In first signs of ending the over a month-long impasse with regard to government formation in Jammu and Kashmir, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ram Madhav on Wednesday held formal talks with Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti during a brief visit in Srinagar.
'But that does not make him weaker than his adversaries.'
The department of legal affairs has asked the commission, a recommendatory body, to submit a report on the issue that has always been dear to BJP and the Sangh Parivar.
'The AAP is likely to take root in some metropolises -- although it won't be easy to replicate the small-scale Delhi model with equal intensity or cadre-strength in a large state,' says Praful Bidwai.
'The trading community will be a priority for Modi when he forms the next government.'
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has taken to invest in young people from non-dynastic backgrounds to build a core team of 100-odd youths in every state who believe in the Congress party's philosophy, reports Archis Mohan.
Sonia Gandhi hit out at the BJP for being determined to destroy constitutional values.
The narrow win in Gujarat can be contributed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his no-holds-barred approach and party president Amit Shah who plays to win and knows that there are rules to be followed when suited and broken when needed.
'The probability of another negative year in 2019 is low.'
According to political analysts, Mayawati's social engineering to unite the lower castes with the upper ones seems to have backfired.
In a bid to lift the sagging mood and morale of its party workers over the developments of the last one month, including the crushing defeat in Bihar, the Congress party and the government have suddenly woken up to the need to effectively and aggressively counter the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance's campaign against the party.
Here's a list of the full first-time ministers in the second term of the Narendra Modi government.
'Hopefully, the new majority government will give the country a fool-proof electoral system,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
'The Congress may not be able to dump the family entirely, but it could move to a new operating model in which the family takes a 'chairmanship' role while day-to-day affairs are handled by a new CEO.'
Aam Aadmi Party candidate M S Dhir was on Thursday elected the Speaker of the Delhi Assembly with the support of the Congress.
Modi said both the ruling party and the media may have expectations as well complaints from each other but they have to get along happily amid these differences.
Behind the BJP's astounding electoral success is a small army of dedicated lieutenants marshalled by Amit Shah.
The focus shifts almost immediately from celebrations to the challenges faced by the man who powered his party to 303 seats in the Lok Sabha.
'After the NRC it is proved that whatever the BJP was saying about illegal Bangladeshi migrant was a lie and Indian Muslims have their documents to prove their citizenship.'
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.
Vaibhavi Parmar list the front-runners in the race to succeed Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi if he opts for a larger national role in the BJP.
'Unlike in Gujarat, where he could ask for votes based on delivery, in 2019 he will have to appeal to his core Hindutva ideology, by firing over someone else's shoulders,' says T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan.
'When you oppose a policy, you are labelled anti-government.' 'The problem is, the policymakers have never done any business in their lives.'
"Under this circumstances, what should we do? Should we allow Muslim women to be continued to be exploited," he said.
The head of a religious mutt in Varanasi has slammed Bharatiya Janata Party and its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi for using the temple town to further their political ambitions.
Yeddyurappa would take the oath alone as the chief minister and once the majority is proved on the floor of the assembly, cabinet members would be inducted.
The standard line that is used for anyone -- academics, minorities, farmers, dissident industrialists -- who points out that what the government is doing is wrong is being anti-national and separatists, reveals Aakar Patel.
Former Board of Control for Cricket in India president Anurag Thakur on Friday got relief from the Supreme Court which dropped the contempt and perjury proceedings against him after he tendered an unconditional and unequivocal apology in person.
Shadow of elections may overshadow political consensus at GST Council meetings.
'A single seven-year term will free them from party pressures entirely,' says T C A Srinivasa Raghavan.
Indian Army officers are convinced China is maintaining the pretence of dialogue and negotiations in order to create the opportunity to occupy more Indian territory. Senior Indian planners apprehend this might be a Chinese ploy to divert attention from Depsang, in Northern Ladakh, which might be China's actual target.
'There is a group who want to internally damage the Congress and they may be hand in glove with the BJP.'
A day after dropping hints of joining politics, former Indian Police Service officer Kiran Bedi on Wednesday said she was ready to become the Bharatiya Janata Party's chief Ministerial nominee in Delhi if such an offer was made to her.
Prashant Kishor, a core member of Narendra Modi's election campaign team, is likely to work for Nitish Kumar.
'Each of them is a setu (bridge) that links the government with the party, but their territories are different.'
Backed by ruling Akali Dal, the SGPC, apex religious body of Sikhs, will file a clemency appeal before the President for Balwant Singh Rajoana, who is on death row for the 1995 killing of Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, even as ally BJP steered clear of the issue.
Polling will be held between 7 am and 4 pm, except in some polling stations of the interior districts of Nagaland, where the process is scheduled to conclude at 3 pm. The two states have a 60-member House each, but voting will be held for 59 constituencies in both.
Former Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, who is camping in New Delhi, may have to wait a while longer before re-claiming the chief ministerial chair from Sadanand Gouda, as the Bharatiya Janata Party is not in the mood to "reward" his indiscipline.
'Today, there is pervasive fear in society; an uncertainty of what might happen.' 'This has forced Muslims to shrink further into mental ghettos, with many considering extreme measures like pretending to change their identity.'
He said the 'toxic combination of deep distrust, pervasive fear and a sense of hopelessness in our society' is stifling economic activity and growth.
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