If Indira Gandhi hadn't targeted the RSS, Narendra Modi wouldn't be sitting pretty with his second majority and looking at a third, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
Congress leaders A R Antulay, Vasantdada Patil, Shivajirao Nilangekar-Patil, Shankarrao Chavan, Sushilkumar Shinde and Prithviraj Chavan are among the leaders who were not members of any of the state legislature Houses when they occupied the top post.
'One wishes that today's 'take no prisoners' brand of politics would give way to an understanding of the national interest that is shared by both government and Opposition.'
Rejecting the charge, Reddy termed it 'baseless and false' and said he would quit politics if Owaisi proved it.
The Act deals with automatic disqualification of MPs and state legislators upon being convicted and sentenced for two years or more in a criminal case.
The five-state assembly elections are seen as a now-or-never, no-holds battle for the Congress, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
While Narendra Modi spent fewer days abroad than his predecessor -- 275 days versus Dr Singh's 306 - he has travelled more widely than any other Indian PM.
The Babri Masjid Action Committee meeting was held against the backdrop of the apex court recently asking parties involved to sit together and arrive at a consensus on the issue, which has been dragging on for decades.
"Let them hear us, we are prepared. But we are not ready for out-of-court settlement," Jilani said.
The TDP and JD-U will have a lot to answer inside Parliament, day after day, session after session, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Congress on Thursday objected to Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar deleting some portions of Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge's speech from official records, saying he used no unparliamentary words and some of the expressions he employed were earlier used even by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Very few know of his scintillating mind, the outpouring of fresh ideas, the attention to detail in every endeavour, the extraordinary administrative and organisational skills, and a limitless stamina and energy with which he pursues every interest and commitment, notes Ambassador Talmiz Ahmad.
Say hello to the cast of The Accidental Prime Minister.
BJP leaders Bhupendra Yadav and G V L Narsimha Rao were addressing the media.
On the eve of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's press conference on Friday, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday asked him some probing questions, including how he thinks history would judge his tenure, "failure" to assert himself against corruption and "subversion" of constitutional institutions.
The BJP on Thursday alleged that the opposition parties have decided to boycott the inauguration of the new Parliament building by Prime Minister Narendra Modi just because it has been built at his initiative.
"I don't want to be decided by the prime minister but he knows what he is saying is not true," Singh told reporters after casting his vote at Dispur Government High School in Guwahati.
The first no-confidence motion was moved against Jawaharlal Nehru in August 1963 by J B Kripalani.
Patel's closeness to the Gandhi family was undeniable. But unlike others, he resisted the temptation to use it to leverage personal business, says Aditi Phadnis.
'The 2024 election results will lead to much intense targeting of Modi, more intense debates, many more breakdowns in Parliament and many more movements on the streets.' 'The results have hit Modi's standing, and the politics of the Opposition parties will be sharply focused to ensure that Modi doesn't get back his charisma of being 'invincible' with help of State power.' Sheela Bhatt looks at the political situation through the prism of 2024 Lok Sabha election results.
BJP says Rahul considered himself a 'super VVIP who should be put ahead of everyone else'.
'I wonder how people who come to power through democratic means turn out this way.' 'But people of India are strong, and those who think they can hoodwink people, are mistaken.' 'You can fool some people for some time, but not all people, all the time.'
Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan on Tuesday filed his nomination papers from the Hajipur parliamentary constituency in Bihar, and claimed that he would break his own Guinness World Record for winning a parliamentary election with the highest margin.
The two main factions in Karnataka's Congress party -- one led by Siddaramaiah and the other by D K Shivakumar -- are both contenders for the chief ministership. Both groups have fought hard to get their choice of MLAs the party ticket, notes Aditi Phadnis.
Driven by the winds of globalisation, people are moving towards a global culture which is emerging as a threat to local cultural symbols and identities, even as social media, television and pop culture glamorise a particular way of life that the people are sadly "blindly aping", Chief Justice of India N V Ramana said on Friday.
Senior Congress leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, are accompanying Rahul Gandhi to the court.
There is a need for tax reforms in the country in a bolder way, Singh said.
NCP president Sharad Pawar on Friday said there should be a presentation by the government on what is happening on the India-China border, particularly in Ladakh, where the armies of the two countries are involved in a face-off. Pawar, who is in the national capital to attend a meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence, said there are other defence-related issues on the table for discussion, but he will make a request that a presentation is made on it.
'All the things that went into bringing Yakub Memon back to India between 1993 and 1994 must be recorded in that file. Raman would have submitted his findings to the prime minister on file; in writing.'
'The tally of Muslim MLAs has increased. They know they can make themselves count in the electoral system.'
'Rahul Gandhi should have prevented Nitish Kumar from going.' 'He must pacify Mamata Banerjee if he has a cause of Mohabbat Ki Dukaan.' 'He should bring this Mohabbat Ki Dukaan on the political canvas.'
In an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana', the party claimed the foundation stone ceremony in Ayodhya is "personality centric and political party centric".
Six decades and more later, we are now captives of our identities. Every poll is based on elaborate calculations of electability of candidates on the basis of their castes and other narrow definers. That, along with voter promiscuity, is what defines our political culture, which remains stubbornly resistant to any change, asserts Shreekant Sambrani.
Chef par excellence Satish Arora recalls his days working as a chef to prime ministers to Chandrima Pal.
While Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi greeted him on the occasion, NCP's Praful Patel blamed the Congress party's internal culture for Pawar missing the opportunity to occupy the top post in the 1990s.
The best, wisest, and fairest next step in strengthening our own cause is to restore statehood to Jammu & Kashmir and allow the resumption of robust political activity. That's a box that remains unchecked on the Modi government's report card as we approach the fourth anniversary of Kashmir's Constitutional shift, notes Shekhar Gupta.
'That would be very bad for them and suicidal for both the Gandhis and the Congress party.'
Driven by hardship, adventurous souls mortgage their homesteads in Punjab or Haryana, pawn the family jewellery and borrow heavily to satisfy the greed of the criminal traffickers who organise their trips, points out Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
Self-styled' loyalists of 10, Janpath convinced Sonia Gandhi that it would be better to back P V Narasimsha Rao in 1991 as prime minister over him as the "Gandhi family was not about to let someone with independent mind" to get the top post, Sharad Pawar has claimed.
Overruling strong objections from his security detail, Modi had shunned the bullet-proof enclosure to "connect directly" with people during his maiden Independence Day speech as PM from the ramparts of the iconic Red Fort in 2014.
