An evening walk, a gentle breeze, and a harmless joke triggered a harsh truth. As I strolled along the park pathway, I ran into our ever-polite Bengali bank manager, Chatterji Babu. With the casual cruelty of small talk, I asked, “So, April 1st retirement ke baad, Kolkata ki train pakad rahe hain?”

At the start of 2026, Karnataka is navigating a strange paradox. On one hand, the state's politics is mired in leadership struggles, factionalism, and power tug-of-war within the Congress party, while on the other, the economy is charging ahead at full speed. The cool but persistent tension between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM DK Shivakumar has kept the political atmosphere on the boil, yet the engine of development hasn't stalled.

Amit Shah's strategic manoeuvres delivered a resounding victory for the BJP-led NDA in Bihar's 2025 assembly elections, securing over 200 seats in a masterstroke that reaffirmed the alliance's dominance. Now, the question looms: Can this Hindutva momentum breach Tamil Nadu's resilient Dravidian stronghold, or will the state, as it has often done, repel external pressures with its steadfast regional pride?

On the banks of the Kosi River, where people have battled floods, isolation, and long detours for decades, a new dream is taking shape. The 13.3-kilometre Bheja–Bakaur Kosi Bridge is now in its final stage of completion.

Karnataka today resembles a feudal court. At the breakfast table, the Chief Minister and his deputy are not quarrelling over idli–vada but over the throne, a slow-motion knife fight, while the Congress high command in Delhi watches nervously from the corridors, hesitating like a modern-day Dhritarashtra...

The political temperature is soaring — slogans fill the air, enthusiasm has gripped the streets, and hearts are aflame. From Patna to Purnea, one question echoes everywhere — “Who this time?