Although the BJP has never been ballistic about the BJD and Narendra Modi has avoided being critical of Naveen Patnaik, the BJP is optimistic that the party can improve its electoral fortunes in Odisha on its own, notes Rup Narayan Das.
Modi said laws which divide the country on communal lines and become a reason for inequality have no place in a modern society.
As Modi takes guard for a third term with trusted and seasoned hands around him, the BJP is hopeful that he will prove his detractors wrong and continue to fuel the party's expansion horizontally and vertically with his inventive policies in government and new set of ideas in politics with the core of Hindutva, development and welfarism remaining intact.
Tewari said BJP's Hindu-Muslim and India-Pakistan rhetoric is the only way for the ruling party to cover up for its failure in improving the economy of the country which is in a shambles right now due to its policies.
The Bharatiya Janata Party is hopeful that the issue will come handy to its efforts to gain political traction in Dravidian state as it gears up for the Lok Sabha polls.
The scaling up of the India-US strategic partnership to the level of non-NATO ally with defence deals, sharing and transfer of defence technology, interoperability, joint collaboration and joint production of defence equipment has exacerbated Moscow's anxiety, notes Rup Narayan Das.
'What hurts people most is dynastic impulses and corruption under a family-ruled Congress party -- and Nehru has borne the brunt of it... I cannot be blinded by how the Nehru family has functioned but just as Gandhi can't be judged by his descendents, why should Nehru?' asks political scientist Ashutosh Varshney.
The prime minister's insistence that his voice cannot be suppressed left me both puzzled and amused. He has at his call, the government's official news dissemination/publicity channels, the pliant newspapers and television channels that were eager to prostrate themselves before a powerful government and yet, the dominant voice thinks it is in competition with other voices! exclaims Shyam G Menon.
'His assessment is wide off the mark from what is expected to be history's final verdict -- which is that Indira was the most unacceptable of all prime ministers because she was the only one who tried to throttle Indian democracy,' says Amulya Ganguli.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday said the Preamble to the Constitution is very well there in NCERT textbooks of Class VI as he refuted charges made in this regard by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.
'It is perhaps a sense of intellectual inadequacy, of an ingrained inferiority complex born of the years when the BJP languished in the margins of Indian politics and society that, when faced with the soaring ideas about Indian pluralism, the Hindutva camp turns its face so resolutely against Nehru,' says Amulya Ganguli.
India is trying hard to erase Indonesia's wariness about New Delhi, building security cooperation in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean. If Indonesia decides to buy the Brahmos missile, it would further strengthen relations between the world's most populous nation and the most populous Islamic country.
'He is such a big defence expert that he alone decided that the Rafale aircraft will be manufactured by a company that has never built one ever'
Departing from the protocol, President Pranab Mukherjee will visit the former PM's residence to confer upon him the prestigious award.
The genesis of India's most-loved dish may go to canny cooks in the Mughal era, notes Sandeep Goyal.
Exit polls on Saturday predicted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will retain power for a third straight term, with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance expected to win a big majority in the Lok Sabha polls.
The prime minister said he was expecting members of the House to show enthusiasm by thumping their desks as a large number of those from the Dalits, Scheduled Tribes and OBC communities as well as sons of farmers and those from economically backward and rural backgrounds have become ministers in the recent rejig.
'Sheikh Abdullah ruled the state with secular values. Post 1953, when he was sacked, corruption took over governance.'
'The Indian-American community is very excited to welcome Prime Minister Modi. He is the second prime minister to come to California after Jawaharlal Nehru, who visited the state in 1961.'
The grilling of Brigadier-General Dyer by Akshay Kumar's Sir C Sankaran Nair, as shown in Kesari 2, is purely an imaginary sequence, proves Utkarsh Mishra.
Huge tri-colour-themed banners have been put up along the Kartavya Path while the theme for this year's tableaux that would roll down the boulevard where the annual Republic Day celebrations take place is 'Swarnim Bharat: Virasat aur Vikas', focusing on 75 years of the enactment of the Constitution.
Colonel Billie Sodhi's life and family heritage reflect an unwavering commitment to excellence in polo, equestrian sports, and a rare, enduring athletic legacy.
The Indian government's assertions that its first nuclear explosion in 1974 was for peaceful purposes was described by Chinese diplomats as "nonsense" and that the then prime minister Indira Gandhi had "inherited the hypocrisy" of her father Jawaharlal Nehru.
Ardhendu Bose, nephew of Subhas Chandra Bose, emphasizes why the Centre should declassify files on the legendary freedom fighter
Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a key accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, was brought to India on Thursday after being "successfully extradited " from the US, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said. The 64-year-old Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin landed in Delhi in a special plane on Thursday evening, ending days of speculation of when and how he will be extradited, officials said. The NIA said in a statement that it had secured the successful extradition after years of sustained and concerted efforts to bring to justice the key conspirator behind the 2008 mayhem that claimed 166 lives. Rana is accused of conspiring with David Coleman Headley alias Daood Gilani, and operatives of designated terrorist organisations Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Harkat-ul-Jihadi Islami (HUJI) along with other Pakistan-based co-conspirators, to carry out the the three-day terror siege of India's financial capital.
Former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru had sought American assistance and wrote to the then US president John F Kennedy to provide India jet fighters to stem the Chinese tide of aggression during the 1962 Sino-India war, according to a new book.
He blamed policies of the Congress-led governments for the Kashmir issue remaining unresolved.
'I don't know who is deciding Indian foreign policy today. I don't know who is deciding how India deals with Pakistan,' former Union minister Ram Jethmalani takes on the Modi government.
The opposition leaders also accused the government of violating Constitutional norms by not inviting President Droupadi Murmu to the event.
President's secretary speaks to Rediff.com's Onkar Singh about what really happened at the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games on Sunday.
Will Foreign Minister Mr. Jaishankar please refer to the RTI reply dated 27-1-2015...The Reply justified the circumstances under which India acknowledged that a small island belonged to Sri Lanka," Chidambaram said.
The title 'Navratna' was given originally to nine Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs), identified by the Government of India in 1997, which allowed them greater autonomy to compete in the global market.
'Dialogue is the soul of democracy which should not be denied, but it was by Mrs Gandhi,' says Mohan Dharia who resigned as a Union minister in protest against her policies.
Congress leaders alleged the BJP has made and failed in its every attempt to defame Rahul Gandhi and derail the yatra somehow as people from across the country including Delhi are overwhelmingly extending their support.
Joe Wright's film, Indian Summer, may star Cate Blanchett.
'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.
A rare glimpse into Anand Bhavan and Swaraj Bhavan, where the seeds of Indian Independence were sown. Kind courtesy: Architectural Digest India.
Speaking at the Annual Prime Minister's National Cadet Corps Rally 2020, Modi said the problem in Jammu and Kashmir persisted since Independence and some families and political parties kept issues in the region "alive", as a result of which terrorism thrived there.
The 58-year-old Rajya Sabha MP will face several challenges, including strengthening of the combat capabilities of the army, navy and the air force due to changing regional security matrix and geo-political dynamics.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances