He has left no one in any doubt about his ability to take bold, even out-of-the-box, decisions, to gauge the feelings and aspirations of the common people at the grassroots and to ensure that polices and schemes do not remain on paper, but are implemented, says B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant.
'Balakot and Pulwama will definitely help the BJP, but it will still not help them to create a 2014 like situation or go beyond that.'
Modi on the global stage always comes across as a statesman, counselling peace and amity to world leaders even as his policies at home hurt certain sections, explains Virendra Kapoor.
'China was a relationship from which Mr Modi had expected the most it seems.' 'It showed in a string of summits, and somewhat breathless celebration of Xi Jinping.' 'It was hasty and simplistic,' observes Shekhar Gupta.
One of Modi's foremost critics will contest if he is the common candidate of a united Opposition, but fielded by the Congress.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat -- arguably, the third most powerful person in the ruling dispensation -- on Monday, December 20, met the Dalai Lama at Gaden Phodrang, his home in Mcleodganj, Himachal Pradesh.
'If he loses Gujarat, then he has a major, major, problem coming up in 2024.'
'The feeling is that Rajinikanth is pro-Modi than anti-Modi.'
'By transferring the case to the NIA without the Maharashtra government's consent clearly indicates they want to play mischief.'
India's most powerful prime minister in five decades gets publicly admonished -- if gently -- by the US vice-president. The question is, would this make him reflect on how and why, or which ones of his government and party's missteps exposed his flank like this? asks Shekhar Gupta.
Despite consumer inflation, joblessness, etc, ordinary voters still think Modi is the best to rule the country.< Going into the poll with a tried and tested prime ministerial candidate is a huge plus for the BJP --- and a huge handicap for the Opposition, points out Virendra Kapoor.
The power that be decided to demonstrate how smooth the 340 km Purvanchal Expressway in Sultanpur -- one of the many projects inaugurated ahead of the assembly election in Uttar Pradesh -- by having Indian Air Force aircraft land on its tarmac.
The irony of Akshay skipping voting did not go unnoticed on Twitter, as just last month Modi had tagged the actor in a tweet, asking him to encourage voting.
'Facing foes with a common intent is not something Modi-Shah's BJP has done before,' points out Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
With the Mumbai reception for Bollywood, Priyanka and Nick's wedding festivities, which began in late November, draw to a close.
It may well be possible to defeat Modi. But nobody seems to know how, points out Vir Sanghvi.
Over 10 million farmers have received Rs 2,000 crore under the flagship scheme says Virendra Singh Rawat.
For the 2019 polls, the BJP chief deployed over 7,000 leaders to oversee the work of polling committees on the over 400 seats the BJP contested. These committees were asked to focus on 120 seats the party had lost in 2014, but believed it could win in 2019.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday said the country has to decide if the sweetness of sugarcane will grow or the followers of Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah will cause mischief in the state, in a veiled attack on the Samajwadi Party (SP).
'But for Rajiv's bloopers, the Hindutva campaign would not have got off the ground,' Amulya Ganguli points out.
'If the NSCN-IM is cold shoulderd, the chances are that it will slip back into insurgency,' caution Sandeep Pandey, Meera Sanghamitra and Babloo Loitongbam.
Dominic Xavier mulls over the Agni Pariksha for students caught in the tussle between the government and Opposition parties.
'The MEA, hopefully, made it clear that the Indian PM can't be seen in Xi Jinping's company when China has, for all intents and purposes, annexed over 1,000 sq kms of Indian territory in eastern Ladakh, and essentially that the Wuhan spirit and the Mamallapuram spirit have turned into vinegar.'
Power is held to effect change. Modi has shown himself incapable of affecting it in the positive sense. On the economy, on the border, on employment, on the epidemic, observes Aakar Patel.
Dominic Xavier mulls over the intriguing puzzle why the PM-CARES fund is opposed to the transparency guaranteed by the RTI.
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.
He is not good at thinking through laws and policies. His lockdown produced chaos and misery and didn't stop Covid. His GST finished off thousands of companies and reduced the amount of tax government collects to such an extent that he cannot pay state governments any more, observes Aakar Patel.
'Modi has kept some loopholes in case they lose, saying it was not his election.' 'The fight will be Modi of 2014 vs Modi of 2019.' 'The BJP has realised that keeping the temple issue alive is more important than building the temple itself in terms of votes.'
Clearly, Modi -- one of the most stylish leaders on the planet -- hasn't had his barber call at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg.
A report by the Azim Premji University showed that during the pandemic 270 million Indians were pushed into poverty. Meaning that they were not poor according to the government poverty line before, but have become now. Aakar Patel mulls on the state of the nation as the Modi government enters its eighth year.
Do actors really look like the real life people they portray on screen? It's time to have *your* say!
'PM Modi is not taking Kashmir's stance as far as the Naga issue is concerned.'
Following a high-level meeting in New Delhi on February 2 between the two sides, India agreed to replace its military personnel operating the three aviation platforms in the Maldives by May 10. The first batch left the island nation well before March 10.
'In Hindi, Mr Modi is unequalled as an exceptionally accomplished orator.'
The BJP hopes that any vote AAP gets should only be from the Congress. At the same time, it does not want AAP to get too much of it. Because, a declining old opponent is a blessing as much as a rising new rival is a threat, points out Shekhar Gupta.
While there is no change in the strength of the Modi-led CCPA over its two tenures, what has changed is its profile.
'Mamata Didi is the only politician who can take on the might of Modi.'
'Mayawati is an experienced politician with a track record in national politics much longer than Modi's.' 'She must be sensing from the tremors in the Hindi heartland she crisscrossed in recent months that the prospect of another Modi-led government at the Centre is fast receding,' says M K Bhadrakumar.
Droupadi Murmu, India's 15th President, will be the youngest (she is only 64) and India's first President to be born after Independence.
The incident remains a reminder of the inherent fragilities of all geopolitical relationships.
