The great Indian election is over and now the wait for the results is shrinking with every passing moment. Though exit polls hint at a cakewalk for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his National Democratic Alliance, there are some battles which will be keenly observed on the result day.
Stopping short of naming him, Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani on Saturday attacked Rahul Gandhi saying he goes around claiming to be a youth leader while being close to 50 years of age.
Political observers feel that the outcome of the elections weighs in favour of the BJP which had won a massive mandate in the Lok Sabha elections, held earlier this year.
Samajwadi Party, which has decided not to enter the fray in Amethi and Rae Bareli, on Tuesday disapproved the Bharatiya Janata Party fielding "outsiders" from the Nehru-Gandhi pocket borough, saying such a practice was against democracy.
Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com finds out how the government is seeking to change the RTI Act, and what impact it will have on the Right to Information.
With Sheikh Hasina as Bangladesh prime minister, all is well with the world of India-Bangladesh relations, says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
The man who threw stones at Rahul's vehicle has been detained.
Following the victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, reactions poured in from various leaders across the political spectrum.
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.
Many BJP leaders are of the view that most key members of the previous Cabinet could be retained.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Rahul Gandhi and BSP supremo Mayawati will descend on Varanasi on Saturday making it their battleground ahead of the last phase of Uttar Pradesh polls, a schedule that has put the administration on its toes.
He secured required 44 votes after votes of two Congress MLAs who cross-voted for BJP were rejected by EC.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday targeted Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani and Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya over the suicide by a Dalit scholar saying the ministers and the vice chancellor have "not acted fairly" that forced him to take the extreme step.
Boosting trade and simplifying visa regime, apart from security and defence cooperation, were among the key bilateral issues. The two leaders also discussed regional and international matters of mutual interest.
Handing the Human Resource Development ministry to a first-time minister and the talk of repealing Article 370 may be signs that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh are working in tandem
Protests were held in many cities across the country. So far, no one has been arrested for the attack on students and teachers at JNU even as clamour for resignation of the V-C grew.
Rahul Gandhi slammed the Modi government, accusing it of being against farmers, labourers, students and the poor.
He vowed to fight to get back a mega food park project to his constituency in Amethi.
'We have done majoritarianism through other means.' 'The Citizenship Amendment Act, read together with the National Register of Citizens, will prove what I mean,' notes Aakar Patel.
The result in Gujarat was not as grand as the saffron party had expected as the party did not even cross its 2012 tally.
'If a lawyer can talk about finances, if a TV actress can be the HRD minister and if a 'chaiwala' can be... then why I cannot talk about economy?'
He dropped those perceived to be non-performers or whose integrity came into question, and also where it was felt they needed to learn a lesson or two in humility.
And it's that time of the year again. The time for accolades, the time for awards. But these are the awards you would rather not be the recipient. We are of course giving these awards to celebrate the most awesome or awful achievements a person could attain, and of course, these are being given out in absentia.
This time round, even 'petrol coupons' were reportedly distributed for those attending campaign rallies, especially those addressed by top leaders, cutting across party lines. If this owed to the rising cost of petrol and diesel -- which is a poll issue this time -- there were the customary coupons for 'quarter' (liquor bottle size) and non-vegetarian biryani. Some media reports claimed that some of these 'crowds' attended more than one political rally on the same day in the last week, and at times for rival political parties in adjoining constituencies or districts, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Counting of votes would be take place on March 3
'BJP leaders might ponder the all-consuming arrogance that grips the Modi-Shah combine a year ahead of the next general election,' says Sunil Sethi.
'If the school of bluffers includes those who get to the top not from deep knowledge but from delivering 'a clever quip or a leftfield surprise argument', then Modi is the undisputed Bluffocrat Emeritus,' says Sunil Sethi.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi, former Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and H D Devegowda, Union Ministers Smriti Irani, Najma Heptullah and Ram Vilas Paswan are among over 300 MPs who are on the utility bill defaulters list of the New Delhi Municipal Council.
Sparks flew in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday after BJP leader Subramanian Swamy dragged Sonia Gandhi's name in the AgustaWestland helicopter bribery case
Veteran Congress leader Digvijaya Singh and Bharatiya Janata Party candidates Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sumer Singh Solanki on Friday won Rajya Sabha election from Madhya Pradesh.
The discrimination against girls reflects "mental illness", says PM.
'In a party run by 'two-and-a half men', Kovind fits the bill perfectly because, unlike the BJP's previous choice for the Presidency, A P J Abdul Kalam, he is unlikely to return a bill as Kalam did with the office of profit legislation,' argues Amulya Ganguli.
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The Modi government's response to infiltration at the India-Pakistan border, Kumar Vishwas told Google staff, was weak, adding that there had been 19 infiltration attempts and ceasefire violations by Pakistan since the new government took charge.
Rahul Gandhi on Saturday accused the National Democratic Alliance government of "suppressing" students' voice as he visited the JNU campus to express solidarity with them, a day after the arrest of its students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar in a sedition case.
'Just as the monkey god needed a Jambavan to prod him into realising his superpowers, so did the poll panel need a poke from the Supreme Court into remembering it had an armoury of powers at its disposal to stop the infractions,' notes Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
The Press Council of India and News Broadcasters Association, the two regulatory bodies for print and television media respectively, will determine whether the news is fake or not.
India cricket captain Virat Kohli and weightlifter Mirabai Chanu were on Monday recommended for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna by the awards selection committee.
The report, sources said, would dwell on the role of the university authorities, who have been blamed for the suicide, and systemic aspects to ensure such incidents do not recur.
'What is happening is worse than Talibanisation.' 'There is no way a film-maker can fight these fringe groups, these extra-constitutional authorities.'
Speaker Om Birla he will hold a meeting with leaders of all parties and then take a decision.
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