If the BJP is set to return to power in UP, Uttarakhand, Manipur and even Goa, it is not because of the party's performance or the quality of governance. No. It is essentially Modi's popularity, observes Virendra Kapoor.
At its Jaipur meeting, the BJP will focus on this year's assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh while the Congress's Chintan Shivir in Udaipur will discuss how it can resurrect itself.
Neither Modi nor Shah had held legislative or executive power in Delhi before 2014. They have no training in appealing to the diversity of India as represented in Parliament. Their prism is the provincial politics of Gujarat. An exclusive excerpt from Vinay Sitapati's fascinating new book, Jugalbandi: The BJP Before Modi.
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.
"The Congress in a way is in the grip of urban Naxals. That is why its thought has become negative," Modi alleged in his 90-minute speech.
'Most senior Congress leaders in Assam have a secret understanding with the BJP.' 'They are hobnobbing with the chief minister for their self-interest.'
Sadhvi also said "there is no such thing as saffron terrorism," adding that "saffron means dedicated life for the nation and dharma."
The Paresh Rawal starrer film is a critical take on religion and features Kumar in the role of God.
'Parties which supported me were all threatened. This could hardly have been called a fair election.' 'This is Modi's India.'
Yogi Adityanath's aura is no longer limited to Uttar Pradesh. At the age of 49, his journey to the higher echelons in the BJP has well and truly begun, predicts Sudhir Bisht.
If Bihar is clocking much higher growth than Gujarat, and Nitish Kumar enjoys the confidence of Hidus and Muslims alike, does it not make Nitish Kumar a much better contender for Prime Ministership than Narendra Modi, asks Shivam Vij
If Bihar is clocking much higher growth than Gujarat, and Nitish Kumar enjoys the confidence of Hidus and Muslims alike, does it not make Nitish Kumar a much better contender for Prime Ministership than Narendra Modi, asks Shivam Vij
'Only when they are in a group or in mobs, then they attack.'
'The BJP is scared it may lose the Delhi municipal elections where they have been in power for the last 15 years.'
Much depends on the BJP's electoral performance in next year's assembly elections. If the party fares well in UP and some states like Goa and Gujarat, it will be able to fob off the attempt at a reappraisal of its Hindutva doctrine, observes Amulya Ganguli.
If the Cauvery water-sharing dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu -- dating back to 1892 between the erstwhile Madras Presidency under the British Raj and the princely Mysore state -- has exploded again into a war, the discord between Karnataka and Goa over dividing the water of the Mahadayi river simmers under the surface.
Successive elections have demonstrated that the BJP campaign switches towards polarisation when it is faced with palpable discontent among the electorate, notes Utkarsh Mishra.
It may well be possible to defeat Modi. But nobody seems to know how, points out Vir Sanghvi.
The BJP can't be sure if it should celebrate that the old rival is fading or worry that new ones are rising. Because the last thing the BJP wants to see is alternatives rising, if only to the Congress, observes Shekhar Gupta.
Opponents of the CAA and NRC have gone to town accusing the BJP of an ulterior motive (read, disenfranchisement of Muslims) in implementing the NRC. By the same token it can be alleged that anti-CAA opponents have a nefarious agenda in mind that would be scuttled by the implementation of the NRC: Namely the accrual of dedicated vote banks and the restoration of Muslim hegemony over at least parts of India, especially Bengal and Assam, argues Vivek Gumaste.
Addressing the party's national executive, Nadda also reached out to Sikhs, who are in majority in poll-bound Punjab, by listing a number of measures the Modi government has taken for the community, including expediting action against 1984 riots accused, facilitating foreign grants to gurudwaras and keeping langars outside the review of the Goods and Services Tax.
'They thought he can separate the Muslim votes and win, but the Kerala mind is completely different.' 'It is a secular mind because Hindus, Christians and Muslims live together.' 'We don't like somebody coming from outside, contesting in our state, winning and going and avoiding us.'
'This is what Hindu Rashtra looks like, which has been enabled by conditions of democracy.'
With the role of the venerable elder thrust on him in UP, Mr Singh has had to attune himself to the politics at the Centre, observes Aditi Phadnis.
Justifying the ban on cow slaughter, the Union minister of state for minority affairs said on Thursday, "Those who cannot survive without eating beef should go to Pakistan."
'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.
None of them had anything to do with the violence at Bhima Koregaon, where they were not even present, points out Aakar Patel.
If you thought Vajubhai Vala's invitation to BSY was a one-off, think again :))
In the unlikely event of the BJP-NDA losing all five states going to the polls in February-March, the Presidential electoral college numbers could be significantly altered, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
With the opposition accusing BJP of working toward polarising voters in Uttar Pradesh by broaching the issues like alleged migration of Hindus and 'triple talaq', party president Amit Shah has rejected the charges, claiming that questioning politics of appeasement and casteism being practised in the state cannot be called polarisation.
Standing by his remarks, Sakshi Maharaj had told the Commission that the statement was not made in a public or an election meeting but at a saints' conclave and hence could not be considered violative of the model code.
The venom and contemptuous sarcasm evident on the army's tweet on the Yeti and my reply has something to do with the intrinsic hatred that a section of the media nurses against the right wing, says Tarun Vijay.
'In old India, there was no hatred, anger or lynching. New India is one where humans are enemies of each other'
'.. if the cost is its own survival,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Prices of buffaloes and cattle have fallen by 20-30%.
Journeys from the mountains to the temples.
'...a dazzling flash, and then, fizzle,' argues Shekhar Gupta.
If you want to see what India should be like and how Indians should live, you have to see Bhilai, says Colonel K Thammayya Udupa (retd).
'From 10 am on Tuesday to 3 am this morning, we must have made not less than a thousand phone calls.' 'We kept fighting till the end and we did not leave the room till we got 113 certificates.' 'Two-three losses would have changed the game and the BJP wanted to become the largest party which they did not become.'
The Bharatiya Janata Party President said that it is difficult to make a guess who will win in Punjab.
