'Hindus are safe only if Modiji is ruling India. If he goes, then Babur will rule us. I want Modiji to rule for another 25 years, then you will see how India will change.'
Bharatiya Janata party leader Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday met visiting United States Vice President Joe Biden and raised the issue of visa to skilled workers but refrained from discussing the lifting of ban on American visa to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
Tharoor said Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from Lok Sabha following his conviction in a 2019 defamation case has generated a 'surprising wave of Opposition unity' with many parties having begun to feel the truth of the adage -- united we stand, divided we fall.
'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.'
Ahead of PM Modi's maiden visit to the UK, the British media today said "troubles at home" after the BJP's drubbing in the Bihar elections will overshadow his visit.
BJP had attacked previous UPA govt over policy paralysis.
Both have made factory jobs the centre of their economic agendas. Kanika Datta explains the practical limits to their ambitions.
The least the leaders who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi could have done was to highlight the plight of the Muslim riot victims, but they happily chose to ignore it, so privileged they must have felt to be in the presence of the prime minister, the most powerful man in the country, says Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
The Nehru-Gandhi scion attacked the Akalis for allegedly plundering Punjab and appealed people to vote for the Congress in the February 4 polls "to transform Punjab".
Reforms under the Modi government will maintain a slow and tentative pace, constantly wary of political opposition. It may not be reform by stealth, but it is reform on the quiet, says A K Bhattacharya.
If only the Congress could rebuild on its strengths and develop a modern enough ideology, we could again be moving towards a clearer two-party political landscape, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
Political power has now been outsourced fully to the Modi government. Even if the RSS is still, in principle, his guru, nobody would dare to whisper a word of advice to Modi, forget some whiff of criticism. When the shishya grows into such a popular and domineering leader, the guru has to applaud from the sidelines, points out Shekhar Gupta.
The Congress' attack came after the Ayodhya Development Authority accused 40 people, including the City mayor, a local BJP MLA and a former party legislator, of illegally trading plots and building infrastructure there.
The truth is that few ministries in the Modi sarkar are working on new and updated legislation of any kind.
'If Modi were to be elected, he would be part of a coalition government, and within that he would have to take this minority into account. Muslims cannot relate to the idea of Hindu nationalism. Although it is presented as a pan-Indian idea, it appears to them to be exclusive.'
Congress as the opposition party has become increasingly aggressive against the Narendra Modi government over its handling of the border standoff with China.
Civil Aviation Ministry has a few ready answers at hand.
'With Trump, the relationship was very transactional, whereas with President Biden it is very structured.'
From a ruling party's perspective, the BJP is in a sweet spot; editorial independence and analytical coverage of governance is rapidly declining
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has said that the assassination of his father and former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was the "single biggest learning experience" of his life, asserting that he cannot get away from the fact that the event also made him learn things that he would have never learnt otherwise.
Modi isn't going to voters on his track record but on the fear of the terrorist across the border and the Muslims within. It's a battle on his terms, says Shekhar Gupta.
Launching a scathing attack on Narendra Modi for his oft repeated 'recounting minister' jibe, Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday called the Gujarat CM an 'encounter minister'.
The rout of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance in the crucial assembly polls in Bihar is the "most significant domestic setback" to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, global media commented on Sunday, saying it shows that his vote-winning abilities were on the wane.
It was a muted Independence Day celebrations because of the dawn-to-dusk general strike called by multiple militant outfits and the loss of lives and property of hundreds of people over the last three months in the ethnic strife.
The Bharatiya Janata Party might have a majority in the Lok Sabha but sarcasm and public humiliation of rivals may not be the way to assert this. In fact, it is a waste of time
"I don't think this administrative subject should be an issue of interest to the media," Modi said.
Piyush Goyal's comments about Amazon founder Jeff Bezos's investment in India reveals an inability to understand how businesses function, says Kanika Datta.
Modi's minimum government, maximum governance will go a long way?
Your promise to protect bankers for their commercial decisions is a huge confidence booster, but how does one define a commercial decision? Are our investigative agencies well equipped to dissect lending decisions of bankers?
'Having India as a credible deterrent vis-a-vis Chinese ambitions in the Indian Ocean and South Asian region is a desirable short-term outcome.'
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.
It is wrong to say the Congress doesn't matter. Certainly one set of people who do not believe that for a minute is the BJP. That's why even in his speech in Parliament on Constitution Day, Mr Modi called dynastic politics a threat to democracy, observes Shekhar Gupta.
'The unprecedented bitterness and rancour that marked this election campaign need not spill over into government and governance,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
This was the first dinner hosted for a foreign dignitary at the White House under the Trump administration.
John Chambers said India may become top BRICS nation under Modi
Priyanka Gandhi's office on Friday said she has "not had a meeting, even socially" with former Indian Premier League chief Lalit Modi whose claim that he had "run into" her and her husband Robert Vadra in London triggered a political row.
'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 Americans want to have a good relationship with India. They see it as a counterweight to China. And also American businesses are all trying to get out of China and go to India and Vietnam as well, but India largely.'
Industrialists have the same complaints as they did in the UPA's second stint.
'He has a gift none of his eight predecessors, from Manmohan Singh to Rajiv Gandhi, had: Being able to speak directly and convincingly to a large enough section of Indians who will take his word for gospel,' notes Shekhar Gupta.
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