'The TDP walking out of the NDA is a victory for the YSRCP.' 'The YSRCP wanted it to happen so that it would help them in coming elections.'
'Facing foes with a common intent is not something Modi-Shah's BJP has done before,' points out Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
With her various overtures and right noises at the right time, Mamata is once again trying to reshape her image from being a regional leader to one with national appeal and acceptability. After all, the charge of building a Federal Front may also bring to the fore Mamata's chances to become prime minister in 2019.
India is mushrooming with Deve Gowda wannabes because being a former prime minister is better than being a former chief minister, says Shekhar Gupta.
In a goodwill gesture, Pakistan freed 59 Indian fishermen of the eve of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's visit to India to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi.
'If the TRS, with 75% seats in the Telangana assembly, can be coerced into a sense of resignation by a tiny party that has just 10% of seats, then questions have to be asked about KCR's mettle as leader,' says Sudhir Bisht.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, under fire by detractors for centring its whole poll campaign on Narendra Modi, found itself in a spot on Monday with its chief Rajnath Singh first projecting the party in a tweet and retweeting minutes later "Ab Ki Baar, Modi Sarkar (Time for a Modi government).
'After the creation of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh has been left as an agrarian state.' 'Therefore, the special category status to this residual state was imminent and necessary for its development,' YSR Congress MP V Vijayasai Reddy explained in the Rajya Sabha.
It rained investments on India as the Make In India programme, envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a focus on the manufacturing sector, raked in Rs 15,20,000 crore in committed investments.
'Rahul is misguided by a handful of family retainers who don't want him to show unrestrained initiative in forming allies.' says Sudhir Bisht.
Three guys stood out at the swearing-in ceremony of Deve Gowda's son, says Sudhir Bisht.
The Modi juggernaut is all set to paint the five south Indian states in saffron colours, writes R Rajagopalan.
'Rahul is only making a pathetic public spectacle of his lack of judgment and good sense by hallucinating that somehow, the Congress, or whatever political combine is cobbled together, will displace the BJP at the coming Lok Sabha election by constantly harping on the Rafale deal,' argues retired civil servant B S Raghavan.
"We have reached a conclusion that river Saraswati existed, it flowed. It originated in the Himalayas and met gulf at the western sea," Professor K S Valdiya, who led the panel, said while handing over the report to the government.
Prime Minister Modi described the DMK chief as a prolific thinker and a deep-rooted mass leader who stood for regional aspiration and national progress.
A long measure of Grand Slam patience paid off for Peng Shuai of China, who reached the semi-finals of the US Open on Tuesday by routing Swiss teenager Belinda Bencic 6-2, 6-1 in the Flushing Meadows heat.
'She really doesn't care if she is called heartless.' 'For her, the job needs to be done. That's all that matters.'
T E Narasimhan/Business Standard reports from Chennai on how the Future group plans to shore up its small store network in the South.
'Yogi Adityanath will prove to be the most popular and effective chief minister, overseeing a regime of peace and justice, harsh on wrongdoers and rabble rousers, encouraging those who work for India,' says Tarun Vijay.
From Beckham to Nyong'o and Lopez to Lawrence, we look back at the year gone by through these red carpet outings. Don't forget to tell us who your favourite is at the end of this page!
Lifestyle brand Victoria's Secret's annual list of What Is Sexy features actors, singers and an athlete.
'We will do it either by removing all the Constitutional hurdles or by mutual consent.'
'He has got all the criteria that are good for running an NGO.' 'He is always doing charitable things.' 'To be a political leader you must have cunning to go for the seal.'
'If your data is hacked you cannot go to court. Only UIDAI can go to court.' 'UIDAI is lying that Aadhaar is completely secure.'
'We have got our permutations and combinations in place.' 'We are also trying to garner support from some NDA allies.' 'Every section of society has suffered during the four years of Modi rule.'
'These days girls are quite independent. They are scared to settle down as they feel their freedom will be taken away. In Pesarattu, what the girl goes through is representative of the new-gen woman. They have this fear of life and marriage, Nikitha Narayan tells Radhika Rajamani/ Rediff.com
'He totally gets the Gandhis...' 'If anything, he pays too much attention to the Gandhis.' 'I feel that in places like UP, where the Congress doesn't matter, he often spends time blasting the Gandhis.'
'Slaughter of cows will be opposed by all parties in UP, Gujarat, Rajasthan, etc while it is different in Kerala, Goa and the north east.' 'Every national party adapts and take a view on various issues depending on the local situation and the feelings of the local people.' 'So, the Kerala BJP will look at each issue from the Kerala perspective, and not that of UP.'
'I am quite optimistic that sooner or later, my wishful thinking would turn into a reality.' The only hitch is that the INC president's own career ambitions may be hurt if the Congress merges with the BJP,' says Sudhir Bisht.
Images from Day 1 of the Australian Open, in Melbourne, on Monday.
As he took oath of office on Sunday night, Nara Chandrababu Naidu has earned a unique distinction of becoming the first chief minister of a new state in addition to being the longest-serving CM of Andhra Pradesh.
'A drought is like a fire. It licks everything in its wake - crop, trees, animals, humans...' The plains of the Ganga in Bihar have a raw, unmatched, beauty, but also bear the anguish of its farmers.
Narendra Modi had to be emotional. Fighting the media, sailing against trends where only the rich and powerful are able to navigate in state and national politics, Modi brewed his own cocktail of ideas and formulae. He has reached here on his own strengths, intellect, cunning and merit, says Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com
'Narendra Modi might not have made 145 in Maharashtra, but it is definitely true that the Congress, and other dynastic parties, are well and truly stumped.'
Daggubati Purandeswari is the only Union minister to have joined the BJP this election. 'Everybody knows Dr Manmohan Singh is a man of great integrity and I consider it an honour to have worked with him,' Purandeswari, the BJP candidate from Rajampeta, Andhra Pradesh, tells A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com
Roger Federer began his 63rd consecutive Grand Slam tournament with a majestic 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 first-round win over little-known Bosnian Damir Dzumhur at Wimbledon in London, on Tuesday.
Modi's NDA is good enough to give a psychological boost to the once 'untouchable' BJP and Modi but if the NDA doesn't get a majority on its own, then walking the last mile will be the greatest challenge of this election for Modi, says Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com
'It will take many years to clean the Ganga. It will not happen in five years like the prime minister wants. If you want it to be sustainable, temporary measures won't work.' Twinkle Tom, an environmental engineer by training (from Stanford no less!), now designs wedding gowns because India, sadly, does not want her expertise and skill.
India and Japan have a shared interest in countervailing China's hegemonic ambitions in Asia. Although neither has an interest in forming an overt anti-China alliance, Tokyo and New Delhi feel increasingly obligated to work together to find ways to guard against a muscular Beijing's power sliding into arrogance, says Brahma Chellaney.
As Narendra Modi files his nomination in Varanasi, Praful Bidwai believes 'a straight contest against Priyanka would have put Modi on the defensive and forced him to concentrate on Varanasi.'
