'Except for the Akali Dal and Shiv Sena, the BJP has not found any permanent friends.' 'This is because most parties are genuinely concerned about what Hindutva politics does to Indian society,' argues Aakar Patel.
'If the Modi government is successful in extraditing a high-profile fugitive such as Vijay Mallya or Nirav Modi before the 2019 election, the government will be able to link demonetisation to this and turn it into a positive.'
'It is astonishing that such a serious issue be handled in so casual and cavalier a fashion, but this has become what is expected of this government,' observes Aakar Patel.
'It is obvious that the RSS's desire to gatecrash into the gated establishment which has generally been seen as the redoubt of the liberal intelligentsia is putting it at odds with the BJP which is less tolerant of the mentor's freshly-minted open-mindedness,' argues Amulya Ganguli.
'Patriotism won 400+ seats for the Congress party in 1984. How much will nationalism bring in, in 2019, is the question,' asks Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
The focus shifts almost immediately from celebrations to the challenges faced by the man who powered his party to 303 seats in the Lok Sabha.
'The voter is cautioning the BJP not to take them for granted.'
'There can be no dispute over the adverse impact such a policy will surely have on India's manufacturing competitiveness,' notes A K Bhattacharya.
'Under this government, tax laws have become more draconian, and the government itself is setting stiff, unrealistic targets for tax officials, who have got more powers to harass us,' points out Debashis Basu.
As the new year arrives, what is clear is that the BJP's stars continue to shine the brightest while its rivals' search for a way to dim their glow go on.
The concept of 'fairness by rulers' is deeply ingrained in Indians and any weakening of this dents the legitimacy of the ruler, warns military historian Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Glimpses of The Legend from our archives.
'Now, no one can stop me from making music till the day I die.'
'I don't believe that it beholds democracies like us who claim to be the largest democracy in the world, to have such a thin skin about the possibility of foreign commentary.'
Former Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya has opined that cutting trade with Beijing at this juncture would amount to sacrificing India's potential economic growth.
'The Modi government is trying hard to see if it could be sold to a private airline.' 'But it appears there are no takers.' 'If no buyer comes forward by June, the government will close down Air India,' predicts A K Bhattacharya.
'All I want the government to do is to make sure that the children whose parents are seriously ill don't lose their jobs for looking after their parents.'
'The Bills (Bharatiya Saksha, Bharatiya Nagarik Sanhita and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita) are arbitrary, opaque and ambiguous and structurally quite violent.'
The Olympic silver-medallist, who out-played Japan's Nozomi Okuhara 21-7, 21-7 in a lop-sided final in Basel, Switzerland on Sunday, earlier addressed the frenzied media at the Indira Gandhi InternationalAirport in New Delhi on Monday
'Potent nationalism doesn't just distract from the economic task at hand; it actively undermines it.'
'This announcement is big foolishness.' 'The government has no idea of economics. They are just announcing what comes to their mind.' 'Let them implement what they have announced and just see what will happen in two years.'
Varun, by remaining silent on the BJP action against him but at the same time remaining unperturbed and active, has shown that he is no pushover, observe Sunil Gatade and Venkatesh Kesari.
'Certainly if Advani had agreed to Vajpayee in sacking Modi, then we would never have been talking of Modi today.'
Surfing schools shut, roadside shops moved out, road being relaid, 10,000 police personnel expected... A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com finds a historical town getting ready to grab the headlines for 3 days.
'Bihar today has erected a barrier against the BJP bulldozing the polity, the Constitution, and Opposition parties.'
'Where you change the law and then say, we are following the law.' 'The fact is, the law is not meeting any international standards.' 'How can you call UAPA or PMLA a law when you are guilty until proven innocent?'
'The central government is putting conditions on farmers organisations, that they have to allow passenger trains to ply, only then will they allow goods trains to ply.'
"No government can be formed without Congress, which is a major and deeply-rooted party in the country. Congress is the main opposition party too. Others are regional parties," Raut said in Pune
'We will celebrate Independence Day as usual, but not this celebration from August 15 to 22 (as sought by the Modi government).'
'Genuine mistakes can and must be forgiven,' argues Vivek Gumaste.
This development assumes significance as the DMK, when it was in the opposition (2016-21) had staunchly opposed former Governor Banwarilal Purohit's review of state schemes and tour of districts.
One hopes in his next term, Narendra Modi will take up the mission of inculcating respect for following rules in Indians as a mission. Therein lies the chance for India to become a developed country, asserts Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
For those who think India's democracy is just fine and there has been no change in the last few years, perhaps it would be instructive to see what has happened on a few issues, observes Aakar Patel.
'A prime minister's responsibility is the entire nation.' 'The nation looks to you for protection, for security...' 'Politics has become larger than the nation's interests.'
'There is a compulsion to look hard, decisive, and risk-taking; start something; and then conclude it in a way you can claim victory.' 'That is not such an easy option against China,' notes Shekhar Gupta.
'But in 2024, the people of India will throw him out of power as the contradictions in him will be apparent.'
India looks less equal to China than 5 years ago, the strategic alliance with the US is hobbled by trade, and Pakistan is looking anything but chastened by Balakot. What has gone wrong? asks Shekhar Gupta.
Nivedita Mookerji goes in search of the elusive war room to track and respond to the coronavirus threat.
'The change of vocabulary in the India-US conversation was significant and refreshing.' 'It matched the styles of Trump and Modi.' 'The differences were not papered over, but there was determination to resolve them in the days ahead,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
'Good economics isn't necessarily bad politics, or vice versa,' says Shekhar Gupta.
