Kickstarting her party's Lok Sabha campaign from a mammoth rally in Kolkata, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said her party would go it alone in the polls and renewed her call for a federal front.
The BJP doesn't want to focus entirely on an anti-Mamata campaign.
Public intellectuals who frame the ideological antipathy between the RSS & Co and Jawaharlal Nehru in the light of Mahatma Gandhi's assassination and Hindu Raj alone, miss the point by a yard, argues Shaan Kashyap.
'Wherever in the world there is political instability, those countries are beset with severe crises today. But India is in a much better position than the rest of the world due to the decisions taken by my government in the national interest,' President Droupadi Murmu said in her address to both Houses of Parliament.
Jayanta Roy Chowdhury reports on how the West Bengal elections are being fought by the BJP and Trinalool Congress amid COVID challenges, 'Bangaliana', and campaigns based on religion, region, and caste.
'The fruition of Nobel's hope lies in the response of a caring government that can rise above politics and propaganda, not in the frenetic raptures of a public that worships fame for fame's sake,' says Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
He also accused TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee of nepotism, insisting she wants to politically establish her nephew in West Bengal.
'This is basically aimed at vilifying Nehruvian ideals.' 'Why?' 'Because, Nehruvian leadership is seen by Hindutva forces as the one which did not let them have their Hindu Raj.' 'The Hindutva proponents have always assumed that had Sardar become the first prime minister, India could never have become a secular State,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
'The condition in Bengal is such that if you chant Jai Shri Ram, you would be put behind bars
Making his debut in West Bengal in the current campaign, Bharatiya Janata Party's PM candidate Narendra Modi on Wednesday launched a blistering attack on the Left parties and the Third Front, saying they will make India a "third rate" country.
'Under the more strident Modi version of Hindutva, Nehru has almost become a contemporary political figure.' 'The ruling party knows that without total erasure and distortion of Nehru, their fantasies will always be wobbly.'
Science in India has developed a great deal since C V Raman, particularly after the country gained Independence but we are yet to win a Nobel prize in physics, chemistry or medicine. Is it a reflection on the quality of Indian science? Or it has to do with the politics of Nobel prizes, as is often believed, asks Dinesh C Sharma.
'There is a need for a younger person at the top, but the old guard wants to grab the post themselves,' points out Amulya Ganguli.
'It is time India withdraws the complaint from the UN and fully integrates the state of J&K into the Indian Union,' recommends Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Amazon Prime Video has doubled its content investments in India and announced as many as 41 new titles in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and English, thereby throwing an open challenge to their streaming competitor, Netflix.
The defence minister has to correct a major asymmetry. Will his discipline come in the way?
The city needs some autonomy, or it will continue to decline in all the ways that are familiar, observes T N Ninan
'Physically, he was a strong man, but given to moments of emotional weakness.' 'He had to be put back on the right track by the women in his life.'
"The prime minister is afflicted with an unhealthy mindset," Sharma said.
Telly folk step out for a glamorous night.
'I can't help it if people don't love the minorities, the Dalits and Adivasis; they are as much of this country as any other Indian.' 'If I love them, it does not mean I do not love my country.' 'It is ironic and funny that they have laid such severe anti-national charges against me.'
Abhishek packs a punch and Nimrat is deliciously wicked but Dasvi falls short of being the razor-sharp satire it deeply aspires to be, feels Sukanya Verma.
The 47-year-old scion of the Nehru-Gandhi family will face the daunting task of restoring lost glory to the party whose fortunes have been dwindling in the recent past.
In a first such action in India's electoral history, the Election Commission had Wednesday ordered campaigning in the nine West Bengal constituencies to end at 10 pm on Thursday, instead of 6 pm on Friday, in the wake of violence between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Trinamool Congress in Kolkata during Amit Shah's roadshow.
BJP chief Amit Shah had set a target of winning 22 Lok Sabha seats out of 42 seats in West Bengal.
Actor Narendra Jha passes away.
In his pre-departure statement, he said trade ties between India and Russia can increase even further, to benefit not only the two nations but also the world.
Clashes were reported from Kharagpur in West Midnapore district, Narayanpur in North 24 Parganas, and Alipurduar town in north Bengal, among others.
It was a sea of saffron in Kolkata on Tuesday when Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah held a roadshow taking the battle against arch-rival Trinamool Congress to Mamata Banerjee's den. BJP supporters chanted "Jai Shri Ram" as activists dressed up as Lord Ram, Sita and Hanuman walked along, not often seen on the streets of the city of Kolkata. Shah meandered through Kolkata on a truck, decked up with marigold, as the crowd carried BJP flags.
It is easy to criticise but difficult to transform an institution, says CJI Misra
'I believe this song became a hit because of Aishwarya Rai. She is totally responsible for its success.' 'People would go to see the film all over the country, just to see her dance.'
Elections for 19 Rajya Sabha seats spread across eight states will be held on Friday with the contest in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan promising to be a close affair between the BJP and the Congress.
Of the 15 people who led the 132-year-old party post independence, four have belonged to the Gandhi-Nehru family.
Modi's minimum government, maximum governance will go a long way?
'Rarely do you come across a leader of a free world who meets another leader of a free world and serves him tea in a suit that chants his name. Over and over again.'
Utkarsh Mishra explains what Sardar Patel thought and said about the RSS.
On the 40th anniversary of the beginning of one of the darkest periods in our history, here are six painful facts about the Emergency.
With almost all opposition parties and several trade unions backing the 'Bharat Bandh' and many announcing parallel protests in support of the farmers, the Centre has issued an advisory directing all the states and Union Territories to tighten security and ensure COVID guidelines are followed.
'The TMC has become a private limited company.'
Jnanpith awardee Girish Karnad on Tuesday said 18th century Mysore ruler Tipu Sultan would have enjoyed the same status as of Maratha king Chhatrapathi Shivaji, if he was a Hindu and not a Muslim.
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