India requested Pakistan to let Modi's aircraft fly over its airspace to Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan.
'The oddest thing about this general election campaign so far is that one might think that the BJP was fighting with its back to the wall, rather than as the favourite to win.' 'Perhaps there is something they know that we don't,' says Mihir S Sharma.
The BJP's rediscovery of its allies, including the PM touching the feet of Parakash Singh Badal, would be interpreted as the party's efforts to keep its flock together if it falls short of the majority mark on May 23.
'When he has been retired against his will, Advani appears to have found the merits of tolerance.' 'It took his one-time pupil to teach the old man his own lesson,' says Aakar Patel.
'Victims of terrorism do not sit together with its perpetrators to discuss terrorism.'
If the prime minister says clearly there is going to be no NRC and that the Census will drop the NPR questions, the Census will proceed. He will not, observes Aakar Patel.
The BJP hopes that any vote AAP gets should only be from the Congress. At the same time, it does not want AAP to get too much of it. Because, a declining old opponent is a blessing as much as a rising new rival is a threat, points out Shekhar Gupta.
'I don't think there will be any problem for Hindus to accept Adityanath as the leader, since they have already chosen Modi.'
Dominc Xavier wonders if this latest Modi pitch is in tune with strongmen trends around the world, setting the course for a presidential-style poll during the Lok Sabha election.
A handsome victory for the BJP in UP would act as confirmation of its recent political choices. The UP chief minister would be cemented in the popular mind as Mr Modi's chosen heir within the Hindutva fold, and presumably as his successor in New Delhi, observes Mihir S Sharma.
Is Amit Anilchandra Shah being clearly projected as Narendra Damodardas Modi's future successor and not anyone else (cough, cough) with similar ambitions?
What some of our leaders were up to on Friday, November 11.
'It is inevitable when he pleases those who share his Hindutva ideology that at the same time he can alienate those who do not feel he speaks for them.'
The prime minister has been unstoppable as he transported the BJP to colossal success on a wave of muscular nationalism, majoritarian pride and charisma.
September 2, 2022 was a historic day in the Indian Navy's history as Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi commissioned India's first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant at the Cochin Shipyard in Kochi.
Dominic Xavier wonders what will happen to the poorest who have been ravaged by the strict lockdown imposed by the Narendra Modi govt in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic and the unemployment rates spiralling out of control every passing month.
'For Modi, it's not just winning, but winning with style.'
'They are happy for the Hindu community as Ram Lalla is consecrated in Ayodhya.'
'The BJP is saying we have Modi, who have you got?' 'We have the people of India on our side.'
This past week, His Holiness has been in Leh, the capital of Ladakh, the Union Territory where Indian and Chinese soldiers have been in a standoff for two years, since April 2020.
IIn the first of a year-end series of observations on 2020, Dominic Xavier is still shocked by the nightmare that the lockdown wrought on India.
A memorandum submitted by the journalists accused India's minister of state for home -- no less! -- of scuffling with them and snatching a reporter's mobile phone.
'For the first time, all major countries are discovering India's indispensability to their own foreign policy interests.'
'If Rajpath was a symbol of slavery, how is the Central Vista not a symbol of slavery?'
'There is so much for the country that we have to achieve.' 'Be it Aatmanirbhar Bharat campaign, or economic targets or many other pledges like this, we have to achieve them during this period.'
A faltering economy may have led to a re-think on economic strategy. And Mr Modi might think he is politically strong enough to take some risks. But there could be a minefield ahead, observes T N Ninan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi scored 62.3 per cent in his masters in Political Science, Gujarat University's Vice Chancellor M N Patel has said.
Uttam Ghosh offer his take on the Pragya Thakur controversy.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday said the country has to decide if the sweetness of sugarcane will grow or the followers of Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah will cause mischief in the state, in a veiled attack on the Samajwadi Party (SP).
Film folk, politicians and sports personalities joined hundreds of fans as they paid their last respects to Lata Mangeshkar.
The prime minister's insistence that his voice cannot be suppressed left me both puzzled and amused. He has at his call, the government's official news dissemination/publicity channels, the pliant newspapers and television channels that were eager to prostrate themselves before a powerful government and yet, the dominant voice thinks it is in competition with other voices! exclaims Shyam G Menon.
'The Saudis are in the driving seat in navigating the relations with India; they set its compass and calibrate its pace,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
We love a leader who oozes authority and firmness, notes Virendra Kapoor.
Lara celebrates Saira's birthday... Rajkummar begins a new project... Ashutosh meets Modi...
'The autonomy of essential institutions is clearly under question as the Modi government seeks to influence them politically.' 'The credibility of institutions such as the EC, the CBI, the CVC, the UPSC, the RBI, media, and universities, has been compromised,' notes Zoya Hasan, the distinguished political thinker.
'If he loses Gujarat, then he has a major, major, problem coming up in 2024.'
If the challenge of the government is to regain the confidence of the minorities, it has to first overpower its own unruly gangs and their heroic masters, says Sunil Varghese.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Monday traded barbs with her party dubbed as 'Behenji Sampatti Party' and she punning on his initials calling him 'Mr Negative Dalit Man'.
'My protest was in the interest of the nation.' 'I am just doing my duty as a citizen of this country.'
