'...a dazzling flash, and then, fizzle,' argues Shekhar Gupta.
Accusing the Congress of failing the country's farmers and soldiers, Narendra Modi on Monday said the ruling party should be given such a "farewell" that India does not see it in power "for seven generations".
As many as 20 new faces are expected to be inducted into the Union Council of Ministers on Sunday in the first revamp exercise which is likely to bring in BJP leaders Manohar Parrikar, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Bandaru Datttatreya while elevating a few.
Anti-incumbency sentiment in Punjab puts SAD in a weak spot. But voters remain divided over AAP and Congress. Sahil Makkar reports.
The Justice C S Dharmadhikari Committee, set up to recommend measures to curb crimes against women, has asked Maharashtra government to enforce a "complete ban" on dance bars and frame a policy to check "vulgarity" on social networking sites such as Facebook.
In the event of a triangular contest the winning party will need about 40 per cent of the votes polled. And it is here that the votes of the numerically smaller communities will come into play.
The party is counting on women voters and caste calculus, among others, to swing the crucial polls in its favour
Breaking with past practice, the Congress on Thursday released its first list of 24 candidates for the Delhi assembly polls repeating all its eight members of Legislative Assembly and 12 others who were runner-ups in the 2013 assembly election in which the party had suffered a setback.
Nirmala Sitharaman has a God given opportunity to orchestrate a transformation in India's defence capabilities. One hopes she has her own counsel and does not overly let the PMO run her ship, says Group Captain Murli Menon (retd).
The Dalits of Thabola village in Rajasthan's Bhilwara district are facing social and economical boycott for a month now after two grooms from the community decided to defy the diktats of the upper caste villagers. Shahnawaz Akhtar reports.
There is nothing the young Purvanchali wants more desperately than to escape to a place with less hopelessness, and some opportunity, discovers Shekhar Gupta.
It would perhaps have been better for Lieutenant General Dalbir Singh to have been elevated to the top post by the new government, notes R S Chauhan.
Trouble is brewing for the Congress in Haryana with its Gurgaon Lok Sabha Member of Parliament Rao Inderjit Singh making a statement that Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra must be punished if he is found guilty of 'sham land deals' in Haryana. Reenu Mittal reports
'Anti-incumbency, especially in Maharashtra; the BJP's success in creating a new social coalition; and the sheer force of the party's campaign which overwhelmed its opponents,' argues Praful Bidwai, brought the BJP victory in Haryana and Maharashtra, not the Modi effect.
The failure of the Congress to win the hearts of even the Muslim victims of Muzaffarnagar riots exposes what's wrong with Rahul Gandhi's leadership. His statement that Pakistan's ISI was targeting the victims may have cost the party their trust. Rather, those who advise Gandhi are so brazen politically that they ask the UPA government to give reservations to the Jat community, perceived to be the aggressor by the Muslims of Uttar Pradesh.
Laughter was a component of Parmeshar Godrej's large-hearted Punjabi spirit, recalls Sunil Sethi.
The argument that existing rules do not apply to them will no longer hold ground.
'What is surprising is the scale and spontaneity of the mobilisation and the social profile of the mobilisation.' 'Not just the youth, but women, children and families are part of this now.' 'This is completely unprecedented.'
'Gujarat should have been a breeze. But the Patidar agitation and economic uncertainty queered the pitch.' 'Yes, the BJP won and its rank-and-file will take great comfort in the assembly victory. But the leadership is taking stock for a very tricky set of elections coming up in 2018.'
There is absolutely nothing in the world a capable PR machinery can't achieve...
The test for Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be to convince not just friends in the media with crisp sound bytes but the very people most affected by the politics of hate through concerted action, says Shehzad Poonawala.
The foundations of the army's own peculiar secularism are potentially being destabilised
Meet Randeep Hooda, the man with a great sense of humour, an actor who loves his craft, an animal lover and, over and above all that, a Jat lad in touch with his roots...
'If Modi is talking to every Tom, Dick and Harry, why is he afraid of talking to ex-servicemen?'
Actor-turned-Bharatiya Janata Party nominee Kirron Kher on Wednesday visited former MP Harmohan Dhawan at the latter's residence in Chandigarh apparently to seek support for her candidature, but failed to win over the sulking leader.
With several Congress leaders pushing for Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda's removal, the Congress is finding it difficult to keep its flock together in the poll-bound state. Rediff.com contributor Anita Katyal reports.
Punjab politics has produced a dog's breakfast on the river waters issue. Except, you'd see even dogs eat better, says Shekhar Gupta.
Vijender Singh gives up amateur boxing to turn full-time professional, perhaps the words ring truer than ever.
'The Congress can't return to power unless it reins in prices, lowers interest rates, taxes the rich,' says Praful Bidwai. 'If this means sacking those most responsible for the UPA's pro-big business policies including Finance Minister Chidambaram, so be it!'
'Aurangzeb spent a major part in the Deccan. The later Mughals were looted by Nadir Shah and Ahmed Shah Abdali. The Mughals had no money to build. That's why Zafar Mahal, the only palace they built in Mehrauli, was built very shoddily and quickly fell into ruin.' 'Mehrauli spans a much longer period of time than any other city of Delhi,' says historian Rana Safvi.
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 means to do so via an expanded Aadhaar system is easily at hand, too.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expanded his Cabinet and inducted 21 new ministers. Of these, 4 - Manohar Parrikar, JP Nadda, Suresh Prabhu and Birender Singh were appointed as Cabinet ministers. Other than this, Modi has inducted 17 other ministers of state. Here's a quick look at them:
A Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh man, Manohar Lal Khattar toiled on the ground to build the organisation for last four decades till he was handpicked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lead the first Bharatiya Janata Party government in Haryana.
'Modi and Shah know their politics. That is why the alarmed switch to reservations, and raising the threat from 'vote bank' politics,' says Shekhar Gupta.
'Political parties have appropriated our military victories -- the Kargil war is the BJP's and the Bangladesh war is the Congress's -- what is going on?' As Uttarakhand -- where faujis number nearly 40% of the state's population -- prepares to vote, Rediff.com's Archana Masih discovers what upsets retired soldiers in Uttarakhand the most is a forgotten protest in the heart of Delhi.
P B Chandra finds out if the 'Modi wave' is sweeping the desert state as party workers have been claiming since the Bharatiya Janata Party's thumping victory in the assembly polls last year.
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