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.
'Just keep telling people that we have fixed the Muslims, and they will not be bothered about their empty stomachs or empty wallets.'
Is anyone in the BJP listening -- to what Nitin Gadkari had to say, but possibly left unsaid? asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Centre on Wednesday announced a raft of post-retirement employment possibilities for 'Agniveer' like priority in recruitment to the central armed police forces (CAPF) and Assam rifles but that failed to assuage the concerns of the opposition Congress which warned the 'transformative' 'Agnipath' scheme will reduce the operational effectiveness of the armed forces.
Farmers from Uttar Pradesh and neighbouring states on Tuesday offered 'antim ardas' -- the final prayers in the Sikh tradition -- for the protesters killed in the recent violence in Lakhimpur Kheri, with their leaders vowing to intensify the agitation against the Centre's new agri laws.
'Actually, the RSS is deeply ambivalent and uncomfortable with Gandhi as well as also Ambedkar, but it is not politically wise to oppose these two.' 'So Nehru is the main and only target.'
The 10-member jury was headed by filmmaker Vipul Shah. The awards were announced by jury member Dharam Gulati.
Modi is seen as exceptional not only on account of his acts but also owing to his style. He appears to sacrifice his life for the people -- like a fakir, a figure he came to epitomize even more in 2020 by growing a long white beard. Charisma is above accountability, and Modi has grasped these dynamics.
Uttarakhand is abuzz with speculation that the BJP could pick a new leader as CM, given the possibility that the Election Commission may not hold a by-poll enabling Rawat's election to the state assembly.
If the Opposition has any chance at the prime minister's job, it can happen only if they all stop dropping names and work at the grassroots-level, state-wise, suggests N Sathiya Moorthy.
'There is no point in just saying, 'hum wapas bhej denge (we will send Kashmiri Pandits back)'.'
It is in no way a government of the economic Right. The Right is limited to religion and nationalism. The rest is as Left as the Congress or any other party, observes Shekhar Gupta.
'Where they lose, you never ask why they failed there, like in Bihar and Punjab.' 'You are stuck on the UP victory, thinking they have the mandate to rule for all times to come.' 'The BJP has 282 MPs, but can I honestly say that the BJP is the party for everyone?'
"Modi is a very popular leader. People have given him massive mandate. But this mandate is not a licence to act irresponsibly. Patel and Nehru also had mandate of the people to lay the foundation stone of the country's development," the Sena said.
Modi and the BJP have been targeting the Congress during the campaign for assembly polls, claiming that the grand old party opposed the scrapping of Article 370.
A day after Dhaka was liberated on December 16, 1971, then US President Richard Nixon was told by his strategic advisor Henry Kissinger that he had 'saved West Pakistan,' according to confidential papers since declassified by the US department of state.
If he doesn't win next year, it will set back the party's prospects in 2024. If he wins, it will be seen as his win as much as the BJP high command's, points out Shekhar Gupta.
'Although Narendra Modi had no direct participation in the Ayodhya agitation, he would not have been in the dominant position he is now had it not been for the Ram Janambhoomi agitation.'
A rebel by nature, he lived the life to the fullest, donning different hats -- lawyer, parliamentarian, minister -- but was not a quintessential politician constrained by party lines.
'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.
'The BJP is not the party it was 10 years ago. It has changed. It is emerging like the Congress.' 'Sometimes, I feel the BJP has taken the Congress' space.' 'Its politics is also resembling the Congress.'
'Certainly if Advani had agreed to Vajpayee in sacking Modi, then we would never have been talking of Modi today.'
'Since the rise of the Modi-Shah paradigm, the BJP has followed a simple formula.' 'Sweep the Hindi heartland and the two big Western states, and you can rule India with a majority by just adding some little bits on the platter from here and there,' points out Shekhar Gupta.
The Hindutva social media continues to present the DMK especially as anti-god, anti-Hindu and anti-Brahmin. The strategy did not work in the past, it has not worked in the present, and would not work in the future, as a massive vote-getter, asserts N Sathiya Moorthy.
For Prime Minister Narendra Modi to dig up the perceived past of the DMK rival, now under a new leader in M K Stalin, may not gel with the voters, both old and new. If they are still going to vote for the AIADMK-BJP combine, it will be for entirely different reasons, and despite Modi's poll speeches, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'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.
The top court termed the Rs 10 crore compensation paid by the Republic of Italy over and above the payment already made as "reasonable and adequate".
The very timing of the Phalke Award on Rajini now, days ahead of Tamil Nadu voting in the assembly election, may have taken away the seriousness and credibility attaching to the Centre's decision, making it sound every bit political, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Will Priyanka contest against Modi in Varanasi? Will Rahul also contest from Karnataka? Rasheed Kidwai -- Sonia Gandhi and the Congress party's biographer -- reveals what is churning in the Congress.
'For the UDF, it will depend on how far Rahul Gandhi will succeed with the goodwill he has.' 'That will make a difference.'
'New Delhi's rulers should be alert to lighting a dangerous tinderbox,' warns Sunil Sethi.
Joginder Tuteja looks at Bollywood's new lot of actress-turned-producers.
The Central government on Friday told the Supreme Court that it has deposited with the top court Rs 10 crore paid by the republic of Italy as compensation to the families of the two Kerala fishermen who were shot dead in 2012 by two Italian marines aboard the MV Enrica Lexie ship -- an Italian flagged oil tanker -- in lieu of closure of criminal cases against the two navy personnel in India.
Nitin Gadkari has a message as much for his party as much purportedly it is for the Opposition. Listening to him, whatever be his reasons and motives, will help, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'The BJP will get the lion's share of the Opposition vote. I would give the Congress-Left around 15 per cent.'
'The Afghans used to say that if there is any person whose name should be taken after Allah, it is Hindustani.'
Ram Jethmalani passed away a few days before his 96th birthday on September 14.
'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'
Voters in Rae Bareli said they feel an emotional connection with the Gandhi family.
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