'One goal of the Congress would surely have been to rebuild its organisation so that it begins to match that of the BJP.' 'However, this has not happened, though Rahul Gandhi has been in the party for 15 years now,' says Aakar Patel.
Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray urged farmers to 'toss out' the Congress-led Democratic Front government for neglecting the cause of farmers.
BJP strategists know it may not repeat its 2014 performance in its traditionally strong bases in the north and the west. This is where the success in the north east and east is so important.
With actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha creating storm through his comments against Narendra Modi and describing Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as "PM material", the latter on Monday praised the Bharatiya Janata Party leader for his uninhibited opinion.
He will call for 'an end to the politics of resistance and retribution', a senior aide said.
Here's all you need to know about the man who could be India's next president.
'India's first and longest-serving prime minister created -- or at the very least imagined -- a modern, democratic nation-State of the 20th century,' says Sunil Sethi.
Pragmatism and flexibility is a virtue. An untethered and short-term approach to policymaking is a flaw, argues Mihir S Sharma.
Veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani, who shares a warm relation with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar notwithstanding the severing of ties with the Janata Dal-United, will skip the party's October 27 rally.
The Indian Films and TV Directors' Association, along with 19 other bodies of the film and television industry from across the country will stop shooting for 15 minutes to protect the right to freedom of expression of those in the creative field.
Terming Saturday as a "black day" for democracy, the senior DMK leader urged all those who wanted to "remove" the "anti- democratic" All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government to join him.
How will China deal with Taiwan's first woman president? Srikanth Kondapalli explains the significance of a historic election.
'Some of his decisions were not so good, but his intentions were always guided by a deep national interest.'
Had India agreed to join the trade pact, Indian markets would have been flooded with cheap Chinese products.
General Soleimani headed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps's Quds Force and also served as Iran's pointman on Iraq.
Here's a glimpse of all that happened around the world last week, in 16 images.
Chairman of the US Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan has strongly defended free trade in goods and services, now under attack by John Kerry and John Edwards
Congress said another Mahabharat would be fought over proposed amendments in the land acquisition act.
'Mr Modi would compliment a Nobel Prize winner, but members of his party or the government would not be restrained from either making unfair comments or criticising him for having offered advice to an Opposition political party,' says A K Bhattacharya.
Behind the movement are shock-workers functioning quietly to ensure that a seemingly spontaneous, apolitical, grassroots mobilisation sustains itself without dribbling into chaos or violence. Sai Manish lists some of them.
Abbasi will be sworn-in in later at a special ceremony at the President's House.
Escalating its attack against Mani Shankar Aiyar, the BJP called his remarks "treasonous" and demanded an apology from Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.
Other NDA allies, including the Lok Janshakti Party and the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party, will get due representation in the seat sharing formula, Shah said.
Buoyed by recent poll victories, BJP on Saturday embarked on a fresh membership drive amid Prime Minister Narendra Modi's strong pitch for making it all inclusive so that all sections of the society feel their "flower" is represented in this "bouquet" of the party.
'The notion of a single unarmed town challenging the might of the People's Republic is a little absurd,' says Mihir Sharma.
'He keeps reminding me he is senior. There is no debate in this. I have never shown any disrespect to you since you are a senior,' the PM said.
May now faces the final and biggest hurdle of getting the deal approved by the UK Parliament where many MPs from her own party remain vehemently opposed to it.
'Nehru once told JRD, "I hate the mention of the very word profit".' '"Jawaharlal, I am talking about the need of the public sector making a profit!" JRD replied.' 'Nehru reiterated, "Never talk to me about the word profit, it is a dirty word".' A fascinating excerpt from Shashank Shah's The Tata Group: From Torchbearers To Trailblazers.
Modi said there was a time when families would celebrate getting gas connections as if they have got home a Mercedes.
Images and a round-up of all the World Cup qualifiers played across continents on Tuesday.
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.
'We needed Smriti Irani to champion democratic values, but she's chosen to be a coward.' 'In fact, she has shrunk India's democracy.' 'Why blame her or the BJP? I can't hear the voices of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.' 'They lack the guts to stand up in support of Padmavati, Sexy Durga and Nude.' 'When it comes to defending freedom they are no different,' says Karan Thapar.
Initially facing two years jail, the actor was hit with a stricter legal provision following a public outcry, reports Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
'The EC is a sacred institution.' 'In the last few years, more than once, we have found the EC bending over backwards to accommodate the government.'
While the government interlocutor for J&K may be tasked with holding talks with 'all stakeholders', the central government is singing a very different tune in the Supreme Court, Aditi Phadnis points out.
'The BJP should be really wary of Nitish Kumar, or he will also take the BJP down with him.'
Statesmanship requires that the prime minister himself reaches out to those amassed at the Singhu and Ghazipur borders. Modi should be able to win over this domestic front with sheer compassion, observes Virendra Kapoor.
If re-elected, his government will set up a National Traders' Welfare Board, bring trader credit cards and a pension scheme for small shopkeepers besides making a provision to provide loans of up to Rs 50 lakh without collateral.
At least seven insurgents belonging to Naga rebel group, Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang, including one woman cadre, were killed in an exchange of fire with security forces that took place at Pangsha in Tuensang district of Nagaland close to Indo-Myanmar border.
