The BJP hopes that any vote AAP gets should only be from the Congress. At the same time, it does not want AAP to get too much of it. Because, a declining old opponent is a blessing as much as a rising new rival is a threat, points out Shekhar Gupta.
One of the G-23 leaders also pointed out that "we are not political tourists" and said the party leadership has to be conscious of "rumour-mongers and naradmunis".
Salman Rushdie, the Mumbai-born controversial author who faced Islamist death threats for years after writing The Satanic Verses, was "still undergoing surgery", several hours after being stabbed by a 24-year-old New Jersey resident at an event in western New York State on Friday.
The rebel legislators have been maintaining that they were forced to go against Thackeray as he kept ignoring their plea to snap ties with the MVA allies despite being told that these constituents were trying to 'finish off' the Sena.
To beat BJP, you either deny them a critical mass of Hindu vote or build a regional leader and party strong enough to protect their turf, observes Shekhar Gupta.
Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) won 15 of 20 seats up for grabs in the politically crucial province of Punjab on Sunday, dealing a major blow to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his 13-party alliance led by the ruling PML-N.
Nitish Kumar, once seen as a potential rival to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, broke ranks with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance coalition on Tuesday to stake claim as head of the rival 'Mahagathbandhan' (Grand Alliance) to be the chief minister of Bihar for the eighth time.
Despite consumer inflation, joblessness, etc, ordinary voters still think Modi is the best to rule the country.< Going into the poll with a tried and tested prime ministerial candidate is a huge plus for the BJP --- and a huge handicap for the Opposition, points out Virendra Kapoor.
Of the total 166 names declared so far by the Congress, 119 candidates will be making their electoral debut.
As we celebrate Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar's birthday on April 14, Subhash K Jha picks 5 fine films based on inequality and the caste system.
Regional films may have prevailed over the country, but regional leaders still have far mountains to climb to reach Delhi, asserts Shreekant Sambrani.
The mood in the tribal heartland in the east and in central India spread over Odisha, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and parts of West Bengal and Assam, is upbeat.
In 2018, the BJP's rare successes in north-east India aside, everything that could go wrong, did go wrong for the party.
The JMM-led three-party alliance stormed to power in Jharkhand, ousting the BJP. Here's the party-wise break-up of results.
'They say 'a picture paints a thousand words', so seeing Rishi Sunak PM at the door of Number 10 can never be taken from us.'' 'It is a symbol that will go down in the history books.' 'It is the very embodiment of me saying to my boys, "You can be who you want to be",' notes James Salins in this must-read feature.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra sat on a hunger strike on Monday after being detained in Uttar Pradesh's Sitapur district while she was en route to Lakhimpur Kheri, her party said.
'Destabilising the Yediyurappa government is not a cakewalk.' 'If he is destabilised, then the BJP will have problems in Karnataka.'
Serial killer confusion in small-town South Korea, a struggling mission to save the tiger in the heartland of India, a slice-of-summer friendship by the Italian coast, Sukanya Verma lists a fascinating mix of must-watch fare on OTT this week.
Sukanya Verma lists 10 knockout performances from the star.
All India NR Congress leader N Rangasamy was sworn in as the chief minister of Puducherry at a brief ceremony held at the Raj Nivas here on Friday and will lead a coalition government of Bharatiya Janata Party members in his cabinet.
In May, Satpal Singh, who runs a dairy business with three buffaloes in Jewar, near Noida, was worried about the steep spike in input costs. Singh said dry fodder rates, which cost Rs 1,500-2000 per tractor trolley last year, were quoting at Rs 4,500-5,000. The price of other cattle feed ingredients (that include mustard meal and similar mixes) had also gone up from Rs 2,000 per quintal to Rs 3,100-3,200 per quintal.
Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed, who has been replaced as ISI chief, will remain in the forefront of Pakistani initiatives in Afghanistan as also in the peace talks with the Tehrik e Taliban, Pakistan. He will also get a year plus to serve in a corps command, remaining in the race for selection as the next army chief when General Bajwa retires in November 2022, explains Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra appears to have shed the maximum sweat among top leaders for over the last 45 days in the seven-phase Uttar Pradesh assembly elections campaign.
Do you know that the veteran actress has more than 100 films and TV serials to her credit in a career spanning four decades?
The Congress would go to the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections without a chief minister face but will fight under the watch of general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, whom the state party chief Ajay Kumar Lallu described as a 'storm' that will help sweep the polls.
There are instances -- both from national and state elections -- of economic under-performers being returned to power, and also of parties being thrown out despite good performance, observes T N Ninan.
Wednesday was a day of midweek celebrations!
If it splits now, who takes what away and leaves what behind? asks Shekhar Gupta.
Since January this year, Indian exporters have begun to dread the shipping news. That's because most of it would be about another lot of shipping companies deciding to avoid Indian ports on account of delays.
He also alleged that for the Bharatiya Janata Party dispensation and its allies being a Hindu is no different from the team identity loyalty of the 'British football hooligan'.
City Of Dreams 2 released recently, and is quite a must watch.
'I don't think there will be any problem for Hindus to accept Adityanath as the leader, since they have already chosen Modi.'
'Love, sex aur dhokha. Now that's a lethal combination, isn't it? Ever since one can remember, Bollywood has used this formula in different shapes and formats.
Modi was addressing a rally after laying the foundation stone of 594-km-long Ganga Expressway in this Uttar Pradesh district.
The magnificent Jat community has taken his tears to its heart, observes Sudhir Bisht. In Tikait, they see their late leader's son, the son of their doughty farm leader Mahendra Singh Tikait, says Dr Sudhir Bisht.
'There's nothing in the 2019 campaign air, the chunavi hawa that tells you it's a wave election, for anyone,' argues Shekhar Gupta.
The BJP may be ready and waiting to pounce on another key state of the Hindi heartland, but it is the Congress's holy trinity that issued them an invitation to the beheading, notes Sunil Sethi.
'The Hindu electorate is more or less in the BJP defined space now.'
Mitra was the editor of The Pioneer newspaper and was considered a respected voice on a variety of issues, ranging from politics to popular music, before poor health kept him out of the public eye for some time.
Congress hopes to field upper caste candidates to eat into BJP voter base while SP-BSP focuses on consolidating Dalit-OBC votes in their favour.
