'The government is plucking leaves and not destroying the plant.'
The Shiv Sena has spurned Congress' request to participate in the bandh.
Mayawati was outmanoeuvred by the BJP in the race for the Rajya Sabha in Uttar Pradesh just days after she helped the Samajwadi Party snatch two Lok Sbaha seats from the saffron party in bypolls.
The 61-year-old feisty leader, who had single-handedly wrecked the red bastion in West Bengal in 2011, was unfazed by the Left-Congress alliance ahead of the assembly polls.
The DMK feels its genuine gestures have had no bearing on the governor's politico-administrative conduct, which is 'more political and politicised than administrative and Constitutional', observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu had begun seeing Governor Ravi's decisions and actions as a part of the state BJP's non-stop criticism of its government and directed from Delhi, a view strengthened by the governor's decision to return the NEET exemption bill, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
As the news of Kalam broke, condolences and tributes poured in from all corners of the country, reflecting the huge popularity he enjoyed both in and out of the highest office of the country that earned him the sobriquet of the "people's President."
We sorted through countless photographs taken around the world to come up with the top photos of 2019. Together these images tell the story of the year -- capturing moments of hope and heartbreak, triumph and tragedy.
A driver, working for US-based cab service provider Uber, was remanded in police custody for three days by a Delhi court for allegedly raping a 27-year-old woman executive in New Delhi on Friday night.
'His prosecutors have no doubt turned a student union leader into a national figure - howsoever briefly - with their miscalculations and misdeeds, and have done Kanhaiya a huge favour.' 'But he will soon realise that it is a double-edged sword that he has been handed,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
With the Congress gunning for Smriti Irani with a privilege Motion, the BJP hit back by pressing for similar action against Jyotiraditya Scindia.
A consensus builder, Jaitley was regarded by some as Modi's original 'Chanakya'.
Will Malik's worldview, shaped by his years with the socialists, Charan Singh, the Congress and V P Singh, help him govern the troubled state? Or would his rule have the imprint of the party he joined in the latter years of his chequered political career?
Rahul Gandhi has not erred by not engaging with Muslim conservatives. After all, they had misled his father in 1986 to legislate a misogynistic law after the Supreme Court verdict in the Shah Bano case, which helped the BJP rise at the cost of the Congress, says Mohammad Sajjad.
She claimed states were not consulted about it, a charge dismissed by the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the examination.
Activist and journalist Madhu Kishwar on Smriti Irani and the controversy over the four-year course offered by the Delhi University.
'I suggest Rahul Bajaj come out in the open and give us his own white paper on the perceived sense of fear that he thinks haunts corporate India,' says Dr Sudhir Bisht.
Although the authorities had maintained till the last minute that Mevani and his supporters did not have permission to hold the event, it seems the rally organisers and Delhi Police reached a compromise later.
The farmer representatives were unanimous in seeking repeal of the 3 laws.
Claiming that the Trinamool Congress is not perturbed over desertions by some leaders, she said politics is a solemn ideology and philosophy and one cannot change these everyday like clothes.
'Is the agenda of the RSS according to the Constitution of India? They talk of Hindu Raj, Hindutva. Is this Constitutional?'
'There is perhaps a need to pay heed to L K Advani's belief about an Emergency re-run,' says Amulya Ganguli.
Mamata Banerjee was on Friday sworn in as the chief minister of West Bengal for the second consecutive time, heading a 42-member ministry.
Just as the superstars of Indian cricket only play IPL and international fixtures and ignore the Ranji and Mushtaq Ali trophies in domestic cricket, Narendra Modi should play a very limited role in state assembly elections, argues Sudhir Bisht.
Bodo tribals influence as many as 30 seats. No wonder, national parties are keen to forge alliances with Bodo groups.
Amid the political controversy over India's participation in the Commonwealth Heads of Government meet in Sri Lanka, the Congress top brass on Friday met to take a call on whether Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should attend the event.
'The attempt to make Aadhaar mandatory has now emerged as an act of bullying by government agencies, turning citizens into subjects by making fundamental rights conditional on biometric identification,' says Gopal Krishna.
The year threw up quite a few shockers, some rather rude one. Below are Rediff.com's 12 picks that made us sit back and think, 'Did that really happen?'
The remark came when the former minister was asked what can break the ice in the bilateral dialogue process between India and Pakistan. Aiyar responding to the question, said, "Inko hataiye, humko laiye (remove them from power and bring us to the helm).
'Tamil Nadu will never allow the Centre's three-language policy'
The government imposed restrictions under Section 144 CrPC in Srinagar district.
'Isn't it tragic, comic as well as ironic that the people who owe their allegiance to the Constitution of India are declared deshdrohis without an iota of evidence?' 'But this mistake has to be corrected and those who actually and directly fomented the Bhima Koregaon riots and the masterminds behind these people will have to be exposed now.'
'Silencing citizens has become a major institutional process under this regime.' 'The anti-Indian argument is a bogey -- meant to silence independent thinking people in India and turn us into goats and sheep.'
The government said it is open to debating the JNU row in Parliament during the upcoming budget session starting February 23 with Modi saying that it will address the concerns raised by the opposition.
Many leaders from non-Hindi states, especially Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, had opposed the policy.
'Modi's campaign has been strikingly devoid of anti-Muslim rhetoric. After the kutta pilla incident, it has been several months since he said something horrible about the Muslims of India. It is the result of democratic constraints. He has to make compromises... He's trying to reinvent himself. He will politically hurt himself if 2002 becomes the definition of Mr Modi again', says political scientist Ashutosh Varshney.
The Citizenship Amendment Bill would possibly be the first piece of legislation that is perniciously discriminatory on the basis of religion/faith, says Mohammad Sajjad.
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.
Besides, the government would also undertake and promote steps for water conservation and curbing extraction of underground water, which is depleting the water table and is a matter of concern, the minister said.
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