Billionaire Gautam Adani's group was on Thursday hit by fresh allegations of associates of the promoter family using Mauritius-based 'opaque' investment funds to secretly invest hundreds of millions of dollars to fuel the spectacular rise in group stocks during 2013 to 2018, a charge the conglomerate denied vehemently.
'The Opposition parties will continue to woo Chandrababu Naidu even though he has said he will support the BJP.'
When Nehru came in active contact with Gandhi 100 years ago, he was a Westernised rationalist while Gandhi was deeply soaked in the Indian ethos and spirituality, notes Rasheed Kidwai.
Gandhi also said the idea of 'One Nation, One Election' was aimed at distracting from real issues of the people.
'These frequent visits show the BJP fears that the Congress will retain power.'
The Bharatiya Janata Party leader attacked the Congress for according Rahul Gandhi a "special treatment" following his conviction in a defamation case and accused the party of pressuring the judiciary, and doing everything possible to stay relevant.
As the counting of votes ends in Maharashtra and Haryana, Rediff.com takes a tongue-in-cheek look at what leaders across the political spectrum said.
'Even if the BJP's hope of a Congress-mukt Bharat is realised, it will still have to contend with Mr Gandhi's god-like status in the foreseeable future,' says Amulya Ganguli.
Anil Kapoor goes back in time and remembers his journey into the movies.
A rotating chief ministership as a way to appease factions can work only if there is a credible guarantor, explains Aditi Phadnis.
'The moment a new election comes, new guarantees are announced.' 'The BJP is adept at diverting people's attention.'
'Those who hope for a strong united Opposition are disillusioned at the way in which the INDIA alliance has already been caught in debilitating squabbles.'
Joginder Tuteja lists April's theatre releases.
'Everyone is unhappy with the lieutenant governor's administration, which is ignorant, high-handed, and inaccessible.'
There is, between Rao's tenure as PM and the current Modi regime, a powerful resonance of how transition can be managed. Rao's tenure saw many scams -- one where he was supposedly approached by Harshad Mehta with a bribe for making the securities scam go away. The Opposition insisted on a JPC. Despite knowing a JPC report would undermine him politically, Rao agreed to one, saying he had 'nothing to hide'.
If the Congress reached 90, it would have a pretty good chance of holding the BJP below the 272 mark. A hundred seats will rock national politics, argues Shekhar Gupta.
Several high-profile people, including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his former cabinet ministers Satyendar Jain and Manish Sisodia, are lodged in Tihar jail.
The real risk is that the core assumption -- that the votes for a candidate sponsored by an alliance will at least equal the sum total of its parts -- proves to be facile, observes T N Ninan.
Desperate times need desperate actions, and the BJP's only option is to enforce legislation to build a Ram mandir, says Sunil Sethi.
"I owe it to Veer Savarkar, to his spirit, to his legacy and to his untold story so that I tell it well and it reaches people, and people absorb it and feel what he went through and all the sacrifices that he made, which have been brushed under the carpet."
'Rahul Gandhi is the face of the INDIA alliance. If he contests against a BJP candidate and defeats her/him, it will send a strong message.'
'He was the best court craftsman that I have ever seen who could modulate his arguments in accordance with the judge and the mood.'
The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) will get a 'decisive mandate' in the Lok Sabha polls and may take even less than 48 hours to decide on its prime ministerial pick, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said on Thursday, asserting that it stands to reason that the party which gets the maximum seats in the alliance will be a 'natural claimant' for its leadership.
The BJP is the preferred choice because it offers what the Mughals and later British offered in their time: A stable polity and an environment in which business could function, explains T N Ninan.
Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav on Friday claimed that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had 'begged for forgiveness for past betrayals' before his parents, party supremo Lalu Prasad and ex-CM Rabri Devi, before they allied with the Janata Dal-United president in 2022.
In his letter to the Congress National President, Mallikarjun Kharge, Lovely said that all unanimous decisions taken by the senior Delhi Congress leaders have been unilaterally vetoed by the AICC general secretary (Delhi in-charge).
'Every Indian who is concerned about the unity, integrity and the map of India should be worried about this growing divide.'
Moitra said she has been found guilty of breaching a code of ethics that does not exist and that there was no evidence of cash or gift given to her.
'Sheikh Abdullah ruled the state with secular values. Post 1953, when he was sacked, corruption took over governance.'
Will a caste census make tens of millions desert Mr Modi?, asks Shekhar Gupta.
'The victory is an expression of agrarian distress and social turmoil.'
'The Bharat Jodo Yatra successfully resurrected the Rahul Gandhi brand.' 'There's a critical mass that has built up for the Congress and Mr Modi is feeling the heat on the Adani issue, the raids on the BBC offices, the Opposition getting together.'
'The BJP is racing against its opponents by putting a chain on their legs.'
Electoral setbacks and thwarted ambition can have an unpredictable effect on leaders,, observes Aditi Phadnis.
The Congress on Friday claimed that a 'silent undercurrent' is brewing across western Uttar Pradesh against the 'failures' of the Modi government, as it flagged issues such as 'neglect' of sugarcane farmers and examination paper leaks.
On Thursday, the SC had voiced "serious concern" over Governor Ravi's refusal to reinduct Ponmudi as a minister in the state cabinet even after the SC had suspended his conviction in a corruption case.
In Karnataka, the BJP lost the elections because of multiple poles of power, a problem the central leadership could not sort out in time. Could the same happen to the Congress in Rajasthan? asks Aditi Phadnis.
Interacting with civil society members at the Bharat Jodo Yatra Conclave at the Constitution Club in New Delhi, Gandhi said the yatra is like tapasya for him, according to sources.
'There might be some internal tussles that can be expected between any two persons in any party.' 'But I do not see any tussle which might weaken the possibility of dictatorship.'
The Congress has been critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for holding political rallies amid the rise in coronavirus cases in the country.
