Congress leaders paid their tributes to India's first woman prime minister Indira Gandhi on her 98th birth anniversary.
Cold-day conditions prevailed in parts of north India on Friday though the maximum temperatures rose slightly amid clear skies and sunshine during the day.
In fresh trouble for Congress leader Pawan Khera, the Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed his petition challenging the Allahabad high court order refusing to quash criminal proceedings against him for making objectionable remarks targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, paving the way for his trial.
According to insiders, their lack of enthusiasm is showing on the ground. There is nothing to suggest that their enthusiasm will return in the final four phases of polling, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'The choice of chief minister after the win is a pointer to what issues really mattered at the polls.' 'Perhaps, demonetisation was an electoral side issue -- a reflection of the disconnect between commentators in the cities and the realities on the ground,' says Somasekhar Sundaresan.
Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday sought an apology from the Congress for the controversial statement by party MP that suggested a call for a separate south nation over fiscal injustice, but the opposition party's president said it stands for a united nation and will not tolerate any such call.
Former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi was on Monday honoured posthumously with Bangladesh's highest state award for her outstanding contribution to the country's 1971 'Liberation War'. Congress party president Sonia Gandhi, the daughter-in-law of the assassinated prime minister, received the 'Bangladesh Swadhinata Sanmanona' from President Zillur Rahman at a grand ceremony attended by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and nearly 1,000 top dignitaries.
The government had earlier announced the country's highest civilian honour for L K Advani and Karpoori Thakur.
Had it not been for Pankaj Tripathi, who must have worked hard to get those Vajpayee intonations and mannerisms so perfectly well, Ravi Jadhav's flattering portrait of Vajpayee would have been more vacuous than what we get to see, observes Prasanna Zore.
The BJP is now inventing new angles to keep its campaign relevant -- even if it's old wine in an old bottle, which is what the allegation on 'Katchatheevu' is, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Congress last week hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his criticism of then PM Indira Gandhi's decision to use the Indian Air Force in Mizoram in 1966, saying he "twisted decisions" taken by his predecessors out of their political and historical context to score "petty debating points".
The company said it has suspended the staffers and that it was part of the operation to unearth this crime.
It is in power on its own only in three states -- Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh and Telangana -- with a big question mark on whether it can even stake claim to be head of the INDIA bloc.
Rulers in New Delhi and their political aides in sensitive states like Tamil Nadu have to be doubly careful not to provoke a situation whose consequences may be much more than visible now to the naked eye, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Congress is all set to kickstart its campaign for the next year's Lok Sabha elections with its mega rally 'Hain Tayyar Hum' to be held in Maharashtra's Nagpur city on Thursday, the party's 139th foundation day.
'He was the best court craftsman that I have ever seen who could modulate his arguments in accordance with the judge and the mood.'
Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday said, "There is a very minor improvement in her condition. Specialists from AIIMS and GMCH are monitoring her condition".
"The decision came after the cabin crew reported disruptive conduct on board, specifically a dispute between a husband and wife," sources told ANI.
This time Modi has no emotive message to take to the stump. Muscular nationalism doesn't work against the backdrop of China's successive inroads into Indian territory. Rising prices is a sore point that cuts across class and caste barriers; unprecedented levels of unemployment has the youth in a ferment. This has reduced the BJP campaign to a laundry list of recycled grievances and thinly veiled communal appeals, neither of which are working as well as they have in the past, argues Prem Panicker.
The ministry of home affairs has identified around 1,700 km of fencing that needs to be done, BRO's additional director general (East) PKH Singh said.
'If he has not achieved 'Congress mukt Bharat' even now, the question of his creating a 'DMK mukt Tamil Nadu' does not arise,' points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Rahul Gandhi should have prevented Nitish Kumar from going.' 'He must pacify Mamata Banerjee if he has a cause of Mohabbat Ki Dukaan.' 'He should bring this Mohabbat Ki Dukaan on the political canvas.'
Sam Bahadur is a mechanical summary of his life, ticking off one chapter after another without bothering to pause or ponder over their significance and influences, observes Sukanya Verma.
In a confidential communication, the government has urged ministers not to name any programmes or projects after former prime ministers Indira Gandhi or her son Rajiv.
In the early 1950s Indira Gandhi had challenged the Pakistani cricket team saying that they can't win against India.
More than the jingoism overkill, it's the tedious tone of telling stories of this genre that hurts Pippa, observes Sukanya Verma.
Sam Bahadur brims with patriotic fervour, but one can trust Director Meghna Gulzar's refined sensibilities to not descend into nationalistic jingoism, believes Mayur Sanap.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will set a record by presenting the sixth Budget in a row -- 5 annual Budgets and one interim -- a feat achieved so far only by former Prime Minister Morarji Desai. With the presentation of interim Budget on February 1, Sitharaman will surpass the records of her predecessors like Manmohan Singh, Arun Jaitley, P Chidambaram, and Yashwant Sinha, who had presented five budgets in a row. Desai, as Finance Minister, had presented five annual Budgets and one interim Budget between 1959-1964. The interim Budget 2024-25 to be presented by Sitharaman on February 1, will be a vote-on-account that will give the government authority to spend certain sums of money till a new government comes to office after the April-May general elections.
In the last 9 years, the BJP govt has marked some anniversaries and events with more zeal than Congress-led governments.
'What should surprise BJP supporters is Modi's call for 'stability' at the manifesto launch, a theme that he and his team members had not touched ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in 2014 and 2019.' 'The last time the party called for 'stability at the Centre' was in 1998 and 1999,' recalls N Sathiya Moorthy.
It was a sub-inspector working under her who had removed the vehicle
'She's not going to keel over.' 'This is the kind of difficult situation that she thrives in.'
Among the impacted flights, Air India's flight AI 185 from the national capital to Vancouver that was to depart early in the morning was rescheduled.
The CIA was of the view that Indira's assassination had cost the Soviet Union one of its 'most important' allies.
The country's only woman prime minister, who died on October 31, 1984, equally regretted her another controversial decision -- imposition of Emergency -- that had shaken the country, say her close aides.
If the party's members aren't sure what it stands for, see no path to wealth or power, and endure control by a dynasty, which, almighty as it is within the party, cannot get them the votes, they are likely to explore options, notes Shekhar Gupta.
'You can attack and conspire to weaken us, but you cannot destroy the Congress permanently.'
Zoram People's Movement (ZPM) leader Lalduhoma was sworn in as the chief minister of Mizoram on Friday.
Equating the imposition of the Emergency with dacoity, he said, "Generally, dacoity is carried out around midnight. Similarly, this dacoity of democracy in the country also took place around midnight."
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