sushma ramachandran

writing about the economy is my business. Columnist at The Tribune, Awaz. Business expert on BBC,AIR.

[The Tribune @thetribunechd]

Diversification of sources of fertilisers is a long-term remedy, besides building up buffer stocks, says senior financial journalist Sushma Ramachandran @thewritesush in The Tribune @thetribunechd #TheTribuneOpinion

https://t.co/m3aopsFhl1

[The Secretariat @Secretariat_in]

Why has the Delhi Gymkhana Club become the center of a national debate?

Members-only clubs are booming in India. Research reveals that the annual size of the private club market in the country stands at ₹570 crore but could touch ₹941 crore by next year

@MahuaVenkatesh

#DelhiGymkhana #ClubCulture #IndiaNews #Governance #PublicPolicy #Delhi #InstitutionalStability #Heritage #ExclusiveClubs #IndiaToday #SocialDebate #PolicyMatters #TheSecretariat #CurrentAffairs #IndianSociety

https://t.co/yQIQrHO7BC

[The Secretariat @Secretariat_in]

Enforcement Directorate Gets a Major Boost

In a significant move to strengthen India's fight against financial crimes, the Ministry of Finance has approved more than 1,200 additional posts for the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

The expansion spans executive, legal, adjudication, systems, ministerial, security, and support staff cadres, aimed at tackling the growing volume and complexity of money laundering, cybercrime, AI-enabled fraud, cryptocurrency-related offences, and other economic crimes.

#EnforcementDirectorate #ED #MoneyLaundering #FinancialCrime #EconomicOffences #PMLA #FEMA #CyberCrime #Cryptocurrency #AI #Governance #FinanceMinistry #IndiaNews #Policy #Investigation #LawEnforcement #PublicPolicy #TheSecretariat

https://t.co/Pa13WcIXNw

[The Secretariat @Secretariat_in]

India’s MSME sector remains tangled in regulatory red tape despite repeated promises of reform. A high-level committee led by former Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba recommended easing compliance burdens, rationalising Quality Control Orders, and improving ease of doing business — but most measures remain only partially implemented even months later.

@thewritesush

#MSME #IndiaEconomy #EconomicReforms #EaseOfDoingBusiness #ViksitBharat #NarendraModi #BusinessReforms #IndianEconomy #FDI #Manufacturing #GST #CorporateIndia #EconomicGrowth #IndiaNews #PolicyReforms #TradeAndIndustry #TheSecretariat

https://t.co/yBdvSB4Z1k

[The Tribune @thetribunechd]

It would be more effective to provide incentives for buying gold in the digital form or through exchange-traded funds, says senior financial journalist Sushma Ramachandran @thewritesush in The Tribune @thetribunechd #TheTribuneOpinion

https://t.co/JwGALW3mIa

[Gaurie Dwivedi @GaurieD]

Tamil Nadu 2026. TVK has walked into a vacuum BJP helped create. But here's the real question nobody is asking: What if Annamalai was still leading BJP into this election? Would the result have been different? Let's think this through honestly.

- First, who is Annamalai — and why does he matter for this argument.
IPS officer. IIM Lucknow. Known as "Singham" during his police career. BJP Tamil Nadu president from 2021 to 2025.
He rebuilt the party — expanding BJP's footprint into areas it had never reached, through his state wide padayatra.
- The anti-DMK sentiment in TN was real. Corruption. Law and order. Youth unemployment. A government that had stopped being hungry. Most exit polls going in projected DMK in a tight race — anti-incumbency was already baked in as a major factor.
- There was a wave. The question was always: who surfs it? TVK surfed it. But TVK was not the only party positioned.
- Annamalai's entire political identity was built on anti-corruption, anti-dynastic politics, and positioning BJP as the credible alternative to both Dravidian majors.
That is precisely the message Tamil Nadu's angry voters were looking for in 2026.
Here is the structural overlap defining 2025 TN Polls : TVK's surge was strongest among youth, urban voters, and first-time voters in Chennai and western Tamil Nadu. Annamalai's base — the Kongu belt, western Tamil Nadu, Gounder community, young anti-establishment voters — overlaps almost exactly with where TVK made its biggest gains.

Now, Annamalai lost Aravakurichi in 2021 by 24,000 votes. He lost Coimbatore in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections — his own stronghold, his own caste belt, a seat he campaigned hardest in.
Two elections. Two losses. The brand was powerful. The electoral conversion was not yet proven.
The honest answer is: Annamalai could not have replicated what Vijay did.
Vijay brought something BJP structurally cannot — a clean slate. No caste arithmetic baggage, no Hindu nationalist tag in a state where that tag costs votes, no Delhi perception problem.
BJP's core challenge in Tamil Nadu has always been that it lacks traditional vote banks — minorities, fishers, women — and must rely on raising issues rather than commanding blocs.
What Annamalai could have done — and this is the real missed opportunity — is split the vacuum.
A strong Annamalai-led BJP contesting 60-80 seats independently, not 27 through AIADMK's allocation, would have forced TVK to fight for anti-DMK votes instead of collecting them unopposed.
TVK's leads might have been thinner. A majority might have been harder.
BJP could have emerged as a 30-40 seat force — small, but important.

Instead, BJP contested 27 seats — mostly difficult ones allocated by AIADMK — fielding senior leaders like Tamilisai Soundararajan, Vanathi Srinivasan and L Murugan.
Zero disruption energy.

The deeper irony is:
Annamalai's own instinct in 2023 was to go solo — to break from AIADMK, build BJP's independent identity, and use 2024 as preparation for 2026. This was overruled as AIADMK came back into the alliance. The long game traded for immediate coalition comfort.

So — would Annamalai have won Tamil Nadu for BJP?
Almost certainly not. The structural barriers are too high, the timeline too short.
But would he have made TVK fight for its majority rather than walk into one? Yes.
TN polls ends with Vijay potentially becoming CM in his debut election.
BJP ends with 27 contested seats and a coalition partner that absorbed NONE of the anti-incumbency energy.

The lesson for BJP's southern strategy after 2026 TN Polls is now unavoidable: Alliance arithmetic gives you presence, it does not give you power. Sometimes the most powerful validation comes not from winning, but from watching someone else win the race you were built to run.
#annamalai
#Vijay‌
#tamilnadulegislativeassemblyelection2026

[The Tribune @thetribunechd]

The confidence in India remaining an outlier can be satisfying, but the war is now deepening its effects on the economy,  says senior financial journalist Sushma Ramachandran @thewritesush in The Tribune @thetribunechd #TheTribuneOpinion

https://t.co/2ASlwr5HYB

[The Tribune @thetribunechd]

Petrochemical and fertiliser sectors reflect cascading impacts of the Iran war, says senior financial journalist Sushma Ramachandran @thewritesush in The Tribune @thetribunechd #TheTribuneOpinion

https://t.co/XxMvpYvb5m

[Sann @san_x_m]

His name is Vikas Tiwari.

Known as Ranu Tiwari. He runs Bastar Talkies from Chhattisgarh.

Bastar is one of the most dangerous regions in India. Naxal territory. Dense forests. No roads. Armed groups on both sides.

Most journalists report Bastar from Raipur. From press conferences. From safe distances.

Vikas goes in.

He has personally helped 171 Naxals surrender and return to mainstream society.

Not the army. Not the police.

A journalist with a camera.

He enters areas where the state cannot go. He talks to people who trust no one. He convinces men carrying guns to lay them down and come home.

Every entry into those forests is a direct risk to his life.

He was awarded the Rameshwaram Hindi Journalism National Award in December 2025.

He earns Rs 22,000 a month from his YouTube channel.

He says he is not skilled enough to sell tea by the roadside so journalism is all he has.

India produces journalists who read from teleprompters in air conditioned studios.

Bastar produces Vikas Tiwari.

[The Tribune @thetribunechd]

In the wake of the Gulf crisis, the focus must be on energy conservation and a drive towards renewable energy, says senior financial journalist Sushma Ramachandran @thewritesush in The Tribune @thetribunechd #TheTribuneOpinion
https://t.co/PDVrBZS3XN

[The Tribune @thetribunechd]

Amid the West Asia crisis, India needs to contain inflationary impact by keeping fuel prices stable in the medium term, says senior financial journalist Sushma Ramachandran @thewritesush in The Tribune @thetribunechd #TheTribuneOpinion

https://t.co/drDj7YjowZ

[The Tribune @thetribunechd]

Empowering youth, schoolchildren with skill sets will help us navigate the AI boom, says senior financial journalist Sushma Ramachandran @thewritesush in The Tribune @thetribunechd #TheTribuneOpinion
https://t.co/AF9DQg3cb1

[The Tribune @thetribunechd]

Sustaining deeper ties will entail compromises for both India and the EU in the long run, says senior financial journalist Sushma Ramachandran @thewritesush in The Tribune @thetribunechd #TheTribuneOpinion https://t.co/okRLWUQj6S

[The Tribune @thetribunechd]

Indian economy needs to grow faster in order to escape the middle-income trap, says senior financial journalist Sushma Ramachandran @thewritesush in The Tribune @thetribunechd #TheTribuneOpinion
https://t.co/Iava25Ih4N

[The Tribune @thetribunechd]

Speedy conclusion of the India-US trade pact will bring relief to several export industries, says senior financial journalist Sushma Ramachandran @thewritesush in The Tribune @thetribunechd #TheTribuneOpinion
https://t.co/JztiFXi6y0

[Gaurie Dwivedi @GaurieD]

I couldn't bring myself to share the video of #DipuChandraDas

A minority that constitutes 9 percent of the population mercilessly attacked, viciously targeted. Complete silence from @UNHumanRights

#Bangladesh

[Gaurie Dwivedi @GaurieD]

Where I ask :
- Yunus has announced #UsmanHadi son and wife will be taken care of by the state, why not the same for #DipuChandraDas ?
- What is the role of Pakistan & China in instigating the present cycle of violence targeting Hindus in #Bangladesh

[Gaurie Dwivedi @GaurieD]

Interim Advisor Md Yunus has announced that #SharifOsmanHadi family will be taken care of by the state. He MUST announce that the state will also take care of the family of #DipuChandraDas

If not, then it will be clear what he stands for.

#Bangladesh

[The Tribune @thetribunechd]

Aviation sector’s rapid expansion has not been matched by strengthening of regulatory oversight, says senior financial journalist Sushma Ramachandran @thewritesush in The Tribune @thetribunechd #TheTribuneOpinion
https://t.co/ZCfaQ4xbGf

[The Tribune @thetribunechd]

Cutting regulatory cholesterol is now essential for India to sustain high growth, says senior financial journalist Sushma Ramachandran @thewritesush in The Tribune @thetribunechd #TheTribuneOpinion
https://t.co/lLSHnA7iwX