Right now, in Modi's Cabinet and in the BJP, there is no challenge whatsoever to Modi's leadership but even those leaders who have some potential, who the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh can think of backing in an unforeseen circumstance, are fast turning into damaged goods, reports Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com.
There are three things you never do in a small North East state: Undermine local leaders, divide and rule, push homogenisation, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
The opposition on Tuesday termed as an 'election jumla' the women's reservation bill brought by the government with many leaders raising questions over the proposed legislation, contending it doesn't account for reservation for OBC communities and that it will be effective at the earliest by the 2029 Lok Sabha polls.
In our mystery the watchdog agencies are silent, but it is the market that has barked and has not stopped barking. Till such time as it continues to do so, this headache will not go away, notes Aakar Patel.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday claimed that people in his office, several party and other opposition leaders have been sent a warning by Apple of state-sponsored attackers targeting their phone, and alleged that as soon as the Adani issue is touched, probe agencies and snooping are deployed.
'Tamil Nadu is a paradox. We have more places of Hindu worship per square kilometres than any other place in the world. 'We break more coconuts for religious reasons everyday than any other place in the world.' 'At the same time, we also have a very strong Periyar-infused movement of rationalism.'
'...a more capable State -- one that operates with greater capacity, greater efficiency, and greater clarity of purpose.' 'But I also see a more despotic State -- one that places more constraints on speech, assembly, dissent, and critique.' 'It may run 'better', but on the regime's rules.'
'He has divine power... For our future, safety is in the hands of Modi.'
As she steps down, a look at the top two contenders -- Vijay Rupani and Nitin Patel -- who could become Gujarat's next chief minister.
Singh said nobody anticipated that Scindia would quit the party.
Keeping up its offensive, an Aam Aadami Party delegation on Wednesday met Delhi University Vice Chancellor demanding that they be allowed to examine records of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BA degree but they had to return empty handed.
Ramesh stressed that the prime minister should participate in the debate on Manipur.
'We want to protect our history, we want to protect our people from getting overwhelmed by the influx from Bangladesh, that is why the people of Assam are out in the streets,' says former Assam chief minister and Asom Gana Parishad leader Prafulla Kumar Mahanta.
Because he knows Odisha; and Odisha knows him, observes Aditi Phadnis.
The BJP game-plan: Take the top slot, or a close second, either for the 'Lotus' or the larger NDA, if it can and push the AIADMK to the third place, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
Monday, November 8, 2021, Lal Kishenchand Advani -- the politician who took the Bharatiya Janata Party from its parliamentary nadir in 1984, when it won just two Lok Sabha seats, to establishing the edifice for its present dominance in Indian politics -- will turn 94.
Droupadi Murmu, India's 15th President, will be the youngest (she is only 64) and India's first President to be born after Independence.
For the most battle-hardened, specialised and successful counter-insurgency army in the world, this is an unfamiliar, first-time experience of dealing with the north east's deepest complexities, observes Shekhar Gupta.
Earlier, the party's members of Parliament had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for removing Mehta over his reported meeting with West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party leader Suvendu Adhikari.
The verdict will be delivered by a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud.
He said all his phones have been tapped and his friends informed by intelligence people that this is being done.
'And the same trust was evident in the Karnataka election.'
Rakhi Sawant is as uncensored as they come.
Narendra D Modi and his party campaigned in these elections uncharacteristically without any big ideas. Of course, winning each election at all costs could be a big idea as well, observes Shekhar Gupta.
'The state government, state forces, commandos, police, they are all with the Meiteis in attacking Kuki tribals.'
'I don't know why they should feel scared. They have a big majority, they shouldn't feel scared.' 'They should let us speak and then they can always vote however they want to. I have no idea (what's scaring the government).' 'It actually baffles me why they should indulge in these kinds of tactics.'
The Congress' announcement that the party chief will contest from Wayanad evoked sharp reactions from the Left and Right of the political spectrum.
'Thank you for the cinema, thank you for the laughs.'
'The border stand-off and the uncertainties that come with it should be a wake-up call on what makes for real rather than illusory power,' observes T N Ninan.
'People want to see Mr Sinha win again because he has always been there for Patna whether he has been a leader or not.' 'Even when he was an actor, he was a proud Bihari.' 'He is not doing it because he only wants to win an election, he wants to do it because he really loves Bihar.'
'While Piyush Goel, Dharmendra Pradhan, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and a clutch of former bureaucrats including R K Singh, Hardeep Singh Puri and K J Alphons are loyal BJP members, none of them fit the mould of party apparatchiks.' 'In fact, many of the latter kind have been shown the door or have been given reduced charges.' 'That goes to show the prime minister's comfort level in dealing with professionals and administrators and the trust he reposes in them,' says Shreekant Sambrani.
'In today's situation, it is not going to help anyone's case if they try to politically contest with the BJP on ideological issues.' 'Instead, it is best is to swim along the tide, present the more acceptable face of the cultural Hindu, but not be a political Hindu as the BJP or Mr Modi is.'
Uttam Ghosh offer his take on the Pragya Thakur controversy.
As the hearing in the cases heated up again, the apex court took umbrage at the verbal duel between two senior lawyers Dushayan Dave and Pallav Shishodia, calling it 'unacceptable'.
'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.
When BJP leaders, including Mr Modi's number two, Amit Shah, use the pandemic to launch an assault on state governments run by opposition parties, or to topple them, they are exploiting a grave crisis in cynical political self-interest, notes Shekhar Gupta.
'There was an overt campaign and there was a covert campaign. The overt campaign may be development, government, and all this nonsense. But the covert campaign, which Mr Amit Shah was doing, was far more important with the help of RSS cadres. This has been an RSS election. From day one I have been saying, this is not Congress versus the BJP, this is Congress versus the RSS,' says Jairam Ramesh, one of the key strategists of the Congress party.
Only a leader with sufficient moral authority with voters can pull off such experiments, notes T N Ninan.
'Dr Shashi Tharoor by far is a much better choice.'
Colleagues pay homage to Narendra Jha.
