Opposition parties now recognise that the king on one side of the chessboard, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is ensconced, and unlikely to be shaken, although on his side there are no identifiable kings, queens, rooks, bishops or knights.
Be it Assam, Haryana or Delhi, the Congress is facing one crisis after another regarding its Rajya Sabha nominations, reports Renu Mittal.
Anti-incumbency sentiment in Punjab puts SAD in a weak spot. But voters remain divided over AAP and Congress. Sahil Makkar reports.
Of all the Indian films screened in Toronto, three stood out for Aseem Chhabra -- A Death in the Gunj, Mostly Sunny and An Insignificant Man.
Congress gets into the opposition groove but still has miles to go, says Saroj Nagi.
The Planning Commission's latest poverty estimates, based on the 2011-12 consumption expenditure survey, shows that across India, the number of people living below the poverty line declined by more than 15 percentage points -- from 2004-05 to 2011-12 and from 37 per cent to 21.9 per cent.
Companies use journalists as conduits.
'The UPA was never soft on Pakistan, terrorists and even China, but Sonia Gandhi's Congress rightly earned a "soft" image on issues of hard national interest, leaving the field open for Modi to take it and wrap it around with his implicit Hindutva,' says Shekhar Gupta.
Despite serious corruption charges, this year has seen the resurgence of tainted leaders from across parties and states. Be it Yeddyurappa in Karnataka or Lalu Prasad Yadav in Bihar -- caste affiliation and an individual candidate's credentials matter far more than his alleged involvement in scams, says Anita Katyal
"Our only solace is that Modi will win Varanasi, but there will be a by-election here. Modi will not be able to cobble 272 seats to become prime minister so he will remain the chief minister of Gujarat. He will resign from Varanasi and then we will ensure Kerjiwal's handsome win." Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt reports on how Varanasi's 300,000 Muslim voters are strategising their vote.
'The BJP's solo aim in Mumbai and Maharashtra is to finish off the Shiv Sena and Sharad Pawar's NCP.'
The film faces opposition from fringe Rajput groups, who allege that it distorts history and show Queen Padmavati in "poor light".
For successive governments the Election Commission remains a 'holy cow', where unhealthy precedents are allowed to be nurtured since Independence, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The BJP is confident of winning all the 29 Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh and even political experts believe the Congress stands no chance. Bikash Mohapatra reports
The Election Commission has taken action against Narendra Modi for flashing the Bharatiya Janata Party symbol while addressing a presser after he cast his vote in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.
The Congress vice president accused the Akalis of trying to set the film 'Udta Punjab', which highlights the drugs problem in the state, banned and said they are not ready to admit the truth as they are "benefiting" from drugs and lawlessness.
A party of newbies which had anger as fuel and hope in its own capability to work wonders suddenly finds itself not only in government but put on fast forward by everyone. These are heavy burdens for a fledgeling party, to perform under a microscope. Transparency is what they promised, and they are in a glass house now, says Mahesh Vijapurkar.
Amethi's member of Parliament failed to use his first formal television interview to reach out to the people in general and the electorate in particular ahead of the crucial elections in which the Congress has already been written off by opinion polls and surveys. He did little to change that impression by failing to exploit the platform provided to him.
As the year 2014 draws to an end, we at Rediff.com take to look at some of the ridiculous remarks made by some blundering politicos.
Sonia Gandhi's iftar was meant to be a powerful show of unity of Opposition parties to take on the Modi Sarkar, but that was not to be...
Despite the recent electoral reverses, Rahul is getting ready to walk the fire once more. The question is whether he will get burned or burnished in the process, says Saroj Nagi.
"(Former PM) Atal Bihari Vajpayee said 'raj dharma' was not followed in Gujarat (during the 2002 riots). Now, 'raj dharma' is not being followed in case of Andhra Pradesh. We have been denied what was rightfully ours," he claimed.
'Does the government help ordinary citizens like you and me with our marriages, birthdays and anniversaries?' Rashme Sehgal reports on the controversy over the the Art Of Living Foundation's plans for a cultural festival on the Yamuna floodplains.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's monogrammed bandhgala, which he wore at his meeting with United States President Barack Obama in January and which has been under auction for the last three days in Surat, has finally been sold for a whopping price of Rs 4.31 crore.
The BJP's defeat in Delhi could turn into a larger national swing, but Prime Minister Modi and his party have enough time to tweak the party's policy agenda and project a more humble, secular, and inclusive image, say Ravi Agrawal and Harmeet Shah Singh
Before the situation in the Naxal-affected areas got out of hand, the Raman Singh government intervened to calm tempers between the police and human rights activists.
'You have a chance to use this massive mandate to push through life changing reforms, transform India into a superpower because our nation's biggest strength are its people, and we the people are the most hardworking industrious and entrepreneurial the world has ever seen.' 'Arm us with a society which lives without fear, a governance where business can be conducted smoothly without greasing palms, instill in this great nation a sense of pride once again. Let this nation be bigger than you and the party.' Suparn Verma's impassioned appeal to Narendra Modi.
'Congress is on the defensive about scams and corruption charges... The media is against the UPA.... The Nehru family is not just another family; it is a national wealth,'Kerala Chief Minister Oomen Chandy tells Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier.
Ramesh says that since the attitude of the Narendra Modi government is deliberately provocative and confrontational, it should not expect cooperation from the Congress.
Allegations of electronic voting machines malfunctioningreturned to haunt the Election Commission as four Lok Sabha seats and nine assembly constituencies went for bypolls on Monday across 10 states with moderate-to-heavy voting amid prestige at stake for the Bharatiya Janata Party as well as opposition parties ahead of the 2019 general elections.
'I want to know, how can any God become impure if woman enters the temple?'
Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari puts them out of the ambit of Motor Vehicles Act; experts say some regulation, licensing and driver training will be necessary
Modi has the ideas for a new, hopeful India, and an idiom in which to sell optimism to voters. But he doesn't yet have the team for it, and soon enough, questions will begin to be asked by an impatient, non-ideological, I-don't-owe-anybody-anything generation of Indian voters, says Shekar Gupta.
According to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who spent 19 months in prison during the 1975 Emergency imposed by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi, it is not possible for anybody to convert a democratic India into a "dictatorship" in this day and age.
Glaring contrasts in various spheres in this Nehru-Gandhi family pocketborough are being raised by the rivals to target Congress President Sonia Gandhi for lop-sided development in the constituency from where she is seeking a fourth term.
'Dalits are not going to vote for the BJP in 2019.'
Hitting the streets against the controversial land bill, Congress on Tuesday accused the Narendra Modi government of being "anti-farmer" and "pro-corporate" and vowed to take the battle across the country but both Sonia and Rahul Gandhi were conspicuous by their absence.
Is Shivraj Singh Chouhan paying the price of being in the wrong camp? Aditi Phadnis and Shashikant Trivedi find out.
Sukanya Verma shares her exciting filmi week with us.
'Prior to the elections, there were many direct attacks on rivals on the social media, but post election, he has taken a more 'benevolent leader' style of tweeting, by sticking to largely non-controversial topics and positive tweets.' 'He generally avoids topics that have the potential of becoming argumentative flashpoints.'
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