'For showing us a shining vision of how even a ceremonial role can be infused with life by a patriot, a scientist and a humble man of the people, representing the best of India's pluralist ethos, we will remember Dr Kalam.'
Sharif said that he was not aware of what Vajpayee was saying to him and promised to get back after talking to the then chief of the Army Staff General Pervez Musharraf.
'America and Britain want a greater role in sorting out the Kashmir problem which they liken to the Palestine problem,' says Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, former chairman of the All-Parties Hurriyat Conference.
'One of R&AW's greatest achievements is in projecting itself as benign.' 'This work -- done in tandem with the Diaspora and the MEA -- sells a story of India as mostly the victim.'
Monday was the fourth consecutive day, proceedings were washed out over the Rafale jet deal and Cauvery issues.
What the Indian economy looks like next January will influence her view on India, not her genetics, notes Shekhar Gupta.
'If they were really serious (about conferring the Bharat Ratna on Savarkar) what were they doing for the last five years?' 'Why do they have to take so long?' 'Gandhi himself never got the Bharat Ratna so it does not really matter.'
Making no effort to conceal his prime ministerial ambitions, Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav on Saturday said the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections were "a matter of honour" for him.
In its sway over national politics now, the Modi-Shah BJP is what the Congress was under Indira Gandhi. Why would they indulge coalition partners, their greed and egos now, asks Shekhar Gupta.
Dubs Modi government a "one trick horse" which will make the Hindu-Muslim issue the dominant one in political discourse; asks Opposition to field one candidate in every seat against BJP nominee in 2019 polls.
'In the first elections, Hindutva forces got only 6% of the votes and won only 10 seats.' 'It was a great defeat for them.' 'They have held that grouse against Nehru since then.'
'But that does not make him weaker than his adversaries.'
In this May 2014 interview with Vaihayasi Pande Daniel/Rediff.com, the politically conscious Karnad spoke of why he is concerned about Modi coming to power.
The issue can be resolved either through court or mutual agreement between Hindus and Muslims, he said.
According to political analysts, Mayawati's social engineering to unite the lower castes with the upper ones seems to have backfired.
'The fact that a rural Kashmiri boy was brainwashed into killing himself and others means there is an active programme that exists which does such recruiting and there will potentially be other such individuals out there,' warns Aakar Patel.
Taking on the grand alliance in Lalu Prasad Yadav's home turf of Gopalganj, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday asked Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar whether he wanted the old days of 'jungle raj'-- when the region had turned into a 'mini Chambal' -- to return.
An interplay of Modi government's outreach in Bihar and the sequence of events in Chirag Paswan's life could make Bihar a game of musical chairs when the results are out.
Controlled communal tension is useful in ensuring continued Muslim support. Fear of the BJP is a requirement for both, the Congress and the Samajwadi Party, to keep their Muslim vote bank in line, says Saeed Naqvi.
They have already prepared a draft common minimum programme (CMP).
'If Mr Modi and Mr Shah have made a poisonous, polarising campaign their brahmastra for 2019, Mamata Banerjee is showing them its limitations,' says Shekhar Gupta.
'The BJP has the torch and with that same torch, the BJP is trying to light up its house in Bihar.' 'The BJP is trying to burn Nitish Kumar's house with that torch.'
Stating that Trinamool Congress was in the central government when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the prime minister, Mamata said without naming the Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate that Gujarat had witnessed riots and the people did not support riots.
'The BJP's constitution promises allegiance to India's secularism and socialism.' 'This is the oath that it makes all its members sign,' observes Aakar Patel.
'Karpoori Thakur must be remembered by people today who are tired of witnessing fractious politics where corruption, bigotry, hatred and violence seems to have become distressingly recurrent,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
The Uttar Pradesh State Minority Commission on Sunday described the mass conversion of Muslims in Agra as 'an act of fraud and a dubious exercise which has no connection with the serious business of change of faith'.
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.
Challenging the verdict is a deterrent to future peace and harmony and a socially irresponsible act, argues Vivek Gumaste.
Expelled Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav on Monday hit back at Lalu Prasad for calling him "Mir Jafar and Jai Chand" and said his former mentor acted like "Duryodhan" and "Kansh" for the Yadav caste.
'Is Ansari flagging a genuine concern? Is a rectification called for?' 'And finally: Do minorities matter?' asks Shekhar Gupta.
The danger to India's democracy is coming from recourse to mobocracy encouraged by the anti-Modi gang, argues Vivek Gumaste.
'From the evidently pre-selected questions to the promotional slides on a screen redolent of the official audio-visual department, the choreography was palpably intended to present the prime minister in as good a light as possible in a 'safe' environment insulated from uncomfortable questions,' says Amulya Ganguli.
A new Bihar government headed by Jitan Ram Manjhi as the 32nd Chief Minister was sworn in on Tuesday evening.
'There is a problem with the rise of a popular view that sees Kashmir through the prism of the larger, chronic Hindu-Muslim tensions.' 'By redefining the Kashmir problem simplistically in Hindu-Muslim terms could end up keeping Kashmir but losing most Kashmiris,' says Shekhar Gupta.
Jaitley, 66, has become 'very weak' as his health has deteriorated over the past few weeks, sources said, adding that he has developed some throat condition as well that prevents him from speaking for long.
As Bihar decides its fate on Sunday, political leaders from across the spectrum weighed in.
Only on Wednesday, in his Independence Day speech, Prime Minister Modi said he wants to resolve the Kashmir issue through Vajpayee's doctrine of "Insaniyat, Kashmiriyat, Jamhooriyat" - a testimony to the former PM's lasting legacy.
'Vajpayee was the first prime minister to visit the battlefield at the height of conflict,' recalls Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
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