R Jagannathan
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Articles by R Jagannathan
To SIR With Love Or Hate: Why SIR has Worked In Punjab, And How Mamata Banerjee Sabotaged It In West Bengal
There is something perverse in a political posture where one can target the Election Commission of India (ECI) is abusive language for conducting the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, but then mark out convenient exclusions to suit your political purpose. What, however, one must highlight here is one simple truth: no successful electoral process (whether in compiling voter lists or conducting elections) works purely as an ECI standalone activity.
The real SIR failure may lie in newsrooms, not only in the Election Commission
The problem begins with the core advice budding journalists get when they start out on their careers: find an angle, find out what makes a story. An “angle” is, by definition, a limited, even slanted, view of reality. We get to define an elephant by the part we get hold of, not the whole of it. In the real world, truth comes in shades of grey, not black and white. And in today’s hyper social media world, the focus is on “narrative” and “virality”, not truth at all.
Rahul Gandhi is trying to intimidate constitutional authorities, not defend democracy
This is nothing but a not to subtle effort to intimidate a constitutional authority, the Election Commission of India (ECI). Whatever its failing, no sensible political party should be doing this. On 10 October, leading another protest, Rahul Gandhi sought a meeting with Gyanesh Kumar (without any prior request to meet) along with 300 MPs, and that too in Parliament.
Rahul Gandhi Is Trying To Intimidate Two Constitutional Authorities; He Is The One Undermining Democracy
There are protests and marches going on in Delhi and a few other places, apparently to save democracy by getting Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar to resign. If one were to look closely at what various parties, including the Congress and the allegedly non-political pressure group Cockroach Janta Paty (CJP), have been saying or threatening, it seems more likely that it is the opposition that is a bigger threat to democracy.
Why Media's Data Illiteracy Should Worry Us More Than The Election Commission's SIR Goofups
Sometimes, it is worth stepping back from the controversies of the day to understand why democracies fail to grapple with real issues. In a democracy, information is more freely available than in autocracies. But information is only as good as its source, and how rigorously it has been researched, in order to come as close as possible to the truth.
The EC is doing a better job than the judiciary with its ‘virtue-signalling’ judges
This is actually a statement made by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court, but with some words that indirectly referred to the Election Commission (another constitutional body) being modified by me. The purpose is to show that for every accusing finger raised by the judiciary against other constitutional bodies, four other fingers point to itself.
Musk is not worth pandering to
India has good reason to keep satellite communications under the control of operators subject to Indian laws and security oversight Illustration: Binay Sinha R Jagannathan 6 min read Last Updated : Oct 09 2026 | 11:14 PM IST Examples of the pot calling the kettle black do not get more egregious than this.
Economic karma is pointing south
THE economy is sending mixed — even opposite —signals. While the structural problems related to job creation are widely recognised, what is baffling most observers is why an economy growing at over 7% consistently is seeing its currency drop precipitously and its stock market even more so. Over the last four quarters (July-Sep & Oct-Dec 2025 and Jan-Mar & Apr-Jun 2026), GDP has grown robustly in the range of 7.8% or more.
Change A Few Words In Justice Bhuyan's Statement On EC And It Describes The Judiciary Just As Well
Judges believe they are beyond question, while at the same time holding that they can question anybody. Consider the following hypothetical statement criticising the judiciary. "If any process results in denying justice to millions and millions of Indian citizens, making them second-class citizens in their own country in the sense of being citizens without the benefit of equal treatment before the law, such a process is intrinsically arbitrary. No amount of whataboutery can justify it.
The Geopolitical Storm Is Closer Than India Thinks, It Must Prepare To Hit Back At Economic Coercion
Ideas R Jagannathan Oct 01, 2026 | Updated 11:01 AM GMT+5:30 Save & read from anywhere! Bookmark stories for easy access on any device or the Swarajya app. (Swarajya Graphics) With costly wars, energy shocks, US tariffs over Russian oil, and a hostile China-Pakistan nexus pressing on India, it needs legal powers to impose costs on countries that impose costs on it. Meanwhile, another election cycle could slow reforms at home.
Don't hang the ECI just yet
Before deciding that the Election Commission of India has been unfair to the Opposition, we need to enable it to work efficiently and transparently Illustration: Binay Sinha R Jagannathan 7 min read Last Updated : Sep 25 2026 | 10:49 PM IST The Election Commission of India (ECI) has been put in the dock, thanks to a report in The Indian Express suggesting that two of the election commissioners have had differences with the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) on some critical issues, including...
Why India needs BRICS to balance both Washington and Beijing
The political criticism, led by former finance minister P Chidambaram, is largely superficial. Chidambaram says that there are no tangible benefits from India being a part of BRICS, or SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation), or QUAD. He is quoted as saying: “We are part of BRICS, we are part of SCO, we are part of G20, and we are part of QUAD. What benefits are we getting out of that? I can’t see. In the last two or three summits, I didn’t see any benefits.
Tata Sons needs a public listing, not a reprieve
Tata Sons was a low-profile group holding company till the 1990s, with small shareholdings in group companies. When Ratan Tata took over as head of Tata Sons, he used the high cash generated by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to raise its holdings in other group companies to ward off potential corporate raiders. Other group companies were also asked to invest in Tata Sons’ share capital in order to aid this process, which is why 12.9 percent of Tata Sons shares are held by them.
Why AI should worry us more than nukes
Home / Opinion / Columns / Why AI should worry us more than nukes No country has used nuclear weapons since 1945, but superintelligence could make humans irrelevant or even be used to kill them Illustration: Binay Sinha R Jagannathan 7 min read Last Updated : Sep 11 2026 | 10:57 PM IST The world worries a lot about more countries developing nuclear weapons.
Why UPI Should Be Kept Free
Making UPI payments fee-based for some transactions could enhance mental reservations against digital payments -- which have largely been overcome -- once more. Do we want to regress?, asks R Jagannthan. UPI infrastructure costs are significant, but its broader economic and social benefits outweigh these expenses. Charging MDR on higher-value transactions could encourage merchants to pass costs to users or return to cash.
Modinomics vs Manmohanomics: Right, wrong, and the in-between
Mr Chidambaram makes some good points about the state of the economy, but some of his criticism is political and sometimes off the mark Illustration: Binay Sinha R Jagannathan 6 min read Last Updated : Aug 28 2026 | 10:19 PM IST When politicians make comments about the economic achievements of governments, you must read the politics in them as much as the economics.
The problem with Rahul Gandhi’s Manusmriti speech
It is highly unlikely that misogyny and patriarchy originated even in multiple religious texts, for most religious texts were compilations made over centuries. They are more likely to have codified what appeared to be happening in society, or in order to reinforce existing power structures.
Meenakshi Jain's Answer To Romila Thapar On Somnath
Invincible Somnath: A Saga of Millennia. Meenakshi Jain. Aryan Books International. Pages: 219. Price: Rs 795. Ever since the monopoly of history-writing by the Romila Thapar-led 'secular' cabal was ended, there has been a flowering of alternate history rooted in previously overlooked or deliberately misinterpreted 'facts'. Today many more books are written outside the ideological confines of Marxist theory.
The rise of a Sunni triad. Why India stands alone in a world of religious blocs
The thesis is difficult to prove as past attempts to unify countries that saw themselves as part of the same civilisation have seldom worked. In the Islamic world, the Shia-Sunni hiatus is often too big to be bridged. Even within the Sunni world, the Gulf Cooperation Council now has the UAE odds with the Saudis. Christian Europe has seen more wars with itself than almost any other part of the world over the last few centuries.
Saudi-Pak-Turkiye Axis: The Mecca Pact Proves Huntington Half Right, And That Half Is India's Problem
The signing of a mutual defence pact between Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan, all Sunni Islamic countries, is a small signal that there is something to Samuel Huntington's Clash of Civilisations thesis. The defence pact, while not clear on when one country will go to war if another is attacked, is probably driven by a sense of common threat from Shia Iran and the Jewish state of Israel, both mortal enemies to each other themselves.
On Probation: Why Modi 3.0 Should Prepare For A Million Mutinies Now
By letting Dharmendra Pradhan go, albeit reluctantly, the Modi government may have bought itself some time to recoup political capital and rework its political calculations. But the time it has bought may be weeks, not months. For once triggered, the chances are that every major citizen grievance will now be aired in public. Some could also lead to Jantar Mantar.
Gen Z grouse is not about a specific issue. It is about those in power not listening to them
One, and most important, it must choose engagement with the youth over just action driven by the top. The Gen Z grouse is not about any specific issue, but about those in power not listening to what they are thinking, what they want out of life, and which things must be prioritised. Of course, future careers are a big issue in our country, but it will not end with that. It wants to be listened to. Having tasted blood in its first coming out party, Gen Z is not going to go back to its studies.
Student protests a wake-up call for BJP
Repeated success often embeds in itself the possibility of future failure, for it inures you to the possibility of new threats from unexpected quarters. The BJP government under Narendra Modi, which has been winning election after election following a minor setback in 2024, now finds that the political challenges it has been assiduously preparing for may not come from the usual quarters.
The smouldering generation
Political judgements on which civil protests are real and which ones synthetic, are always difficult to make. So, when an upstart social media phenomenon called Cockroach Janta Party surfaced soon after paper leaks in NEET exam were reported in May, there may have been a tendency in GOI to dismiss it as a short-term phenomenon, which would disappear once the exam was rescheduled, and conducted successfully in June.
Why the egg and Iskcon debate in West Bengal is more political than nutritional
Let’s start with the obvious. We don’t become egg- or meat-eating people because we look for high-protein diets. We become vegetarian or non-vegetarian in our eating habits because we were born into families eating only one kind of food or the other. Sometimes, we become non-vegetarians after experimenting with food that is to our liking, but most people don’t fall in this category, for their food habits are ingrained in them from childhood.
The Missing Dharmic Soul In Our Constitution
Books R Jagannathan Jul 19, 2026 | Updated 12:12 PM GMT+5:30 Save & read from anywhere! Bookmark stories for easy access on any device or the Swarajya app. MR Venkatesh's latest book Venkatesh’s book takes us closer to the real issues why our constitution has not delivered on its promises, for these were not based on our own needs. Discovery and Bharat: Christian constitution in a Hindu Nation. Dr MR Ventatesh. Garuda Prakashan. Rs 1,499.
The Satluj question: When can a state legitimately use extra-judicial force?
One should consider three scenarios. First, when serious efforts are made by non-state actors to seek secession or undermine the unity and territorial integrity of the nation, then one can accept the state to give the police and armed forces extra leeway in how they tackle criminals who can overawe the state. The various secession movements in the north-east, and the ones in Jammu & Kashmir and Punjab, fall into this category.
Unless India is a Hindu rashtra, the state has no business running temples
First, any remedy for wrongdoing of fraud in religious institutions – which is what temples are – ought to be done through a neutral law which allows for brief interventions (followed by a clear exit after things are set right). There cannot be anything permanent about government intervention in religious affairs. Just as corporate frauds are dealt with through the law, with various agencies investigating them and punishing the guilty, temples ought to face the same kind of actions.
Egg-Protein In Midday Meals: Why Less Hypocrisy Will Serve Both Sides Better
Eggs are back again on the national menu of heated public debates, this time because the new BJP government in West Bengal plans to give the job of providing mid-day meals to Akshaya Patra, an ISKCON affiliate, which does not serve eggs. This wasn't the case when Mamata Banerjee was Chief Minister. The new BJP government wants to hand over the job to the ISKCON affiliate, which adopts dietary rules that are vegetarian and Vaishnavite.
Following Rahul Gandhi’s script, Priyank Kharge takes on the RSS
However, leaving aside Kharge Jr’s political intentions, the bigger question to ask is why the state needs to spread its tentacles into every civil society organisation, small or big. It is one thing to ask an organisation to register when it solicits public funds, but why would an ideological organisation need to register itself? The RSS currently operates as a “body of individuals”, a form that is legally recognised as valid.
We haven’t missed the AI bus. Here’s why
IN the 1960s, Avis, a car rental company, ran a memorable advertisement that read: "We are only No 2. We try harder." It converted an also-ran status to its advantage. This should be India's motto as we seek to join the artificial intelligence (AI) superrace after a late start, a race where the US and China have a headstart over the rest of the world. First, the good news. In emerging technology areas, there are advantages to not being first or No 1.
The battle for 2029 has already begun—Neither UP nor LS will be a slam dunk for BJP
Uttar Pradesh is key not only because it sends 80 MPs to the Lok Sabha, but because what happens here will send signals on the national mood to the rest of India in 2029. The BJP knows that it has to win UP if it is to stand a chance of getting a majority in 2029.
Why India’s NEET V2.0 exam should worry us all
Garbage will be littered everywhere till a major city is hit by the plague. Even then other cities will not take the cue and start moving their garbage till catastrophe strikes them. Defence procurement will not speed up unless the top political executive steps in and bashes heads together. Municipalities will not act on the stray dogs menace till the Supreme Court orders it, and even then things won’t move till some official somewhere is threatened with contempt and hauled up before courts.
What are we even doing in the quad? It’s time for India to dump Uncle Sam’s club
One, our dependence on the vast US goods and services markets, which make it impossible to stand up for our own interests without serious loss of domestic jobs and growth. This is what made India silently absorb the nonsense spewed at us over the last one year, from Donald Trump to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to Peter Navarro to now even Rubio (though Rubio is unlikely to have abused India). Two, our dependence on US capital markets. platforms and technology.
The many faces of Modinomics
AS the Modi government completes 12 years in power, it provides us with a vantage point from which to assess his economic performance. The latest set of numbers is flattering, with GDP growth in 2025-26 coming in at 7.7%, and the last quarter of the fiscal year giving 7.8% despite the fact that this quarter (January-March 2026) included one month of the West Asian conflict’s disruptions.
The cockroach isn’t a nuisance
Politicians tend to get spooked when threats, real or imagined, emerge from an unexpected source. A social media phenomenon called the Cockroach Janta Party got the Modi govt worried enough to block its website, and related social media handles on Instagram and X. But its founder, one Abhijeet Dipke, seems unbowed. Perhaps because the NEET paper leak and the uproar over Class 12 CBSE results, appear to have triggered wide interest in CJP.
How global rivals are secretly trolling India’s tech—Frenemies and faux pas
One cannot speculate where, or in which of the incidents above, foreign parties may have had an active hand in embarrassing India – though, one must admit, we have an innate ability to mess things up without any external help – but there is an unstated linkage here. Even if the US or China had nothing to do with some or all of these failures, they will at least be secretly happy about it.
Why FM Nirmala Sitharaman must listen to investors on capital gains tax
Now compare this to how debt is taxed. Debt is also capital, and it is taxed in the investor’s hands at his or her tax bracket. At the top end that means a gross tax of over 30 percent, when one includes cesses and surcharges, where applicable. Now the argument that will be made to favour equity is that it is “risk capital” and hence must be taxed even lower than what it is now. First, this statement is not true, unless we add nuance to it.
Modi's cabinet is looking jaded—it needs new ideas, new faces, removal of deadwood
Modi's cabinet is looking jaded—it needs new ideas, new faces, removal of deadwood The NEET paper leaks and the ongoing loss of public confidence in the CBSE exam results show that someone is either sleeping on the watch or not very …
Modi’s cabinet is looking jaded—it needs new ideas, new faces, removal of deadwood
Ministers who obviously are good at their jobs are a handful (Amit Shah, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Nitin Gadkari, Jyotiraditya Scindia, to name just a few). A few others, thanks to Modi’s own direct interest in their ministries, are doing well in finance, commerce, defence and external affairs. The rest may bear with stronger scrutiny. Finance and defence could also benefit from having younger ministers with the capacity to get things done.
After Bengal, BJP must secure the Siliguri Corridor, rebuild ties with Tarique Rahman
In terms of challenges to both India and the BNP-led Bangladesh government, the Jamaat could be seen as a common threat. If there is any kind of resistance to the fencing on the border and deportation of illegal Bangladeshis from India, the Jamaat will probably lead this charge.
After Bengal, BJP must secure the Siliguri Corridor, rebuild ties with Tarique Rahman
After Bengal, BJP must secure the Siliguri Corridor, rebuild ties with Tarique Rahman It is in India’s interests to seek to improve ties and prevent outside powers from being able to build anti-India constituencies inside Bangladesh. In …
We need an AI pause button. It’s time to stop and think
While power consumption will obviously reduce as better and more energy-efficient solutions are deployed in future, there is still a larger question about the utility of such LLMs, and what kind of social outcomes they will lead to. More so when LLM creators are advertising trivial uses like which hanky to use with which suit or to compare the performances of cricketers.
We’re in denial about Ukraine and Gulf wars. These are real world wars
Silicon Valley is now very much a part of the military-industrial complex. Geeks make warfare sound less like warfare because those waging war can stay so far away from the battlefields. Humans are an optional extra here. There are now western reports suggesting that Ukraine is slowly pushing back the Russians on some fronts, thanks to cutting edge drone technology based on the latest from Silicon Valley.
Why Xi Jinping’s ‘trap’ theory is a strategic prank
Nor is an actual war between two powers – one established and the other rising – the only demonstration of the Thucydides Trap. It can include economic warfare too. When Trump imposed tariffs, China responded by restricting the export of rare earth magnets, threatening entire industries dependent on this vital source of supplies. And this applied even to countries that were not threatening China with tariffs.
The Annamalai factor—Why the BJP needs a new Southern strategy
This makes the BJP’s rise in the south a difficult one. If the party really wants to grow deep roots in the four main southern states, it needs to have a different strategy from what works for it in the north, west and even east now after the victory in West Bengal. In one line, it must use K Annamalai – currently sidelined as the BJP’s leader after the national party cosied up to the AIADMK in the run-up to the Tamil Nadu assembly elections – far more sensibly efficiently.
When incumbent govts misread voters
IN the recently-held elections to five Assemblies, three sitting governments were ousted — in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal — while two, in Assam and Puducherry, saw a strong return to power by the incumbents. Why is it that seemingly entrenched political parties fail to read the growing impatience of the electorate correctly in adequate time to make amends?
Decoding Modi’s economy message
He’s basically preparing the country for tough decisions GOI has to take. Aside from fuel price hikes, there may be some mild curbs. But extravagant poll promises by all winning parties, including BJP, make economic management that much tougher Barely a day after PM was brimming with pride in Kolkata over the fact that BJP now governed all states “from Gangotri to Gangasagar”, his messaging shifted from triumph to caution.
The evolving role of Muslims in India
In Tamil Nadu, an overtly minority-favouring and Hindu-baiting DMK has been shown the door in the assembly elections, with the Tamizhaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), led by a Christian, drawing a lot of Hindu votes – though not for religious reasons. Actor Joseph Vijay, who started the party barely two years ago, has broadly steered clear of the DMK’s divisive Dravidian politics and also kept himself equidistant from all religions – at least the part that is visible to the public.
‘Secular’ parties are beginning to lose Muslim vote bank
In Tamil Nadu, an overtly minority-favouring and Hindu-baiting DMK has been shown the door in the assembly elections, with the Tamizhaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), led by a Christian, drawing a lot of Hindu votes – though not for religious reasons. Actor Joseph Vijay, who started the party barely two years ago, has broadly steered clear of the DMK’s divisive Dravidian politics and also kept himself equidistant from all religions – at least the part that is visible to the public.
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