'Air India's privatisation is acceptable as long as its control does not pass on to a foreign entity,' says A K Bhattacharya.
BJP plans to put up strong candidates against these 15 MPs.
'It will be the end of the Congress after the Lok Sabha election.' 'Many Congressmen and even Communists will move to the BJP.'
The BJP ignored the principle of the Cabinet's joint responsibility and the adage of the buck stopping at the top, observes Amulya Ganguli.
'Lee Kuan Yew told me he used to look to India, especially the writings of Nehru and Sardar Panikkar, for guidance on governance.' 'It's ironic that India should have so much to learn of the spirit of democracy from his son,' notes Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
'Maybe, if Mr Modi can fire over Patel's gigantic shoulder, people will start to think that he is very much like Patel?' 'It's a long shot, but the Modi sheen has worn awfully thin, and after five years and a long, much-frayed rope, he faces real accountability from voters.' 'He needs any help he can get,' says Mitali Saran.
'New Delhi showed itself willing -- at least for a period -- to tolerate the risk of conflict and to withstand Beijing's implicit and explicit threats.' 'But it also continued to try to cut some kind of deal with China to reduce tensions.'
'Their role model is Iran: high control of the citizens by the State.' In Iran it is Islamic control; in India, it will be Hindutva control.'
It is time the government cast its net wide for seeking expert advice on managing the Indian economy and formed a group to help it navigate the difficult days ahead, advises A K Bhattacharya.
'Modi is imposing himself as the face of Gujarat to send a message that people should not forget that a Gujarati is prime minister.'
The parade began after President Ram Nath Kovind conferred the Ashoka Chakra -- India's highest peacetime gallantry award -- to Lance Naik Nazir Ahmad Wani, a militant-turned-soldier who laid down his life fighting a group of terrorists in Shopian in Kashmir in November.
Not only will Arun Govil, Sunil Lahiri and Deepika Chikhalia attend the Pran Pratistha ceremony, Moti Sagar, Ramanand Sagar's son, also received an invitation.
'While high-level interventions may help smoothen inter-State relationships, they cannot fundamentally change the alchemy of such relationships, which are firmly rooted in mutual benefits and mutual interests,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Modi will address a rally to boost BJP candidate Smriti Irani's chances.
'When he was sidelined in the INDIA bloc, it was was the turning point because it badly hurt Nitish's ambition.' 'After that, he decided to damage INDIA by changing sides.'
'The anti-India biases of the Western elite can be attributed to the unease these privileged nations feel at the rise of Asian nations like India and China.' 'But what ought to shock all right-thinking Indians is that many of our own countrymen/women have joined this chorus,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'Sounds familiar? Barring inflation, much else looks, sounds, and feels more than a bit like 1974.' 'A phenomenally popular leader, with a party of unquestioning followers, a broken Opposition, a nationalist high and an economy in free fall, crippling joblessness,' recalls Shekhar Gupta.
'It is surprising Mumbaikars take it all in their stride, but it has nothing to do with the crappy spirit of Mumbai that television channels extol every time a tragedy hits us, but all to do with the compulsion of stepping out to earn one's daily roti and dal,' says N Suresh.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's monogrammed bandhgala, which he wore at his meeting with United States President Barack Obama in January and which has been under auction for the last three days in Surat, has finally been sold for a whopping price of Rs 4.31 crore.
What were our political leaders up to on the weekend?
'The suppression is mounting and people may react.'
'The brutal violence of the UP government's first response to the anti-CAA protests suggests that the BJP will test drive the NPR/NRC in UP, where it has both a massive majority in the assembly and a chief minister whose instinct for Hindutva extremism and whose appetite for punitive policing allows a prime minister as darkly majoritarian as Modi to appear statesman-like,' notes Mukul Kesavan.
Will BJP campaigners start using the term 'Ram Rajya' to refer to the nation under Modi's rule, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Modi government caved in under American pressure without even token resistance. Two countries similarly placed as India with high dependence on Iranian oil -- China and Turkey -- have shown the grit to stand up to Washington, says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Did Xi deliver a message to Modi at Mamallapuram, which though couched in a velvet glove was time-bound? What was that message? It is clear Indian/Israeli/US spy satellites would not have missed detecting Chinese troop movements towards the Ladakh-Tibet frontier. Then why did some important functionaries in the Government of India choose to only ask the Russians about this in April 2020? Was Russian reassurance of Chinese troop movements being part of a routine exercise the reason that the Leh-based XIV Corps did not mobilise itself for its annual summer exercises near the LAC? A fascinating excerpt from Iqbal Chand Malhotra's new book Red Fear: The China Threat.
He dropped those perceived to be non-performers or whose integrity came into question, and also where it was felt they needed to learn a lesson or two in humility.
'Modi should have trust in us and the minorities should also have trust in him.'
Murli Manohar Joshi makes a rare public appearance.
On his first visit to Srinagar post the abrogation of Article 370, Home Minister Amit Shah claimed that incidents of terrorism have declined and stone-throwing incidents too have ended in Jammu-Kashmir.
'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.
Foreign policy is always a work in progress and ups and downs are built into foreign policy process. What is permanent is national interest. Hopefully, this year, which will also witness general elections in the country, will also clear clouds in the foreign policy horizon, observes Rup Narayan Das.
Mihir S Sharma gives us a rundown of what could happen, depending on the number.
Wouldn't it be better to join the celebrations with the vast Hindu majority while at the same time criticising Mr Modi/BJP/RSS for politicising it? notes Shekhar Gupta.
'I don't buy the theory that if the BJP gets less than 220 seats or 200 seats, there will be a change in leadership.'
Most politicians and even non-politicians have been honoured because of what they were purported to be electorally worth for the ruling party of their time, argues N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Modi's interview style is distinct, and alas one that is increasingly being followed by others as well, notably by the man who is out to challenge him, Rahul Gandhi.' 'This may appear aggressive and combative to readers and viewers, but the fact is that sometimes it becomes unclear as to who is interviewing who,' discovers Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
'The Chinese made their point repeatedly after August 5. They backed Pakistan more overtly than in the past.' 'Kashmir is not completely off their radar. But in order to keep the atmosphere surrounding the Chennai meeting, they did not discuss Kashmir.'
For those who think India's democracy is just fine and there has been no change in the last few years, perhaps it would be instructive to see what has happened on a few issues, observes Aakar Patel.
This is possibly the first time Hasina's daughter will be by her mother's side during an official visit to close neighbour and ally India, and analysts believe this to be significant in many ways.
'To them, the day may not be far off when the state BJP starts claiming and propagating that Modi is next only to AIADMK's late boss Jayalalithaa,' says N Sathiya Moorthy.
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