In the unlikely event of the BJP-NDA losing all five states going to the polls in February-March, the Presidential electoral college numbers could be significantly altered, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
'By crudely dragging the topic into the bazaar to flog it for momentary pleasure, we turned it into a dead carcass by the time Modi even got back from Xiamen,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
VHP international president Praveen Togadia also lauded the government for issuing an advisory to states for ensuring a complete ban on beef exports.
'If the person is silenced, then everyone else is terrorised and won't speak up.' 'See what happened to Kiran Mane, you will face the same fate.' 'They want to send this message to the world through my example.' 'We have to fight this and show that they cannot throttle everyone.'
The excitement on the foundation laying ceremony of Ram Temple reverberated across the country as Ram bhakts gathered to to celebrate the groundbreaking occasion. People across the country were seen chanting 'Jai Shri Ram' and waving saffron flags. Fireworks were also burst and sweets were distributed to mark the day.
The Congress president offered prayers at the Churva Hanuman Mandir on the Lucknow-Rae Bareli road hours after landing in the state capital where enthusiastic party workers greeted him with garlands.
Indeed, if you look at this hypothesis with sufficiently jaundiced eyes, you will find plenty in common in the way 'Team India' conducts its affairs and the way 'Team Modi' does, argues Krishna Prasad.
Syed Firdaus Ashraf goes to the bank to withdraw cash, a day after high denomination notes were withdrawn, and encounters a veritable battlefield.
Vinay Katiyar said this is not a hard issue to deal with for the Narendra Mdoi government.
'The Congresswallahs will hope that Arvind Kejriwal's oratory and confidence will be the anti-aircraft guns to Narendra Modi's airwave-capturing force. Both Kejriwal and Modi speak Hindi well. Both are supremely self-confident about their agenda and vision. Some of their catch-phrases -- 'Vande Mataram' and 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' -- are identical. Both are inspiring figures for their cadres. Both are not hesitant at all to wear their faith in Bhagwan on their foreheads on public platforms.' Sheela Bhatt believes that the 2014 election will be a Kejriwal versus Modi battle.
The opposition to Gajendra Chauhan's appointment has more to do with his background and less with anything else, feels Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
The ultimate consequences of Rahul Gandhi's yatra may be known only in 2024, points out Dr Sudhir Bisht.
Here are some of the reactions to Pragya Singh Thakur's remarks that Godse was a deshbhakt.
Syed Firdaus Ashraf lists 10 instances when the BJP didn't pull its punches.
The prime minister also contended that he was grateful to the authorities of the monastic order for granting him an opportunity to spend a night at the math. He insisted that the ambiance at Belur Math reminded him of his duty towards people.
The BJP's panicky return to basic-instinct majoritarianism in Bihar has pushed Muslims back into the 'secular' basement, says Shekhar Gupta.
'There were any number of Congress leaders who disliked Sonia Gandhi, but they were very close to Ahmed Bhai and he would listen, and give a shoulder to cry upon.'
'Manmohan Singh was blamed for administrative paralysis, but if you speak to any senior bureaucrat today, they are very bitter and say that files do not move. I am told that more than a thousand files are awaiting clearance.'
'This is a historic juncture when the US is in great need of an alliance with India to strengthen its hands in the fierce struggle with China in the Asian theatre,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Earlier in the day, the Chinese embassy in Delhi first posted and later removed a statement on its website saying that the two met after the Congress denied it as "fake news".
Elections 2024 is not as open and shut as has been presumed. There is some life left in it, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Akbar is rumoured to have once asked the navratnas of his court what the greatest pleasure in the world was. The stock answers came back: wealth, power, women, food, wine and so on, with the emperor's own contribution being hunting. Birbal was the outlier; he asserted that the greatest pleasure in the world was surely a good bowel movement.
'Till now, many political parties indulged in Muslim appeasement.' 'This is one experiment, successfully carried out by the AAP, in indulging in Hindu appeasement.'
Once Ram temple is built it will become a 'ghoshit (declared) Hindu Rashtra', a VHP leader told the gathering.
'Indian secularism doesn't deserve a tombstone. It needs a new shrine,' argues Shekhar Gupta.
'He is wily and has everything that a political leader needs to succeed at that level.' 'He would be outstanding as a counter to Modi in the Lok Sabha, if he had the Opposition benches behind him,' says Aakar Patel.
American help in defending our independence will send a strong signal to the Chinese, argues Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'I was fortunate to have served as India's ambassador to Indonesia and witnessed on several occasions, the incredible performances of the Ramayana and episodes from the Mahabharata in Jogjakarta and in Bali,' recalls former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
It is possibly the first time that a regional party with not even enough numbers to move a no-trust motion has taken the lead, and others are following it. The hints of a no-trust move first came from the YSR Congress, and the ruling TDP could not have stayed on together when the question is another version of 'Telugu atma gouravam' - an issue that fired its founder N T Rama Rao in the 1980s, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'An elephant has to behave like an elephant and not shy away from confronting the jackals,' argues Colonel (Dr) Anil A Athale.
'Have we finally gotten over the holy cow syndrome?' asks Saisuresh Sivaswamy after watching Aisi Taisi Democracy in action.
The Congress admitted that the Section 66A of cyber law was poorly drafted
Performance counts more than populist slogans when you are in power, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Dalits are not going to vote for the BJP in 2019.'
Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt unearths some never-told-before details of Narendra Modi's early life. Read on!
'We need to be in a perpetual state of aggression, and able to swiftly change the goal posts to keep Pakistan in a state of imbalance,' argues Sanjeev Nayyar.
'I am not a friend of anyone who wants to defend, justify and glorify any businessman, power drunk person or religious fanatics, fake activists, apologists of terrorists, appeasers of some, oppressors of others, pretending to be political leaders,' says Amit Mehra.
RSS ideologue and former BJP general secretary K N Govindacharya talks about commemorating the deaths of naga sadhus and sants who were killed in police firing on November 7, 1966.
Gandhi took to Twitter to put out a Sanskrit shloka from the Upanishads and tweeted a picture of Mount Kailash along with it.
Had he not been a student, admirer and follower of Amartya Sen, T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan feels it might have been a Padma Bhushan.
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