In a time of crisis like this, a government needs its people and politics united. A nation of India's size and diversity can't fight a stronger rival with fraying social cohesion, observes Shekhar Gupta.
Most of India's reserves for war in the mountains have been sucked in by the standoff with China. A large part of India's airpower has also similarly been committed on the eastern border. By moving these reserves to the China border, India has been weakened vis-a-vis Pakistan. All in all, the nightmare scenario for India of a two-front war may well come true, warns Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Some of Modi's biggest reforms have met with fierce political opposition.
However, Bharti later claimed that her call for unity among party workers was presented in a distorted manner.
'Through the year, we heard many talk about the increasing time spent on digital. But 93% of all video consumption happens on TV,' points out Partho Dasgupta, CEO, BARC India.
Amit Shah's formal leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party might have its days numbered, given the range of resentment now coming forth against him.
'The over-reaction by the BJP to District Magistrate Pranjal Yadav's decision will prove a double-edged sword.' 'On May 16, if the BJP gets a handsome number of seats and if Modi wins from Varanasi and Vadodara, his opponents can repeat Modi's scathing remarks against the Election Commission, that it was not 'impartial'.'
'What if Modi becomes the fascist the leftists paints him as? What if he does suspend the Constitution and declares himself the ruler, with support from the army? What exactly will you do, Mr Leftie?' asks Rajeev Srinivasan.
Around 700 migrant workers, women and children have lost their lives in this reverse migration. But what is happening today with the migrant labour is only a continuation of the policies pursued by the Modi regime during the last six years. It is not for nothing that India was ranked the most dangerous country in the world for women in 2018 by the Thompson Reuters Foundation poll, points out Rashme Sehgal.
Muslims constitute 20% of UP's electorate. Currently, Muslim voters are divided between Akhilesh's SP and Mayawati's BSP. What will tilt the balance? Can Muslims back the winning party? Mohammad Sajjad explains the mysteries of UP's Muslim politics.
'When Priyankaji's candidature wasn't announced, where is the question of her backing out?'
'The trajectory of the disease will keep increasing because of the population density being very high.'
The Malda riots occurred on January 3, a day after the Pathankot terror attack. Common sense must dictate that an attack on the nation deserves more coverage than a local riot, says Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
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.
'The Opposition parties should seriously give thought to endorsing Kovind's candidacy and close this chapter of divisive politics,' advises M K Bhadrakumar.
Rahul Gandhi also predicts a NDA collapse 'not seen in many years'
According to Muzaffarpur District Registration Officer Sanjay Kumar, the orders to freeze the bank accounts and ban the sale or purchase of any movable or immovable assets of the Seva Sankalp Evam Vikas Samiti were passed by District Magistrate Mohammad Sohail on August 7 and 8.
Modi also reminded Congress of the Emergency, saying it's a blot on the democracy that will never fade.
The PM needs to tap into his latent support base among the aspirational classes, while keeping the loony fringe at bay to stop or reverse the change in the political atmosphere
Narendra Modi seems to prefer that Hindu strongman image remain tucked in reserve, to only come when called; life's been more complicated.
A total of 1,203 candidates, including 109 women, are contesting for the 140 assembly seats in which a total of 2.61 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Friday dismissed prime minister's remarks on the Dadri lynching incident.
'It must be rendering Modi, Amit Shah and Adityanath speechless that the Indian diplomat who lifted the Azhar trophy at the UN in New York is also a Muslim. 'Yes, this is the wonder that was India,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Many anticipate that by the 2021 assembly elections in West Bengal, the BJP may come to power, says Mohammad Sajjad.
Travelling across tribal Dahod to an about-to-be-born township near Ahmedabad, Sheela Bhatt examines the 'Modi effect' and how it will play out in the polls in the prime ministerial candidate's home state.Travelling across tribal Dahod to an about-to-be-born-township near Ahmedabad, Sheela Bhatt examines the 'Modi effect' and how it will play out at the polls on the prime ministerial candidate's home state.
'For a party with a fuzzy ideology, one that lives only for power, having a leadership that thought vaguely about returning to power in the distant future was a distinct handicap,' points out Mihir S Sharma.
'He was No 2 to Laloo Prasad in the last government and he will be No 2 in the new one as well, not to Sushil Modi, but to the other Modi in Delhi.' 'In the process, Nitish Kumar will have to forget any role which he may have secretly entertained about playing a larger role on the national stage,' says Amulya Ganguli.
In a multi-pronged attack on the government, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and Surjewala alleged that it was managing headlines to deflect attention from issues such as the death of 39 Indians in captivity in Iraq.
Rahul Gandhi is more inclined towards Akhilesh, who has said their combination could win more than 300 of the 403 assembly seats.
'It will be a grand alliance where they could get the Muslims, Dalits and Yadavs in one camp and pose a serious challenge to whatever the BJP might conjure up in the run-up to the 2019 election.'
'Imagine a situation where an upright officer refuses to carry out a chief minister's or a central minister's orders that he considers wrong.' 'Can he be summarily thrashed at a meeting at your residence, or in his own office?' 'If AAP legitimises political violence, there are many, many, tougher political leaders elsewhere to draw the wrong lessons,' warns Shekhar Gupta.
People were being honoured without a recommendation, he stressed in his monthly radio programme.
'Intolerance is in our blood. Every person has some level of intolerance. One can't get rid of it, but one has to check and control it for the sake of a peaceful society and country,' says actor Tam Alter.
'India serves itself poorly with its latter-day discovery of Pakistan as an instrument in domestic politics,' notes Shekhar Gupta.
'The Jharkhand government is increasingly intolerant of voices of dissent.' 'Recently 20 persons, including activists, writers and academics, were booked for sedition.' 'Many of them have been critical of the government's apathy towards Adivasis,' notes Siraj Dutta.
'In UP/Bihar there is no industry. There are no other jobs, you either herd cows, teach or join the IAS. The brightest go to the IITs. The rest go to arts college and they become IAS officers and it is this crowd that is now agitating.' 'English is the business language of the world, we have to accept that. If I had done my IIT in Hindi, I would be stuck in the cow belt without work.' IIT graduate, entrepreneur and politician R K Misra on the row over English in the UPSC prelims.
'...I have not read newspapers for quite some time,' a psychologist tells Syed Firdaus Ashraf, 'and I am perfectly normal.'
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.
'Even if we expect that the economy will be hit and GDP is lowered for a few quarters by the reckless demonetisation, this will itself not be sufficient to dislodge Modi's popularity,' says Aakar Patel.
Bodo tribals influence as many as 30 seats. No wonder, national parties are keen to forge alliances with Bodo groups.
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