'The debate, by being mostly in Hindi, lost much of its educative relevance to the southern states.' 'All the prime minister's debating skills and oratorical prowess went over the heads of the South Indian audience,' points out B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant.
'If you are in Punjab, Modi is omnipresent as if he is going to be chief minister of Punjab.'
'If he is in Uttarakhand, he presents himself to be the chief minister of Uttarakhand.'
'When he is in UP, he is touted as the chief minister of UP.' 'There is a personality cult which is being built around a person... that he is the panacea of every democratic exercise in India, from panchayat to Parliament.' 'Modi at some point will pay the price for trying to build a very ambitious personality cult.'
'The moment the BJP loses a state, it announces some policy which never takes off.'
Modi isn't going to voters on his track record but on the fear of the terrorist across the border and the Muslims within. It's a battle on his terms, says Shekhar Gupta.
'When Sachin Tendulkar bats, no one in India cares if he is from Mumbai or if he is a Hindu or a Brahmin or whatever.' 'We just want him to win it for India.' 'The same is with Modi and the people who voted across caste and regional lines for him.' We want him to win it for India,' says Madhu A K.
The Congress and the Left on Sunday questioned the appointment of the new army chief by superseding two officers, saying every appointment by the government has become controversial.
Despite criticism of a lack of transparency and communication from the Modi-led government, BJP leaders point to "good beginnings" on several fronts to defend its performance. Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com reports.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday termed the communal violence bill as "the most obnoxious piece of legislation in independent India", saying had it been in place earlier, it would have resulted in punishment of the members of only the majority community over the Muzaffarnagar riots.
'If India adopts a punitive and unforgiving stance against the Rohingyas, it will be courting disgrace,' says Amulya Ganguli.
A weak and troubled United Progressive Alliance government has stumbled badly by issuing the ordinance to counter the fine judgment by the Supreme Court that forces the disqualification of lawmakers convicted for a criminal offence punishable with a jail term of over two years.
There are indications that India may be shedding its Stockholm Syndrome vis-a-vis the Modi government, says Bharat Bhushan.
Narendra Modi was both conciliatory and mocking towards the Opposition, particularly Congress, during his hour long reply to the debate on the motion of thanks to the President's address in the Upper House.
The best message the Prime Minister could bring to London is that he will return to India to focus on economic matters. Britain, on its part, should ensure that it addresses matters that concern India, instead of engaging in pomp during his visit, says Adam Roberts.
'This is a historic juncture when the US is in great need of an alliance with India to strengthen its hands in the fierce struggle with China in the Asian theatre,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The resurgence that Congressmen feel is in fact more sentimental than substantive. The substantive reality is that the Congress is a party in terminal decline since 1989, says Shekhar Gupta.
Faced with severe criticism, Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday announced significant restructuring of the party from the grassroots to the national level and tried to reach out to dissidents, admitting he too makes mistakes.
The Congress leader said democracy allows dissent and debate and not monologues in an apparent barb at Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The apex court also rejected the plea to appoint a Special Investigation Team for probe.
Ramesh says that since the attitude of the Narendra Modi government is deliberately provocative and confrontational, it should not expect cooperation from the Congress.
'Arvind Kejriwal displayed crass male chauvinism and gender illiteracy in saying that "rape tendencies arise out of sex, prostitution and drug rackets." This shows a failure to grasp that rape has little to with sex, and even less with drugs. Such remarks are far worse than the deplorable comments of policemen and politicians who attribute rapes to women's "provocative" attire or their outdoor presence at night!' says Praful Bidwai.
'More than anything else, it is pragmatism that is working out in Jammu and Kashmir. It is not a question of convenience, but getting together and understanding that no other better option can work.' 'The very fact that it has taken two months of hard negotiations obviously means that they have taken a very mature approach. This shows the seriousness of intent and statesman-like qualities that they both have displayed.'
'If somebody in your family listens more to your neighbour than you, then doesn't the fault lie with you also? This is what is happening in Kashmir.'
Even a 6 percent vote-share would make AAP an important player on the national scene. The key lies in strategically concentrating AAP's vote, especially in the cities, so that it can break Narendra Modi's momentum, besides defeating an already weak Congress, says Praful Bidwai.
Congress leader Sachin Pilot, who was recently appointed the Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee chief, says people are disenchanted with the Vasundhara Raje government.
'In the CBI's history, a situation like this has never ever occurred.'
'The expectation was that Modi would become even bolder in his approach, and after only four months into his second term, we are starting to see evidence of this.'
'All their idealism, intensity of emotions, acute sense of right and wrong, and burning passion for public causes can never serve as justifiable grounds to be touted by students of any country, let alone of India, with all its fragility and vulnerability, to question its unity in the name of freedom of expression,' says B S Raghavan.
'Manmohan Singh was blamed for administrative paralysis, but if you speak to any senior bureaucrat today, they are very bitter and say that files do not move. I am told that more than a thousand files are awaiting clearance.'
'And who sold this belief?' 'Public-spirited individuals' like Subramanian Swamy.' 'Independent public servants' like Vinod Rai. 'Anti-corruption activists' like Kiran Bedi. And 'outspoken television anchors' like Arnab Goswami,' says Mihir S Sharma.
Rebuffed by Narendra Modi, Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said he was not a terrorist and the Gujarat chief minister should have granted him a meeting out of courtesy.
Hitting back at Nitish Kumar, who on Monday mouthed a limerick set to a film song to attack him, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday likened JD(U)-RJD-Congress alliance to "three idiots", advised the chief minister to perfect the art of "Mushaira" and practise it at leisure after the Bihar polls.
'It has also underestimated the striking force of the Opposition. It has been complacent and paralysed. That may be due to the compulsions of coalition politics and the arrogance of a party which looked at itself as entitled to rule,' says political scientist Christophe Jaffrelot.
'They must take the bull of conservatism within their own ranks by its horns as much as they need to speak out against the fallacies of the non-Hindutva (or 'Muslim-friendly') political forces as well,' argues Mohammad Sajjad.
As much as 73% of total income of national political parties is unaccounted for, says Association for Democratic Rights.
Doing some plain speaking, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday conceded that lack of discipline and unity were among the reasons for the party's debacle in Assembly polls and asked the cadre not to despair and be ready for the "battle ahead" in 2014 general elections.
'The prime ministership needs a statesman, not a politician, and 18 months into the job Modi is yet to learn the difference between the two,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
'When he first came to office, my belief is that the PM's reading of the landscape was that, with a vanquished Congress and fragmented Opposition, he was looking at least at two terms in office. This reading perhaps allows for a more cautious, gradual approach.' 'It was only a matter of time before the government was forced to come face-to-face with a serious corruption scandal. This is not a commentary on the BJP, but a statement about India's political economy.' 'There is growing concern about the government's commitment to freedom of expression, religious tolerance, and an independent civil society. Thus far, the positive movement on strategic and economic matters has crowded out these concerns, but they are lingering beneath the surface.'
'Let us not say that Modi has not delivered on anything; he has delivered something and in parts substantially, but he has to also deliver on a large number of his electoral promises.'
The various meat bans across the country are an attempt to attack civil liberties, says civil rights activist Kavita Srivastava.
Mamata Banerjee's TMC and Kejriwal's AAP challenged the old order.
