Godfrey Phillips, controlled by his father K K Modi, paid Rs 1.7 crore despite him not attending a single board meet
Congress president M Mallikarjun Kharge, meanwhile, came to Siddaramaiah's defence, stating that the party is standing with him and will support him.
The parties which gave chief ministers and sent scores of MPs to Parliament, drew a blank this time.
To me he always symbolised the sincere, confident, face of a Bharat whose rise is unstoppable. Ratan Tata was a Rishi who was unquestioningly trusted by people who never saw him and never met him, asserts Tarun Vijay, the former BJP MP.
'If anything, he is a fiscal hawk.' 'He has avoided fiscal profligacy completely for the past four years.' 'The fiscal deficits since 2014 are clear proof of this.' 'The point is not that it is not 3 per cent yet; it is that it is not 6, 7 or 8 per cent, which it could easily have been.' 'For this he needs to be congratulated.' 'He has recognised it no longer pays to spend other people's money to win elections,' points out T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan.
'The BJP is racing against its opponents by putting a chain on their legs.'
'Some BJP old timers have remarked that the BJP is now driven by its own high command, the way the Congress was under Mrs Gandhi, says Subir Roy.
'From chaiwala he has now become Rafalewala. He speaks a bunch of lies,' the West Bengal CM said.
'You can't make the poor rich overnight.' 'Nor can you fly millions in planes.' 'But remember that word: Empathy.' 'Who in the BJP is speaking in that language to these millions?' 'Someone putting an arm of understanding, warmth, comfort around them?', asks Shekhar Gupta.
'The future of BRICS is under stress as Chinese attempts to expand the platform are being resisted by India and Brazil.' 'Beijing is focused on a quick expansion with the aim of giving the platform a distinctly anti-Western orientation, which New Delhi and Brasilia seem to have no interest in,' notes Harsh V Pant.
If anything has become clear during this campaign, it is this: Mr Modi can bat on almost any wicket and hit the ball over the ropes, points out T N Ninan.
The Congress now knows that it is the only force -- however weakened it might be -- that stands between the BJP and India's evolution into a single-party Republic. Because, once it is out of the way, the BJP could sort out the other regional powers: Co-opting some, demolishing others, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
Every February 28th, Zakia Jafri relives the agony of witnessing the brutal massacre of her husband, former Congress MP Ahsan Jafri, along with scores of other women and children. Despite deteriorating health, her hope that those responsible will be brought to justice, remains strong, notes Najid Hussain.
Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said his invitation to Wharton India Economic Conference and cancellation of invitation to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi were not linked.
'Mr Modi's next challenger/s will need to invent a new politics,' says Shekhar Gupta.
'In the long run, I don't foresee major ramifications [about Trudeau's allegations].' 'There's just enough hypocrisy among Western nations for India to douse the outrage.'
Indian Cricket Board chief Shashank Manohar on Tuesday rejected Lalit Modi's latest tirade against the BCCI and ridiculed him by saying that the former IPL Commissioner might fascinate the media but not him.
The Congress on Thursday said it firmly believes that India's democratic processes themselves have to deal with the threats posed to its democracy, remarks that came after the Bharatiya Janata Party attacked the opposition party for its leader Digvijaya Singh thanking Germany for "taking note" of Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from the Lok Sabha.
Many ethical, competent corporate leaders aspire to join public life today. However, the transition to politics is far from easy, observes Indrajit Gupta.
'I think some of us, like Mukesh Ambani, myself and those of us who head industrial units, ought to really focus on what we can really do to make the world a safer place, maybe 50 or 100 years from now.' 'For instance, how can we deal with climate change and global warming, right now?' 'The effects of it may not be felt now; in fact, we may pay a price for it today, but it will help the generations to follow.'
'Every seat the Congress gets above 100 will keep pushing the Modi-Shah BJP lower in the dangerous sub-200 zone,' points out Shekhar Gupta.
PM Modi's China visit may strengthen ties between both the countries.
The five-day extradition trial of fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi will begin from May 11 in a part-remote setting, a UK court has ordered. Modi is fighting his extradition to India over the nearly USD 2 billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud and money laundering case.
Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar's remarks on Pakistan sparked a political row on Friday, with his party quick to dissociate itself from the comments while the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party latched on to them, accusing the Congress of being an apologist for Pakistan and the terrorism emanating from its soil.
'Rama is Lord God of maryada. Today's maryada is the Constitution.'
'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 letter, to maintain the current policy of denying Narendra Modi a visa to the United States, was released just as the BJP president arrived in Washington DC for a round of meetings with US lawmakers. Aziz Haniffa reports
The Congress and AAP had fought the Lok Sabha polls together in Delhi, while they contested separately in Punjab.
Recent data suggest that the economy isn't out of the woods, and the PM-designate must live up to high expectations.
Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com tried to buy a house on his recent visit to Srinagar.
Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Tuesday rejected Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's demand for a 'white paper' on internal security and said the government was following a two-pronged strategy of development and offensive action to tackle Naxalism.
The Supreme Court on Thursday came down heavily on ex-IPL commissioner Lalit Modi over his remarks against the judiciary in a social media post, and directed him to tender an unconditional apology.
The data shows that the state has reduced poverty and malnutrition, sex ratio has improved and the quality of education is improving.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Nishikant Dubey on Wednesday wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker to move a breach of privilege motion notice against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi a day after his speech in Lok Sabha where he made certain allegations about Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his association with industrialist Gautam Adani.
'While Modi is undoubtedly the star of the show, the online sphere has found in Modi the champion to re-engineer what it means to support the right.'
Opposition parties on Thursday continued their attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over inauguration of the new Parliament building and accused him of being 'megalomaniac' and the government of being 'arrogant'.
Addressing a meeting of the Congress Working Committee, he said there has been a 'complete and total failure' of foreign policy under the Modi government.
What is most troubling is that not a single party that is part of INDIA has talked about any kind of reform and economic sense, argues R Jagannathan.
'Pure, uncluttered anti-Modi-ism, however angry, can't be an ideology or an electoral alternative.' 'The best it can do for you is damage Mr Modi enough for him to finish below 200.' 'Can it enable you to cross 100 to begin with?' asks Shekhar Gupta.
A resolution against Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his "allegations" of terrorism against Pakistan was today blocked in the Assembly of Punjab province, ruled by Premier Nawaz Sharif's PML-N party.
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