India, Sept. 13 -- The notable point arising from Germany's election is that tactical sophistication has replaced raw grievance politics. The AfD didn't just run on immigration. It ran on Chancellor Merz's unpopularity, positioning itself as the only genuine alternative to an exhausted status quo.

On Sunday, in the eastern German state of Saxony Anhalt, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) did something no far-right party has done in that country since the fall of Hitler's Third Reich: it won a state election outright, coming within a handful of seats of an absolute majority. The AfD won just under 44 per cent of the vote, more than double its previous showing and the strongest performance by a far-right party in any German state election i...