The note ban is Modi's make-or-break gambit for 2019. Opposition leaders see a vulnerability and won't gift pre-eminence to the Congress, says Shekhar Gupta.
'The BJP would not have brought him into the party if they did not appreciate him.'
"The RSS is trying to change the nature of India. Other parties haven't tried to capture India's institutions," he said.
The Chinese aren't after territory. Their target is our national will, morale and the sense of autonomy we feel in making our strategic choices. They are attacking India and the Modi government at their weakest point, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
"We have not even showed 10 per cent of the strength of farmers of India. And the prime minister suddenly understood that he cannot push the farmers of this country," he said.
KCR will continue as caretaker chief minister until the new government is formed.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera tweeted, "Shayad meri tapasya mein kuch kami reh gayi (Maybe my penance fell short)."
'Manmohan Singh was blamed for administrative paralysis, but if you speak to any senior bureaucrat today, they are very bitter and say that files do not move. I am told that more than a thousand files are awaiting clearance.'
Meanwhile, Gandhi said Modi has betrayed the people, claiming that he had not fulfilled promises of providing two crore jobs every year and "depositing" Rs 15 lakh in their bank accounts.
In her condolence message for Patel, who served as her political secretary for years and was the All India Congress Committee treasurer, party chief Sonia Gandhi said, 'In Shri Ahmed Patel, I have lost a colleague, whose entire life was dedicated to the Congress Party.'
Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh is coming under increasing fire from his own party colleagues for quite a few reasons, says Anita Katyal
With the BJP continuing to be the constant combatant, centrifugal pressures will rise. Fractured relations between the Centre and the states as between BJP and non-BJP ruled states is a sizeable risk owing ahead, warns Shekhar Gupta.
A day ahead of former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi's visit to Rajasthan to raise the voice of the farmers against the farm laws, he said that the Centre should withdraw the laws and after thorough consultation with farmers and states, come up with a new set of legislations which the tillers would themselves want and is not something that is forced upon them.
'Being authoritative is one thing -- Nehru was that -- but being authoritarian is quite another -- the current prime minister is clearly one.'
'There was an overt campaign and there was a covert campaign. The overt campaign may be development, government, and all this nonsense. But the covert campaign, which Mr Amit Shah was doing, was far more important with the help of RSS cadres. This has been an RSS election. From day one I have been saying, this is not Congress versus the BJP, this is Congress versus the RSS,' says Jairam Ramesh, one of the key strategists of the Congress party.
'While the meeting on December 6th was perfectly legal, was it ethical?' asks Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'In India, a really popular and well-entrenched leader is not defeated by a rival.' 'Such a leader has to defeat himself,' observes Shekhar Gupta.
"It is about time that India and its institutions are protected from these 'institution wreckers'," said Jaitley.
'...Take him in the sense that I will defeat him. This is just our military term... If there's anybody today who's anti this government, it is the youth of Punjab. All of them are being coerced, there are no jobs being created, all of them are taking to drugs because of frustration... There is no Narendra Modi factor, there is no national anti-incumbency. In Punjab there in only anti-Akali incumbency.' Former Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, once the Maharaja of Patiala, pulls no punches when taking about his rivals, especially his BJP opponent from Amritsar Arun Jaitley and the Badals, in this no-holds-barred interview with Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com
Hitting out at Narendra Modi, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday demanded "legal accountability" for the "clear and inexcusable failure" of governance during the 2002 Gujarat riots and dismissed talk of clean chit to him as "politically expedient" but "far too premature".
'I had to submit my resignation from the BJP after just two weeks because they were very regressive.' 'There was no space for a free thinking individual.'
Shah reviewed the party's preparations and strategy for the Lok Sabha election due next year.
Downplaying the allegations made by the Congress and former French President Francois Hollande's statement that the Indian government played a role in finalising Reliance Defence as Dassault Aviation's offset partner, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday said that some statements are made to create controversy and these do not have credibility. In an exclusive interview to ANI, Jaitley added that circumstances and fact prove these statements wrong.
I don't disown my past association with Vijay Mallya but that does not mean I endorse his monetary misdemeanours, a feisty Divya Spandana tells Subhash K Jha.
Here are 8 factors to watch out for, says psephologist Yogendra Yadav.
Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah on Friday took a dig at the Congress, stating that "instead of trying to find fault with the prime minister's coalition government, the party should find its missing leader."
'In the Indian context it is not easy for rival parties to come together, especially pre-elections.' 'Having pulled it off, they should be taken seriously.'
Taking to Twitter to express his anger, Abdullah, who is also the vice president of the National Conference, said that he would be taking legal action against the Chhattisgarh chief minister for his comments made during an interview to a prominent English newspaper.
Parrikar had moved to the South Block at the insistence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November 2014.
India would not be seen to be anything but rude with the Pakistanis. In the big picture, who is the bigger adversary right now? Who is the bigger pain in the neck? And who is it that is keeping more than 3,000 km of our borders active, throwing our military posture and deployments into imbalance? asks Shekhar Gupta.
'Gujarat should have been a breeze. But the Patidar agitation and economic uncertainty queered the pitch.' 'Yes, the BJP won and its rank-and-file will take great comfort in the assembly victory. But the leadership is taking stock for a very tricky set of elections coming up in 2018.'
Former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry was on Sunday killed in a road accident after his car hit a divider in Maharashtra's Palghar district neighbouring Mumbai, a police official said.
Irrespective of their voting preferences, most voters would find this comparison with ISIS revolting. More specifically, would it persuade anybody who voted for Narendra Modi to change her or his mind? asks Shekhar Gupta.
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.
Gandhi expressed deep pain and distress at the passing away of Jaitley.
'Brand Kejriwal-AAP have a long way to go even if they win another Delhi election...'
'It is a force nobody can ignore, not even Mr Modi, because it will keep punching above its weight,' notes Shekhar Gupta.
The meme contained photographs of Modi, United States President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May engaged in a conversation.
Leaders from the Opposition celebrated after the BJP strong man resigned on the floor of the assembly.
'And so, despite demonetisation, people in business feel safe with Mr Modi,' points out T N Ninan.
'She was once asked what the secret to political leadership was and she said it was the ability to like all kinds of people.' 'I don't think Rahul fundamentally likes people -- that's probably why he can't deal with them and it shows.' 'Sonia is a more talented political mobiliser than her son, but I think the decline of the Congress set in in 1969...'
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