Tavleen Singh is a distinguished Indian journalist, political reporter, and author, currently serving as a leading columnist for The Indian Express. With a career spanning over four decades, she is widely recognized for her incisive commentary on Indian politics, public policy, and governance.
Professional Experience & Journey: Singh began her journalistic career in the United Kingdom with the Evening Mail in Slough, where she trained under the Westminster Press training scheme. She returned to India in 1974, joining The Statesman as a reporter. Her extensive fieldwork includes tenure as a Special Correspondent for The Telegraph in 1982 and as the South Asia Correspondent for the Sunday Times, London. Over the years, she has contributed to major publications including India Today and has played a pioneering role in Indian television journalism, heading the Delhi bureau for Plus Channel.
Expertise & Focus Areas: Renowned for her deep understanding of India's political landscape, Singh has covered some of the most critical events in the nation's history, including the Punjab insurgency and the conflict in Kashmir. Her writing often bridges the gap between the "Durbar" of Delhi’s political elite and the ground realities of rural India. She currently writes the popular weekly column "Fifth Column" for The Indian Express, appearing every Sunday, where she offers critical analysis of government policies and political shifts.
Authoritativeness & Recognition Singh is a celebrated author of several best-selling books that serve as important records of contemporary Indian history. Her notable works include:
Kashmir: A Tragedy of Errors (1995)
Lollipop Street: Why India Will Survive Her Politicians (1999)
Durbar (2012)
India's Broken Tryst (2016)
Messiah Modi: A Tale of Great Expectations (2020)
Her fearless reporting has earned her significant accolades, including the Chameli Devi Jain Award for Outstanding Woman Mediaperson (1988) and the Sanskriti Award (1985) for her comprehensive coverage of the Punjab crisis.
Trust & Credibility As a veteran voice in Indian media, Singh is known for her unyielding candor and independent perspective. Her long-standing association with The Indian Express, a publication known for its "Journalism of Courage," reinforces her standing as a...

May 26, 2019 00:22 IST
The past five years have been difficult for India’s ruling elite. High officials, famous writers, editors of English newspapers, celebrated TV anchors, heirs of political dynasties, leftists and liberals have found their importance diminish by the day.
Sun, May 26, 2019
May 19, 2019 00:14 IST
Ordinary Indian voters do not see Narendra Modi as wicked. They believe it is because of him that such things as toilets, gas connections and loans to build homes have become available to them.
Sun, May 19, 2019
May 12, 2019 01:21 IST
There was a time when the Gandhis could win elections on their vaunted charisma. That time has gone.
Sun, May 12, 2019
May 05, 2019 02:45 IST
Modi has brought with him some very nasty Hindutva leaders, and if he wins again, he should get rid of them. But, he has also given a voice to Indians who do not speak a word of English and who have never put a foot in those rarefied spaces where India’s levers of political power exist.
Sun, May 05, 2019
April 28, 2019 00:06 IST
You could vote for those who have ruled India (badly) for more than half a century or you could vote for a man who continues to promise change and prosperity.
Sun, Apr 28, 2019
April 21, 2019 00:35 IST
In a more enlightened time, Sadhvi Pragya would not have been allowed to ‘preach religion’, leave alone be a member of the Lok Sabha. So to give her a ticket to enter public life is puzzling and wrong.
Sun, Apr 21, 2019
April 14, 2019 00:15 IST
There are many former believers in Modi who have lost faith in him, and their reasons for losing faith are economic. The World Bank may rank India as a country that has become one in which it is easier to do business, but on the ground this appears somehow to have got lost in translation.
Sun, Apr 14, 2019
April 07, 2019 00:15 IST
What is that old saying about great arrogance coming before a great fall? Whatever it is, somebody needs to whisper it in the ear of Rahul Gandhi, the man who hopes to be prime minister next month.
Sun, Apr 07, 2019
March 31, 2019 01:20 IST
Taxpayers will pay Rs 3.6 lakh crore extra to support the NYAY scheme that some describe as ‘Gareebi Hatao 2.0’. Rahul Gandhi’s grandmother launched the first version of this scheme in 1971 and won a spectacular victory in the general election that year.
Sun, Mar 31, 2019
March 24, 2019 01:41 IST
Democracy is not possible without the rule of law. We must hope that Modi remembers this if he becomes prime minister again.
Sun, Mar 24, 2019
March 17, 2019 00:30 IST
It is not just the Air Force that struggles along without the modernisation it needs. The Army and Navy fare no better. During the Kargil War, we found to our horror that the Army did not have enough coffins to bring dead soldiers back from that mountainous battlefield.
Sun, Mar 17, 2019
March 10, 2019 01:27 IST
The media is entitled to express different points of view. But, for senior Indian political leaders to start sowing horrible doubts about the nature of the Indian State should disqualify them from being in public life.
Sun, Mar 10, 2019
March 03, 2019 00:25 IST
So I am proud of what the Indian Air Force did last week and congratulate Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his courageous decision to allow a military response. But, a little annoyed that the Modi government has let the narrative slip out of its hands.
Sat, Jul 04, 2020
February 24, 2019 01:00 IST
Why is it so hard for senior leaders in both our main national parties to say clearly that these attacks shame India and must be stopped?
Sun, Feb 24, 2019
February 17, 2019 00:38 IST
Attacks like the one that killed 40 CRPF men last week are not acts of terrorism; they are acts of war.
Sun, Feb 17, 2019
February 10, 2019 00:05 IST
Modi did not need to sound defensive at all in his speech. His achievements are many and anyone who travels in rural India can see them.
Sat, Jul 04, 2020
February 03, 2019 02:47 IST
The man who the Congress party hopes will replace Narendra Modi has started articulating his economic and political ideas with startling clarity.
Sun, Feb 03, 2019
January 27, 2019 00:30 IST
Rahul Gandhi has just won his first three elections, having fought and lost more than 30, so he is finally being seen as a leader. And not just a bumbling heir. Is this the time for his sister to come in as number two on the board of the family firm?
Sun, Jan 27, 2019
January 20, 2019 02:35 IST
The Prime Minister himself said, at the opening of a medical facility, that plastic surgery must have been known in ancient India for Shiva to have given his son Ganesha the head of an elephant.
Sun, Jan 20, 2019
January 12, 2019 00:05 IST
Young Indians do not need more reservations. They need more colleges and universities.
Sun, Jan 13, 2019
January 06, 2019 01:15 IST
The Congress president then went on to hold a press conference to declare that the Prime Minister had run away from the debate. I am ready to debate him, he announced grandly, but he is too scared to face the House.
Sun, Jan 06, 2019
January 01, 2019 00:10 IST
Indian women journalists raucously telling their own stories in the MeToo movement have rarely spoken for truly voiceless women. Instead, they have chosen to tell the stories of women powerful enough to bring down a minister.
Tue, Jan 01, 2019
December 30, 2018 01:15 IST
Had Modi remained true to his promise of taking India in an economic direction that veered towards free markets and reduced regulations, we would have seen that kind of dramatic change by now.
Sun, Dec 30, 2018
December 23, 2018 00:08 IST
Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh has made it clear that cows are more important so their possible slaughter took priority. Does this make him a nationalist or anti-national?
Sun, Dec 23, 2018
December 16, 2018 00:36 IST
The manner in which the Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the arrival of his new tax is another sign of messianic behaviour. Nobody celebrates taxes.
Sun, Dec 16, 2018




