Modi today needs BJP CMs and non-party regional leaders to win votes and build alliances, but he will over-rule them and treat them like dirt once they have served their electoral purpose. Make no mistake: Modi is incurably authoritarian and will brook no dissent -- so long as the RSS is on board, says Praful Bidwai.
Some eyewitnesses alleged that the victims suffered bullet wounds but district authorities denied that there was any firing by police
Has the Modi government been more at odds with institutions than other governments? There is no doubt that there have been more run-ins. While the RBI and CBI cases have drawn attention, there have been others, less publicised, Subhomoy Bhattacharjee points out.
'A couple of Pulwamas will bring the two nations to war and it will be limited to J&K itself.'
The government also ruled out having a re-look at the present reservation system.
- 'FIFA should have a leader with a lot of experience' -'Prince Ali is a good man, I work with him, I was a main supporter in the past, he is like my brother. He has a good future but I think he was in a little bit of a hurry. I think he needed to take the trust of Asia first before he earned the trust of the international community'
Will private firms really boost Make in India in the defence sector? Ajai Shukla seeks answers.
From the Aadhaar verdict to #MeToo's arrival in the country to the entry into the Sabarimala temple -- India had a newsworthy 2018. As we step into 2019, these are the top moments from the year gone by.
When Sepp Blatter is not comparing FIFA to a boat in calm or choppy waters he often uses football analogies to illustrate his point so it might amuse him to think he faces a tricky 45 minutes at this month's Congress.
'In his 2014 election campaign, Mr Modi had boasted that he would apply the Gujarat model to the rest of India. We just have to ensure he doesn't start with Parliament,' says Shashi Tharoor in this fascinating excerpt from his new book, The Paradoxical Prime Minister: Narendra Modi And His India.
While no one has been named in the two FIRs yet, the official said police is investigating the video evidence of the violence that took place on the days of incidents.
Does Mrs Donald Trump realise that her immediate predecessor, Michelle Obama, is not the only hard act to follow, wonders Kanika Datta.
'They thought he can separate the Muslim votes and win, but the Kerala mind is completely different.' 'It is a secular mind because Hindus, Christians and Muslims live together.' 'We don't like somebody coming from outside, contesting in our state, winning and going and avoiding us.'
In the midst of crucial assembly elections in five states, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda organised a huge rally in Haryana on November 10 in what is being seen as muscle flexing at the party leadership in terms of showing his following in the state. Renu Mittal reports.
The prime minister tweeted: "Pained to know about the passing away of Mrs Suvra Mukherjee. My condolences to Rashtrapati ji & his family in this hour of grief."
The BJP has 165 first-time MPs. Are we to expect such utterances from all 165 of them? Or only those from a rural background? Because that is the explanation given by the PM, says Jyoti Punwani.
'Arvind's face fell... He started to say something, but couldn't continue. He broke down and as the tears fell unheeded, he crumpled to the floor.'
'The Opposition has no option but to make it an 'All versus One' fight to even think about winning.'
Can un-democracy be the foundation for a democratic party that aspires to be different from all other parties in India.
'A couple of hours before the H-Hour, the Kupwara division opened small arms and mortar fire on posts opposite its area of operation.' 'This was a diversionary tactic.' 'As Pakistani forces began to react to the firing, special forces teams began to slowly cross the LoC into PoK.' Nitin Gokhale reveals how planning for the surgical strikes began hours after the Uri attack.
The court granted bail to Advani, Joshi and Bharti after they appeared before it.
The two were convicted on July 6 in the Avenfield properties case linked to the Sharif family's ownership of four luxury flats in London.
The NITI Aayog will now assimilate the views of states and then present a report to the PM.
'If you solve it in one day, it will go after a day.' 'If it is there for 100 years or 1,000 years, reservation has to continue.'
Former Union minister GK Vasan's decision to revolt and float a separate outfit in Tamil Nadu serves as a deadly blow to the Grand Old Party, which is already struggling, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Protests by various parties could be seen as they demanded the Prime Minister Narendra Modi rolled back the demonetisation scheme.
Biometric authentication is based on the unscientific and questionable assumption that there are parts of human body that does not age, wither and decay with the passage of time.
Kerala is one state where the Congress may do well in the general election and it where Rahul Gandhi has demonstrated why he is serious about rebuilding his party, says T V R Shenoy.
Activist Yogendra Yadav, who was detained on Monday night from a farmer protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, was dragged by police officers as he tried to interact with the media.
Despite the recent electoral reverses, Rahul is getting ready to walk the fire once more. The question is whether he will get burned or burnished in the process, says Saroj Nagi.
Till date, 107 elections to states and three parliamentary polls have been smoothly conducted using the EVMs.
Leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley speaks on the debate on the Andhra Pradesh (Reorganisation) Bill, 2014
'Where they lose, you never ask why they failed there, like in Bihar and Punjab.' 'You are stuck on the UP victory, thinking they have the mandate to rule for all times to come.' 'The BJP has 282 MPs, but can I honestly say that the BJP is the party for everyone?'
'Communalism and communal riots happened in India only during and due to colonialism. Pre-colonial India didn't have this problem of communal conflicts and religious strife.'
'Congress is on the defensive about scams and corruption charges... The media is against the UPA.... The Nehru family is not just another family; it is a national wealth,'Kerala Chief Minister Oomen Chandy tells Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier.
'In being dismissive of Naveen, his colleagues showed incredible naivety.' 'On the few occasions that he put his foot down, the overconfident party leaders, who believed they were using him and not the other way around, failed to read the signs of what was to come.'
Rahul Bedi explains how 'miscellaneous' factors have posed a major hurdle in negotiating the Rafale deal.
If the AAP wins 20 to 40 Lok Sabha seats, which is conceivable unless it botches up on governance in Delhi, it will become a significant bloc comparable in influence to or even bigger than several major regional parties, feels Praful Bidwai.
The Deen Bachao, Desh Bachao conference in Patna on April 15 was attended by lakhs of Muslims. Will the electoral dividends from this rally be reaped by Nitish Kumar, the BJP (through Hindu consolidation), by both Nitish and the BJP or will it be reaped more by the anti-BJP forces, asks Mohammad Sajjad.
'The present government's greatest weakness is its intolerance. Tolerance is the key tenet of democracy. How can any government stop someone from speaking one's mind?'
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