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Ashutosh Varshney

The writer is Sol Goldman Professor of International Studies and the Social Sciences at Brown University, where he also directs the Center for Contemporary South Asia at the Watson Institute. He is a contributing editor for The Indian Express.

More From Ashutosh Varshney

👁 ceasefire india pakistan

The new and the old in the most recent India-Pakistan hostilitiesSubscriber Only

May 14,2025 06:50:58 AM

Much drew on the past, much represented a break from history

Wed, May 14, 2025
👁 Donald Trump

Ashutosh Varshney writes: Democracy has provided the rationale for tariffs. It will produce a reaction against itSubscriber Only

April 09,2025 06:59:06 AM

The implementation of Trump's electoral mandate will seriously undermine globalisation, now more than four decades old

Wed, Apr 09, 2025
👁 modi and trump

In Trump-Modi Summit, benefits for the US are greaterSubscriber Only

February 17,2025 07:00:27 AM

Trump’s desire to demand subservience to power was expected. That Modi would succumb so easily came as a surprise

Mon, Feb 17, 2025
👁 donald trump (3)

Ashutosh Varshney writes: With Donald Trump’s return, a very different America is upon usSubscriber Only

January 21,2025 11:54:34 AM

From tariff as a political tool to crackdown on illegal immigration to H1B visa, Trump’s disruptions may well turn out to be substantial

Thu, Jan 23, 2025
👁 Opinion1_7th-Jan

Ashutosh Varshney writes: The Hindutva-Ambedkar puzzleSubscriber Only

January 07,2025 07:05:07 AM

The BJP’s principal claim was that it had done more than any other major party to restore the justly great status of Ambedkar in the national public realm. But, to Ambedkar, Hindu unity was exactly the opposite of what his project sought

Tue, Jan 07, 2025
👁 Opinion1_30th-Dec

How Manmohan Singh created the middle class – and didn’t think welfare was government largesseSubscriber Only

December 28,2024 13:49:44 PM

Unwavering civility would perhaps be the best way to describe what I experienced. Even when in positions of high power, arrogance never touched him, and civility never failed.

Mon, Dec 30, 2024
👁 A perilous moment_Premium-01

Ashutosh Varshney writes: The US under Trump — Less racially inclusive, more immigration-unfriendlySubscriber Only

November 08,2024 04:20:42 AM

Given America’s worldwide presence and power, weaker than before but still substantial, the international system may also be shaken to the core. Political moments such as these have conventionally been called perilous.

Fri, Nov 08, 2024
👁 trump harris

Trump vs Harris: Why America’s two-party election has too many factors at playSubscriber Only

October 24,2024 06:52:41 AM

Is America ready for a Black woman president, or would White supremacy make a comeback via Trump? Will America continue to be engaged in the world, or will it descend into a world of Trumpian tariffs, immigration cuts and isolationism?

Thu, Oct 24, 2024
👁 Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president J P Nadda at the party headquarters in New Delhi, Tuesday. (Express photo by Tashi Tobgyal)

In Haryana and J&K, BJP’s performance was not as spectacular as it being made out to beSubscriber Only

October 10,2024 04:20:46 AM

Any larger claims about ideological victory or defeat are also irrelevant, though that is how politicians would spin it. The gap between the two votes is so minuscule that the best argument accounting for the outcome is about the ground game, candidate selection and the logic of alliances

Thu, Oct 10, 2024
👁 Opinion3_3rd-Oct

In Trump-Vance narrative, cats, dogs and revival of nativist American nationhoodSubscriber Only

October 03,2024 04:00:45 AM

According to Trump, ‘Making America Great Again’ (MAGA) desperately requires mass deportation of unworthy and unwanted aliens, who weaken the nation. This discourse invokes a long tradition in American history, which thrives on claiming that some immigrant groups are unfit to be Americans

Thu, Oct 03, 2024
👁 Opinion1_3rd-Sept

In Bangladesh turmoil, a lesson for the Global SouthSubscriber Only

September 03,2024 07:50:09 AM

Economic growth without sufficient job creation, and authoritarian repression of dissent, is insufficient for political legitimacy

Tue, Sep 03, 2024
👁 Weapons of the powerless_Premium-01

Ashutosh Varshney writes: James C Scott, scholar of resistanceSubscriber Only

July 26,2024 07:35:20 AM

He grew up in a generation that was fascinated with peasant rebellions, not simply on the left but also on the right

Sun, Jul 28, 2024
👁 Opinion1_16th-July

Assassination attempt on Donald Trump: Will it lead to gun-control debate among Americans, particularly Republicans?Subscriber Only

July 15,2024 16:56:23 PM

The great irony of the attempted assassination is that a registered Republican sought to kill the leading presidential candidate of the party that is more favourable to gun ownership in a town that perhaps has an abundance of guns, which Republicans deem desirable for public safety

Sun, Jul 21, 2024
👁 Opinion1_17th-June

Verdict 2024: Mandate will be assessed by democratic spaces it opens up in between pollsSubscriber Only

June 17,2024 08:00:41 AM

With a loss of 63 seats in 2024, compared to 2019, and a shortfall of 130 seats, compared to the 2024 target, the BJP may have to scale its majoritarian project down

Tue, Jun 18, 2024
👁 Opinion1_6th-June

In the results of 2024 elections, rebirth of the ‘idea of India’Subscriber Only

June 06,2024 07:20:15 AM

This is not a Nehruvian imposition, as understood by Hindu nationalists. Instead, it captures affirmative action uncertainties, the rise of animosities and polarisation in society, people’s concern about rights and the steeply rising inequalities

Thu, Jun 06, 2024
👁 Opinion1_15th-May

Amidst voters in Uttar Pradesh, murmurs of a desire for changeSubscriber Only

May 15,2024 07:10:14 AM

Few are speaking of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. Does this mean the BJP's vote share will decline?

Wed, May 15, 2024
👁 Opinion1_28th-March

Ashutosh Varshney writes on Kejriwal’s arrest: How much time does Indian democracy have?Subscriber Only

March 27,2024 19:04:47 PM

Our problem is not with participation – electoral turnouts are high. It is on contestation of rulers that fault lines are now visible and deepening

Thu, Mar 28, 2024
👁 Only if states agree_Premium-01

Ashutosh Varshney writes: Why and how One Nation, One Election is divisiveSubscriber Only

March 16,2024 17:12:38 PM

Except for the regional parties allied with the BJP, most disagree with the idea. If the BJP passed a “one nation, one election” law in the next Parliament, it would push regional parties into a corner. A fundamental rearrangement of the polity should be based on a larger consensus, not on a brute majority.

Mon, Mar 18, 2024
👁 Inauguration, not closure_Premium-01

Ayodhya marks an inauguration, not closureSubscriber Only

January 26,2024 14:24:36 PM

Prime Minister Modi used new vectors of language to articulate Hindu supremacy. But to see temple consecration as a decisive victory of Hindu theocracy, or as the establishment of a Hindu nation, would be an overstatement

Sat, Jan 27, 2024
👁 There is North vs South

Ashutosh Varshney writes: Why BJP’s Hindutva — and Modi magic — hit a wall in South IndiaSubscriber Only

December 05,2023 16:01:40 PM

There are enough historical fragments available to keep Hindu nationalists ideologically interested in Telangana (as well as Karnataka). But there is no such historical charge in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra

Wed, Dec 06, 2023
👁 Opinion-card1_19th-Sept

Ashutosh Varshney writes: In China, the challenge of democracy without electionsSubscriber Only

September 18,2023 19:41:39 PM

The Communist Party does not accept any challenges to its monopoly over power. A way out is to intellectually formulate a non-electoral conception of democracy and propagate it to the world. But that comes with its own challenges

Tue, Sep 19, 2023
👁 Opinion-card1_27th-June

Ashutosh Varshney writes on PM Modi’s US visit: Why Indian democracy’s liberal deficits are not a dealbreaker for the USSubscriber Only

June 25,2023 14:59:19 PM

Escalation in US-China tensions and resurfacing of India-China border clashes after decades, have resulted in New Delhi becoming a close strategic partner for Washington, even without a formal alliance

Tue, Jun 27, 2023
👁 Opinion-1_18th-May

Ashutosh Varshney writes: What the outcome in Karnataka will achieve — and what it will notSubscriber Only

May 18,2023 07:20:25 AM

We don’t have evidence that Hindu nationalism has lost its salience. But we do have a blueprint for how such salience can be electorally countered

Thu, May 18, 2023
👁 A different Ram Navami copy

Ashutosh Varshney and Bhanu Joshi write: Ram Navami violence — it wasn’t always soSubscriber Only

April 07,2023 19:11:26 PM

Ashutosh Varshney and Bhanu Joshi write: Ram was not always a symbol of majoritarian power and domination. The metamorphosis began in the late 1980s

Sat, Apr 08, 2023
👁 In 2024, an uneven field copy

Ashutosh Varshney writes: In 2024, an all-powerful BJP may face a radically diminished OppositionSubscriber Only

April 01,2023 07:06:40 AM

The larger debate about Indian democracy is linked to two underlying questions. Why is the distinction between electoral and liberal democracy maintained? And why is the distinction now beginning to disappear?

Sat, Apr 01, 2023