Coomi Kapoor
Coomi Kapoor has been a journalist for the last four decades. Her forte has been political reporting. She has witnessed the shifting
power equations in the capital -- from Indira Gandhi’s regime to the rise of the Aam Aadmi Party. She is presently contributing editor to The Indian Express. Earlier, she worked for the newspaper as chief reporter, special correspondent and editor, Delhi. Coomi has worked in several publications in different capacities. She was principal correspondent, India Today, editor news, Sunday Mail, bureau chief, Indian Post and political editor, Illustrated Weekly. She has been writing a political diary in a lighter vein since 1985 and her syndicated column was carried by many newspapers. She was also stringer for The Times, London, and columnist for The Star, Malaysia.
Mon, May 23, 2022
Coomi Kapoor writes: Shah traces the story of Modi’s success as a poll strategist not to the Gujarat chief ministerial or 2014 campaigns, but way back to 1987, when Modi was given charge of the BJP campaign in the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation polls.
Sun, May 08, 2022
Coomi Kapoor writes: Despite warnings that the Congress is a quagmire, Kishor was willing to take a leap of faith because Priyanka Gandhi Vadra backed to the hilt his plan for revamping the party. But he discovered that the popular perception that the Gandhi family works as a single unit was incorrect.
Sun, Apr 24, 2022
Coomi Kapoor writes: The Congress feels Prashant Kishor should first test his mettle by handling the difficult Gujarat Assembly elections due later this year. In fact, the Gujarat Congress leadership is still sitting idle, expecting Kishor to chalk out a plan.
Sat, Apr 23, 2022
Arun Shourie’s new book offers vignettes of the idiosyncrasies that defined the political class and newsrooms of his time and his journey as an editor through it all
Sun, Apr 10, 2022
Coomi Kapoor writes: The BJP’s highest decision-making body is the parliamentary board, responsible for broad policy in Parliament and states. The elite 11-member panel there are four vacancies and despite speculations, UP CM Yogi Adityanath has still not found a seat at the prestigious body
Sun, Mar 27, 2022
Legitimacy of leadership cannot be demonstrated merely by a show of hands, as is the Congress’s normal practice, the constitutional procedure would have to be strictly adhered to.
Tue, Mar 15, 2022
Coomi Kapoor writes: The opposition has to take on a behemoth well-entrenched in government, bureaucracy, politics and the media
Sun, Mar 13, 2022
Conventional wisdom was that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath would be under pressure if he won Uttar Pradesh narrowly; if it was a grand victory, he was here to stay and emerge as a potential successor to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But nothing is ever certain in politics. The UP victory was as much Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s as Yogi’s.
Fri, Mar 04, 2022
On May 21, 1990, Dr Udwadia performed the first laparoscopic appendectomy in India, and it was only one of his many pioneering work
Fri, Mar 18, 2022
Adityanath has the advantage of several top BJP leaders including central ministers and the PM campaigning on his behalf. The Yogi himself has been in campaign mode for the last three years.
Sun, Feb 13, 2022
Amit Shah realised early on that the real hurdle for the BJP in the Uttar Pradesh polls was not so much the farmer vote in western UP but that Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav would mobilise his campaign on a backward vs forward projector.
Sun, Jan 30, 2022
Coomi Kapoor writes: Small wonder that when Narendra Modi took the decision to install Netaji Bose’s statue, he wasted no time in argument. He made the surprise announcement after the graphic model was already prepared by the Ministry of Culture.
Thu, Jan 20, 2022
🔴 Coomi Kapoor writes: The Association for Democratic Reforms reckons that in the outgoing legislature’s five-year term, 67 per cent of the 40 members switched sides.
Sun, Jan 16, 2022
🔴 The sudden stepping down of Dilip Chenoy as Secretary General of FICCI in October last year appears to have been due to differences between him and the Commerce Ministry over the Indian pavilion at the Dubai Expo 2021.
Tue, Jan 04, 2022
🔴 The year will be remembered by the deadly impact of the coronavirus and the long-drawn-out, disruptive farmers’ agitation
Thu, Dec 23, 2021
🔴 Coomi Kapoor writes: To do so betokens a politics, practised by the Gandhis as well, in which memorialisation is all about sycophancy.
Sun, Dec 19, 2021
🔴 Coomi Kapoor writes: Rahul Gandhi's remarks were too philosophical for the average listener and he played into the BJP’s hands since the ruling party, fearing that it is on a weak wicket on prices, is keen to exploit the Hindutva card in UP.
Mon, Dec 06, 2021
🔴 Coomi Kapoor writes: Southern politicians say they will not allow their states to be politically marginalised for better family planning.
Mon, Nov 22, 2021
Coomi Kapoor writes: Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is keen to pacify Mamata Banerjee, fearing the Trinamool Congress is nibbling into the Congress vote share outside West Bengal. But Banerjee is in no mood to respond.
Fri, Nov 12, 2021
Coomi Kapoor writes: With Gandhis in charge of Congress, a credible alternative to campaign-savvy Modi seems unlikely to emerge for 2024 general elections
Mon, Nov 08, 2021
The large and modern infrastructure of Keshav Kunj, the RSS’s northern India office under construction at Delhi’s Jhandewalan Extension, suggests it will overshadow the relatively modest buildings in Nagpur which have served as the Sangh’s headquarters for nearly a century.
Mon, Oct 25, 2021
Coomi Kapoor writes: Rahul Gandhi’s complete sway over the party was apparent when he declared that he would don the formal crown as president only when he chose to and not simply because some begged him to.
Tue, Oct 12, 2021
Coomi Kapoor writes: The business house’s affinity for the airline industry and expertise in the service sector will be tested as it seeks to nurse the perennially sick airline back to health
Mon, Oct 11, 2021
Coomi Kapoor writes: If delimitation takes place in 2026 on the basis of the 2021 Census, it will open a Pandora’s box. Especially since BJP-ruled states in the north will be the ones getting a greater say in who rules the country.
Mon, Sep 27, 2021
Coomi Kapoor writes: Interestingly, though Amit Shah normally goes into overdrive when an important Assembly election is due, as in West Bengal, Shah is gearing up for the UP campaign at a leisurely pace.