Pm Modi made a surprise visit to the new parliament building and inspected various works as well as interacted with construction workers.
Heading G20 will give India a foreign affairs year like it has never had in history. You can trust Narendra Modi to exploit this to India's benefit. And, of course, to his own in his election year, explains Shekhar Gupta.
'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 longevity of the government is a doubt for me because when the going gets tough, there could a be a point in time where there might be pressure, from within the party or from the allies.'
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Modi government must push reforms at a fast pace to restore growth.
As Prime Minister Narendra D Modi finished four years in power and India gears up for the 2019 Lok Sabha election, we ask you, dear readers, what you think of Mr Modi and his government.
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.
Vijay Mallya, who played a crucial role in building RCB's core identity -- most notably by backing a young Virat Kohli, and later signing superstars like Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers -- shared a series of heartfelt messages after the final.
Narendra Modi is no reformist, but here's how he could yet change the path India's economy.
Why the prime minister's legacy will depend on how he governs, not the number of state elections he fights as personality contests, says Shekhar Gupta.
It sent shock waves in the party -- a political greenhorn had taken on Modi in his home turf of Gujarat. Smriti had clearly tried to choose sides, in this case Vajpayee's camp. Many felt that this would end Irani's career. A revealing excerpt from Nidhi Sharma's new book She, The Leader: Women in Indian Politics.
Over the years, India has enjoyed bipartisan support in the US and this asset must be kept intact and nurtured through across the board political and civil society engagement, suggests former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
'...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.'
Anshuman Gaekwad, who served Indian cricket as a player, coach and selector, succumbed to blood cancer on Wednesday night.
Narendra Modi's speech had surprising omissions about his economics.
Industrialists have the same complaints as they did in the UPA's second stint.
'I defended them -- Amit Shah and Narendra Modi -- in over 10,000 national debates, but I never asked for any favour.'
'If Mr Modi and Mr Shah have made a poisonous, polarising campaign their brahmastra for 2019, Mamata Banerjee is showing them its limitations,' says Shekhar Gupta.
The ISI strategy has been to use its proxies to target Hindus in India. They want an outrage and counter-targeting of India's minorities. Further, even the whiff of it restores the Pakistan army's popularity, especially when it's in the dumps, like now, points out Shekhar Gupta.
'The irony of this country is that the party in Opposition and the party in power both depend on Muslims.'
Early trends from counting of votes on Tuesday threw up disappointing results for the BJP-led NDA in the Lok Sabha elections, which appears to be losing heavily in its strongholds of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan although it is expected to form the government with about 290 seats.
'If the INDIA bloc ever forms the government, they will be more than tempted to use such provisions to bring about regime change in BJP-ruled states.'
Prime Minister Modi made a strategic blunder of Nehruvian proportions -- presuming no war can happen now, and the Chinese won't be a military threat and risk their economic interests, observes Shekhar Gupta.
'Pura phas gaya woh... barbad, satyanash ho gaya woh.' 'Usko ticket bhi diya, election bhi ladha woh; ganda video bhi bahar aa gaya; hamara izzat bhi nikal diya woh; abhi letter ke baare main pooch ke kya hota hai?'
Instead, increases in foreign-direct-investment levels; and reforms to make labour, land and capital more mobile.
The talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Donald Trump in Washington were marked by the US president's generous praise of the Indian leader and his consideration of India's stance on several issues, officials said on Friday.
'Mr Modi has a huge opportunity before him.' 'Whether he grabs it the way Mrs Gandhi did in 1969 or squanders it as he did in 2014 will determine his economic legacy,' notes T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan.
'In India people want progress, development, they don't want politicians to hamper progress. If that is what Mr Modi has done, that is what will happen. If this is not true, why would the people of Gujarat, which is such a progressive, developed society, vote for Mr Modi?' asks Devang Nanavati.
The Modi government's record on governance is better than that of UPA-2, but not better than UPA-1, observes T N Ninan.
'China was a relationship from which Mr Modi had expected the most it seems.' 'It showed in a string of summits, and somewhat breathless celebration of Xi Jinping.' 'It was hasty and simplistic,' observes Shekhar Gupta.
Cricket Association of Bihar president Aditya Verma has asked the ICC to clarify on the claims made by controversial former IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi that two leading Indian cricketers and a West Indian player had been bribed by an Indian real estate tycoon.
The Congress on Tuesday took strong objection to the criticism directed at it by the Indian envoy to Ireland while responding to an Irish daily's editorial, saying that attacking opposition parties openly in a manner like a 'party apparatchik' was 'disgraceful behaviour' and the ambassador should be sacked.
After his recent stand-up act that caught everyone's attention, Kunal Kamra now faces trouble from a source he probably didn't expect.
If the CM can steer the BJP into forming a government for a third term, he will have achieved a unique place in the party's history -- Mewat notwithstanding.
'The 2024 general elections proved that UP is not Gujarat.'
If he doesn't win next year, it will set back the party's prospects in 2024. If he wins, it will be seen as his win as much as the BJP high command's, points out Shekhar Gupta.
With the general election campaign less than six months away, the BJP has more to think about than it had on the eve of 2019. It's the states that will be robbing BJP strategists of their sleep at this point, not the Lok Sabha, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
'The Congress wants to distort the very fabric of Indian society because they are obsessed with vote bank politics.'
That he hasn't done so yet, has continued to be active on the political street, in public debate and on social media, signals an important change. It will give his party hope. Maybe the achievement of reducing Mr Modi well below the majority mark will now motivate him to stay committed, observes Shekhar Gupta
'The speech shone a spotlight on both the promise and the challenges of the Narendra Modi era,' says Ram Kelkar. 'The single-minded focus which Mr Modi displayed on issues of good governance and empowering the private sector and individual enterprise.'
