originate. Behind That Fading Hindi Movie Magic

In his column for Hindustan Times, Kunal Ray debates if mainstream Hindi cinema progressed or regressed on the back of old Bollywood classics being re-released in order to bring crowds to movie theatres. Rau argues that this also comes at a time when contemporary Hindi films aren’t doing particularly well at the box office, claiming that films are struggling due to their story.

Kunal Ray, Hindustan TimesBut should that be a problem at all in a country like India? We have a wealth of literature, folklore, and oral traditions. We live surrounded by stories. What explains the struggle then? Is it the dearth of good writers for cinema or the film industry’s long neglect of the film-writer? Or could it be Hindi film industry’s obsession with formula-driven cinema that kills aspiring or budding talent? When nationalism works, hordes of films seem to follow the trend. Will it be comedy horror now? How PM Modi Can Leverage the Quad Summit to Achieve India’s Quantum Ambitions

In this column for The News Minute, Gopi Balasubramanian writes that the Qual Leaders Summit in the United States provides a platform for India to not only engage in discussions around AI and quantum computing but also assert its leadership in these domains.

Gopi Balasubramanian,TNMIndia’s potential as a manufacturing hub for quantum components within the Quad ecosystem cannot be overstated...Quantum sensors, for example, could revolutionize next-generation navigation and surveillance across coastal, aerial and underwater domains. Protecting offshore and coastal assets requires the large-scale production of deployable sensors, which demands technical expertise in production, inspection, testing and validation. The same skills and resources are also relevant for various quantum-enabling systems and components. More From The Quint

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