Till he took over, political parties ferrying people to the polling stations was considered quite 'normal', and it was during Seshan's stint that it became impossible with the model code being made sacrosanct.
Rarely have we seen such intoxication over power, which ignores the cries of those dying, notes Jyoti Punwani.
The front-runner of course is party treasurer and long-serving party legislator, S Duraimurugan. A Vanniar by caste from the rival PMK-strong northern belt, Duraimurugan makes up for his weak political grounding through his debating skills in the assembly, and witty repartee, both inside and outside. Apart from caste and regional representation, personal loyalty to the leader would count even more -- but there is no death of loyal and competent candidates in the party for the post, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu are centred on chief ministerial candidates of rival parties. When Sasikala cannot contest even a panchayat election for six years after her release, even if she were to have sympathetic backers even among apolitical voters, she does not have any 'transferrable vote-bank' even otherwise for a chief minister candidate of her choice, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'I am in mortal danger not personally, but politically,' Mani Shankar Aiyar tells Anjali Puri.
The National Accountability Bureau officials took Sharif, 68, and Maryam, 44, into custody in the Avenfield case, shortly after their arrival at Lahore airport from London via Abu Dhabi. They were flown to Islamabad on a special aircraft and then were taken to the Adiala Jail in separate armoured personnel carriers escorted by police convoys.
Kumaraswamy had proved right the adage that politics is the art of the possible, but the science graduate failed to get his chemistry right in keeping the coalition legislators together to ensure his government's longevity.
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has taken to invest in young people from non-dynastic backgrounds to build a core team of 100-odd youths in every state who believe in the Congress party's philosophy, reports Archis Mohan.
The new party president, the sixth member of the Nehru-Gandhi family to lead the political outfit, takes charge from his mother Sonia Gandhi at a time when the party is facing one of its worst crises, with the Bharatiya Janata Party occupying the centre stage of national and state politics.
Despite the Congress having nearly four times as many members in the Rajya Sabha as the TMC (48 to 13), Derek O'Brien has been informally leading the coordination of Opposition parties, rallying other parties to demand a discussion on electoral reforms and to protest the government's disinvestment plans, report Rahul Jacob and Archis Mohan.
Can Gandhi handle the rough and tumble of 24X7 Indian politics with aggressive rivals such as Modi and BJP President Amit Shah to counter?
NSUI's Rocky Tusheed won the president's post by a margin of 1,590 votes while ABVP's Mahamedha Nagar defeated NSUI's Minakshi Meena by 2,624 votes to win the post of secretary.
The 84-year old veteran Congressman, who died from post-COVID complications on Monday, was a Nehru-Gandhi family loyalist.
'Hillary Clinton is no friend of India,' says Rajeev Srinivasan. 'Not that Trump is necessarily one, but at least he gets the benefit of the doubt.'
'It is heartening to know that from Narendra Modi downwards every significant leader in the BJP is angry with the gushers of that nonsense about a 'Hindu Rashtra' or the questioning of Sania Mirza's credentials,' reveals Virendra Kapoor.
Zoramthanga has been chief minister of Mizoram twice. He was a former underground leader and a close aide of the legendary MNF leader Laldenga.
Asserting that the upcoming polls will be fought on the issue of full statehood, Kejriwal criticised Modi for not fulfilling this promise as mentioned in BJP's 2014 manifesto.
Justice Chelameswar led three senior judges to an unprecedented press conference, mounting a virtual revolt against CJI Dipak Misra.
'The BJP will get the lion's share of the Opposition vote. I would give the Congress-Left around 15 per cent.'
Jagat Prakash Nadda was elected unopposed as the Bharatiya Janata Party national president on Monday after he emerged as the only leader in the fray following the nomination process in which his candidature was endorsed by top party leaders.
'You may be an MP or an MLA; when we go to Bengal, we go as cadre.'
It will not be a cakewalk for three-time Congress MLA and Uttarakhand Sports and Forest Minister Dinesh Agarwal to win Dharampur constituency in Dehradun this poll season with BJP fielding two-time mayor Vinod Chamoli from the seat.
Indian-Americans are "very concerned" about the rhetoric from Donald Trump who has "poisoned" the political dialogue with his insults to immigrants and women, US House of Representatives contender Raja Krishnamoorthi has said.
Sitting Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament Sushma Swaraj on Friday filed her nomination papers from Vidisha and expressed confidence about increasing her victory margin.
Unlike the LDF and NDA nominees who are at ground zero and campaigning hard every day, the Congress candidate's campaign is undertaken in absentia, dependent on an army of local and imported from the rest of Kerala Congresswomen and men.
A man of perseverance and great survivor, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed has an astute political sense honed by decades of experience in Kashmir politics that has stood him in good stead in crafting a delicate alliance with Bharatiya Janata Party to return as chief minister for the second time.
Several members in the Lok Sabha on Friday pitched for making voting compulsory, saying that such a move would help curb corruption and instances of electorate being influenced through illegal means during elections.
He also launched 70-lakh tree sapling planting drive to commemorate the 70th birth anniversary celebrations of late Jayalalithaa.
'The innate fascism of the RSS is overshadowing Modi's development programme,' says Amulya Ganguli.
The Congress scion will step into his mother Sonia Gandhi's shoes as the party president next week.
The Congress's master strategist is so incredibly popular and resourceful that even Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa regretted his arrest. That's the secret of D K Shivakumar's success, says Aditi Phadnis.
Communalising law and order situations is fraught with danger; we need to tread cautiously. Interjecting a communal angle into what is purely a law and order issue does nobody good; it muddies the picture, fuels unrequited passion and distracts us from the core issue, says Vivek Gumaste.
The new government has to make conscious efforts to rebuild social equality and bring the people together.
Dalit votes could play a decisive role in 28-30 constituencies in the 230-member assembly.
'We cannot win peace among our people by treating them like the enemy,' says Mitali Saran.
Indian-American filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza, who had made a documentary on US President Barack Obama, has been indicted on charges of violating federal campaign finance laws.
Many political watchers give their prediction quite confidently of a coalition government. But nobody's certain on the nature of the coalition.
'Yogi Adityanath will prove to be the most popular and effective chief minister, overseeing a regime of peace and justice, harsh on wrongdoers and rabble rousers, encouraging those who work for India,' says Tarun Vijay.
The 61-year-old former top cop from Mumbai changed professions after listening to his 'inner voice'.
