An ardent admirer of the 'Father of the Nation", Mahatma Gandhi, he had actively participated in the Quit India movement.
Riding on its development agenda, the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party was on Tuesday set for a resounding victory in the Delhi assembly elections to retain power for a third term. Here's how leaders reacted to the impending victory.
BJP's loss of power in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattigarh means that it will have to face a resurgent Congress in the three states where it had emerged victorious in 62 of 65 Lok Sabha seats.
While Azad, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, has been made in charge of Uttar Pradesh, Nath will look after Punjab and Haryana, party General Secretary Janaradan Dwivedi said.
Any defeat for the BJP now would imply that anti-incumbency against Modi has set in, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
A five-judge Constitution bench, headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan, gave a week time to all the states to submit their brief note of submissions after some of them sought time.
Pawar and his Manch can deliberate to their hearts' content, but so long as the Congress does not play ball the BJP has little to worry, asserts Virendra Kapoor.
Senior leader K Karunakaran and his son Muraleedharan boycotted the swearing in ceremony.
No one from the Gandhi family was present at the All India Congress Committee headquarters when the leaders filed their nominations for the election.
Dominic Xavier wonders if the decision to abandon the winter session of Parliament is a harbinger of events to come.
'Tamil Nadu presents a challenge to the BJP and its politics.' 'DMK is making all efforts to resist the BJP.'
'More than losing Bengal, the worry for their national leadership is the current crisis.' 'If people perceive that the government does not do enough, then there's trouble.'
While his critics described him as a leader 'with no smile on his face, and the most feared politician in Kerala', his party rivals have often accused him of deviating from the party line.
LJP to tie up with Congress in WB, go it alone in TN, Kerala, Pondicherry
'We may be weak now, but the importance of the Congress cannot be denied.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday met Bharatiya Janata Party general secretaries and discussed organisational matters as also measures to strengthen the party ahead of assembly elections in some key states.
His immediate challenge is the February 8 Delhi assembly polls followed by year-end elections in Bihar. However, his big test would be the next year's assembly polls in West Bengal, a state where the BJP has emerged as a strong challenger to Mamata Banerjee-headed TMC.
'Every Congressperson is disillusioned in different degrees.'
The chief minister may have Prime Minister Modi's backing.
A section within the RSS feels Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani should be projected as the BJP's CM candidate in UP, says Rajeev Sharma.
The Grand Old Party must bring widespread reforms across all levels of the organisation to show it is no longer in a state of inertia and to present itself as a viable political alternative to the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress veteran Kapil Sibal said.
'Instead of camping in the cities and leading the party, leaders have to go to the interiors of the country.' 'The Congress is losing touch with the common man.'
The term of the Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura legislative assemblies is ending on March 6, March 13 and March 14 respectively.
After an initial close fight, AINRC managed to win only eight seats, including the Indira Nagar constituency by party founder and Chief Minister N Rangasamy.
'My feeling is that these parties will not learn their lesson despite their electoral drubbing. They cannot put forward a leader. They have no record of improving their constituents' lives by providing basic services. All they offer is their "'secularism",' says T V R Shenoy.
Santosh, an RSS 'pracharak' working in the BJP since 2006, is considered an ideologue who is equally well-versed with the dynamics of electoral politics.
"If the Opposition gets into singing praises, then democracy will be destroyed," Sharma said.
'I look to make a comeback in the Indian team,' Shanthakumaran Sreesanth tells Rediff.com's Harish Kotian.
Seeking to defend its leadership from the attack by its veterans, the BJP said the "healthy precedent" of collective responsibility for poll defeats was set by Vajpayee and Advani.
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'He only talks about what concerns our home, like what I have made for lunch or dinner. No politics at home and no controversies too.' 'If I want to know something, I have to update myself from the newspapers or the local people; unfortunately no inside information.' 'He is like a strong fort, which no one can break and get in, not even his wife.'
On its own or with allies the Congress has a strong presence in states that account for a total of 253 LS seats, or 20 short of the magic figure of 272 required to form a government at the Centre. So what is Mamata Banerjee talking about, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the Bharatiya Janata Party has decided it would not adopt the path of appeasement and vote bank politics.
'The CPI-M indulges in senseless talk. Be it the solar scam or the National Games scam, did the CPI-M prove anything?'
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday alleged that if the Congress-All India United Democratic Front combine come to power in Assam they will open 'all gates' to welcome infiltrators.
Elections 2024 is not as open and shut as has been presumed. There is some life left in it, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The BJP in Kerala is likely to get a prize catch with popular Malayalam film actor Suresh Gopi joining the party soon.
However, the AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the SC committee has limited terms of reference and 'cannot bring out the deep nexus between' the prime minister and the billionaire businessman.
We should be ready beforehand and I agree that if we have to go for alliances then the formalities of those alliances should be completed as soon as possible
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