'My son is not against anybody. For him Desh Prem is more important than anything else in life'
A faltering economy may have led to a re-think on economic strategy. And Mr Modi might think he is politically strong enough to take some risks. But there could be a minefield ahead, observes T N Ninan.
'Modi warned China, therefore they have come to the talks.' 'Nothing will come out of these talks.'
'We are going to be taken seriously by the government.'
If anything has become clear during this campaign, it is this: Mr Modi can bat on almost any wicket and hit the ball over the ropes, points out T N Ninan.
Will it be home or defence for Amit Shah?
AAP leader Ashutosh said Modi's name does not match in the BA marksheet and that of the MA degree and even claimed that there were discrepancies in the year of passing as well.
Those who continue to think that the 2024 election will see the BJP pursuing a more militant line are being alarmist, argues Rajeev Mantri. The BJP, Mantri believes, is not about to shoot itself in the foot. If anything, he says, the BJP may be more inclined to push a harder secularism.
A revealing excerpt from Rahul Shivshankar and Siddhartha Talya's book, Modi & India: 2024 and the Battle for Bharat.
'...for three hours to the seven or eight of us who spoke at the meeting.' 'Talking together and allowing us to express our thoughts on these important issues is a good beginning.'
'I bow to the great freedom fighters born in Andhra Pradesh. We have not forgotten our freedom fighters, we will not forget and we will move forward by taking inspiration from them,' the prime minister said
Modi knows how to turn Gujarati pride into an emotive issue at election time and a Gujarati President would have its own electoral resonance and significance, note Sunil Gatade and Venkatesh Kesari.
'I don't think there will be any problem for Hindus to accept Adityanath as the leader, since they have already chosen Modi.'
The BJP is raising funds by selling NaMo Again T-shirts, mugs and wristbands through the Modi smartphone app.
'He can at least invite them for tea in small groups once a month on Sundays.' 'If nothing else, he will have the pleasure of ruining their weekend,' suggests T C A Srinivasa Raghavan.
'If he has not achieved 'Congress mukt Bharat' even now, the question of his creating a 'DMK mukt Tamil Nadu' does not arise,' points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
'It is creditable that the BJP builds the organisation set-up and then looks for leaders.' 'The Congress on the other hand has to care for the leaders more than the organisation.'
Before the MCC came into effect, Modi was busy laying stones, cutting ribbons, and unveiling plaques across the country.
'Modi's finest political legacy ought to be a border settlement with Beijing,' asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
A handsome victory for the BJP in UP would act as confirmation of its recent political choices. The UP chief minister would be cemented in the popular mind as Mr Modi's chosen heir within the Hindutva fold, and presumably as his successor in New Delhi, observes Mihir S Sharma.
'Only then will we withdraw the agitation.'
'Like Nehru, too, Modi has found dealing with Beijing more and more difficult and has adopted an increasingly assertive approach towards managing India's northern neighbour.'
'If the Singh government was characterised by policy paralysis, this one is afflicted by hyperactivism, sans a roadmap,' says Yogendra Yadav.
Over the next five years, it will be Narendra not Nitish who will be under pressure to deliver vikas and atmanirbharta in Bihar, notes Kanika Datta.
'If the BJP doesn't want to accept the will of the people, then we will show them what a majority means.'
'No amount of digression can hide deflect the fact that the PM's visit was badly conceived, planned and executed,' argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'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.'
On Wednesday, October 27, the old political warhorse returned to the election trail, campaigning for the October 30 by-elections to the Kusheshwar Asthan and Tarapur assembly seats in Bihar.
'Has any prime minister spent so much time in one state holding election rally after rally?'
'My protest was in the interest of the nation.' 'I am just doing my duty as a citizen of this country.'
The BJP's top leadership will drop its MPs found to be facing anti-incumbency, according to its internal surveys -- a pivotal tactic to ensure the party achieves its target of winning 370 seats.
One of Modi's foremost critics will contest if he is the common candidate of a united Opposition, but fielded by the Congress.
'An important dimension that shone through was the enormous pride in India, a general belief that as Indians we are starting to count globally and we are at the forefront of the world.'
'It is obvious that the RSS's desire to gatecrash into the gated establishment which has generally been seen as the redoubt of the liberal intelligentsia is putting it at odds with the BJP which is less tolerant of the mentor's freshly-minted open-mindedness,' argues Amulya Ganguli.
During Abe's tenure, Japan had announced support for a number of major projects. These included the bullet train project between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, besides allocations for a freight corridor between Mumbai and New Delhi.
'We know each other for quite some time.' 'He could provide stability to the country for five years.' 'But he could not provide confidence to the countrymen that he is our leader.'
Congress-NCP-Sena leaders discount reading too much into the meeting between the Maharashtra CM and prime minister.
Never one to complain about her circumstances, Preity is making the best of her prolonged isolation in Los Angeles.
'Mamata Didi is the only politician who can take on the might of Modi.'
'Politics is not a post for retired people to enjoy.'
