"Guide to looting India by Nirav Modi - - 1) Hug PM Modi 2) Be seen with him in Davos. Use that clout to: A) Steal 12,000 crore B) Slip out of the country like Mallya, while the government looks the other way," Congress chief Rahul Gandhi tweeted.
Congress Vice president Rahul Gandhi's live video chat session appeared to be a last-ditch effort to bridge the gap with party workers and boost their morale with an eye on the coming general election. Anita Katyal reports
Meanwhile, Congress president Rahul Gandhi took a swipe at the Modi government and Anil Ambani over the Rafale issue, saying that in order to bag India's biggest defence contracts one has to be a "defaulter of Rs 45,000 crore" and have "no relevant experience".
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Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday kick-started his three-day-long road show in Uttar Pradesh.
The award committee recognised his contribution to the growth of Indian and global economies, crediting 'Modinomics' for reducing social and economic disparity between the rich and the poor.
Despite both parties joining hands to fight the elections, they have fielded different candidates for the polls in this region.
Narendra Modi on Sunday hit back at Sonia Gandhi over her 'zeher ki kheti' barb saying it is the Congress which spews poison and reaps the harvest out of it with its divisive politics.
The BJP's charge was that the matter was being politicised as Prime Minister Narendra Modi came from a poor family
In a counter attack on Rahul Gandhi for asking Narendra Modi to "stop fooling" the people, BJP leader Arun Jaitley today said voters are not ullus (fools) if they exercise their vote against the Congress.
As indications emerge that Centre could withdraw the controversial ordinance on lawmakers, Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress on Wednesday engaged in a slugfest over the issue with the Opposition claiming victory and the ruling party accusing it of changing tunes.
'This is the era of images; no speech that Mukherjee could have given could counter the sight of a senior Congressman, elevated by the party to Rashtrapati Bhavan, standing rigidly next to the RSS gerontocracy as those worthies delivered the organisation's faux-fascist salute,' says Mihir Sharma.
Sparks flew in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday after BJP leader Subramanian Swamy dragged Sonia Gandhi's name in the AgustaWestland helicopter bribery case
The Congress's revival plan says it needs to bring back into its fold Hindus repelled by the Sangh Parivar, take its message to youth and women and sections upset at curbs on their personal freedoms.
Modi said it was time to rid 'Devbhoomi', or the land of the gods as Himachal Pradesh is known, of monsters.
Second-line AIADMK leaders and cadres alike say that by starting the talks first with the BJP and committing the party to an alliance without discussing seat-sharing, the leadership might have commenced the coalition discourse at the wrong end. According to them, even 20 seats for the BJP may be too many, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Emboldened by the BJP victory, the upper castes feel they must assert themselves and regain dominance over the rural power structure.'
If the Congress manages to upset its dominant rival, the BJP, in these assembly polls, then it will be a big boost to the opposition for the Lok Sabha polls, while a good show by the BJP will energise its cadres and give a fillip to its hopes of retaining the power at the Centre in 2019.
''The Congress has forgotten how to mobilise people on political issues,' says Aakar Patel.
'Modi cannot drag India back into a primitive epoch resembling the religious wars in medieval Europe and at the same time claim to represent the aspirations of modernity among Indians,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'The people of Jharkhand know that Modi is not going to become chief minister, so why should they vote for the BJP?'
With GST, demonetisaton and the banking sector reset, investment banker Christopher Wood expects PM to focus on generating jobs ahead of the 2019 election.
'Muslims may turn to the BJP or may not come out to vote in great numbers like they have in the past.' 'Anything can happen.' 'They can feel an increased sense of alienation, but that depends on the BJP -- on how it includes them.'
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As the iconic 163-year-old telegram passed into history, the last message was sent to Rahul Gandhi and director general of DD news SM Khan. The telegram counter closed at 11:45 pm on Sunday night and the last message was booked at the counter of Central Telegraph Office, Janpath by one Ashwani Mishra.
'The handling of the pandemic, under this totally constitutional and legal three-level dictatorship, has begun to show its downside,' observes Shekhar Gupta.
Italian PM Paolo Gentiloni's visit is the first prime ministerial trip from Italy in more than a decade.
To fill seats, airlines have resorted to fare wars following the adverse impact on ticket sales, reports Arindam Majumder.
An inchoate anger is brewing within the party against the central leadership after the poor show in the assembly polls.
The Lok Sabha will start a discussion on the Budget on Wednesday.
The Ministry of Home Affairs amended its guidelines on October 12 to include the chairman, managing director or chief executive officer of each public sector bank on the list of authorities who can issue requests for opening look-out circulars against whom an FIR is yet to be filed.
'There's nothing in the 2019 campaign air, the chunavi hawa that tells you it's a wave election, for anyone,' argues Shekhar Gupta.
The Congress is of the view that firming up of proper opposition alliances in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra is crucial.
Raising the issue in the Andhra Pradesh assembly, Naidu said, "What Shah wrote is a pack of lies and half-truths. It is not only insulting but also provoking the people of AP. It lacked any dignity."
In an emotional response to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's jibes at her Italian origins, Sonia Gandhi on Monday said India is her home and "it is here that my ashes will mingle with my loved ones".
'I am trying to make the political system more answerable to the people.'
'It is nobody's contention that uncomfortable questions regarding national security should not be raised. But that is a topic for another day and another time when the immediate threat has faded,' argues Vivek Gumaste.
The former minister has alleged a motivated campaign against her in the party.
'Like 2014, 2017 was also Modi's election.' 'Every voter you met, apart from those who are BJP cadres, everybody said they would vote for Modi, not the BJP.' 'The one and only factor is the Modi juggernaut. He is the one who turned the tide.' 'The wave which he created in 2014, and to maintain it for three years, is a huge task in itself.'
With its gaze steadily fixed on the well-being of its people, the government is going about taking all the imperative measures that need to be taken to beat back the pandemic, observes B S Raghavan.
Noting that oil prices had gone down after the BJP-led government came to power in May 2014, before they went up, Prasad said it is a problem whose solution is not in its hands.
During his college days, Hardeep Puri was a student leader who was active in the JP movement.
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