Shekhar Gupta: Sugarcane straws in the political wind

A series of bypoll losses has pushed the Modi government into panic mode. Uncharacteristically, it's letting events dictate its actions

Throwing good money after bad money is an old truism. But throwing good money after bad politics? Every government does it in its last year. But is Narendra Modi’s also behaving like “any other” government? With butterflies in the stomach?

Let’s not judge, just look at the facts. Earlier this week, the government announced a Rs 70-billion package for the sugar/sugarcane industry. Will it solve the problem, or even postpone it? Absolutely not.

The problem with sugar is, there is way too much of it, in the world, as in India. If the mills pay the nutty Minimum Support Price (MSP) mandated