Picture by Pradip SanyalIn the end, it ceased to quite matter which side lost and which won the evening. Resonating insistently above the feisty jousting between combatants was the suzerainty of the Idea of India as a pluralist, inclusive, secular democracy. But alongside prevailed a rider to it too — the sense that the Idea had been bullied and bludgeoned during the Narendra Modi years and needed urgent rescuing. He labelled the idea of India a “fake narrative” but went on to say: “All religions are equal and true, and they should be equally acceptable, that is Hinduness. But what we are talking about is today, this government and the Idea of India as of today.

Source: The Telegraph February 17, 2019 22:41 UTC