'Another term for the government under the prime minister would likely be a step forward on the path to Hindu Rashtra.' 'No question of going back or any slowing down.'
What must Prime Minister Manmohan Singh do to reverse the drift in his government? B Raman offers some sage counsel
If the government of the day would like to set in place a smooth and well-planned changeover and facilitate the incoming chief to chalk out his action plan well in advance, the announcement of a successor needs to be done early, observes Colonel K Thammayya Udupa (retd).
'Dharmendra was paying a little extra attention to me and she didn't like it.'
In an open letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh senior analyst B Raman says that the government should not be indifferent to the serious and worrisome issues projected by outgoing Indian Army chief General VK Singh
'Had Haji Pir and/or Skardu been taken, the message would have gone out not just to General Asim Munir and his cohort in the Pakistan army but to the Pakistani people that every terrorist incident in India would lead to substantial loss of territory in PoK.'
Dikshit, a former three-time chief minister of Delhi, however, added that there was a feeling that the PM is doing it all for politics.
No single individual, institution, or action is to blame for this. The BJP is responding in kind -- definitely not without checking with its government. And they wait for Mr Trump, notes Shekhar Gupta.
"The right to ask questions and seek political, Constitutional and moral accountability of the Prime Minister is indeed the constitutional and parliamentary obligation of the Opposition. And Mr Prime Minister this is not 'tu-tu main main," BJP chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
The fundamental construct of India's neighbourhood policy still needs to be what Vajpayee postulated, Manmohan Singh embraced, and Modi energised. It's just that we need to junk domestic politics and excessive religiosity, while acquiring much humility and a renewed respectfulness towards our neighbours, recommends Shekhar Gupta.
Prime Minister is conspicuously silent on critical issues relating to infrastructure in his press conference.
'On January 1, 2010, I didn't imagine Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would be fighting a political battle to save his famed credibility.'
'Despite his noble intentions, Manmohan Singh is singularly failing to either manage the country well or to provide a vision for the nation's future. He may be a nice man, but India needs an effective prime minister.'
'The Modi government, like the Singh one, has run into what is called a perfect storm, where everything that can go wrong does so at the same time,' points out T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan.
The transcript of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's speech at the 63rd session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Friday.
'We are going to need more technical people in government.' 'You can't expect a generalist to understand the complicated world of financial engineering.' 'I regret to say that most of our politicians have no competence to deal with these things. Nor is there a willingness to learn.'
From bhikshus of Ashokan 3rd century BC and medieval Sufis to Oxfam, Omidyar and Soros now, non-State actors have any real power only when they work in conjunction with a real State, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
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.
24 hours before campaigning ends in Thiruvanathapuram, Archana Masih/Rediff.com discovers Shashi Tharoor and his BJP rival Rajeev Chandrasekhar are busy getting their message across to voters.
Contrary to the popular belief that the IAS cadres manage the country - they are actually required to manage politicians, most of whom do not pass any sort of muster, says T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan.
'Mr Modi, unless he changes his approach, may further legitimise the idea that it is perfectly all right for Hindus to dictate terms to the minorities.' 'Indira Gandhi's political expediency did permanent economic damage. Mr Modi's may end up causing permanent social damage,' says T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan.
'Vajpayee used to consult the Opposition; Indira Gandhi used to consult the Opposition. Which khet ki mooli is Modi?'
It is time for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take the debate on the Jan Lokpal Bill to the people through the media as well as through direct interactions with the people during tours across the country, observes B Raman
'A nation that has no long-term strategic intent, and whose leaders can be easily manipulated through flattery, is a banana republic. Unlike China, which intends to rule the world, India, which can only imagine itself as a second-rate power, will remain one.'
'There is no peace in the Kashmir Valley.'
'One is happy. The moment one starts criticising the BJP, ED, IT and CBI comes to one's house.'
The visibly elated actor talked to rediff.com's Ajit Jain hours before the State dinner.
India to build 2 new ports, 8 new airports, new industrial corridors and rail projects, said Dr Singh.
There is a need for tax reforms in the country in a bolder way, Singh said.
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'.
Will the Supreme Court take note of the case and ensure a respected civil servant is not punished for being in office at the wrong time?
The coming assembly and Lok Sabha elections -- the choice of candidates, the campaign strategies and the negotiations with other Opposition parties --0 represent the real test for Mallikarjun Kharge.
A rotating chief ministership as a way to appease factions can work only if there is a credible guarantor, explains Aditi Phadnis.
'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.'
The former PM attack on the Modi government for its "disastrous policies" and "economic mismanagement".
It is because of the feared domestic backlash that the Modi government is now stepping up pressure on Pakistan to accommodate Indian interests.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday criticised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's remarks that those who oppose Foreign Direct Investment in retail are "ignorant", saying it is not the Opposition which is ignorant, but the United Progressive Alliance government and the Congress Party.
