Vandita Mishra

Vandita is The Indian Express National Opinion Editor

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In Patna, voices for change but Nitish seen as its agent — more than his challengers

October 26, 2025 18:16 IST

There does not appear to be a trumping emotion or argument that can sweep out the old, or a political vacuum that can ring in the new. Seen from the vantage point of Patna, Prashant Kishor and Jan Suraaj do not seem to have struck sparks of the kind that the Anna Hazare movement did in Delhi, nor does the RJD look likely to cave in like the Congress.

Mon, Oct 27, 2025

Vandita Mishra writes: In Bihar, can the election remain old if a new player comes?Subscriber Only

October 12, 2025 20:54 IST

Regardless of who wins and who loses, the entry of a third player is an opportunity to remake 'the people', put older contestants on notice

Thu, Oct 16, 2025

Vandita Mishra writes: Mayawati and Nitish, her nephew and his sonSubscriber Only

September 07, 2025 20:01 IST

In the retreat of the two leaders, an undermining of their powerful legacies of an alternative politics

Mon, Sep 08, 2025

Kabir Khan, Richa Chadha, Vandita Mishra

Kabir Khan at Expresso: ‘Saying you’re apolitical is the most political statement. It reeks of privilege’Subscriber Only

August 22, 2025 18:13 IST

At Expresso in Mumbai, director Kabir Khan and actor-producer Richa Chadha reflected on spending a decade in Bollywood, their big breaks, and being vocal about their political views.

Mon, Aug 25, 2025

That the EC sought to address questions swirling around it, when its conduct of the exercise in Bihar has raised serious apprehensions of large-scale disenfranchisement, was reassuring. But its tone and tenor has raised more questions

Vandita Mishra writes on Bihar SIR and ‘vote chori’: The EC’s response raises more questionsSubscriber Only

August 17, 2025 21:21 IST

That the EC sought to clear the air was a good call. But much of what it said was off-key, there were conspicuous silences

Tue, Aug 19, 2025

Vandita Mishra writes: Swordplay in the darkSubscriber Only

July 27, 2025 21:20 IST

A Vice President’s exit that could have been about bigger things. An Opposition whose best hope is that government’s cracks have started showing

Mon, Jul 28, 2025

Bihar has always led revolutions and rejected jungle raj. It will not be misled by the lies of the opposition. Bihar deserves truth, not chaos (Express photo by Rahul Sharma)

Vandita Mishra writes: When the sound of politics is shrillSubscriber Only

July 13, 2025 21:20 IST

Apocalyptic politics is an abdication of democratic humility, and of the responsibility to negotiate a middle ground in a country of great diversities

Tue, Jul 15, 2025

Today, 50 years after the Emergency, India’s monitory democracy is showing signs of wear and tear.

Vandita Mishra writes: Not just about the EmergencySubscriber Only

June 29, 2025 21:20 IST

The week in which 50 years of Emergency were marked ended with a rising — and disquietingly anti-pluralist — clamour in the ruling establishment

Tue, Jul 01, 2025

Vandita Mishra writes: As the military dust settlesSubscriber Only

May 25, 2025 21:57 IST

A denuded political landscape is coming into view, with no softening touch, few leavening forces

Mon, May 26, 2025

Vandita Mishra writes: Colonel Sofiya Qureshi in the roomSubscriber Only

May 11, 2025 21:54 IST

Now that there is a pause in the India-Pak firing, it need not be, it should not be, the image’s end.

Tue, May 13, 2025

What counts in caste censusSubscriber Only

May 04, 2025 21:11 IST

Timing of announcement, motive behind it, don't matter in long run. What will be crucial is what governments do once census is done

Tue, May 06, 2025

BJP AIADMK alliance Tamil Nadu, coalition politics

Vandita Mishra writes: Coalition arithmetic and chemistrySubscriber Only

April 13, 2025 21:39 IST

For the polity, power-sharing pact between national and regional players, in its best version, held the promise of a democratic deepening. That pact has faded and frayed beyond recognition since — for both main national parties.

Mon, Apr 14, 2025

Vandita Mishra writes: Congress needs to speak to…Subscriber Only

April 06, 2025 20:34 IST

… the Hindu in the room. Its waffling on the majority distorts and weakens its engagement with the minority.

Thu, Apr 10, 2025

Hansal Mehta: ‘Adversity creates great art. It is an opportunity, not a hindrance’Subscriber Only

April 05, 2025 14:21 IST

Filmmaker Hansal Mehta and actor Randeep Hooda on the power of good cinema, facing the mob, censorship, and why it is as important to tell Savarkar’s story as it is to tell Gandhi’s. The conversation was moderated by Vandita Mishra

Sat, Apr 05, 2025

Days after a mob of Sainiks vandalised the studio in Mumbai where stand-up comic Kumal Kamra performed his show in which he took lurching aim at a wide assortment of the powerful, including Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, the court spoke up.

Vandita Mishra writes: On free speech, pushback and its limitsSubscriber Only

March 30, 2025 21:43 IST

Courts and the Opposition speak up. But there are also unbroken silences.

Tue, Apr 01, 2025

There are several visible differences between Farmers’ Protest 1.0 and Farmers’ Protest 2.0 which can help explain their different graphs in Punjab. (Express photo by Praveen Khanna)

Vandita Mishra writes: A tale of two farmer agitationsSubscriber Only

March 23, 2025 22:11 IST

Much has changed between the two protests in Punjab. But they also book-end a state of back-sliding

Tue, Mar 25, 2025

Vandita Mishra writes: As Congress sets out on a yatra in poll-bound BiharSubscriber Only

March 16, 2025 21:30 IST

Its bid to address the young, across castes, may be a flailing for relevance. But all players know that spaces have opened up in the Bihar arena that are waiting to be seized and filled.

Tue, Mar 18, 2025

Vandita Mishra writes: Noise over delimitation and what lies beneathSubscriber Only

March 09, 2025 21:32 IST

The political polarisation that stands in the way of crucial give-and-take settlements on delimitation and other complex issues looks very different at ground level.

Sun, Mar 09, 2025

Vandita Mishra writes: AAP has given BJP building blocks of what could become a new layer in the political vocabularySubscriber Only

February 11, 2025 07:30 IST

It will now be the BJP’s challenge to tailor its politics to the city.

Tue, Feb 11, 2025

BJP’s capital hope: AAP vehicle for change stuck – at the bottomSubscriber Only

February 03, 2025 19:57 IST

Anti-incumbency has made increasing dents over the years, sharpened by the AAP government’s patchy and uneven delivery.

Tue, Feb 04, 2025

delhi news, delhi assembly elections, delhi assembly elections 2025, Arvind Kejriwal, Aam Aadmi Party AAP, Delhi Assembly elections, Delhi Assembly polls, delhi election campaigning, delhi rallies, delhi news today, delhi news now, arvind kejriwal, latest delhi news, indian express

Delhi Assembly elections: At bottom of income ladder, AAP secure, wobbles as voters climb upSubscriber Only

February 03, 2025 04:21 IST

The liquor excise scam that Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and other top AAP leaders were jailed for, and allegations against Kejriwal of using public funds to make a “sheesh mahal” for himself, don't appear to resonate on the ground significantly.

Tue, Feb 04, 2025

Vandita Mishra writes: When the Opposition refuses to holdSubscriber Only

January 12, 2025 21:49 IST

The unravelling of the INDIA bloc, that seems underway, has long term consequences

Sun, Jan 12, 2025

Vandita Mishra writes: The renovation of 6 Flag Staff Road & other AAP storiesSubscriber Only

January 05, 2025 20:54 IST

Ahead of the Delhi elections, the party is haunted by a “sheesh mahal” of its own making

Sun, Jan 05, 2025

manoj bajpayee, despatch manoj bajpayee, ZEE5 despatch

Manoj Bajpayee at Idea Exchange: ‘Real stardom lasted only till the time technology became big. But one thing that will always survive is the story’Subscriber Only

December 30, 2024 04:50 IST

Having enacted the role of a journalist in the recently released film Despatch, Manoj Bajpayee's career spans a wide range of genres and includes a rich experience in theatre.

Mon, Dec 30, 2024

Alappuzha MP K C Venugopal, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi during the CWC meeting. (Express photo by Anil Sharma)

Vandita Mishra writes: What Congress should be agitated about — and isn’tSubscriber Only

December 01, 2024 21:12 IST

While the free-ness and fair-ness of polls is fundamental for a democracy, it would be unfortunate if it becomes a mere stand-in or a red herring

Sun, Dec 01, 2024