PM said Kovind will make an 'exceptional President'.
'You will be surprised at how wide the Mission272+ Internet campaign has been in terms of its reach across India. We have volunteers in all of 543 Lok Sabha seats. Every one of them signed up to volunteer through the Internet. We are laser focused on Mission272+. All of our volunteers are working at the constituency level to make a difference so every vote and every booth counts.' Shashi Shekhar, who is spearheading the BJP's Internet-social media campaign, explains how it is done.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley appealed to parties to rise above partisan considerations to support it.
'The Congress can't return to power unless it reins in prices, lowers interest rates, taxes the rich,' says Praful Bidwai. 'If this means sacking those most responsible for the UPA's pro-big business policies including Finance Minister Chidambaram, so be it!'
The Modi wave has blotched the Congress party's copybook. For the first time since the Lok Sabha was constituted in 1952, the party has failed to secure enough seats to be designated as a parliamentary party, notes A Surya Prakash.
Do Modi's foreign visits actually serve India or they nothing more than expensive tools for domestic positioning and image-building, asks Shehzad Poonawalla.
Kickstarting the National Democratic Alliance's poll campaign in Bihar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday focussed his attack on former Bharatiya Janata Party ally and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, accusing him of "back-stabbing" the people of the state and alleging that there is some problem with his "DNA".
Pitching for larger opposition unity, six constituents of the erstwhile Janata Parivar on Monday shared dais at a mahadharna slamming the Bharatiya Janata Party's 'divisive' politics and accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of telling lies and not fulfilling poll promises on black money.
'We will certainly perform and take India to newer heights. We will really like to see India become a world power in every sense of the term and build a strong and robust economy that is capable of employment generation on a scale required for a country like India,' BJP ideologue Vinay Sahasrabuddhe tells Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com
There were no signs of either the Peoples Democratic Party, the largest group, or the Bharatiya Janata Party, the close runner-up, getting the requisite numbers to stake claim to forming a new government in Jammu and Kashmir as the deadline set by Governor N N Vohra for discussions fast approached.
Currently, the travel time between Mumbai and Delhi varies between 16 and 30 hours.
After snapping his political alliance with the ruling National Democratic Alliance at the Centre, N Chandrababu Naidu, chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, speaks to B Dasarath Reddy on what he now has in mind.
Protests by various parties could be seen as they demanded the Prime Minister Narendra Modi rolled back the demonetisation scheme.
'Although the Congress party ethos resembles a court with courtiers, Sonia Gandhi's style was to be consensual.'
'If Lalu puts the agenda of his son's career ahead of the coalition's interest, this coalition will fare very badly.' 'Lalu will ultimately want that his son becomes deputy chief minister but if he's prepared to wait for some time, nothing bad will happen for the coalition,' Professor Prabhat Ghosh, Director, Asian Development Research Institute, tells Archana Masih/Rediff.com
The BJP leadership is understandably mulling all options on the roll-out of the GST.
'As the first leaders of their respective countries born after Indian Independence and the Chinese Liberation, Modi and Xi would be expected to have the ability to overcome the traditional mindsets and the hierarchical nature of their official/bureaucratic establishments,' say Alka Acharya and Jabin T Jacob.
The BJP has already cobbled up 28 seats to counter-bargain with the PDP's 28 seats in future talks. It is up to the Kashmir-based parties like the National Conference and PDP to assess the damage of going with the BJP which is perceived as the 'Hindu' party in the state. Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com's takeways from a historic but fractured mandate in Jammu and Kashmir.
Rediff.com gives you a look at newbies in the Council of Ministers
anata Dal-United president Sharad Yadav says leaders of all 11 parties who've formed a new front will meet after the current Parliament session to finalise a name, coordination strategy and programmes. Mayank Mishra reports
Mounting a frontal attack on the Narendra Modi government, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday said there has been an increase in communal violence in the country since it came to power and alleged this was part of a "deliberate" attempt to divide the people.
'The BJP should know that simple caste arithmetic may have ceased to follow the basic law of addition.' 'Adding up seemingly distinct vote banks can even cause overall reduction in numbers,' says Sudhir Bisht.
He said the UPA had left the economy in a dire state, with Consumer Price Index and food inflation at double digit, Wholesale Price Index inflation around 6-7 per cent and growth prospects were limited.
BJP claimed close to 116 lawmakers from rival parties appeared to have voted for Kovind.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Friday said its stance on Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir has not changed, even as it termed as "teething problems" the friction between BJP and PDP in the state stressing that the "novel experiment" should be given time to succeed.
The year 2015 was a mixed bag for the Grand Old party --with the performance in Bihar being a consolation while the the National Herald case came back to haunt its leadership.
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.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on range of issues -- from Rafale deal to Ram temple and triple talaq.
Counting of votes will be held today in Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand which witnessed a record turnout in the multi-cornered contests to elect their assemblies.
The 'secularists'are more adept at the politics of intense and alarmingly exaggerated fear-mongering, as this kind of politics provides easy votes of Muslims without making them answerable for the concrete issues of poverty, unemployment, lawlessness, and of basic needs like roads, electricity, etc, which is exactly how Nitish Kumar was defeated in the elections, says Mohammad Sajjad.
Even if they score administratively, state governments ruled by the party suffer from an inability to communicate positively, say observers.
'The most valuable personal sensitive information of present and future citizens has been made available to foreign data firms and governments and non-State actors for all time to come,' says Gopal Krishna.
As fuel prices continue its northward march with petrol and diesel being sold at Rs 80.73 and Rs 72.83 per litre in the national capital, at least 21 opposition parties, led by the Congress have staged a Bharat Bandh protesting the rise in fuel prices and depreciation of the rupee.
Ramesh says that since the attitude of the Narendra Modi government is deliberately provocative and confrontational, it should not expect cooperation from the Congress.
Transcript of the political resolution adopted by the Bharatiya Janata Party in its national executive meeting in Panaji, Goa on Sunday.
Incidents of arson, firing and vandalism were reported from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Punjab as protesters agitated against the dilution of the SC/ST Act.
Opposition said saying it lacked vision and road map to execute ideas.
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