Aunindyo Chakravarty – Author, NDTV.com

Blog: NEP Is The Last Nail In The Lutyens Elite's Coffin

Aunindyo Chakravarty | Friday July 31, 2020

This is probably the last nail in the old elite's coffin. They have largely been evicted from Lutyens Delhi in any case. The NEP is one part of a massive project of creating a new Central Vista elite.

Blog: Just Deal With It. Only RG Can Be Congress Candidate For PM

Aunindyo Chakravarty | Wednesday July 22, 2020

If you believe India's liberal intelligentsia, the only thing that's holding back the Congress party is the Gandhi family. If they pack their bags and move to the hills - or Italy - the Congress will find fresh blood to lead it. What the liberals fail to explain is why the Congress party didn't produce such a leader when Rahul Gandhi quit as president last year.

Blog: Modinomics Is Myopic, Shows Handling Of Fuel Prices

Aunindyo Chakravarty | Monday June 29, 2020

If there's one vice we all share, it is taking our biggest backers for granted. That's exactly what PM Modi is doing to India's middle class. The middle class has already had it tough for the past few years. Things have only become worse since COVID-19 attacked India's already sick economy. Businesses are losing money and white-collar professionals are facing pay cuts...

Blog: India Inc Has To Speak Up To Save The Economy

Aunindyo Chakravarty | Saturday May 30, 2020

India's abysmal GDP data is out and the Modi Sarkar's spin doctors are busy crunching numbers to giving it a rosier hue. They claim that if it hadn't been for seven days of the lockdown taking place in March, our GDP growth would have been a whole percentage point more than the 4.2 percent reported on Friday. Of course, there is some truth to this. We had only 84 days...

Blog: RG Sitting On Pavement Isn't A Big Pro-Migrant Moment

Aunindyo Chakravarty | Tuesday May 19, 2020

The intense conversation about migrant workers that is playing out on India's social media, is ultimately not about them at all. It is an unavoidable side-effect of democracies - that the battle between elites takes place in the arena of the people.

Blog: Rahul Gandhi’s Q&A With Top Economists Is An Own-Goal

Aunindyo Chakravarty | Wednesday May 06, 2020

The problem was in Rahul's messaging. It is clear that the Nehru-Gandhi heir believes his politics needs to overtly target the poor. This is partly because his heart beats to the left. It is also because he thinks the poor are at the receiving end of Modinomics and are the most likely to vote against him.

Blog: Why Government's DA Decision Will Hurt, Not Help, Economy

Aunindyo Chakravarty | Monday April 27, 2020

By not paying the extra DA, the centre and states will save an estimated Rs.1.2 lakh crore, which would have otherwise gone into the hands of government employees who would have spent a big part of it. If we assume that two-thirds of this money was to be spent on consumption, the government has effectively taken away about Rs 80,000 crore of consumption expenditure fr...

Blog: Templeton's Fund Fiasco - Warning Bells For India

Aunindyo Chakravarty | Friday April 24, 2020

The Modi government and the RBI will have to work in tandem and act quickly to stop this from happening. One tool could be to direct liquidity towards mutual funds at cheaper rates so that they can meet growing redemption pressure.

Blog: Rahul Gandhi Was Right, Suggest India's Increasing Covid-19 Cases

Aunindyo Chakravarty | Monday April 20, 2020

In fact, the rate at which Coronavirus cases have exploded over the past few days shows that Rahul got it absolutely right. Across the world, lockdowns are being increasingly recognised as 'blunt instruments' - a bazooka to kill a bee.

Blog: Congress Reactions To Modi's Speech Expose Another Big Weakness

Aunindyo Chakravarty | Wednesday April 15, 2020

This is a great political advantage that Modi has over his opponents. While there are state leaders who have a similar linguistic-cultural connect with their people, Modi is the only one who has acquired a pan-national stature. When Congress leaders attack him by parading their knowledge of English literature, they only strengthen Mr. Modi.

Blog: Why PM Modi Didn't Announce An Economic Package, Yet Again

Aunindyo Chakravarty | Tuesday April 14, 2020

Critics will see this as an inept government which does not have a plan. Some will see it as cynical politics at a time of India's biggest-ever economic crisis. It will not affect the rank and file of India's ever-expanding body of citizen soldiers, who will rally behind the leader as he gives them a sense of purpose in rethinking the nation-state.

Blog: What To Make Of China Bank’s Stake In HDFC

Aunindyo Chakravarty | Monday April 13, 2020

Perhaps China believes that the Modi government will give a big stimulus to the economy and the RBI will cut interest rates even more, not only to revive consumption demand but also induce India's middle class to begin buying homes again. There's no indication, yet, on whether a stimulus package is coming or not. But investing in equities is always about betting on wh...

Blog: If HCQ Is Really A 'Gamechanger', India Musn't Export It

Aunindyo Chakravarty | Thursday April 09, 2020

One could argue that India doesn't have that many coronavirus patients and therefore, we don't need to keep so much HCQ with us. One could also argue that the idea that HCQ could prevent and cure COVID-19 is more about hope than real scientific evidence. So if Indian companies can make good money from Trump's idiosyncratic optimism about HCQ and a few test studies, th...

Blog: Why India Follows Modi's Call For <i>Thali</i>-Banging, <i>Diyas</i>

Blog: Why India Follows Modi's Call For Thali-Banging, Diyas

Aunindyo Chakravarty | Monday April 06, 2020

Narendra Modi understands that he is as much a puppet of this process of as the citizen-subjects he addresses. That is why he periodically creates participatory events, that will 'reproduce' this new populism and strengthen the unquestioning relationship between the leader and the governed. Those who see these as laughable antics of a megalomaniac are condemned to rem...

Blog: Scindia, Seen As Threat To Rahul Gandhi, Had No Choice

Aunindyo Chakravarty | Wednesday March 11, 2020

Rahul Gandhi's failure in 2019 made Jyotiraditya an even bigger threat to the Gandhis. He is English-speaking, has the right pedigree, can walk into the homes of India's top corporates, and has great media connections.

OPINION