Rahul Gandhi-led Congress is undoubtedly making all efforts to correct the public perception about the party and the ruling alliance but it is proving to be an uphill task. Rediff.com's Anita Katyal reports
Presenting a report card on completion of 30 days in office on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi rued that he did not have the luxury of 'honeymoon' period as a "series of allegations" were levelled against his government in less than 100 hours.
The year 2015 was a mixed bag for the Grand Old party --with the performance in Bihar being a consolation while the the National Herald case came back to haunt its leadership.
The way communal politics has become the only way to decide political discourse is unfortunate and bad sign for the future of democracy, says Syed Hassan Kazim
After Bihar elections, Rahul Gandhi's go-it-alone strategy seems to have taken a back seat.
If Wednesday was any indication, the rest of the Parliament session will see the two sides scoring brownie points against each other, and the Gandhis can expect more enemy fire directed at them, says Rashme Sehgal.
Fearing defeat in the upcoming high-pressure polls, state Congress chiefs are reluctant to fight from their constituencies, eye a shift. Anita Katyal reports
'The strange thing about the Karnataka election is that the BJP looks more like the Congress of the past and vice versa.' 'Siddaramaiah has been able to out think the BJP almost every single day on every single issue.'
Bobby Jindal's tirade against Donald Trump -- like his performance in the polls -- hardly got any traction
Already facing severe criticism over its poor show in the elections and now fighting for the Leader of Opposition's post in Lok Sabha, the Gandhis, the first family of Indian politics, is now facing new battles with the BJP in the form of notices being served to the family in the National Herald case. Rediff.com contributor Anita Katyal reports on the growing confrontations between the government and the shaken up family.
With days to go before Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh go to polls, the Congress is struggling to make an impact in the two key heartland states which have been ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party for two successive five-year terms.
Describing the Narendra Modi-led BJP's electoral victory as a "breathtaking landslide", eminent American think tanks and experts have said the win has given him an opportunity to "redefine" Indian politics.
While all poll surveys point to an overwhelming anti-Congress mood in the country, there is a growing consensus in the grand old party that it has no reasons to be defensive and should instead run an aggressive campaign against Bharatiya Janata Party' prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi by questioning his administrative acumen and underlining the corporate support he enjoys, says Anita Katyal
'I am disappointed by all political parties; they have all let down the people of Andhra Pradesh,' TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu tells Rediff.com's Anita Katyal
Since two weeks now, A K Antony has been meeting Congress leaders across India to pinpoint reasons behind the party's abysmal performance in Lok Sabha elections.
Biggest contribution came from Bharti group-led Satya Electoral Trust.
Congress strategists are worried that if it focuses too much on the Tehelka issue, it could end up diluting its ongoing campaign against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on the snooping allegations. Anita Katyal reports
A tally of less than 45 seats in the Lok Sabha reduces Congress to a regional party, just a shade better than the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's 33 seats, making it vulnerable to a split if the party leadership does not get its act together, warns Neerja Chowdhury.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's style of functioning, his preconceived opinions and lack of patience has distanced him from the party cadre. Anita Katyal reports.
As the Lok Sabha election draw closer, a weary Congress is gradually getting reconciled to the idea of a stint in the opposition even though its strategists are convinced that the party will win up to 140 seats. Anita Katyal reports.
Congress Vice president Rahul Gandhi's live video chat session appeared to be a last-ditch effort to bridge the gap with party workers and boost their morale with an eye on the coming general election. Anita Katyal reports
The Congress party's first list of 194 Lok Sabha candidates released on Saturday night has no major surprises. Anita Katyal reports
Rediff.com contributor Anita Katyal explains why the Congress is ill-equipped to battle the Narendra Modi government in the forthcoming Budget session of Parliament.
In the coming days, there would be loud calls for a greater role for Priyanka Vadra who, party leaders think, has a greater voter connect and appeal than her brother who has been pushed into the forefront by their mother.
Laying down a host of criterion for the selection of candidates for the coming Lok Sabha elections, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has made it known that no tainted leader will be given a ticket by the party.
From being the hand-picked choice of Sonia Gandhi as Andhra Pradesh chief minister to sitting on a dharna in Delhi against division of the state, Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy has turned from a Congress regional leader to a disgruntled rebel in his nearly 39-month tumultuous tenure.
With the Bharatiya Janata Party waiting to pull down the Congress-led state government, the new chief minister's duration of service will all depend on the results of the Lok Sabha elections, says Anita Katyal.
Former Union minister GK Vasan's decision to revolt and float a separate outfit in Tamil Nadu serves as a deadly blow to the Grand Old Party, which is already struggling, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Digvijaya Singh is no longer in Rahul's close circle of advisers. His move to the Upper House was to ensure that the senior leader does not meddle in Madhya Pradesh politics in the run up to the crucial Lok Sabha polls. Anita Katyal reports
Congress Vice-president Rahul Gandhi has a real chance to push through the changes he has been talking about for the past year, now that the state bosses stand exposed after the recent assembly polls. Anita Katyal reports
The Congress has already been deserted by the urban middle classes and the youth, but by outsourcing its battle against the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi to the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Admi Party, the grand old party could end up inflicting more damage on itself.
Though there is a full-throated clamour in the Congress that party vice-president Rahul Gandhi be formally named as its prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the Nehru-Gandhi scion is personally not convinced that his projection will yield electoral dividends.
'In May 2014, India got its Donald Trump equivalent as prime minister in the form of Narendra Modi. Come 2016, we will know if America too gets its own version of Modi by electing Trump,' says Shehzad Poonawalla.
Reduced to a mere shell of its former glorious self, it now mechanically sticks to the form while substance was frittered away a long time ago, says Virendra Kapoor.
Popular Telugu film star Pavan Kalyan launched his Jana Sena party with a 'call to the nation' to 'wipe out' the Congress party on Friday.
In his much-hyped swansong, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh proved that though he is months away from retirement, he still has quite a bit of fight left in him.
It is unlikely that Delhi's outgoing chief minister will be able to make a comeback in politics. For her, the innings is truly over, writes Pankaj Vohra.
Will the Aam Aadmi Party repeat its magic or are Delhi voters going to reprimand it for party chief Arvind Kejriwal's maverick 49-day chief ministership in the upcoming state assembly elections? Search for the answer led me to party ideologue Yogendra Yadav, who appears to have some justification and back-of-the-envelope calculations to suggest that his party stands a chance, despite rival Bharatiya Janata Party's surge in other recent state polls.
T P Sreenivasan was India's high commissioner in Fiji in 1987, when Sitiveni Rabuka toppled the Indian-dominated government there. Ambassador Sreenivasan stayed on for two years after the coup, fighting for the rights of the people of Indian origin before he was expelled by Rabuka. 'Meeting Sitiveni Rabuka, who had overthrown a democratically elected government, discriminated against the Fiji Indians, brought untold humiliation and suffering to them, tried to disenfranchise them, ordered me out of Fiji and closed down the Indian high commission was a difficult decision to take even after 25 years,' notes Ambassador Sreenivasan who eventually caught up with Rabuka over a game of golf.
What is the road ahead for Rahul Gandhi? Shehzad Poonawalla offers a blueprint.
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