Nitin Gadkari had raised expectations as a no-nonsense man who meant business. Even as he has tried to synchronise the pulls and pressures that any head of a political organisation would have to, the composition of his new team, his first real test as party chief, has been disappointing. What is more, he has failed to come across as his own man.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi appears to be playing for larger -- and long term -- stakes and the move to provide reservation to women is not bereft of political calculations, writes Neerja Chowdhury
Neerja Chowdhury says that dynastic politics is the bane of our democracy.
It was astonishing that the statement of a 86 year old leader, virtually retired and who by his own admission is not even in the party, should create so much turbulence in the BJP. From the way the party reacted, it seemed as if he was about to snatch away the PMship from Advani, says Neerja Chowdhury
As things stand, both the UPA and the NDA may gain or lose 15-20 seats this way or that in 2009. In such a scenario, the role of the third pool of the non-Congress and non-BJP parties will become critical. The BSP is likely to lead the pack, even though Mayawati is not expected to go for pre-poll alignments.
It shows the electorate's growing faith in the credibility of the electoral process. People obviously think it is worth their while to line up in long queues in inclement weather because they believe that what they punch into their EVM machines is going to decide who will be the victor.
When to hold elections in J&K is not an easy call to take, though there is nothing like a perfect moment. Clearly, the priority has to be to bring down the temperatures in the valley first before embarking on an electoral exercise.
One reason why Sharad Pawar may be rooting for Manmohan Singh is to earn his goodwill, and the backing of all those forces who support what Singh stands for, and paradoxically of those inside the Congress who would not want Singh as prime minister again. The recent launch of the "Saam" channel in Maharashtra by the Sakal group considered close to Pawar is being seen as a preparatory move by Pawar
The struggle of Kashmiris for autonomy is one thing. The idea of trifurcating the state -- a Muslim Valley, a Hindu Jammu and a Buddhist Ladakh -- will undercut the very idea of India. India said `no' to nationhood on the basis of religion at the time of independence, and this would also apply to statehood. If it accepts this, or is forced to accept it, it could be a downhill journey for a multi-faith, multi-cultural society, and have a bearing on the future of India.
If there was one man who was responsible for pivotal role that the Left parties played on the national stage from 1989 to 2008, it was Harkishen Singh Surjeet, who passed into the ages on August 1. He was 92.
Expulsion from the party often entails a social boycott of the person by the members of the political family, say insiders, and this is not going to be easy for Somnath Chatterjee who has spent the best part of his life in the CPI-M.
The challenge before the Congress is to get its arithmetic right and mount an operation that is foolproof, particularly after the way things were botched up in Srinagar
Two things have thrown a spanner in the works for the prime minister and the Congress. One is the UPA allies. The second development is the hike in the inflation rate, which jumped to 11.05 percent.
Even as these intra party skirmishes go on, at a wider level, Rajnath Singh and L K Advani are moving in a parallel fashion, towards the attainment of the same goal, like Vajpayee and Advani, for all their rivalries, did in the past. Both played to different galleries, one to the moderate opinion, and the other to the Hindutva spectrum.
The Congress cannot do without the Gandhi-Nehru family, and they ensure the unity of the party. The Congress experimented with a Narasimha Rao and went back to the family. Sonia Gandhi neither faces a threat to her leadership nor a prospect of a split, which her mother-in-law had to contend with. But she will have to show a resoluteness she displayed in early 2004 if the party is to revitalise
It goes without saying that it will put new heart into the BJP cadre to gear them up for the important electoral battles that lie ahead. Conversely, it will affect Congress morale. Barring Haryana, the party has not won any state election in recent months.
Unlike 2004 when Sonia Gandhi took things into her hands and hit the road and stitched up alliances, there is a lack of grip this time, as if things are on auto pilot. Cabinet meetings get over in minutes. People are glibly talking of a third front government in 2009 supported by the Congress.
Arjun Singh may have survived yet once again, but this time he may have over-reached himself. So far he had used his `loyalty' to the first family as a political weapon to manouevre the situation to his advantage, but this time he took on the leadership, and that is bound to have its own fallout
Every election has its own fallout but the implications of the Karnataka poll go beyond its borders. For the BJP, winning the state means gaining the much coveted entry into the south. A victory in Karnataka would give a fillip to the Congress, after the recent string of defeats, and it could boost party morale for the battles ahead in the Hindi heartland.
Clearly alliances will be key for the Congress and the BJP and for that matter the UNPA in 2009 and in the state polls in the Hindi heartland later this year. The just held by-polls have only underscored this.
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