'Coronavirus has occasioned us to see how copious Modi's mojo bag is,' says Shreekant Sambrani.
'It is only when Beijing sees a country with an infirm political will such as India that it acts up as the PLA has done in eastern Ladakh.'
What is the lure of a government job? The answer is India's worst kept secret: Job security. And among the many government jobs desperately sought after is in the armed forces. Which is why the riots by aspiring armed forces job seekers against the government's Agnipath scheme should not really be surprising, points out Harishchandra.
'Patriotism won 400+ seats for the Congress party in 1984. How much will nationalism bring in, in 2019, is the question,' asks Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
The BJP continuing to look at the Dravidian polity through the religious prism has not worked in Tamil Nadu whereas it has yielded political and electoral results across much of the rest of the country, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'This was Indian land the PLA advanced on and occupied.' 'The Chinese then 'negotiated' a pullback of their troops a small distance on Indian territory even as Indian jawans draw back further into India from the forward position.' 'An apparently satisfied Indian government says this is a great move for peace! How great is that for China!'
'Raut saheb has mentally wired himself to spend some time in ED custody.' 'He knows the risk is huge, but rewards will be bigger if he comes out unscathed.'
As the China factor enters the body politic of India with greater potency, its consequences will certainly be far-reaching, note Harsh V Pant and Vinay Kaura.
The Howdy Modi put a dagger into the heart of the 'bipartisan consensus' in the US regarding the relations with (Modi's) India, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
At its Jaipur meeting, the BJP will focus on this year's assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh while the Congress's Chintan Shivir in Udaipur will discuss how it can resurrect itself.
A handsome victory for the BJP in UP would act as confirmation of its recent political choices. The UP chief minister would be cemented in the popular mind as Mr Modi's chosen heir within the Hindutva fold, and presumably as his successor in New Delhi, observes Mihir S Sharma.
'...to give him a signal that you cannot ignore Maharashtra, you are too close to the Centre.' 'I can see some kind of rivalry also in this, but it is better that the NIA goes deep into it.'
J P Nadda is a man to watch in the BJP.
'By the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, they moved back to the BJP almost totally and later their backing helped us win the local body elections.'
Sunday's denial of Rajya Sabha ticket to Union minister indicates that an end game to the JD-U-BJP rift may be in sight.
'The BJP's problem is what rabbit can it pull out of the conjurer's hat?'
'Let Modi not be in the news, I will stop making cartoons on him.'
'The word equity means so much more to the dynamic world India today is in than the word 'socialism'.'
'The burden of the BJP's song is not development and delivery.' 'It is communalism,' argues Aakar Patel.
'He will continue to fight against the BJP, Modi and RSS.'
'You can't make the poor rich overnight.' 'Nor can you fly millions in planes.' 'But remember that word: Empathy.' 'Who in the BJP is speaking in that language to these millions?' 'Someone putting an arm of understanding, warmth, comfort around them?', asks Shekhar Gupta.
The speed at which he led the central bank in different areas -- ranging from internal reorganisation to inflation fighting, stabilising the currency, taking on rogue corporations, cleaning up bank balance sheets, and opening the sector -- makes one believe that Rajan knew he had only three years to do his job. A fascinating excerpt from Tamal Bandyopadhyay's MUST-READ Roller Coaster: An Affair with Banking.
If 'development' and jobs and such things are less important to many than identity, then the BJP can dominate the discourse by stressing the largest marker of identity, which is religious nationalism, observes Aakar Patel.
If you are serious about countering the Chinese threat, then the best weapon is investing in real freedom, plurality, elections and democracy. Unfortunately, it isn't an approach all Indians currently seem to agree on, asserts Shyam G Menon.
'Many of Akshay's well-wishers feel this controversy has come up because of his interview with Modi to undermine his credibility.'
'His speech at the bhoomi puja will stand out for a long time in the memory of those who listened to it for touching the pinnacle of excellence and brilliance in both style and content,' declares B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant.
'He was a nobody then.' 'And whatever little his contribution was there, it was restricted to Gujarat.'
Interestingly, the choice of August 5 as the day of the bhoomi pujan coincides with the abolition of Kashmir's special status on the same day a year ago. Perhaps the RSS-BJP wants August 5 to be remembered as the date on which the foundation stone of their cherished Hindu rashtra was laid, notes Amulya Ganguli.
'You will see more laws that treat Hindus and non-Hindus, especially Muslims, quite unequally.' 'Once you see this kind of erosion of secularism, it will be very hard to get it back.'
'Papaji had a dream one night where he saw my father as Hanuman.'
Ajit Singh represented a bridge between a constituency that represented a more traditional era in politics and a modern, forward-looking, India, remembers Aditi Phadnis.
The Aam Aadmi Party, Delhi's ruling party, is already in election mode.
Now, the chief minister is under pressure to make good his promise after the December 4 incident in Nagaland's Mon, where 14 people were killedAFSPA has eclipsed all other achievements of the Biren Singh government.
'The government is doing away with crucial laws such as the Forest Conservation Act and the Environment Protection Act which had helped safeguard our forests.' 'The President has to show that she will stand in favour of tribal rights.'
'If he loses Gujarat, then he has a major, major, problem coming up in 2024.'
'What stood out at these meetings between industry representatives and government leaders was how the equation between the ministers and industry had undergone a subtle and qualitative change,' points out A K Bhattacharya.
INS Vishakapatnam's ground attack and anti-ship capabilities are achieved through a bank of BrahMos cruise missiles that can be fired at targets up to 295 km away.
By writing a scathing letter to Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on the breakdown in law and order in the state, is Governor R N Ravi creating the ground for consolidating his power and directly influence proceedings in the state, asks Sandeep Pandey.
The Congress won 77 seats or 42% of seats in the 2017 polls. How then can Gujarat be called a BJP bastion, asks Sanjeev Nayyar.
The BJP is not taking the AAP challenge lightly. Amit Shah has cautioned party insiders to ensure that AAP does not cross a vote share of 24%. He has always seen AAP as a much more significant challenge than the Congress, observes Ramesh Menon, author, Modi Demystified: The Making Of A Prime Minister.
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