From children to the elderly, common people to VIPs, all came out in balconies, lawns and terrace of their homes as the clock struck five, following an appeal by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to show gratitude to doctors, paramedics, police and other personnel associated with essential services when the country was observing an unprecedented 'Janta Curfew' on Sunday to check the spread of the virus.
Dismissing the possibility of any gain to BJP due to Narendra Modi's campaign in Madhya Pradesh, Jyotiraditya Scindia, the Congress face in Assembly polls in Indore feels the Gujarat chief minister's arrival is a "good omen" for his party and shows that the Bharatiya Janata Party is "not confident".
Kamal Nath argued that Modi had 'overexposed himself': By constantly pushing his own image on social media and on TV, attaching his name to multiple promises, Modi had become the face rivals could easily blame for India's chronic dysfunction.
'The Scindias betrayed Jhansi ki Rani and now the Congress party.' 'So this is nothing new as he is repeating the history of his family.'
'It seemed it was more than an anti-incumbency vote; it was an outright rejection of the BJP by the people after due deliberation and an expression of their disillusionment with Modi's leadership,' says B S Raghavan.
The AAP leader, who has been recently in the news for supposedly dropping her second name, has been active in reforming the education and health sector.
Over 40,000 complaints and appeals are pending in the Central Information Commission which is working without its chief for more than nine months.
If Muslims back Mayawati, nothing can stop her from forming the next government in UP.
Meanwhile, Gandhi said Modi has betrayed the people, claiming that he had not fulfilled promises of providing two crore jobs every year and "depositing" Rs 15 lakh in their bank accounts.
The Congress, out of power in Madhya Pradesh for nearly 15 years, has also expressed its willingness to align with like-minded parties to take on the BJP.
The issue of lynchings resonated in the Rajya Sabha; while in the Lok Sabha, the Opposition accused the government of not being sensitive towards farmers' issues.
The Lok Sabha election will be held in 7 phases, beginning on April 11, 2019 and ending on May 19, 2019.
Dave complained of uneasiness at his home on Thursday morning and was rushed to AIIMS.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday lashed out at previous governments, saying they seemed to hate development and "looted" public money to win elections.
The rallies will be used to drill home the message of the "political will" that Modi government has shown to launch 'surgical strikes' against Pakistan-based terrorists.
'With the Citizenship Amendment Bill, Hindus from Pakistan can come to India. They have got a way,' says Gurumukh Jagwani who came to India on his honeymoon, loved the country so much that he stayed back and got Indian citizenship.
'He has destroyed the Youth Congress. Now he is trying to destroy the National Students Union of India. Next he will destroy the Congress. Whatever responsibility you give him he will destroy that.'
In less than an hour, seven of the top 10 India trends were fuelled by wishes pouring in for Prime Minister Modi from different quarters.
Singhdeo was the main architect of the Congress party's poll manifesto, which he said was made after feedback from about 80,000 people from across the state.
During the day, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan held a meeting to review preparedness for COVID-19 management, through video conference with health ministers, chief secretaries of all states and UTs, central ministers and representatives from the related organisations and stressed on the need for keeping testing and quarantine facilities, isolation wards, and labs in active readiness.
The party leadership also thanked the people of Assam and credited the victory there and increased vote share in other states to party workers, state leaders and PM Narendra Modi.
Gandhi, on the other hand, has also reached out directly to the party workers in the three states to know their top choice for the chief minister post through an internal mobile messaging app, party leaders said.
'Brand Kejriwal-AAP have a long way to go even if they win another Delhi election...'
'It is a force nobody can ignore, not even Mr Modi, because it will keep punching above its weight,' notes Shekhar Gupta.
How seriously should we take Natwar Singh's book? Indeed how seriously should all such memoirs and autobiographies be taken? The answer, I imagine, depends on the intent. If the authors are merely settling scores, as many think Natwar Singh is, future historians would be entitled to ignore such autobiographies. But if there is no mens rea (guilty mind), so to speak, these books must be taken seriously, says T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan.
The Congress has been reduced from 440 seats in the Lok Sabha to 44 seats due its 'arrogance' but it is still not ready to introspect or correct itself, he said.
How has Raj Thackeray, who is as much a businessman as politician, been able to pull it off, when most Opposition politicians live in fear of IT and ED and CBI, asks Krishna Prasad after attending a Raj rally in Nashik.
Taking a dig at Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar said he feared that there were grim indicators of Indian democracy being concentrated in one person's hand after the marginalisation of party veterans like LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi.
Narendra Modi could be in for a tough fight in Varanasi with the Congress declaring its resolve to put up a formidable candidate against the Bharatiya Janata Party's PM nominee in the Lok Sabha polls and ruling out support to the Aaam Aadmi Party's Arvind Kejriwal.
'What does the nation get out of the CBI's fabulous infrastructure? Very little that is useful.'
'When the story of Elections 2019 is told by an independent writer, the BJP's role in lowering electoral standards will be etched in indelible ink,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
The Delhi high court called the anti-Sikh riots case "communal frenzy" after the then prime minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her bodyguards.
'Some of his decisions were not so good, but his intentions were always guided by a deep national interest.'
Ignoring all previous protests and opposition to the deal, the saffron party has changed its stance, without providing any explanation. What has changed? Accountability and explanations on this U-turn will be welcomed.
'It is time someone told BJP leaders that they were not elected to remind people of Congress corruption. The people of India voted for Narendra Modi and the BJP because they believed that he and his party were clean, unlike the Congress-led government,' says Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
The calculated playing up of confidence by Amit Shah and his team obviously means that the BJP has a strong counter-strategy in place to turn the tables on the Congress before the monsoon session is over, reports Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com.
There is nothing the young Purvanchali wants more desperately than to escape to a place with less hopelessness, and some opportunity, discovers Shekhar Gupta.
'If the BJP thinks they can suppress the farmers' movement by opening fire, they are wrong.' 'It will create a boomerang effect which will be very difficult to manage.'
The polarisation politics seems to have succeeded in western UP much to the delight of the BJP. However the non-BJP parties are hoping that the polarisation will not be as intense and they will be able to hold on to majority of their vote banks, says Girish Nikam.
The polarisation politics seems to have succeeded in western UP much to the delight of the BJP. However the non-BJP parties are hoping that the polarisation will not be as intense and they will be able to hold on to majority of their vote banks, says Girish Nikam.
More than 25 years after the Babri Masjid was destroyed, another generation proclaims its commitment to building a Ram temple.
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