Vasanthakumar, who started his career as a salesman, today owns a retail empire.
The financially cautious Kiran Kumar Reddy is not too keen to fund a brand new political party, says Vicky Nanjappa
Devanik Saha wonders if saffronisation of India is on the rise
Lawyer Vikram Singh Chauhan once again led a group of his colleagues in unleashing a brazen attack on journalists and JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar at the Patiala House Courts complex, days after they were caught on camera thrashing scribes and JNU students and teachers branding them as "anti-nationals".
The front-runner of course is party treasurer and long-serving party legislator, S Duraimurugan. A Vanniar by caste from the rival PMK-strong northern belt, Duraimurugan makes up for his weak political grounding through his debating skills in the assembly, and witty repartee, both inside and outside. Apart from caste and regional representation, personal loyalty to the leader would count even more -- but there is no death of loyal and competent candidates in the party for the post, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal hosted a Rs 20,000 per plate dinner for young professionals, diamond merchants and bankers in New Delhi kick-starting the party's fund-raising campaign for the Delhi Assembly elections.
The Congress, out of power in UP for 27 years is making a big pitch to bounce back, on a cocktail of caste politics and promises of agriculture debt waiver worth Rs 49,000 crore and power rate reduction for farmers hit by high input costs and diminishing returns., reports Amit Agnihotri.
'When Modi was CM, Gujarat won 128 seats.' 'Now he is PM. Modiji is revered by people in Gujarat.' 'So as PM he will get 150 seats,'
Khalid said the real culprit for the attack on him was not the unidentified gunman but those who, from their seats of power, have been breeding an atmosphere of hatred, bloodlust and fear.
Stating that pushing GDP growth, which has slipped to 5-year low of 6.8 per cent in 2018-19, is the top priority, President Ramnath Kovind said Modi govt will bring more reforms and raise farm investments to boost growth.
'Almost deified by enough Indians now, never mind his politics and, worse, economics,' says Shekhar Gupta.
Bracing for the polls, Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said he will focus on Delhi for the next five to 10 years and any decision on fighting elections in other states will be taken only after people's mandate in the capital.
As the nation woke up to images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi splashed across the front page of newspapers by Reliance Industries to announce the launch of its 4G services, Shiv Sena's Member of Parliament from South Mumbai, Arvind Sawant, was not impressed.
'Whenever a new film of his releases, he uses politics to hype his film.' 'Her party can manage for a short period without Jayalalithaa as the chief minister but if her absence is for a long term, the AIADMK will start crumbling and disintegrating.' 'What keeps the DMK going despite its corrupt image is it is a democratic party in comparison to the AIADMK... Also, many social welfare measures in Tamil Nadu were brought in by the DMK. So they do have a place in the political scene despite corruption.' Gnani Sankaran, the well-known political analyst, discusses the fallout of Jayalalithaa's conviction on Tamil Nadu politics with Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com
'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.
According to sources, Congress President Sonia Gandhi has not appreciated senior leader and one of her main confidantes A K Antony stating publicly that there is a perception that the Congress lost because it was seen to be too much pro-Muslim and this led to a Hindu consolidation in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Arvind Kejriwal has assured his supporters in the United States that he will not repeat the "mistake" of resigning if the Aam Aadmi Party returns to power in Delhi and dismissed the notion that the party is falling apart, saying the brakes and clutch of his AAP bus are working fine.
Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday flew business class to Dubai to attend a felicitation event, sparking strong reaction from the opposition which said his "real face" has been "exposed".
The city needs some autonomy, or it will continue to decline in all the ways that are familiar, observes T N Ninan
While the Congress leadership will undertake the mandatory introspection exercise to pinpoint the reasons for the debacle, Anita Katyal offers five factors which led to the humiliating rout.
The Rafale will surely be flying in Indian skies next year. But the way the BJP government has botched this will cast a shadow on defence acquisitions in the years to come.
The Shiv Sena also demanded that those who allowed the concert to take place should be booked for anti-national activities.
The first session of the brand new Delhi assembly, during which newly-elected Members of Legislative Assembly took oath, will continue till January 7.
Nirupam said it is up to the government to prove the surgical strikes did take place.
Fourteen of 17 board members move no-confidence motion; proximity to Rahul Gandhi seen as trigger.
The Congress leader said democracy allows dissent and debate and not monologues in an apparent barb at Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Minister of State for Home Kiran Rijiju had said the cabinet was forced to take the decision because of a constitutional breakdown as six months had lapsed between two sessions of the state assembly.
'Narendra Modi is one person who came up fighting many injustices. So, he is a fighter all the time, and that makes all the difference.'
To claim that Tamil Nadu was waiting for a messiah of the 'spiritual' Rajini kind is misplaced, if not mischievous, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The answer has two components: as a leader with a vision who can carry the masses and his ability to realise his vision through his decision-making and executive skills, says Col R Hariharan.
'The unprecedented bitterness and rancour that marked this election campaign need not spill over into government and governance,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
'The CAA should be kept in abeyance, without making it a prestige issue.'
'Laying down a clear policy on the future of illegal migrants will dispel anxieties and help in implementing the CAA, NPR and also the NCR,' suggests former Union home secretary Dr Madhav Godbole.
'Whether it is the unions or the politicians, they don't have to do politics over Air India, but be guided by a solitary factor -- that we don't want Air India to fly into oblivion.'
'Modi has missed the bus in Kashmir.'
The Aam Aadmi Party government's first 100 days in power in Delhi have been a mixed bag
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley on Saturday aid that India cannot afford a non-politician as a prime minister and the world's largest democracy can't be run on the pattern of corporates.
Protests by various parties could be seen as they demanded the Prime Minister Narendra Modi rolled back the demonetisation scheme.
The state government had in the first week of June banned Maggi sale in the state after the product failed the food safety test.
There's a lot riding on the film stars campaigning in Andhra Pradesh for the Lok Sabha elections, as the state bifurcation issue will play a dominant factor in the regions of Seema-Andhra and Telangana. Vicky Nanjappa reports
'Visiting my friend in his affluent locality, I realised that the Delhi weather had become the great equaliser.' 'Pollution was always in the air, everywhere, and had become the primary subject of all conversations,' notes Ambassador B S Prakash.
