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.
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".
The former minister has alleged a motivated campaign against her in the party.
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.
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."
The Congress is of the view that firming up of proper opposition alliances in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra is crucial.
'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 Sensex, after witnessing an intra-day movement of 324 points, finally ended 372 points up at 4,877. The Nifty finished above the 1,500-mark with a gain of 115 points at 1,504.
'The handling of the pandemic, under this totally constitutional and legal three-level dictatorship, has begun to show its downside,' observes Shekhar Gupta.
'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.'
'I am trying to make the political system more answerable to the people.'
During his college days, Hardeep Puri was a student leader who was active in the JP movement.
YSR Congress Party chief Y S Jaganmohan Reddy said the wave in favour of Narendra Modi played a role in his party's defeat in the Seemandhra region, where the Telugu Desam Party-Bharatiya Janata Party combine swept to power.
Congress Member of Parliament and party spokesperson Sushmita Dev tells Kavita Chowdhury that party Vice-President Rahul Gandhi's "new kind of politics" has revitalised the party, lifting it from the gloom of the 2014 general elections.
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.
"Please speak within the confines of law". This was the advice given by Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde to politicians on Monday after some statements kicked up a controversy.
'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 government says MPs will be busy campaigning in Gujarat. The Opposition counters this, saying campaigning for elections in 5 states was held in the midst of the Budget session earlier this year.
In a first of a 12-part series, we list out all the places you should visit and all the festivals you should celebrate through the New Year!
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.
'The BJP will take time to come to power in Andhra.'
"Modi is a leader, recognised worldwide," it said.
The portfolios were cleared by Congress president Rahul Gandhi as the exercise had turned out to be tricky for the party state leaders.
A poster war has erupted between ruling Janata Dal-United and opposition Bharatiya Janata Party in Gaya ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the holy city to address a party rally scheduled for Sunday.
'The BJP was looking at one or two disgruntled guys to see whether it can destabilise the government.' 'When the BJP does not win a state, it uses these back hand methods.'
'Bullying is not going to scare me.' 'Nana Patekar has no powerful friends. It is just a perception created by his friends.' 'I have really powerful voices like Maneka Gandhi supporting me.'
The immigration officer has been identified by investigators after checking the CCTV footage of the immigration area in IGI airport in New Delhi.
Monika Khangembam, a resident of Imphal, was asked about her nationality by an officer at the immigration desk despite carrying a valid Indian passport.
Veteran Wasim Jaffer became the first batsman to reach the landmark of 11,000 runs in Ranji Trophy during Day 2 of Nagpur's Group A match against Baroda on Wednesday.
Here are some best moments from Hollande's visit.
When Nirmala Sitharaman and Narendra Tomar arrived in Shimla, they could not have anticipated the scene that awaited them.
The is for the first time such a scanner, till now opposed over privacy concerns, will be installed and made operational for a trial at any civil airport in the country, officials said.
Nikhat from Telengana was handed the fourth spot in the 51 kg category which already has the six-time World Champion MC Mary Kom, RSPB's Jyoti Gulia and Haryana's Ritu Grewal as other contenders.
When Congress delegates gathered at Burari in 2011 for a two-day All India Congress Committee session, the political resolution adopted at the meeting was unusually harsh on the Bharatiya Janata Party and its ideological mentor the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, even going as far as to liken the right wing group to Nazis for its hatred of Muslims.
By jettisoning the seniority principle, the government has sent a strong signal that only merit and suitability will count in occupying posts in the higher echelons of the military, writes national security expert Nitin Gokhale.
The 15-year-old Congress-Nationalist Congress Party alliance in Maharashtra broke up on Thursday with the regional party deciding to contest next month's assembly polls on its own and pulling out of the government, setting the stage for its fall.
Pitching its 'Aam ka mausam' to counter the Bharatiya Janata Party's Modi-wave pitch, the Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday fielded volunteers wearing T-shirts with mangoes printed on them when party convenor Arvind Kejriwal addressed his first public meeting here in the run-up to Lok Sabha polls.
Combative Congress members, upset over the National Herald case, on Tuesday paralysed Parliament protesting against alleged "vendetta politics" leading to repeated adjournments in the Lok Sabha as well as Rajya Sabha.
Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar gave this information to the Parliamentary Committee on Exernal Affairs.
Wriddhiman Saha struck timely form with an attacking century and also put on a fighting, 203-run unbroken partnership with captain Cheteshwar Pujara to push Rest of India firmly towards the winning target on day four of the Irani Cup game against Gujarat on Monday.
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