'The BJP is pouring in money so that only BJP candidates are visible everywhere.' 'If the Congress does not win this time, its survival itself will be a problem...'
Sources close to the top BJP leadership tell me that Tharoor has already had secret meetings with the BJP's top brass and is waiting patiently to make his next move, reports Ramesh Menon.
'It will be the end of the Congress after the Lok Sabha election.' 'Many Congressmen and even Communists will move to the BJP.'
'While the Congressmen were fighting, the LDF was quietly doing its job, perhaps bringing in results in the lives of the people.' 'Pinarayi Vijayan and several ministers in his cabinet believed that the government should do real business, which is not to fight with the UDF but govern.'
'He has emerged as a formidable leader who cannot be ignored anymore, who cannot be mocked.'
A strong demand for ending the culture of nomination at all levels for democratic functioning of the party and its revival was made at the Congress brainstorming conclave in Jaipur on Saturday.
'I am the senior most Congress party leader from Kerala, and I don't know why I am sidelined.'
'The prime minister took a meeting recently and he asked for suggestions and ideas for a plan till 2047.'
'Can you believe Ashok Chavan was with me in the senior leaders' meeting one day, and next day morning, he switched sides!'
Four people, including two staff of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's Wayanad office, were arrested on Friday for allegedly causing damage to Mahatma Gandhi's photo nearly two months ago when an Students' Federation of India protest march led to violence on the premises.
The youngest in the CWC is 31-year-old Neeraj Kundan, who is an ex-officio member of the body as the president of the National Students Union of India, the students' wing of the party.
'Judging by the conduct of two governors of Kerala and one governor from Kerala, Congressmen treated Raj Bhavan as a transition point before taking a flight back into active politics.'
'If he has not achieved 'Congress mukt Bharat' even now, the question of his creating a 'DMK mukt Tamil Nadu' does not arise,' points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Since the party is at a stage when things are very bad, this is the best time to experiment.'
'Nowhere in the country, except perhaps Jammu and Kashmir, do extremist groups enjoy political patronage as they do in Kerala. Terrorists are exported from Kerala to Afghanistan, Syria.'
We look back at the many leaders who took contention with Rahul Gandhi in the recent past.
With the Pradesh Congress committees passing resolution seeking Rahul Gandhi at the helm of All India Congress Committee, party General Secretary, Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday said such measures have no binding effect.
'The Congress cannot appreciate people with an independent opinion.' 'That's why many people left 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.
'Rahul Gandhi wants a group under the name 'new generation'. But look at the people who surround him.'
While the Congress was a unifying force, the Left front was divisive, he said adding "wherever we go, we unify everybody. We are a unifying force. Wherever we go we identify everybody and unite them and make them strong".
"If the Opposition gets into singing praises, then democracy will be destroyed," Sharma said.
In a public show of dissent, the 'G-23' leaders, including Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma and Kapil Sibal, who have been pressing for a leadership change and organisational overhaul in the Congress, gathered on one stage in Jammu on Saturday, saying the party is weakening and they have come together to strengthen it.
'Both the CPM and the BJP have one agenda, and that is to keep the Congress out.' 'That's why they are coming together.'
'Mamata wanted the Congress in alliance with the BJP in Bengal against the Left Front government.' 'Pranab Mukherjee opposed it, stating it would amount to compromising on secularism.' 'In 2021, Mamata defeats the BJP and becomes a champion of secularism.'
Although Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi might be the Congress' enemy number one, in private, many Congressmen blame Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the party's current plight.
'When I said the Gandhi family had to step aside, it was because we have consistently seen that the public has not accepted them.'
As West Bengal, Kerala, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry prepare for new administrations, one is reminded of the disparity that runs through the veins of the Indian states, notes Mihir S Sharma.
Ambassador T P Sreenivasan bids adieu to an unusual human being who passed away into ages on Saturday.
'If Mr Rahul Gandhi is coming to Rajasthan he should also know how his own chief minister is throttling the voices of the people belonging to the most backward classes.'
A defeat in Assam would be bad news for the Congress which is in power in Meghalaya, Mizoram and Manipur.
Is anyone in the BJP listening -- to what Nitin Gadkari had to say, but possibly left unsaid? asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
'The Congress's allies won't be left behind in looking out for their own interests. Some will demand a bigger share of the ministerial or electoral pie, others will simply jump ship,' says T V R Shenoy.
'Every Congressperson is disillusioned in different degrees.'
Sharma had on Monday slammed Congress' association with the ISF led by Muslim cleric Abbas Siddiqui in West Bengal, contending that it was against the "Gandhian and Nehruvian secularism" and the party cannot be selective in fighting "communalists".
'Modi should have trust in us and the minorities should also have trust in him.'
Shobha Warrier reports from Thiruvananthapuram where a former UN diplomat is battling a former governor for the Lok Sabha seat.
With Parliament rocked by constant disruptions, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday hit out at the Congress, accusing it of making a "mockery of democracy" and deciding to "destroy" the country as it cannot reconcile to the Lok Sabha poll defeat.
Kerala is one state where the Congress may do well in the general election and it where Rahul Gandhi has demonstrated why he is serious about rebuilding his party, says T V R Shenoy.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances