'Now that the Ram mandir is done, we need to move on. And grapple with COVID-19, a sputtering economy, a belligerent China...' 'The temple may win a few more elections for the BJP, but by itself it won't solve the nation's growing problems of economic and social distress,' notes Virendra Kapoor.
Here are some of the big political leaders' who await their fate on Monday.
By Monday morning, a dozen dissidents were ready to leave the Pilot camp. Having found a hole at the bottom of his boat, Pilot, with dwindling numbers, in sheer desperation, connected with Priyanka Gandhi, reveals Prakash Bhandari.
The Hindutva poster boy has lost his sheen following the BJP's poll reverses in Hindi heartland states and his style of governance, reports Virendra Singh Rawat.
'Kejriwal took political steps and micro level care at every level not to allow the consolidation of Hindu votes behind the BJP,' observes Sheela Bhatt, the distinguished political commentator.
'It is our right to protest and draw the attention of this government, which is sleeping and appears blind, as it has failed to see the pain and struggle of the jobless youth.'
'People may think that because my father was in the film world and politics, things are easy for me.' 'It is not easy at all.'
He was accompanied by TMC MP and the chief minister's nephew, Abhishek Banerjee.
The by-elections are being held to fill the vacancies caused by the disqualification of 17 rebel Congress and Janata Dal-Secular MLAs, whose rebellion led to the collapse of the H D Kumaraswamy-led coalition government in July and paved the way for the BJP to come to power.
What was shocking was the execution of the killings -- calculated, gory and intended to send a chill down the spine.
Black and gold dominate the red carpet!
"Stalin is the future of the party," said late Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam patriarch M Karunanidhi about six years ago at a party meet when his son was party treasurer.
If Kejriwal wins the Delhi election, then most regional parties will copy Kejriwal's do's and don'ts of jugaad to win an election against the Modi-Shah juggernaut, reports Sheela Bhatt.
The Modi government wants to have a smooth relationship with the DMK government.
Prasanna Zore/ Rediff.com talk to members of the Patel community to find out why they are dissatisfied with the state of affairs.
The BJP is has set its sight on regaining power by winning 150 out of 224 assembly seats.
The student front of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has blotted its CV by allegedly instigating and engaging in violence on marquee campuses like JNU and Hyderabad Central University
'We don't know where he will go from here and how he will conduct his government.'
This was her second term as chief minister and, in keeping with the tradition of voters choosing the Congress and the BJP alternately, the ruling party looks set to lose power.
'Anything other than a complete, 2014-style victory will be far more devastating for him then it would be for anyone else.' 'Disciplining restive party members, and taming recalcitrant allies will then be far more difficult for him,' says Mihir S Sharma.
The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen MP from Hyderabad, chanted "Jai Bheem, Jai Meem, Takbeer Allahu Akbar, Jai Hind", after members from the ruling side shouted slogans of 'Jai Shri Ram', 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' and 'Vande Mataram'.
Gandhi said he has been going to temples, gurdwaras and mosques for years, but the issue of his visits to temples has suddenly been publicised.
In contrast to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Hindi mouthpiece Panchjanya that crticised Narendra Modi's style of working, its English magazine Organiser projected the Gujarat chief minister as "the most popular leader in the country today" who can be a mascot like former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and ride the party to power at the Centre.
This is not the first sartorial controversy to hit the Indian team, who are so far unbeaten in the tournament.
'After Vajpayee-Advani, Modi-Shah is the second best in India.'
In politics, if your objective is only winning elections, just Chanakya neeti might do. For governance you need both, Chanakya neeti and Ram Rajya. You can neither beat up the farmers into submission, nor dismiss them as 'Khalistanis', asserts Shekhar Gupta.
'Since the rise of the Modi-Shah paradigm, the BJP has followed a simple formula.' 'Sweep the Hindi heartland and the two big Western states, and you can rule India with a majority by just adding some little bits on the platter from here and there,' points out Shekhar Gupta.
'Kejriwal has given not only Modi and Shah some food for thought, but also to jaded Opposition leaders who must now wonder whether taking on the BJP's majoritarianism by the horns, as they have been doing so far, is the appropriate strategy in such extraordinary times,' notes M K Bhadrakumar.
Onkar Singh, a valuable member of the Rediff.com team over the years, breathed his last on January 13. Syed Firdaus Ashraf, who knew him intimately, remembers the ultimate newsman.
'If the BJP becomes the new Congress, then an Opposition within will naturally emerge -- from the right, not the left,' points out Mihir Sharma.
The Tamil Nadu chief minister may have opened a Pandora's Box on the religion front with the appointment of qualified non-Brahmin temple priests, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'It can be said without hesitation that Rahul, Priyanka and Sonia Gandhi enjoy perfect relations of mother-daughter-son all together in the family.' 'But their worldview is different and their style of functioning is different and their favourites in the party are different people.'
Parties expected to splurge a fourth of advertising budget on social media.
He's a serial entrepreneur, has delved into politics and a fitness freak.
'He is as consummate a politician as anyone else which is evident considering the way in which he has placed his party and weeded out his rivals from within the party.'
'Modiji's programmes are efficient and with foresight, and needed for the country.' 'I also like his way of functioning. So, in whatever way I can, I would like to contribute.'
'For the Shiv Sena, Hindutva is like a shawl which can be put on and discarded at will.'
'If Vajpayee's BJP saw a chance to redefine India's nuclear theology, Modi's BJP has scarcely paid any attention to it.'
Lambasting the DDCA for deciding to install a statue of its late former president Arun Jaitley at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground in New Delhi, spin legend Bishan Singh Bedi has asked the body to remove his name from the spectators' stand, named after him in 2017.
'Why does Mr Modi only attack Nehru from the Dynasty?' 'At one level, it is pure politics,' notes Shekhar Gupta.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances