PAKISTAN: RETIRED HURT
From ABVP to BJP Ananth Kumar, senior BJP leader and Union minister, died in Bengaluru in November after battling cancer. Kumar was born on July 22, 1959, in Bengaluru. A graduate in arts and law, his journey in politics began due to his association with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad. His parliamentary career began when he was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1996 from Bangalore South. Having taken time to develop a liking for Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had to begin the whole process again with Imran Khan’s election in July. The new Pakistan prime minister has a majority, only thanks to the help of the military. With national elections coming, Kashmir in ferment, his base hostile and the generals holding real power, whatever little interest Modi had in talks with Pakistan has been put in a freezer. Even an announced meeting between foreign minister Sushma Swaraj and her Pakistani counterpart was publicly scuttled. Pakistan is sinking into another self-inflicted economic crisis. India has found handling Islamabad is often
handled best by phoning Beijing. Others who said goodbye
Former Delhi chief minister Madan Lal Khurana died at the age of 82 in October due to prolonged illness. Khurana, a BJP leader, was the chief minister of Delhi from 1993 to 1996. Nirupam Sen, senior CPI(M) leader who served as the industry minister of West Bengal during the tumultuous days of Singur and Nandigram movements, died in December aged 71. Congress leader Gurudas Kamat, and former UP and Uttarakhand CM ND Tiwari died this year.