New Delhi looks to be testing Omar's endurance with unconcealed glee, never feeling shy to bite whenever a moment comes its way. After all, ruling the country's only Muslim-majority UT/state has been the BJP's burning desire, points out Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
'The Election Commission's involvement in the avoidable SIR controversy has carried a message down to the last voter -- who just does not like it,' observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Earlier, we used to talk about a deficit economy. There is a deficit in democracy' 'If you read superficially Gandhi and Ambedkar and Nehru, some misconceptions and misunderstanding come to mind, as if they were at loggerheads and they differed radically in their views' 'India is one nation. There is only one citizenship. No citizenship for South India and no citizenship for North India and another for the Northeast'
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday asserted that the party's Kerala leaders 'stand as one' and were 'united' by the light of purpose ahead.
The Congress leaders maintained that Indian defence forces had attained complete superiority and dominance over Pakistan before the sudden "ceasefire" was announced by US President Donald Trump.
While the BJP went back to the drawing board to recraft its political and governance outreach and regained momentum by notching up surprisingly big wins in a string of assembly polls, the burst of fresh optimism in the main opposition Congress and other INDIA bloc parties fizzled out.
Hours after, however, firing from the Pakistani side was reported in Akhnoor sector in Jammu and Kashmir. Drones were also seen in the Pir Panjal area.
'Geopolitically and diplomatically it's a very difficult situation for India.'
Communist Party of India's Pannyan Raveendran defeated his Congress rival V S Sivakumar by a margin of over 70,000 votes.
BlueKraft has published The Emergency Diaries -- Years that Forged a Leader to chronicle Modi's role in the underground campaign during that period, after speaking to a number of people associated with him at that time.
The LDF unanimously decided not to have NCP in the front considering the "changed political climate" in that party after its merger with DIC-K on November 12, front convener Vaikom Viswan told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram.
DIC(K) factor to delay UDF seat-sharing
The NCP's flag was handed over by Praful Patel to K Muraleedharan, DIC-K president, signifying the merger.
The NCP national leadership would take an appropriate decision on NCP state leadership posts after the merger.
Ruling out merger with any political party currently, Democratic Indira Congress (K) president K Muraleedharan Tuesday clarified that the party would contest all the 140 seats on its own, in the forthcoming Assembly elections.
Karunakaran has said that the NCP is an important party.
Expressing confidence, he said the party would emerge victorious.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the Congress party, accusing it of repeatedly "wounding" the Indian Constitution. He claimed that the Congress, driven by its "lust for power," has consistently undermined the principles of the Constitution. Modi, however, praised India's democratic journey since its independence, highlighting the country's strong democratic roots and its unwavering commitment to its founding principles. He underscored the importance of unity for India's future development and emphasized that the Constitution is the bedrock of that unity.
'It is important India to stay focussed on its primary national objectives: Combating terrorism; not losing sight of other security and strategic concerns (on the Sino-Indian front for instance); ensuring a strong economy and registering growth which includes improving the lot of common people; and finally making certain that the social fabric remains intact and harmony among people is not jeopardised, at least any further,' asserts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday read out a resolution condemning the imposition of Emergency and termed the decision by then prime minister Indira Gandhi an attack on the Constitution, triggering a wave of protests by the opposition in the House.
The meeting was attended by CMs of Kerala, Punjab and Telangana -- Pinarayi Vijayan, Bhagwant Manna and A Revanth Reddy, Karnataka deputy CM DK Shivakumar, and senior BRS leader KT Ramarao among others.
Even when the Congress is facing the toughest challenge in its long history, it shows no sign of turning a new leaf and injecting internal democracy to revive its fortunes, argues Virendra Kapoor.
As with biopics these days, Kangana Ranaut's films may be less about telling the story of a dark chapter of Indian history and more about giving fodder to those who seek to defend or justify government highhandedness today, observes Utkarsh Mishra.
In his letter to Modi, Kharge asserted that strict legal action should be taken against those giving such statements so that Indian politics can be prevented from degenerating and nothing untoward happens.
Teen Murti Bhavan served as the official residence of India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
She also made it clear that she was not "troubled" by comparisons between Modi and Gandhi and that her party was taking on the Modi government.
Jaynarayan Vyas was defeated in the subsequent assembly elections in 2012 and 2017.
The Congress on Wednesday filed a police complaint over the recent statements of leaders belonging to the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) targeting Rahul Gandhi.
President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice President Hamid Ansari and top leaders of the Congress paid rich tributes to former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on her 97th birth anniversary but no one from the National Democratic Alliance government was present at the event.
The leading constituent in Maharashtra's ruling coalition said it had always respected Indira Gandhi, who it said, had a towering and strong personality. Whenever there were attempts to malign her image, the Shiv Sena acted as a shield. She was a powerful leader who split Pakistan and avenged Partition, the Marathi daily said.
Congress leaders paid their tributes to India's first woman prime minister Indira Gandhi on her 98th birth anniversary.
As a consequence of prominence given to the brutality during those few days, a very important aspect of that episode got almost glossed over. This was the intervention by a very significant section of people who restored faith in humanity, and conveyed the message that only a small section of Indians, that too politically backed, were consumed by anti-Sikh majoritarianism. The overlooked facet of the events of 1984 was the story of significant sections of the city's populace, public figures and nondescript ones, stepping out hand-in-hand, to first stand with little but bravery in hands, in the way of attackers, and thereafter to provide immediate relief to those who lives were uprooted and who lost family members in the violence, recalls Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
'If we politicians cross the line, the common man teaches us a lesson'
Former PM Manmohan Singh and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi also paid their tributes.
'Dialogue is the soul of democracy which should not be denied, but it was by Mrs Gandhi,' says Mohan Dharia who resigned as a Union minister in protest against her policies.
After being sworn in as the 47th president of the United States, Trump started his inaugural address with a sentence that echoed Modi's coinage some years ago, notes Modi biographer Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday took the Congress to the cleaners over making the 2024 general elections about the protection of the Constitution, saying Indians voted on the plank only once when they threw out the Indira Gandhi government in 1977 after the Emergency.
'Politics is a game of public perception and my father felt that by his long disappearances, Rahul Gandhi was losing the battle of perception.'
Every trick in the trade is being tried unabashedly.
In simple arithmetical terms every possible 'arrangement' is being made to deny a majority to its rivals. A split verdict would hand a vital advantage to the BJP which is adept at extracting the best out of such a situation, notes Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.