Hinduism, nationalism and socialism may be okay separately, but in equal combination they yield political nonsense.
'If the leadership gets wrong information, what results you can expect?'
'People do not want a 'maha milavat' (highly adulterated) government of those who assembled in Kolkata.'
Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu, actor Pawan Kalyan and I will come together to get 111 seats in Andhra Pradesh, says Narendra Modi in Hyderabad. Vicky Nanjappa report
'This letter is not a complaint, it's more indignation, because we do not like being used as political tools by people of various parties.'
Taking an apparent dig at Modi, Gandhi satirised a song, saying "Aapka toh lagta hai bas yahi sapna, ram ram japna garibo kaa maal apna (It seems your only dream is to take away money from poor while chanting the name of Ram)".
'This is a historic juncture when the US is in great need of an alliance with India to strengthen its hands in the fierce struggle with China in the Asian theatre,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
A Congress-led opposition on Tuesday came together seeking to pin down the government on the demonetisation issue in the winter session of Parliament beginning tomorrow but a consenses eluded on Trinamoll Congress's proposed march to Rashtrapati Bhawan for meeting the President.
It is possibly the first time that a regional party with not even enough numbers to move a no-trust motion has taken the lead, and others are following it. The hints of a no-trust move first came from the YSR Congress, and the ruling TDP could not have stayed on together when the question is another version of 'Telugu atma gouravam' - an issue that fired its founder N T Rama Rao in the 1980s, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
According to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who spent 19 months in prison during the 1975 Emergency imposed by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi, it is not possible for anybody to convert a democratic India into a "dictatorship" in this day and age.
'The BJP has the opportunity to undo a lot of the damage that we have suffered as a society which looks away from mass violence.'
A consensus builder, Jaitley was regarded by some as Modi's original 'Chanakya'.
The prime minister has emerged as the most widely-travelled PM compared to his predecessors.
The period of Internal Emergency from June 1975 till January 1977 was a great learning experience for me. I was still a student and one of the youngest detenus who spent 19 months in detention for having opposed the Emergency.
The Congress leader said democracy allows dissent and debate and not monologues in an apparent barb at Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
'The BJP is taking a risk in Assam, but it may face a tough time in coming times,' says Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty.
'If somebody in your family listens more to your neighbour than you, then doesn't the fault lie with you also? This is what is happening in Kashmir.'
'I am more worried about the BJP as I see lot of marginalisation of top leaders in the BJP.' 'I am really worried about the terminal decline of the Congress. And the greatest tragedy is that there are so many good people in the Congress.' 'It will take a couple of years, but this is the most appropriate time for a new political party and leadership to emerge.'
Vajpayee's ashes will be immersed in rivers in all the districts in Uttar Pradesh -- his karmabhoomi.
'We are not a dictatorship. If the people do not desire some law, it is impossible for any government to implement it,' says BJP leader Chandra Kumar Bose.
She said there were attempts to communalise the guru's teachings and this amounts to 'betraying' him.
Mamata Banerjee was on Friday sworn in as the chief minister of West Bengal for the second consecutive time, heading a 42-member ministry.
As Narendra Modi files his nomination in Varanasi, Praful Bidwai believes 'a straight contest against Priyanka would have put Modi on the defensive and forced him to concentrate on Varanasi.'
For successive governments the Election Commission remains a 'holy cow', where unhealthy precedents are allowed to be nurtured since Independence, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'If the Singh government was characterised by policy paralysis, this one is afflicted by hyperactivism, sans a roadmap,' says Yogendra Yadav.
Members of Parliament on Sunday bid adieu to outgoing President Pranab Mukherjee.
Modi hasn't raised or encouraged the raising of slogans such as 'Jai Sri Ram' at public meetings
'Even if we expect that the economy will be hit and GDP is lowered for a few quarters by the reckless demonetisation, this will itself not be sufficient to dislodge Modi's popularity,' says Aakar Patel.
In the normal course, a high turnout reflects anti-incumbency but there is no correlation between high turnout and advantage to the National Democratic Alliance, says Dharmendra Kumar Singh.
Taking a dig at Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar said he feared that there were grim indicators of Indian democracy being concentrated in one person's hand after the marginalisation of party veterans like LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi.
'...a dazzling flash, and then, fizzle,' argues Shekhar Gupta.
Asserting that inclusive growth will remain as central plank of the United Progressive Alliance, Congress President Sonia Gandhi said it was in tune with this concept that the government had launched a series of welfare programmes and legislative initiatives, especially for the weaker sections.
'The Left is dying, but its economic ideology rules, unchallenged.' 'Modi is its newest standard-bearer.' 'Even in today's bitterly polarised politics, if there is one thing on which not just the BJP and Congress, but all other parties agree, it is that socialist economics is the only way to survive,' says Shekhar Gupta.
Apart from Joseph, Justices Indira Banerjee, Vineet Saran sworn in as judges of the Supreme Court in the order of seniority notified by the Centre.
'An event that should have made India proud was being perceived entirely as a money-making enterprise, resting on malpractices and without any benefits whatsoever for the Capital and its people.'
'Is this protest real or a manufactured one? Is this not a case of ideological intolerance?" the finance minister writes in a Facebook post.
Not amused by imposition of President's Rule by the Centre, Rawat termed it as the 'murder of democracy'.
'The handling of the pandemic, under this totally constitutional and legal three-level dictatorship, has begun to show its downside,' observes Shekhar Gupta.
The move is aimed at reflecting the diversity of India and highlighting the contribution of prominent personalities.
'While the meeting on December 6th was perfectly legal, was it ethical?' asks Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
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