After watching Uri: The Surgical Strike, Syed Firdaus Ashraf gets the feeling that Modi has added another tool to help him win the 2019 Lok Sabha election: Hindi cinema...
'It is not that he has not committed any mistakes; he has.' 'But people were willing to forgive you if you were honest.'
'Painting opponents as the enemy of the State, using fake news, making wild allegations about rival parties, curtailing civil liberties and challenging the Constitution itself are worrying developments.'
'The procurement cycle still consumes too much time; little has changed.'
So who really is Narendra Modi? Do we really know him? Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com's ready reckoner on the mystery man who is India's new prime minister.
Success in Karnataka's assembly polls will hinge on two factors: Drop a large number of incumbent MLAs and project Modi and not the state leaders, least of all Bommai.
'The Republic is currently captained and crewed by people who seem interested in the safety and well being of only a select kind of passenger, advising the rest to swim for Pakistan,' points out Mitali Saran.
'Rahul is only making a pathetic public spectacle of his lack of judgment and good sense by hallucinating that somehow, the Congress, or whatever political combine is cobbled together, will displace the BJP at the coming Lok Sabha election by constantly harping on the Rafale deal,' argues retired civil servant B S Raghavan.
'Extravagant new promises can buy him time, but far from solving the problem, they compound the risk.' 'His main alternative is to stress not aspirations, but resentments.' 'He has already de-emphasised aspirational appeals: Nothing has been heard for over two years of the coming of achhe din,' points out James Manor.
'India has demonstrated that if tomorrow, any enemy country that has a lot of satellites threatens it, India can (bring them down).'
Even his critics say Thaawar Chand Gehlot is a man of delivery. 'If a task is assigned, he wins it over with political sagacity,' they say.
It appears that the party has some kind of political death wish, observe Sunil Gatade and Venkatesh Kesari.
'China physically occupies about 45,000 sq km of J&K as claimed by India, including 3,000 sq km captured in the 1962 War and never returned; and 5,180 sq km ceded to China by Pakistan in 1963.' 'It is hard to justify remaining silent about the return of China occupied Ladakh,' observes Ajay Shukla.
'If there is any possibility, then the BJP has to accept our conditions. There should be caste census in the country, the report of the social justice committee should be implemented, the CM should be from backward caste and also the poor must be provided a uniform, mandatory and free education as well as free medical treatment.'
The Indian economy was on an impressive growth path through the first decade of this century till it was brought to an abrupt halt by the policy inertia during UPA2 and the Modi government's inability to restore economic and financial momentum. Fascinating glimpses of what went wrong from Puja Mehra's must-read book The Lost Decade: How India's Growth Story Devolved Into Growth Without A Story.
'He failed to foresee that the campaign of hatred need not be continuous; a sporadic, scattered campaign is enough.' 'What was important is to keep the pot boiling, not let it overflow like happened during the masjid-mandir days,' notes Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
'The prime minister in a way defeated the ill-designs of separatist forces.'
The Bengal Tiger, the Asiatic Lion and the more widespread leopard have had to swallow their pride. Rarely has the prime minister turned up in person, sun hat and camera at the ready, to welcome a member of the big cat family, notes Shyam G Menon.
'The farm bills will not bring in corporate zamindari'
Among the other names tipped to make it to the Cabinet are Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sarbananda Sonowal, Baijayant Panda.
'Speaking this year from the ramparts of the Red Fort, he excelled himself in content, diction and delivery -- all extemporaneously flowing, replete with felicitous expressions and captivating word play. 'The only other Indian prime minister with whom he stands comparison is Jawaharlal Nehru who too shunned prepared speeches and established instant rapport with his audiences,' says B S Raghavan.
'If one is saying the Modi government makes me feel insecure or will put me in jail if I say anything against him, do not worry, as he won't do any such thing.'
'I do not think it's possible for the winners and losers to shake hands and go back to regular business at the end of this.' 'It seems visceral, personal and nasty at a depth we have not plumbed before,' says Aakar Patel.
Historically, Mumbai has been the cinema capital of India and for her to have a film museum of this kind was perhaps a natural happening.
'If you want to change everything all of a sudden to polyester, then the production of khadi flags will come under trouble.'
Some of the key proposals of the agenda relate to transforming the banking sector, addressing agrarian distress, countering hate crimes and discrimination, and spurring employment generation.
The election campaign finally ended on Friday, May 17. Arindam Majumder reveals what he discovered on the election front on a long rail journey.
The Tamil film industry won't forget Vijayakanth's large-heartedness, how he took care of fellow industry persons, male or female, rich or poor, young or old...recalls N Sathiya Moorthy. How he sent money quietly for the family of a stunt artiste to meet his funeral expenses, how he always ensured that all female co-stars, including junior artistes, had secure accommodation on outdoor shoots, and how he would always the first to rush help if anyone from the fraternity was in distress.
'It disappoints and saddens me no end that Mahua has allowed herself to be carried away by the Goebbelsian onslaught mounted on the BJP and Narendra Modi by certain vested interests which find themselves exposed and thrown out of the gravy train,' says B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant.
The ad is one more illustration of the way Maharashtra's new Shinde-Fadnavis government has been milking the Ganpati festival, with CM Eknath Shinde visiting Ganpati Mandals all day these last 10 days.
'I approached the ministries for a response, but they did not respond on time, so I had to approach the court.'
'It doesn't take much time for people's perception to change about a person.' 'People come and go based on people's will.' 'Nobody should forget that.'
PM to take a call on reopening places of worship on Saturday; state governments empowered to take a call on malls and wedding halls; domestic flights expected to resume on May 18, with Air India being first off the blocks.
For the first time in our political history, Pakistan has become centre stage of the incumbent's campaign, points out Shekhar Gupta.
How many seats will the TDP win? How many seats will the YSR Congress win?
'The Constitution must reflect the reality of mature states because otherwise it is the Centre that will become irrelevant,' says T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan.
'Modi should have trust in us and the minorities should also have trust in him.'
Regional films may have prevailed over the country, but regional leaders still have far mountains to climb to reach Delhi, asserts Shreekant Sambrani.
The US has all along interfered in India-China issues. The objective is clear: Bring the Sino-Indian standoff to a flashpoint that would compel Modi government to take shelter under an American umbrella, argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
