'The Opposition will continue to be attacked through misuse of agencies, civil society will be force-marched towards extinction and India's plummeting on global indices will continue.' 'Minorities and especially Muslims will continue to have open season declared on them. Institutions will continue their decline,' predicts Aakar Patel.
A provisional order has been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act against the newspaper's publisher Associated Journals Ltd and its holding company Young Indian, the central probe agency said in a statement.
Experts foresee possible scenarios: A BRS government with less majority, a BRS government with BJP and AIMIM support, or a Congress government.
The five-state assembly elections are seen as a now-or-never, no-holds battle for the Congress, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
'It is mind-boggling that a party can be in rigor mortis even after numerous electoral defeats,' observes Ramesh Menon.
'How come the BJP won even in the Muslim belt? I am 100% sure that the BJP would not win in the Muslim belt.'
The BSP is depending on votes from Dalits and minorities to make inroads into Congress and JD-S vote banks. The party is confident of coming in third place, saying that would be a satisfactory result for its first foray into Karnataka politics.
Amit Shah wants to increase the party's nationwide vote share by at least 10 per cent from the 37.7 per cent it secured five years ago and ensure above 50 per cent vote share in the states where it came close to that benchmark, but couldn't cross it.
Every election has its own fallout but the implications of the Karnataka poll go beyond its borders. For the BJP, winning the state means gaining the much coveted entry into the south. A victory in Karnataka would give a fillip to the Congress, after the recent string of defeats, and it could boost party morale for the battles ahead in the Hindi heartland.
Bypolls to one Lok Sabha and four assembly seats across four states will be held on May 10 along with the Karnataka assembly polls, the Election Commission announced on Wednesday.
Congress leaders have hit out at the BJP governments at the Centre and in Karnataka, questioning its timing.
He called on all sections of the society, especially SC/ST and other weaker sections to unite for safeguarding the Constitution and democracy.
"NCP president Sharad Pawar, Loktantrik Janata Dal president Sharad Yadav, DMK chief MK Stalin, Bihar's former deputy chief minister and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, SP president Akhilesh Yadav, BSP chief Mayawati and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal among other opposition leaders will attend the oath-taking ceremony in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh on December 17," said well-placed sources.
Shabana Azmi said no one but the Central Board of Film Certification has the right to decide whether or not a film should release.
Hectic preparations were underway at the Congress headquarters for the ceremony where party president Sonia Gandhi will hand over the baton to her successor, Mallikarjun Kharge, the first non-Gandhi to head the outfit in 24 years.
'He only promotes those leaders who will never show any resistance to him in future.'
"People ask me why I am wearing this white T-shirt, don't I feel cold. I will tell you the reason. When the yatra began... in Kerala, it was hot and humid. But when we entered Madhya Pradesh, it was slightly cold.
"Whoever said all those words you mentioned, I did not respond in kind because it is not the way I am built and we now have to move on, let bygones be bygones, whatever was said, we need to forget and move forward. It is not about individuals or positions or someone's statements now. It is about the country and the party," Pilot said.
'There is a need for a younger person at the top, but the old guard wants to grab the post themselves,' points out Amulya Ganguli.
Senior leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor, in the race for the post of Congress president, not only possess contrasting demeanour but have had an equally disparate political journey.
The Maharashtra Congress has convened a meeting of its legislators on Tuesday in view of the developments in the state that saw a split in the Nationalist Congress Party and Ajit Pawar being inducted as deputy chief minister in the Eknath Shinde government.
He takes over the CBI in challenging times. The perception is that the agency is reduced to being an instrument of blackmail and intimidation by successive governments.
Nath said the foot march will enter the central Indian state from Burhanpur district on Wednesday morning.
While its performance in Bihar, has boosted fund collections, corporate contributors are still waiting to see its performances in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal before committing funds to the Congress.
He laid stress on workers' connection with the ground and cited his own example when he was party in-charge for various assembly elections in the past.
Sonia wanted to know what happened to the institution of Lok Pal, the anti-graft watchdog that was proposed to be set up.
The Congress had last month written to Home Minister Amit Shah, alleging "security breaches" during the Yatra in the national capital and demanded immediate steps to ensure the security of Gandhi and others taking part in the yatra.
'The prime minister took a meeting recently and he asked for suggestions and ideas for a plan till 2047.'
24x7 power supply to farmers emerges as a political lightning rod in the state.
The longest-serving state party president since October 2010, Parameshwara has remained a hardcore loyalist of the party ever since his political debut through the Congress.
It will be in Modi's interest to reinvent his party, read the writing on the wall that voters wrote, and move ahead. He has little choice now. The country is watching, asserts Ramesh Menon.
Directed by Sudipto Sen, The Kerala Story depicts how women from Kerala were forced to convert to Islam and recruited by the terror group Islamic State.
About 40 per cent of sitting MPs have criminal cases registered against them out of which 25 per cent have declared serious criminal cases under charges of murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping and crimes against women, according to poll rights body Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
Chief ministers of 3 Congress-ruled states, other national and state party leaders are also likely to accompany Rahul to the court.
A poor performance in Karnataka will send the alarm bells ringing in every current or potential ally of the Congress, and, yes, that could have an effect in the Lok Sabha elections.
"Objectively, it is only the Congress that has a footprint, shall we say, in eight to 12 states. So to have healthy democracy in which one party does not steamroll the Opposition, the kind that India experienced from the late 1970s till 2014, to revive that, to restore it, which I believe would be very good for all of us, it would depend a lot on the Congress becoming more competitive," he claimed.
'It is not just about numbers. Sometimes coalitions and alliances have symbolic value.'
Contests in 13 seats would attract most attention during the Chhattisgarh assembly elections as they feature prominent leaders of the Congress and BJP.
As the lower house took up the motion moved by Gogoi, there were heated exchanges between the opposition and treasury benches after Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi wondered why Rahul Gandhi's name as lead speaker was withdrawn at the last minute.
'Why should Khargeji work against the Gandhis for the sake of proving his independence?'
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