Delusional Politics

by Hardeep Singh Puri

  61. James Mann, ‘The Adults in the Room’, New York Review of Books, 26 October 2017, https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2017/10/26/trump-adult-supervision/.

  62. Mark Landler and Katie Rogers, ‘John Kelly Tells Aides He Will Remain White House Chief of Staff Through 2020’, New York Times, 31 July 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/31/us/politics/john-kelly-job-white-house-trump.html.

  63. David Smith, ‘Your Worst Nightmare: A Successful Donald Trump Presidency’, Guardian, 3 July 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jul/03/donald-trump-winning-oval-office-twitter.

  64. Roberto Savio, ‘Shedding Diplomacy, Roberto Savio Speaks about Fear as a Tool to Gain Power’, Inter Press Service, 14 December 2017, http://www.ipsnews.net/2017/12/shedding-diplomacy-robertosavio-speaks-fear-tool-gain-power/.

  65. Ibid.

  66. Drew Desilver, ‘US Trails Most Developed Countries in Voter Turnout’, Pew Research Center, 21 May 2018, http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/05/15/u-s-voter-turnout-trails-most-developed-countries/.

  67. ‘Stark Partisan Divisions Over Russia Probe, Including Its Importance to the Nation’, Pew Research Center, 7 December 2017, http://www.people-press.org/2017/12/07/stark-partisan-divisions-over-russia-probe-including-its-importance-to-the-nation/#views-of-muellers-investigation-into-russian-involvement-in-2016-election.

  68. Steven Shepard, ‘Trump Voters: We’d Do It Again’, Politico, 9 November 2017, https://www.politico.com/story/2017/11/09/trump-voters-polling-election-244644.

  69. Michael Wolff. ‘Donald Trump Didn’t Want to Be President’, New York Magazine, 3 January 2018, http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/01/michael-wolff-fire-and-fury-book-donald-trump.html.

  70. Michelle Cottle, ‘Wolff Trapped’, New Republic, 30 August 2004, https://newrepublic.com/article/67746/wolff-trapped.

  71. ‘Trump Bannon Row: Who Is Author Michael Wolff?’, BBC News, 5 January 2018, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42565013.

  72. Michelle Cottle, ‘Wolff Trapped’, New Republic, 30 August 2004, https://newrepublic.com/article/67746/wolff-trapped.

  73. Jane Mayer, ‘Christopher Steele, the Man behind the Trump Dossier’, New Yorker, 12 March 2018, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/03/12/christopher-steele-the-man-behind-the-trump-dossier.

  74. Statement by FBI Director James B. Comey on the Investigation of Secretary Hillary Clinton’s Use of a Personal E-mail System, FBI.gov, 5 July 2016, https://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/statement-by-fbi-director-james-b-comey-on-the-investigation-of-secretary-hillary-clinton2019s-use-of-a-personal-e-mail-system.

  75. ‘FBI Letter Announcing New Clinton Review’, Politico, 28 October 2016, https://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/full-text-fbi-letter-announcing-new-clinton-review-230463.

  76. Sharon LaFraniere, Mark Mazzetti and Matt Apuzzo. ‘How the Russia Enquiry Began: A Campaign Aide, Drinks and Talks of Political Dirt’, New York Times, 30 December 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/30/us/politics/how-fbi-russia-investigation-began-george-papadopoulos.html.

  77. ‘James Comey’s Interview with ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos’, ABC News, 15 April 2018, https://abcnews.go.com/Site/transcript-james-comeys-interview-abc-news-chief-anchor/story?id=54488723.

  78. Nate Silver, ‘The Comey Letter Probably Cost Clinton the Election’, FiveThirtyEight, 3 May 2017, https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-comey-letter-probably-cost-clinton-the-election/.

  Chapter 4: The India Story

  1. Bahadur Shah Zafar, ‘Kitna Hai Bad-nasib Zafar Dafn Ke Liye’, Rekhta, https://www.rekhta.org/couplets/kitnaa-hai-bad-nasiib-zafar-dafn-ke-liye-bahadur-shah-zafar-couplets.

  2. William Dalrymple, ‘The Most Magnificent Muslims’, New York Review of Books, 22 November 2017, http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2007/11/22/the-most-magnificent-muslims/.

  3. Anbarasan Ethirajan, ‘Remembering the Last Mughal Emperor’, BBC News, 8 November 2017, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41884390.

  4. BS Web Team, Remembering the Life and Times of Annie Besant, Business Standard, 1 October 2015, https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/remembering-the-life-and-times-of-annie-besant-115100100808_1.html.

  5. K.R.A. Narasiah, A Reformer’s Life, The Hindu, 1 August 2015, http://www.thehindu.com/books/literary-review/kra-narasiah-reviews-gopal-krishna-gokhale-gandhis-political-guru/article7485201.ece.

  6. Press Trust of India, ‘Sultanate Gone, but We Behave like Sultans’: Jairam Ramesh Admits Congress in Deep Crisis’, Hindustan Times, 8 August 2017, https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/congress-facing-existential-crisis-jairam-ramesh/story-YdY3NxGKBOY2g9y4ORMaWK.html.

  7. Times Now Bureau, ‘Jairam Ramesh Faces Heat from Congress Leaders for His “Sultanate” Comment’, TimesNowNews.com, 9 August 2017, http://www.timesnownews.com/india/article/cong-leaders-unhappy-with-jairam-ramesh%E2%80%99s-sultanate-remark/70789.

  8. Press Trust of India, ‘Sultanate Gone, but We Behave like Sultans’: Jairam Ramesh Admits Congress in Deep Crisis’, Hindustan Times, 8 August 2017, https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/congress-facing-existential-crisis-jairam-ramesh/story-YdY3NxGKBOY2g9y4ORMaWK.html.

  9. Sobhana K. Nair, ‘Rahul Gandhi Era Begins for Congress’, The Hindu, 11 December 2017, http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/rahul-gandhi-is-president-of-congress/article21390722.ece.

  10. ‘Past Party Presidents—Motilal Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi’, Indian National Congress, https://www.inc.in/en/leadership/past-party-presidents.

  11. Sobhana K. Nair, ‘Rahul Gandhi Era Begins for Congress’, The Hindu, 11 December 2017, http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/rahul-gandhi-is-president-of-congress/article21390722.ece.

  12. BJP Presidents during Nineteen Years of Sonia Gandhi’s Leadership of Indian National Congress—Kushabhau Thakre, Bangaru Laxman, K. Jana Krishnamurthy, Venkaiah Naidu, Lal Krishna Advani, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari and Amit Shah, http://www.bjp.org/en/leadership/bjp-presidents.

  13. The concerned official was B.L. Joshi, a member of the Indian Police Service, who also served in the ministry of home affairs under Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri and Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He was appointed the lieutenant governor of Delhi from 2004 to 2007. From April 2007 to October 2007, he was the governor of Meghalaya; from October 2007 to July 2009 the governor of Uttarakhand; and from July 2009 to June 2014, the governor of UP.

  14. Sandeep Phukan, ‘There Is No Anti-incumbency in Gujarat As We Have Delivered, Says Deputy CM Nitinbhai Patel’, The Hindu, 7 December 2017, https://www.thehindu.com/elections/gujarat-2017/there-is-no-anti-incumbency-in-gujarat-as-we-have-delivered-says-deputy-cm-nitinbhai-patel/article21291945.ece.

  15. Trivedi Centre for Political Data, ‘How Gujarat Was Won (and Lost): 28 Charts that Explain the Election Results,’ Scroll.in, 20 December 2017, https://scroll.in/article/862048/how-gujarat-was-won-and-lost-28-charts-that-explain-the-election-results.

  16. Vikram Gopal, ‘The Anti-incumbency Factor against Siddaramaiah that No One Saw Coming in Karnataka’, Hindustan Times, 16 May 2018, https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/siddaramaiah-anti-incumbency-that-no-one-saw-coming-in-karnataka/story-I4Sp0DobJ4aWuDuLObJWuN.html.

  17. Hindustan Times, Delhi Edition, 16 May 2018.

  18. TNN, ‘Won’t Allow Dilution of SC/ST Act: PM Modi’, Times of India, 14 April 2018, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/wont-allow-dilution-of-sc/st-act-pm-modi/articleshow/63754523.cms.

  19. Amitabh Tiwari, ‘Karnataka Election Results: Numbers Prove BJP Won the Muslim and SC/ST Vote, Lingayat Move Backfired on Congress’, FirstPost, 17 May 2018, https://www.firstpost.com/politics/karnataka-election-results-numbers-prove-bjp-won-the-muslim-and-scst-vote-lingayat-move-backfired-on-congress-4472561.html.

  20. Anil Sasi, ‘21 States Are Now BJP-ruled, Home to 70 per cent of Indians’, Indian Express, 5 March 2018, https://indianexpress.com/article/india/21-states-are-now-bjp-ruled-home-to-70-per-cent-of-indians-5085205/.r />
  21. Hardeep S. Puri, ‘Does India Have an Elected or Nominated PM’, New Indian Express, 27 February 2014, http://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2014/feb/27/Does-India-Have-an-Elected-or-Nominated-PM-580494.html.

  22. Ibid.

  23. Ibid.

  24. The NewsWire, ‘Party MPs Appeal for Reconsideration of Decision’, Outlook, 18 May 2004, https://www.outlookindia.com/newswire/story/party-mps-appeal-for-reconsideration-of-decision/222664.

  25. Ibid.

  26. India is Indira, and Indira is India’ declared D.K. Barooach, Congress president in 1976.

  27. Prithviraj Chavan, ‘Pranab Mukherjee, the Survivor’, Indian Express, 26 July 2017, http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/pranab-mukherjee-the-survivor-president-congress-4767100/.

  28. Josy Joseph, ‘Pratibha’s Pune Home a Break from Tradition’, Times of India, 15 April 2012, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Pratibhas-Pune-home-a-break-from-tradition/articleshow/12668229.cms.

  29. Sunetra Choudhury, ‘Former President Pratibha Patil in Trouble over Gifts’, NDTV, 25 September 2012, https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/former-president-pratibha-patil-in-trouble-over-gifts-500154.

  30. Respect for the institutions of the state make me resist the temptation of sharing these details.

  31. M.K. Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth (Penguin, 2001).

  32. Mahatma Gandhi, Quit India Speech II at AICC Bombay 08-08-1942, Indian National Congress, https://www.inc.in/en/media/speech/quit-india-speech-ii-at-aicc-bombay-08-08-1942.

  33. He taught at DU from 1973–78.

  34. The term ‘bania’ is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘van.ij’ or ‘ban.ij’, which means merchant. The term is used to indicate all people who are involved in money lending and similar activities. The bania are vaishya according to the Chaturvanya system and are third in hierarchy after the brahmin and the kshatriya. The bania community is spread across different states in India like Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, etc.

  The term bania is also used pejoratively. Especially British colonial masters used the term to ridicule Mahatma Gandhi. In fact, Willingdon, the twenty-second viceroy and governor general of India, called Gandhi an ‘astute little political Bania’.

  Even Congress leaders like C.R. Das and Maulana Shaukat Ali referred to Gandhi as ‘Wily Baiya’.

  35. Ramachandra Guha, ‘Does Gandhi Have a Caste?’, Indian Express, 13 June 2017, http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/does-gandhi-have-a-caste-4700974/.

  36. Ibid.

  37. Narendra Singh Sarila, The Shadow of the Great Game: The Untold Story of India’s Partition (New Delhi: HarperCollins, 2009).

  38. Ibid.

  39. Irfan Habib, ‘On Parallel, Shining Paths’, Outlook, 21 August 2017, https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/on-parallel-shining-paths/299200.

  40. Narendra Singh Sarila, The Shadow of the Great Game: The Untold Story of India’s Partition (New Delhi: HarperCollins, 2009).

  41. Ram Madhav, ‘Coming Full Circle at 70’, Indian Express, 15 August 2017, http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/independence-day-coming-full-circle-at-70-atal-bihari-vajpayee-hamid-ansari-muslims-india-insecure-modi-nehru-4796919/.

  42. Ibid.

  43. Ibid.

  44. Ibid.

  45. Ibid.

  46. Aroon Purie, ‘From the Editor-in-Chief’, India Today, 14 July 2017, https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/letters/story/20170724-editor-aroon-purie-donald-trump-narendra-modi-lynchings-1024011-2017-07-14.

  47. Ibid.

  48. Press Trust of India, ‘India Has Highest Number of People Living Below the Poverty Line: World Bank’, Business Today, 3 October 2016, http://www.businesstoday.in/current/economy-politics/india-has-highest-number-of-people-living-below-poverty-line-world-bank/story/238085.html.

  49. Press Information Bureau, ‘PM Salutes All the Women and Men Who Took Part in the Quit India Movement, on the 75th Anniversary; Urges People to Take Pledge for Creating a “New India” by 2022’, Government of India, Prime Minister’s Officer, 9 August 2017, http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=169762.

  50. Ibid.

  51. Ibid.

  52. Ibid.

  53. Angus Maddison, ‘The World Economy’, Development Centre of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2006, https://www.stat.berkeley.edu/~aldous/157/Papers/world_economy.pdf.

  54. International Monetary Fund, ‘Report for Selected Countries and Subjects’, IMF, April 2018, http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2018/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr.x=48&pr.y=6&sy=2017&ey=2018&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=534&s=NGDPD%2CPPPGDP%2CNGDPDPC%2CPPPPC&grp=0&a=.

  55. Hardeep S. Puri, ‘India Is Moving Towards a Corruption Free, Citizen-centric Economy’, Hindustan Times, 9 December 2017, https://www.hindustantimes.com/opinion/india-is-moving-towards-a-corruption-free-citizen-centric-economy/story-Xu0RjzSkKtc8tfHuVeYKLK.html.

  56. Dipak K. Dash, ‘Highway Construction Doubles in 4 Years with 27km a day in 2017–18’, Times of India, 4 April 2018, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/highway-construction-doubles-in-4-years-with-27km-a-day-in-2017-18/articleshow/63601035.cms.

  57. Press Trust of India, ‘4 Years of Modi: More Indians in Airplanes Now than in AC Trains, Says Govt’, Business Standard, 29 May 2018, https://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/4-years-of-modi-more-indians-in-airplanes-now-than-in-ac-trains-says-govt-118052801360_1.html.

  58. Beneficiaries as of May 2018, Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana, https://www.pmjdy.gov.in/account.

  59. Prasanta Sahu, ‘Narendra Modi Government’s Welfare Payments: Massive 75 pct to Be on DBT Platform in FY 19’, Financial Express, 5 March 2018, https://www.financialexpress.com/economy/narendra-modi-governments-welfare-payments-massive-75-pct-to-be-on-dbt-platform-in-fy-19/1087398/.

  60. Express Web Desk, ‘Status Check of 12 New AIIMS Announced by PM Modi’s Government’, Indian Express, 3 October 2017, http://indianexpress.com/article/india/status-check-on-12-new-aiims-announced-under-pm-modis-government-4872523/.

  61. ‘Cabinet Approves Ayushman Bharat—National Health Protection Mission’, Press Information Bureau, Government of India Cabinet, 21 March 2018, http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=177816.

  62. Prashant K. Nanda, ‘5 New IITs, 6 IIMs Likely to Become Operational by 2015’, Livemint, 22 August 2014, http://www.livemint.com/Politics/Lges1pAU1eSNvJhWVxN45K/5-new-IITs-6-IIMs-likely-to-become-operational-by-2015.html.

  63. ‘In a Historic Decision, 60 Higher Educational Institutions Granted Autonomy by UGC: Shri Prakash Javadekar’, Press Information Bureau, Government of India, Ministry of Human Resource Development, 20 March 2018, http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=177751.

  64. World Bank, ‘Time to Resolve Insolvency’, World Bank, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IC.ISV.DURS.

  65. Press Trust of India, ‘Acquisition of Bhushan Steel by Tatas Historic Breakthrough: Piyush Goyal’, Financial Express, 18 May 2018, https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/banking-finance/acquisition-of-bhushan-steel-by-tatas-historic-breakthrough-piyush-goyal/1173317/.

  Chapter 5: Global Governance

  1. ‘The UN’s Role in Global Governance’, UN Intellectual History Project, August 2009, http://www.unhistory.org/briefing/15GlobalGov.pdf.

  2. H.H.S. Viswanathan and Shubh Soni, ‘BRICS Role in Global Governance’, Observer Research Foundation, 4 September 2017, http://cf.orfonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/GP-ORF_BRICS.pdf.

  3. United States Government, ‘Remarks by President Trump on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action’, WhiteHouse.gov, 8 May 2018, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-joint-comprehensive-plan-action/.

  4. Alec Luhn and Henry Samuel, ‘Putin and Macron Question Trump’s Withdrawal from Iran Deal and North Korea Summit’, Telegraph, 24 May 2018, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/05/24/putin-macron-question-trumps-withdr
awal-iran-deal-north-korea/.

  5. Ibid.

  6. Jonathan Allen, ‘Trump: I’m Hoping for New Iran Deal that Is ‘Better for Them’’’, NBC News, 12 May 2018, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-i-m-hoping-new-iran-deal-better-them-n873261.

  7. Donald J. Trump’s Tweet on 2 January 2018, https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/948355557022420992.

  8. Eleanor Rose, ‘Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un’s War of Words: A Look Back after the US President’s First Year’, Evening Standard, 20 January 2018, https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/donald-trump-and-kim-jong-un-s-war-of-words-a-look-back-after-the-us-president-s-first-year-a3743791.html.

  9. Robbie Gramer, ‘Tillerson Open to Talks With North Korea’, Foreign Policy, 12 December 2017, http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/12/12/tillerson-open-to-talks-with-north-korea-asia-state-department-china-pyongyang-nuclear-weapons-program-nonproliferation-diplomacy-pressure-campaign/.

  10. Cindy Saine, ‘State Department: No Change in US-North Korea Policy’, VoaNews, 13 December 2017, https://www.voanews.com/a/state-department-no-change-in-us-north-korea-policy/4163203.html.

  11. Ibid.

  12. Alex Ward, ‘Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Reportedly Called Trump a “Moron”’, Vox, 4 October 2017, https://www.vox.com/world/2017/10/4/16418538/tillerson-trump-moron-quit-boy-scout.

  13. Amy Davidson Sorkin, ‘Mike Pompeo and the Question of Torture’, New Yorker, 12 January 2017, https://www.newyorker.com/news/amy-davidson/mike-pompeo-and-the-question-of-torture.

  14. Sarah Childress and Priyanka Boghani, ‘Trump’s New CIA Director Nominee Helped Cover Up Torture’, PBS.org, 13 March 2018 https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/trumps-new-cia-director-nominee-helped-cover-up-torture/.

  15. Jamies Lartey, ‘Bombs Away: John Bolton’s Most Hawkish Views on Iran, Iraq and North Korea’, Guardian, 23 March 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/23/john-bolton-north-korea-iran-iraq-who-is-he-what-does-he-believe.

  16. Binoy Kampmark, ‘Unsettling the Summits: John Bolton’s Libya Solution’, International Policy Digest, 21 May 2018, https://intpolicydigest.org/2018/05/21/unsettling-the-summits-john-bolton-s-libya-solution/.