Branding Trinamool Congress rebels as 'traitors' like Mir Jafar, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday took a swipe at the Bharatiya Janata Party for fielding the turncoats in the polls leaving saffron party old-timers shed tears.
New members have to give a declaration that they will not own any property in excess of ceiling laws and will undertake tasks including "manual labour" prescribed by the party.
Mother and son refuse to go away despite indications blowing in the wind that their leadership is ringing the death knell of the party, observes Ramesh Menon.
A comment in Bengali written against her read "You won't be able to save yourself, your god of earth won't be able to save you.. After your death you will realise your folly. There won't be any excuses for you."
Mark Tully on the India he loves.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee campaigning in tribal Paschim Medinipur district on Thursday for the coming state election asked "Marxist friends" not to vote for either the CPI-M or Congress, who are "cohorts of the communal BJP".
'The Muslim community is disappointed with this judgment.'
'Both Pavan Varma and Prashant Kishor questioned the party president in a public forum.' 'That is why we had to show them the door.'
'I went to slums in India which were quite destitute, where people were clearly really struggling, but typically there is a sort of sense of purpose.' 'People are hustling.' 'What that tells you is that if the country was so organised in a way to give these people opportunity, then they would make something of it.'
Will appeasement, rising unemployment and her dictatorial style become major obstacles in her path? asks Payal Singh Mohanka.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will bring home 157 artefacts and antiquities, which were handed over to India by the United States during his visit, with both he and President Joe Biden expressing commitment to strengthening efforts to combat theft, illicit trade and trafficking of cultural objects.
'I was living in a fools' paradise, thinking I could win over anyone with my good intentions.'
Sending out a clear message to Congress ranks, Sonia said the party will have to change its style of functioning with changing times and urged them to keep the organisation above their personal ambitions.
It clarified that its interim bail order is with respect to the FIR lodged in Sitapur and has nothing to do with a case registered against him in Delhi.
Time's profile of Modi says that in its 74 years as an independent nation, India has had three pivotal leaders -- Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Modi. "Narendra Modi is the third, dominating the country's politics like no one since them."
'I am not sure of the numbers killed, but they were not as high as the use of the word 'genocide' suggests.' 'There is another meaning you could take, 'cultural genocide', in that the Pandit community is extremely small and their forced departure led to a wiping out of their culture.'
'Aurangzeb, who had destroyed the Hindu temples of Mathura and Kashi and many others in the north, was a very different ruler when he came to Maharashtra.' 'He did not touch a single temple in Maharashtra.' 'It was possibly the greatest triumph of Shivaji's statesmanship,' notes Colonel Anil A Athale (retd), the well known military historian.
'Religion must be in your home and in the temple, not in government functions.'
Modi had challenge to the opposition to publicly declare that they are prepared to accord Indian citizenship to all Pakistanis.
Indian IT services companies are likely to post a 9-12 per cent revenue growth in USD terms in FY22, helped by the strong demand for digital deals, a report said on Tuesday. However, the same will not translate into profits, because higher salaries will result in the operating profit margins for the same set of companies to come at 23 per cent from 24.2 per cent in FY21, domestic rating agency Icra said. The IT sector is one of the few sectors that have not been deeply impacted by the pandemic.
'The BJP's constitution promises allegiance to India's secularism and socialism.' 'This is the oath that it makes all its members sign,' observes Aakar Patel.
If it splits now, who takes what away and leaves what behind? asks Shekhar Gupta.
'... while leaving the dirty work he orders to his subordinates.'
Slogans like 'Jiyo aur jeene do (live and let live)', '#No CAA, #No NRC', 'Mera desh, mera samvidhan (My country, my Constitution)' were painted on the road.
'He is a key fulcrum point in the pan-Indian creation of an effective Opposition to the BJP.'
The Indian Spring represented by Anna Hazare's anti-corruption campaign, which has culminated in the Aam Aadmi Party's impressive electoral debut in New Delhi, began around the same time as the Arab Spring in 2011 but they led to different outcomes in India and the Arab world, says Ramesh Ramachandran.
Over two dozen Muslims have been elected to the Lok Sabha. This shows that all is not lost for India's Muslims, suggests Mohammad Sajjad.
Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi held a virtual meeting on Friday evening with leaders of 19 Opposition parties, including the chief ministers of some Opposition-ruled states, amid efforts to boost Opposition unity and evolve a common strategy against the National Democratic Alliance government.
Strongly defending the move to revise school textbooks, Karnataka Primary and Secondary Education Minister B C Nagesh on Monday alleged that confusion is unnecessarily being created among the people and students, along with attempts to create communal hatred by spreading falsehood.
Jyoti Punwani pays tribute to Syed Feroze Ashraf, the eternal do-gooder who changed the lives of many children.
'The current government must act sooner rather than later,' asserts Vivek Gumaste.
The market price action seems to point in this direction. Let's hope we finally break out. It is about time! asserts Akash Prakash.
Greece's financial crisis has intensified.
Indian envoy to Nepal Ranjit Rae on Monday briefed the government on the latest situation in that country after it adopted its new fully secular and democratic Constitution amid violent protests in several parts of Nepal along the Indian border.
Supreme Court judge Justice Kurian Joseph has declined to attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dinner for top judges on Saturday on the ground that the event and the ongoing judges conference clashed with Good Friday and Easter weekend.
Over 1.54 crore voters in the eastern states of West Bengal and Assam will exercise their franchise in the 1st phase of polling
'In its short life, AAP has distinguished itself in many, many, governance spheres.' 'But party democracy is not one of them,' notes Aditi Phadnis.
'The regime -- and particularly the home ministry under Amit Shah -- have sought to suppress and destroy these struggles through intimidation, bullying, threats, through false cases, arrests, custodial torture, the use of draconian laws like the UAPA.'
"Practice your religion but don't abuse and indulge in hate speech and writings," the Vice President said at an event organised to mark the 150th death anniversary of Saint Kuriakose Elias Chavara, a spiritual leader and social reformer from the Kerala Catholic community, at Mannanam near Kottayam.
'Even if the government does not implement an all-India NRC before 2024, it will be part of the party's long-term project.'
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