The seat-share progression should worry the BJP. From the previous assembly polls of 2017, through the assembly segments in its favour in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and now in 2022, the BJP's seat-share has come down from a high 312 to 275 to 255. N Sathiya Moorthy reads the political tea leaves after the UP and Punjab election verdicts.
Dominic Xavier offers his take on Raj Thackeray's latest political ploy and wonders if this Thackeray versus Thackeray skit will help the BJP finally achieve its goal of ejecting the Maha Vikas Aghadi government from a state that has largely been insulated from the communal disharmony sweeping across parts of north India.
'It is almost certainly wrong in assuming that the Modi government will use its strong mandate to undertake some serious reform measures.' 'For it is fairly clear that the government's priorities lie elsewhere, in the powerful home minister's domain,' notes T N Ninan.
'Genuine mistakes can and must be forgiven,' argues Vivek Gumaste.
'The consecration of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya has demoralised them.' 'And, now it is reflecting in their individual reactions as they are losing hope to take on the BJP in 2024.'
'However, a lot of preparatory work would have to go in and China must be prepared to announce an end to the standoff by disengaging from the remaining areas along the LAC.'
The Maldives still considers India a friend, the tourism-dependent country's economic minister has said while defending President Mohamed Muizzu's stand against the presence of "foreign soldiers" in the archipelago nation in the Indian Ocean.
What some of us think are strong, bold and firm decisions are cruel, harsh and unwanted for others. This is what we need to consider when we look at what has happened with the farm laws, asserts Aakar Patel.
'Outside investors don't want to get tangled up in a religious war.'
'Anyone familiar with Modi's track record will know he never forgets a slight, a betrayal,' notes Virendra Kapoor.
Facts, they say, don't lie. Nor do figures. R Ramakumar, professor at Mumbai's Tata Institute of Social Sciences, demolishes the Government of India's vaccination claims.
Thursday was the day results from the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh assembly elections and by-elections in Bihar, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh were out, so what were some of our leaders up to?
Behind this never-say-die attitude of the BJP is probably the calculation of the Roman emperors that if bread is scarce, give the people circus, observes Amulya Ganguli.
India looks less equal to China than 5 years ago, the strategic alliance with the US is hobbled by trade, and Pakistan is looking anything but chastened by Balakot. What has gone wrong? asks Shekhar Gupta.
At some stage this fall in the quality of life will begin to hurt anybody's popularity, observes Shekhar Gupta.
'The BJP while being in government in Gujarat continues to campaign like an Opposition party whereas the Opposition does the opposite.'
Can compassion, common courtesy or an 'emotional connect' win seats in the harsh realpolitik of UP, a state riddled with divisions of caste and religion, and confronted with a seemingly impregnable BSP-SP alliance? asks Sunil Sethi.
"Our armed forces represent India's diversity and the collective spirit of 130 crore Indians. Our forces are not only known for their utmost professionalism but also they are at the forefront helping people in times of crisis. Our forces are synonymous with trust," Modi said.
'While other parties generally need support directly from their central leadership to get influencers or celebrities to endorse their party, the work of identifying and contacting such influencers has been decentralised to state and district level IT cells to get more engagement in the BJP.'
The PM's visit would signal a strong intent towards making sure India becomes a beneficiary as vaccines become a massively traded commodity in the coming years.
'The government has given up its focus on economic growth because it it not something Modi has been able to fully understand.' 'This explains the extraordinary focus on divisive politics by the BJP even at a time when the world's most important man in visiting India,' notes Aakar Patel.
'303 seats ki sarkar has problems with a cartoonist.'
'I must have done a lot of good deeds because of which I was getting the chance to talk to such a mahapurush.'
'Life has been full of rewards, full of sadness.'
'But in 2024, the people of India will throw him out of power as the contradictions in him will be apparent.'
While the Samajwadi Party largely banks on its Muslim-Yadav support base, the Bharatiya Janata Party is trying to counter it with the Modi-Yogi combo in the state assembly polls.
'Good economics isn't necessarily bad politics, or vice versa,' says Shekhar Gupta.
'A prime minister's responsibility is the entire nation.' 'The nation looks to you for protection, for security...' 'Politics has become larger than the nation's interests.'
'The voter is cautioning the BJP not to take them for granted.'
'Priyanka Gandhi, it was obvious to everyone but the inner circle, would have only served as a sacrificial lamb in this high-octane contest, the Modi juggernaut would have simply trundled over her and whatever ill-hatched plans the Congress had in mind,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
'The ceremony on May 30 is all about Modi and there is the great risk that Imran Khan who is a rockstar among Indians might end up stealing the show,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Bommarabettu Laxmijanardhana Santhosh is the only south Indian and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's representative in the BJP's senior decision-making hierarchy.
'Vajpayee would not have approved either of the way the BJP now functions or of the thoughts that it entertains in its mind,' says T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan.
'Right now, politics is operating in a state of suspended animation. That works to Modi's advantage.'
For the first time in seven years the prime minister finds himself at his most vulnerable, observes Virendra Kapoor.
'And Sir, you are at fault if they don't like you. 'You don't boast of your government's efforts to be the first one to bring in thousands of Indians back home without thinking for a second about their race, religion, language, orientation, or even citizenship,' says Sarang, a reader of Rediff.com.
'Politics is not a post for retired people to enjoy.'
'The change of vocabulary in the India-US conversation was significant and refreshing.' 'It matched the styles of Trump and Modi.' 'The differences were not papered over, but there was determination to resolve them in the days ahead,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
'There can be no dispute over the adverse impact such a policy will surely have on India's manufacturing competitiveness,' notes A K Bhattacharya.
