The CM also urged that there should be a minimal presence of people at the last rites of his father.
A new Congress leader may make an electoral impact by his very presence. Congress voters who had moved away from the party, after being influenced by the BJP's 'family rule' campaign, can now return with a certain moral satisfaction, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'While they were respectful of the PM, it was clear that as ministers, they owed their positions as much, if not more, to Mrs Gandhi.' 'When attacks were mounted on the PM, there was very little coordinated effort by the Congress, UPA ministers or other politicians to speak up in his favour and strongly defend him.' B K Chaturvedi, Cabinet Secretary during the early years of UPA1, reveals how the Manmohan Singh-Sonia Gandhi equation worked. A riveting excerpt from Chaturvedi's memoir, Challenges Of Governance: An Insider's View
In a move which could once again put the Congress in the firing line and give them a great deal of negative publicity, the party's core group in its meeting held on Friday evening has given the green signal to bring a fresh bill in the monsoon session of Parliament to keep political parties out of the ambit of the Right to Information Act.
On his maiden visit to Beijing, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping during which the two leaders agreed to strengthen the all-weather friendship and the USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
'There are voters that may only come out to vote for him because he's speaking to their issues and they may not be Democrat or Republican'
Since two weeks now, A K Antony has been meeting Congress leaders across India to pinpoint reasons behind the party's abysmal performance in Lok Sabha elections.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, who is at the helm of managing the country's economy for a decade, said that he will be stepping down this year, setting in motion the once-in-a-decade sweeping leadership change in the Communist country.
'Partition was a two-sided story in a very big way.' 'We've oversimplified it, blamed the British, thought of ourselves only as victims.' 'We've been both victims and perpetrators.'
There is disquiet and discomfort in the citizenry that can be touched and felt. No one is talking, but then, the Indian voter has not talked much -- with the conviction that all that goes up has to come down, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
"The Congress believes in the politics of appeasement and dynasty, whereas BJP follows politics of performance," Shah said.
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati termed the expansion of the Union council of ministers as a drama and said giving representation to a couple of leaders from the deprived sections will not ameliorate the lot of those communities.
Upholding principles was a luxury when there were charismatic leaders capable of winning elections without stooping low to indulge in identity politics, observes Virendra Kapoor.
'Outside the core voter base of upper caste Hindus, there is a large section unhappy with the performance of the BJP.'
The Congress's strategy is to get the bill passed in the Rajya Sabha and then try its luck in the Lok Sabha, where it is unsure of the Bharatiya Janata party's support for it. This, say sources, is the GoM's face-saver plan, as the Rajya Sabha's okay will keep the Bill alive for the 16th Lok Sabha.
Sources in various parties suggest that two lakh votes of the Patel community, locally known as OBC kurmi, for which mother-daughter led Apna Dal (S) and Apna Dal (K) are competing and over one lakh of OBC Rajbhars would be crucial in deciding the outcome of the assembly seats in Varanasi.
The Duncans Goenka group is in a spot of bother over the death of workers and non-payment of dues to employees.
'The way discrimination against Muslims has become almost normalised is very upsetting.'
The Chinese leader will display his grip on the Communist party and chart his plans for his country's future.
Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh is coming under increasing fire from his own party colleagues for quite a few reasons, says Anita Katyal
Most political leaders in Punjab have come out in the open to oppose him, unlike the early 1980s when political leaders were scared of speaking against Bhindranwale, observes Sudhir Bisht.
Many factors like women, caste combination, education qualification, age and performance of the legislators will be taken into consideration before the formation of the Yogi government 2.0, sources said on Thursday. Several rounds of meetings have taken place within the party after the poll results came out on March 10.
China on Monday continued its unprecedented military drills around Taiwan, extending the schedule of war games launched in retaliation to the visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the breakaway island which Beijing claims is part of its territory.
Xi, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, called the progress China had made under his watch "truly remarkable
Trinamool Congress leadership is yet to take a call on ghar wapsi (return home) by former TMC leaders who had joined the BJP ahead of the recently concluded assembly elections which the Mamata Banerjee-led party swept.
In a new political twist in Jammu and Kashmir, National Conference on Tuesday formally offered support to the People's Democratic Party in a letter to Governor N N Vohra for forming a government that could break the logjam of over three weeks.
Why is China's supreme leader promoting Han Chauvinism so aggressively, asks Claude Arpi.
A victory in Nandigram would not only establish him as one of the tallest BJP leaders in Bengal but would push him miles ahead of others in the chief ministerial race if the party is voted to power.
The Rajiv Gandhi assassination, investigation and trial were all jinxed in parts, recalls N Sathiya Moorthy.
Much depends on the BJP's electoral performance in next year's assembly elections. If the party fares well in UP and some states like Goa and Gujarat, it will be able to fob off the attempt at a reappraisal of its Hindutva doctrine, observes Amulya Ganguli.
Amid indication that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is unlikely to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit in Sri Lanka, the external affairs ministry on Saturday said no decision has been taken on the visit, which has been opposed by parties in Tamil Nadu as well as a section in Congress.
The new Congress president is building a core team of youngsters while waiting for his mother's coterie to retire, reports R Rajagopalan.
'Chief Minister Rio is holding the Naga Peace Accord hostage with his tacit support to the NSCN-IM, egging them to refuse to accept a solution within the Constitution.'
To beat BJP, you either deny them a critical mass of Hindu vote or build a regional leader and party strong enough to protect their turf, observes Shekhar Gupta.
Rather than lose direction with the Karnal protest, farmers decided to focus more on UP to defeat the BJP in the forthcoming assembly elections there, reports Nitin Kumar.
'Anyone can come and anyone can go.' 'There is no ideology or vision that differentiates one party from another.'
The outcome in UP is far more significant than in the other states going to the polls next year. An unlikely setback in UP can cramp the Modi government, virtually making it a lame-duck two years ahead of the 2024 parliamentary poll, observes Virendra Kapoor.
Sources said the new heads of the party in Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh will be announced soon.
'Economic issues do not matter during elections; it is the emotional connect that helps swing votes.'
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