The record of other prime ministers too shows how much can change when a prime minister is faced with the two-year challenge, says T N Ninan.
'The Modi visit will prove to be the watershed where India and the United States commenced technology trade and transfer.'
One hopes the new Lok Sabha will mark a break from a dismal tradition -- lack of interest in defence and security policies, argues Colonel Anil A Athale.
'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 matter of disqualification of 16 MLAs following the upheaval in the undivided Shiv Sena last year could have been effectively dealt with had the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) moved swiftly after the resignation of Nana Patole as the Speaker of Maharashtra Assembly, said senior Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar on Friday.
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.
The most important lesson is that you have to build your political proposition, and sell it yourself. You can't leave it to the courts, media, NGOs and civil society and expect them to play the role of the Opposition. That's precisely what Mr Modi's challengers have been doing and we know the results, notes Shekhar Gupta.
'The BJP is racing against its opponents by putting a chain on their legs.'
'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.'
If the government of the day would like to set in place a smooth and well-planned changeover and facilitate the incoming chief to chalk out his action plan well in advance, the announcement of a successor needs to be done early, observes Colonel K Thammayya Udupa (retd).
'Someone who cannot even take his cabinet into confidence, how will he take the NDA alliance into confidence?'
The real risk is that the core assumption -- that the votes for a candidate sponsored by an alliance will at least equal the sum total of its parts -- proves to be facile, observes T N Ninan.
Gandhi said Modi's top priority now is to get his Speaker in Parliament and is not bothered about NEET .
Chastened by the Kargil conflict, Pervez Musharraf will be remembered for gradually lowering the profile of terrorism and seeking a realistically negotiated settlement to the issue of Jammu and Kashmir, notes Ambassador G Parthasarathy, who served as India's high commissioner to Pakistan when Musharraf seized power in a coup in October 1999.
'Strategy is to divide and polarise electorate on communal lines.'
Will January 22 mark a point of no return for our Constitutional secularism? 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.
'I made it known through diplomatic channels that I was unhappy.' 'So, he called me and tried to explain, but I said this is something that doesn't happen between friends.'
Economists expect Modi to announce big-bang reforms.
The BJP at 43 is a work in progress, with total ideological continuity and much substantive change in political method and style, observes Shekhar Gupta.
'The sense of Constitutional propriety and political morality seems to be vanishing fast.' 'There are many things in today's politics of governance which Manmohan Singh would have never dreamt of saying or doing.'
For a PM who hasn't completed even one term yet, the ability to spark a publishing trend single-handed is a remarkable achievement, writes Kanika Datta.
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.
The Musharraf episode in the recent history of the subcontinent has convinced many realists in India that the hope of establishing peace with Pakistan is like accepting a dinner invitation from cannibals and expecting to live to tell the tale, points out Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The finance ministry website that lists the total disinvestment revenues to be mobilised during the current year already shows that no receipts are expected from strategic sales in the current year.
Life inside the prime minister's official residence is highly regulated, but it comes with its perks, says Veenu Sandhu
'Course correction today would be good politics and also good economics,' notes T N Ninan.
'Mr Badal wanted to talk to a member of the Gandhi family to bring about some sort of rapprochement between the Akalis and the Congress which were the two major parties at that time.'
For Sikhs, they say, honour is the bottom line; and whatever the state of the SAD's political fortunes today, arrogance will not be helpful in the negotiation.
'...by stopping its promotion of turmoil, its aid and abetment to militancy.' 'Mr Vajpayee paved the road for peace by engaging Pakistan tirelessly while also reaching out to Kashmiri leaders and people at large.' 'Like so often in the past, this government does not have a policy. No consistency in approach.'
No confidence motions have been moved in the Lok Sabha 27 times in the past, and all of them have either been defeated or remained inconclusive, data compiled by a think tank shows.
'It is not his doing, but Rahul Gandhi is forced by circumstances.' 'In taking political decisions, everything has to get his clearance.'
'Although perhaps not with a greater majority, and maybe even a slightly reduced majority in the Lok Sabha.'
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 Bharat Jodo Yatra successfully resurrected the Rahul Gandhi brand.' 'There's a critical mass that has built up for the Congress and Mr Modi is feeling the heat on the Adani issue, the raids on the BBC offices, the Opposition getting together.'
'The unprecedented bitterness and rancour that marked this election campaign need not spill over into government and governance,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
'They are fighting it out, but they have deeply traumatised; they are alive and they are carrying on in life.'
What some of our leaders were up to on Thursday and Thursday.
'While the meeting on December 6th was perfectly legal, was it ethical?' asks Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'In Hindi, Mr Modi is unequalled as an exceptionally accomplished orator.'
