Asked about the selection of chief ministers in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, he said there will not be any issue and it will be done smoothly.
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.
Media reports claimed that Prime Minister Modi would hold a press conference on April 26 in Varanasi
In his dare, the Congress president asked the PM to reduce the spiralling fuel prices in the country or face a nationwide stir by his party.
BJP general secretary and in-charge of Karnataka's party affairs P Muralidhar Rao alleged that the problem of the Congress was looking at schemes through the prism of religion which is reflected in promising benefits to autorickshaw owners, "who in majority belong to the minority community."
The BJP will enter this election, as it does every election, as if it is fighting to prevent a 2004-style defeat. This is a party that wins big because it always behaves as if its back is to the wall, predicts Mihir S Sharma.
Mayawati urged the Muslim voters to vote for the party, saying her party has given tickets to 99 candidates from the community.
Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Friday stressed that the party would fight the Rajasthan assembly polls "unitedly" and said that a decision on who would lead the next government would be taken by the high command after consultations with the newly-elected MLAs.
'I have never seen a common man tapping a chief minister on the shoulder and giving him his petition, like needing money for a child admitted in a hospital.'
Even if the BJP gets 60, 70, or even 100 per cent of the votes in the seats where it scored more than 50 per cent in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, these will still add up to only 224 seats, argues Shekhar Gupta.
'Someone who cannot even take his cabinet into confidence, how will he take the NDA alliance into confidence?'
On the pricing issue, Eric Trappier said that the present aircraft are cheaper by 9 per cent.
'Modi is now the biggest messiah of OBCs and Dalits as V P Singh once was.'
Asked about the talk of a rift between him and Chief Minister Baghel during the tenure of the government in the last five years, Singhdeo said there were no differences as such.
While the ruling party alleged an "invisible hand" behind the petitions, the opposition accused it of making "false political capital" by "misinterpreting" the apex court order.
"He (Modi) has created an environment in Jammu and Kashmir of hatred and anger, and the only people who benefit from violence and hatred are the Pakistanis," the Congress vice president said.
Congress chief urged Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to answer the questions raised by the Congress on the multi-million dollar fighter jet deal.
'In India a strong leader with a majority has never yet been defeated by a challenger.' 'He (or she, as with Indira Gandhi in 1977) must defeat himself,' says Shekhar Gupta.
With what joyous expectations I welcomed you! You have tumbled me into a cauldron of gloomy forebodings, says B S Raghavan.
'The biggest change that the BJP can initiate in the run-up to 2024 is appointing new faces as chief ministers.' 'In doing so, it will send a message well beyond 2024.'
He is talking, making sense, and India is listening. Rahul Gandhi needs to listen to him, too, says Shekhar Gupta.
'Everyone is unhappy with the lieutenant governor's administration, which is ignorant, high-handed, and inaccessible.'
The BJP may be ready and waiting to pounce on another key state of the Hindi heartland, but it is the Congress's holy trinity that issued them an invitation to the beheading, notes Sunil Sethi.
Although the BRS is projecting supreme confidence, who will be able to tap anti-incumbency -- the BJP or Sharmila plus the Congress -- remains to be seen.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan says government experience is viewed as important in some quarters, but he does not know if Rahul Gandhi joining the government after 2009 elections would have been better for Congress' prospects in the Lok Sabha polls.
"Next challenge for us is to win elections, neither individuals nor statements matter, those are bygones," he said.
Gandhi had earlier tweeted about a smiling Modi during the latter's visit to Japan recently.
Senior Congress leader and Pro-tem Speaker Kamal Nath has defended Sonia and Rahul Gandhi's decision not to lead the opposition in Lok Sabha. Speaking in an exclusive interview with CNN-IBN, Nath also said the Congress will provide an effective opposition.
Congress deputy leader in Rajya Sabha Pramod Tiwari said the first priority should be to hold a comprehensive and detailed discussion on the Manipur situation in Parliament, going by the fact that people have been killed and the chief minister himself has admitted that several such incidents have happened in the state.
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.
'While other parties generally need support directly from their central leadership to get influencers or celebrities to endorse their party, the work of identifying and contacting such influencers has been decentralised to state and district level IT cells to get more engagement in the BJP.'
In his poll rallies, Modi framed Pitroda's comments in his wider onslaught against the Congress, asserting that they have exposed its hidden agenda and that the party has become so removed from the country's social and family values that it wants to legally rob people of their assets and lifelong savings they want to bequeath to their children.
If Rahul's yatra makes a political statement from the other side of the aisle and Shah Rukh's success underlines a more relaxed popular mood, Mr Modi and Mr Bhagwat's cues to their followers are coming from another place, observes Shekhar Gupta.
Reaching out to present and former employees of the defence PSU at an interaction with them, Gandhi said, work done by HAL for the country was tremendous and the country owed debt to it for "protecting us" and creating a scientific vision.
'Sachin Pilot has revived the Congress.' 'What goes in favour of Ashok Gehlot is experience.'
Believe it or not, national leaders have been talking in code language during the Karnataka election campaign.
Ramesh, however, said it was too early to talk about all this right now as the Congress' first priority was the upcoming elections in Karnataka and the string of state polls this year.
Mr Rahul Gandhi himself has given seven different prices in different speeches with regard to the Rafale, that is the 2007 offer.
'Only time will tell how difficult it would be for the BJP when Mr Modi may not be in a position to actively run affairs of the party and be its biggest vote catcher.'
'Then the BJP could even split.'
'Whatever the BJP tries to do, they will not be able to make a big mark in Kerala.'
