Modi will address a rally to boost BJP candidate Smriti Irani's chances.
We must seize the opportunity provided by the COVID-19 crisis to kick-start indigenous research efforts, recommends Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
India-China relations have always attracted Parliament's attention and there have always been useful and productive and constructive discussions how to engage with China, notes Rup Narayan Das.
'What she did so far and what she will do now is secondary; the most important thing is a person from the Adivasi community has reached the top-most position in the country.'
'The threat of ceding space to China in Afghanistan appears to be one factor propelling our government to get a bit more active now.'
'Washington appears to be playing the long game, and making the argument to India that over the longer term, Russia -- sanctioned, cash-strapped, isolated by the West -- will no longer be a viable defence partner for India'
This is not an election Budget in the sense that I might target the voter in the coming elections. But if you look beyond this round of state elections, and tilt the periscope to graze at the more distant horizon, see how the Narendra Modi government wishes things looking by the summer of 2024, observes Shekhar Gupta.
'Why are the people who stood with the Congress through thick and thin, why are they leaving?'
'As his party's Supreme Leader, Modi has led India down the wrong road by insisting on friendship with China even as its soldiers went about claiming territory,' argues Harishchandra Dighe.
Malik believes he can solve the problems of farmers and is sending signals to the government to give him a chance.
'I welcome Droupadi Murmu as the first Adivasi woman President of India, but her track record has not been good as a politician and governor of Jharkhand when it came to helping Adivasis,' points out activist Gladson Dungdung.
China on Tuesday urged US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to stop sowing discord between Beijing and countries in the region, undermining regional peace and stability, amidst his visit to India for a high-level dialogue aimed at further ramping up their overall defence and security ties, and boost strategic cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.
'There shall be no change in India-Japan ties,' predicts Rajaram Panda.
'The 2019 election could well become a referendum on Narendra Damodardas Modi, in which case the BJP could prove all its critics wrong,' notes T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan.
'Modi has not taken India into confidence over what is happening and what has happened.' 'We have not even officially been told what the position is with respect to the land lost between Fingers 4 to 8,' observes Aakar Patel.
While no specific state-oriented sops were rolled out, a strong thread of political wellness ran through the Budget.
Jayalalithaa was the third chief minister in Tamil Nadu to die in office, after her mentor M G Ramachandran (1987) and before that his mentor C N Annadurai (1969). The state government should have evolved protocols for the medical care of the incumbent, and institutional memory should have guided the government and officials in the matter, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
'When Priyankaji's candidature wasn't announced, where is the question of her backing out?'
'Our fight is against his political masters, the BJP and Devendra Fadnavis.'
'I used to be scared because operating in Kashmir is always fraught with danger.' 'His absence will be felt lifelong.'
I am not sure if Modi can ever act as a chowkidar, even if he wants to. But he can surely act as a thanedar, by ensuring a fast resolution of corruption cases once they come to light. Exemplary action is easier and will burnish his anti-corruption image, argues Debashis Basu.
'If Vajpayee's BJP saw a chance to redefine India's nuclear theology, Modi's BJP has scarcely paid any attention to it.'
Democracy is the heart of our body politic and elections are its life blood. Because there is some disease that affects it, we cannot apply leeches to drain it off, killing the body in the process, asserts Shreekant Sambrani.
Three months after the Modi government withdrew SPG cover to Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, they are all set to lose another special status provided to them.
It may well be possible to defeat Modi. But nobody seems to know how, points out Vir Sanghvi.
Amit Shah now enters an unfamiliar and interesting phase of his political career. His success or failure will henceforth be assessed based on his performance as a key minister, points out Shekhar Gupta.
'These guys who are running away -- they are running away from all that the BJP stands for.'
'They are taking the people of the country for granted.'
Trump can afford to say that COVID-19 is a 'China virus', but we can't expect Modi to say that aloud while his actions may speak louder, says Rup Narayan Das.
'He couldn't hold himself from chanting 'Siyavar Ramchandra ki Jai'.'
'Scores of important BJP MLAs are in touch with Akhileshji, but he has very humbly said that the SP's doors are now closed to BJP MLAs and leaders.'
'I don't think there will be any problem for Hindus to accept Adityanath as the leader, since they have already chosen Modi.'
'The MEA, hopefully, made it clear that the Indian PM can't be seen in Xi Jinping's company when China has, for all intents and purposes, annexed over 1,000 sq kms of Indian territory in eastern Ladakh, and essentially that the Wuhan spirit and the Mamallapuram spirit have turned into vinegar.'
'They will somehow survive the pandemic, but if these laws are not amended for the benefit of farmers, or is not scrapped altogether, they will surely die of penury and exploitation.'
'The larger intention is to create a political State where there is no opposition.'
That AAP managed a sizeable vote share in Gujarat is creditable. The BJP can no longer ignore AAP's growing presence in its strongest bastion, explains Ramesh Menon, long-time observer of Gujarat politics.
Less than half the ministers in Team Yogi are not long-term BJP members. Many old-timers have been dropped.
'Use of the word 'genocide' for Kashmiri Pandits is absolutely wrong.'
'From now on, every time Modi takes a foreign dignitary in his arms, the Indians will remember how he was taken aback when an Indian indulged in hugplomacy,' says Amulya Ganguli.
The BJP's vote share in Punjab has been declining -- 8.21 per cent in 2007 to 7.13 per cent in 2012, and finally to 5.4 per cent in 2017, when it won just three of 23 seats the party contested. So doing an election deal with Amarinder and a political formation he might float in the future is not inconceivable.
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