Parliament on Wednesday saw a washout as the Opposition aggressively pressed for ouster of Sushma Swaraj, Vasundhara Raje and Shivraj Singh Chouhan, rejecting the government's offer for a debate.
In a Q&A with Doordarshan, Jaitley discusses how he chose the areas on which he would spend more.
From Narendra Modi's victory in 2014 to the Nitish-Lalu triumph in 2015 and delivering Assam to the BJP in 2016, young and very professional strategists have startled politicians and the media.
The issue of missing files relating to coalgate paralysed proceedings in Parliament on Tuesday with the Bharatiya Janata Party demanding an immediate response from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, even as the government said it will leave no stone unturned in tracing the documents.
Over 20 political parties, except the Biju Janata Dal and the Communist Party of India-Marxist-led Left Front, took part in the massive rally.
On the final day of his two-day visit to India's financial capital, Congres vice president Rahul Gandhi tried to connect with Mumbaikars by raising the issue of high electricity bills en route his padyatra from National College, Bandra to Dharavi, Asia's largest slum colony.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushma Swaraj is a fighter who follows her own code. Those who think she's a pushover are making a mistake, says Aditi Phadnis
While Congressmen may try and give Rahul Gandhi credit for the withdrawal of the controversial ordinance on convicted lawmakers, it was the President's timely intervention that saved the day for the Congress, says Anita Katyal.
'If you solve it in one day, it will go after a day.' 'If it is there for 100 years or 1,000 years, reservation has to continue.'
More than 11 million Non-Residential Indians and 20 lakh defence and paramilitary personnel will soon be enrolled in electoral rolls with the government on Wednesday setting the ball rolling for exploring ways for facilitating electronic voting for them.
To promote Advani as a moderate is as much a travesty of truth as to present the children of Godse as followers of Gandhi, feels Poornima Joshi
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.
Narendra Modi's victory does not represent a victory of 'the Indian nation', but only an elite-driven polarising phenomenon. The sooner we -- and the BJP -- recognise this, the better, says Praful Bidwai.
'This man has aged, but does not know the difference between words spoken on the streets from those of spoken in Parliament.' 'He does not allow his hair to turn gray, so he hasn't learned or matured.' Rashme Sehgal reports on how Subramanian Swamy has riled the Congress yet again.
'Under Narendra Modi's leadership, we will be able to regain our rightful place in the community of nations,' veteran diplomat Hardeep Singh Puri, who joined the BJP on January 2, tells Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt.
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:
The Supreme Court needs to step in and order an independent inquiry into the whole IPL scandal, conflicts of interest between office-holders of the BCCI, team-owners of the IPL and even members and captain of the Indian team, says KC Singh
'This announcement is big foolishness.' 'The government has no idea of economics. They are just announcing what comes to their mind.' 'Let them implement what they have announced and just see what will happen in two years.'
Mr Rahul Gandhi himself has given seven different prices in different speeches with regard to the Rafale, that is the 2007 offer.
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.
A team of senior lawyers set up by the Supreme Court to report to it on the situation in the Patiala House courts where JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar was produced on Wednesday, said there was "complete breakdown of law and order" and an atmosphere of "fear and terror" prevailed there and the police did not act.
Proceedings in Parliament were washed out for the second consecutive working on Tuesday as Opposition members created pandemonium on a host of issues including JPC report on 2G, Telangana, price rise and death of children in relief camps for Muzaffarnagar (Uttar Pradesh) riot victims.
Opposition led by Congress on Thursday upped the ante against the government on the bugging issue demanding a judicial probe and a statement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the matter which, they said, has put NDA's credibility at stake.
Aadhaar, an ambitious initiative of the previous government, has been used to initiate mandatory attendance for government officials, prisoner identification and by linking it to passports, mobile SIM cards and provident fund accounts.
'Give time to the 2013 Act to work. I not only think that the 2013 law is workable, I believe that the 2013 law is a compromise, a balanced middle path and protects the interests of land owners and livelihood losers.'
Quattrocchi lived in India for several years as the representative of an Italian firm, Snam Progetti, in the 1980s. He was close to the Gandhi family and in 1999 was named one of the accused in the case regarding the Rs 64-crore pay-off for the supply of 155 mm Howitzer guns made by Bofors, for which a controversial deal was signed in 1986 when Rajiv Gandhi was the prime minister.
The AgustaWestland issue was fiercely debated in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday with members of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress blaming each other.
'There are problems related to the Indian film industry that I'd like to address rather than to keep harping on the negative zone of hurdles in film certification,' Minister for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore tells Subhash K Jha.
Kirti Azad, a known detractor of Jaitley, egged on the Congress to seek a time-bound SIT probe.
Newly-elected CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury speaks to Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com.
'The consolation is that in recent years, the focus at the time of the anniversary has been increasingly shifting from Indira Gandhi's assassination to the plight of the thousands of innocent Sikhs who had been killed in retaliation,' Manoj Mitta, co-author of When a Tree Shook Delhi: The 1984 Carnage and its Aftermath, tells Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com.
Protests by various parties could be seen as they demanded the Prime Minister Narendra Modi rolled back the demonetisation scheme.
Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi's stand that AMU is not a minority university reveals the anti-minority stand of the political party now in power, says Mohammad Sajjad, outlining the long history behind one of India's premier universities.
'What is the ISI doing and why can't they understand for their own interest that bringing stability to the region will help all the countries become prosperous, whereas a continuation of incitement will only lead to misery for all.'
What is the road ahead for Rahul Gandhi? Shehzad Poonawalla offers a blueprint.
'Biometric Aadhaar-based surveillance is not only about violation of privacy, but also about the treasure hunt for unprecedented financial surveillance and economic intelligence in the economic history of mankind,' asks Gopal Krishna.
Indian cricket's fortunes ebbed and flowed in 2015 with Virat Kohli successfully leading the national side in Tests and Mahendra Singh Dhoni appearing to be losing his midas touch, while in off the field drama Shashank Manohar returned as the president of Board of Control for Cricket in India.
Parekh said divestment can unlock huge funds.
The idea is to boost household savings and turn more of them into growth capital. If the plan succeeds, sustained eight per cent-plus rates of gross domestic product growth should be within reach in a few years.
