'The BJP is not the party it was 10 years ago. It has changed. It is emerging like the Congress.' 'Sometimes, I feel the BJP has taken the Congress' space.' 'Its politics is also resembling the Congress.'
'It would be interesting to see how Yogi Adityanath is received in Tamil Nadu, where he is due to end his Ram Rajya Rath Yatra in Rameswaram on March 23.'
Vikram Achanta on the passing of Goa's iconic lanadmark, a 'mecca of entertainment, not just in Goa, but in India, and one of the coolest destinations for locals and tourists alike'.
'Wherever in the world there is political instability, those countries are beset with severe crises today. But India is in a much better position than the rest of the world due to the decisions taken by my government in the national interest,' President Droupadi Murmu said in her address to both Houses of Parliament.
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Some of the policy measures announced are expected to go a long way in removing current challenges on financing faced by businesses and also increasing economic activity, especially in areas of construction and manufacturing.
Indications are that Modi will have words of encouragement for Stalin, and the meeting is likely to be much less acrimonious than critics of either would want it to be. notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
A 7:2 majority verdict by the apex court ruled that the tax legislation by the state does not require the consent of the President under Article 304 B of the Constitution
Rediff.com does a quick checklist on what the two manifestos have to say on hot-button issues of the day.
Around 30,000 personnel have been deputed for poll duty as the state decides its fate today.
'Gloom is nowhere in sight, with healthy foreign exchange reserves, a strong rupee, healthy tax collections, corruption and crony capitalism under check,' argues Gopal Krishna Agrawal.
The Congress surveys, at least until now, have indicated the nationalistic fervour over the Pulwama terror attack is more an effort by mainstream media outlets, like news channels and newspapers, to shape a particular narrative, when the people on the ground are still asking basic questions of livelihood, jobs and better price for farm produce.
'Look at the number of billionaires, the number of new billionaires in India.' 'Adani and Ambani are not the only ones.' 'What's wrong with people making money as long as it benefits us?'
Key questions remain about the operational and financial viability of a completely paperless bank such as India Post, says Mayank Jain.
'Your failures are not teaching you anything.' 'Your demonetisation failure is not teaching you anything; your GST failure is not teaching you anything; your (revocation of) Article 370 failure is not teaching you anything; your NRC Assam failure is not teaching you.' 'And now you have the CAA!'
Banerjee, also the TMC supremo, said in a sarcastic way that personnel of security forces such as the CRPF, BSF, CISF and the Army are present at convoys of every BJP leader visiting West Bengal.
'It is a package for a new self-reliant India.'
Budget-makers in North Block are looking to maintain this fiscal status quo, in spite of tax revenues nowhere close to where the government wants and in spite of possible higher expenditure commitments.
Hurun Report and GROHE India named Lodha Developers' M P Lodha and family as India's richest real estate entrepreneur with a wealth of Rs 31,960 crore, followed by DLF's vice chairman Rajiv Singh and Embassy group founder Jitendra Virwani in the second and third position respectively. Total wealth of top 100 Indians in the real estate sector stood at Rs 2,77,080 crore -- up 17 per cent against 2018. While Mumbai accounted for six of the top 10 and 37 of the 100 names, Delhi and Bengaluru had 19 residents each who featured on the list. Smita V Crishna of Godrej Properties featured as the richest woman.
BMS, a union affiliated to RSS, plans rally at Delhi's Ramlila Ground on Nov 17; SJM to protest on Oct 29.
In the midst of huge job losses as a fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has signed 17 MoUs for an investment of Rs 15,100 crores that aim to provide 47,100 jobs. But a clearer picture on where the projects stand will emerge only after the Covid-19 induced fear psychosis ends, to see if popular protests will derail them like they have done so many others, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh interacts with readers on Rediff Chat as he discusses the period that changed India's history, forever.
President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu and other top leaders paid rich tributes to senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who died on Saturday.
'The BJP will be wiped out in rural Gujarat.' 'In urban areas, its tally may come down from 55 of the 60 urban seats it won in 2012 to 35 to 40 seats this time.'
'Respect the pledges you have made to the people of Kashmir.' 'Jammu and Kashmir is not like any other state of the country.'
Modi is the first foreign leader to be invited to the palace by the Crown Prince, who appreciated the role played by Indian workers in the development of UAE as a modern nation, ministry of external affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.
'Modi's advent has made the mass of Indians realise that there was absolutely nothing wrong or objectionable in proclaiming nationalism as the masthead of the polity and Hinduism as its centerpiece,' says B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant.
'If any party talks too much about Muslims, it will lose.'
''The Congress has forgotten how to mobilise people on political issues,' says Aakar Patel.
The narrow win in Gujarat can be contributed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his no-holds-barred approach and party president Amit Shah who plays to win and knows that there are rules to be followed when suited and broken when needed.
India Inc is encouraged by a determined Budget.
Entirely new businesses have been built using data to disrupt traditional companies.
'They don't have a political strategy so they are going to try to deal with it purely as a law and order problem.' 'They will try to use the same strategy they have repeatedly used since 2014 in Kashmir.' 'Mr Modi has landed in a situation where he faces the possible prospect of not only being unable to Indianise Kashmir, but his actions may end up making the rest of India a virtual carbon copy of Kashmir.'
'One big leader said you might get 3 lakh votes and still lose.' 'I said if I do I will make sure you are sleepless because it will be me and three lakh people.'
'I am quite optimistic that sooner or later, my wishful thinking would turn into a reality.' The only hitch is that the INC president's own career ambitions may be hurt if the Congress merges with the BJP,' says Sudhir Bisht.
A classic example of a leader who has chosen to risk everything for his vision.
'It is common knowledge that cash is anonymous.' 'When demonetisation was implemented, one of the intended objectives was to put identity on the cash holdings in the economy.' 'With the return of Rs 15.28 lakh crore in the formal banking system, the almost entire cash holding of the economy now has an address.' 'It is no more anonymous,' says Arun Jaitley.
The DMK has Stalin and Stalin alone as the key campaigner. The rest of them all, including half-sister Kanimozhi, are tied down to their own constituencies while those like party treasurer and former minister S Duraimurugan, to those of their children's constituencies.
In the absence of the over-arching 'Jaya charisma', EPS has to convince the AIADMK's traditional constituencies, including those in his western districts, that his leadership would stand up against the BJP-led Centre even in a post-poll scenario, a la Jayalalithaa, and would not yield as much as party founder MGR had done, says N Sathiya Moorthy.