Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday visited Garhwa Ghat Ashram in Varanasi, which has considerable following among the backward castes, and paid tributes to former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri at his ancestral home.
A statesman, scholar and linguist Pamulaparti Venkata Narasimha Rao will be remembered for several firsts to his credit during an eventful five years as prime minister in the last decade that saw India take a new economic path.
The 47-year-old scion of the Nehru-Gandhi family will face the daunting task of restoring lost glory to the party whose fortunes have been dwindling in the recent past.
'In spirit, and more importantly in its DNA, this is the Congress Inc, or Incorporated, a family-run entity,' notes Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
'The only reason why it has taken him in is to rile the Congress and also to show, yet again, how fleet-footed the saffron camp is when it comes to raiding the pastures of its rivals,' notes Amulya Ganguli.
'Temperamentally, they are quite alike.' 'Ahmed Patel avoided the limelight and was not a power seeker.' 'The Gandhis too are not power wielders, but trustees of power.'
The 84-year old veteran Congressman, who died from post-COVID complications on Monday, was a Nehru-Gandhi family loyalist.
BJP leaders also took a dig at the former Congress president after the apex court asked him to be careful in future while closing a plea for contempt case against him for wrongly attributing certain comments on the Rafale deal to it.
A leading British daily will revert back to using Bombay instead of Mumbai when referring to the city, to take stand against a "nastier strain of Hindu nationalism".
Residents said that the Congress leader was a spitting image of her grand mother and her entrance into politics had lent fresh energy to the party.
Shankar Rai, a Congress leader from Telangana intends to install a nine-foot statue of party president Sonia Gandhi, depicting her as 'Telangana Talli' or Mother Telangana, at a spot near the Bangalore-Hyderabad highway registered in his daughter name.
The head of the Congress's first family has never been an astute politician, points out Amulya Ganguli.
Chief Minister Kamal Nath said that he 'doesn't have any intent to impose a ban or any prohibition on any movie'.
'And so, despite demonetisation, people in business feel safe with Mr Modi,' points out T N Ninan.
'Since the two successive drubbings of the Congress have rung the alarm bells about the party's future, the need to chart a new course cannot be delayed any further,' says Amulya Ganguli.
No member of the Congress' first family has visited Ayodhya since the demolition of the Babri Masjid 24 years ago, in December 1992.
'We cannot ignore the role of public institutions in driving development... I don't see much focus on institutional renewal.'
Shah said before the Yogi Adityanath dispensation assumed office, Uttar Pradesh was known for 'goonda raj' and bad law and order. '...Yogi government has established rule of law,' he said.
'I had expected them to fight this election on the issue of development, but they are not doing that.' 'Now they have decided to belittle Gujarat's development.'
The high octane campaign marked by vitriolic attacks and counter-attacks by political leaders and use of derogatory language and objectionable remarks that forced the Election Commission to step in ended at 6 pm.
Rahul Gandhi on Saturday filed his nomination papers from Amethi constituency which he has represented in Lok Sabha twice and expressed confidence about retaining it for the third straight time.
Congress and SP tussle over 10 assembly seats in Amethi and Rae Bareli.
'There is a need for a younger person at the top, but the old guard wants to grab the post themselves,' points out Amulya Ganguli.
Gandhi said he did not need anybody's certificate about his religion.
Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan has been summoned by a court in the United States over his alleged controversial slogan in 1984 following the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards.
'One senior Congress leader told me: "As long as Rahul is seen arriving there is no harm done, but when he opens his mouth, oh God...",' reveals T V R Shenoy.
The Centre has asked some of the Governors appointed during the United Progressive Alliance regime to quit in the wake of change of government.
The SP-Congress campaign will see Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi criss-cross the seats held by either party.
He cautioned people against forces inside and outside India which are working against the country by targeting it and its constitutional values.
The Congress leader is one of the most powerful functionaries in the party, having the reputation of being a trouble-shooter and strategist.
P V Narasimha Rao's grandson rued that the Congress has not "acknowledged" his contribution, but debunked suggestions that the former PM had a frosty relationship with Sonia Gandhi.
'There is little doubt that his exertions are among the reasons why Narendra Damodardas Modi routinely lambastes the dynasty at nearly all his rallies, suggesting that he regards the Congress's First Family as a bigger threat than any other political formation,' argues Amulya Ganguli.
Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's niece Karuna Shukla on Thursday joined the Congress and slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, saying his promise of serving the country is nothing but "plain dishonesty".
'When real issues hit everybody, the frenzy of Hindutva will start fading.'
Small gestures from Indira gave Sonia the confidence that she could be a daughter-in-law in the distinguished family.
"In the last four years, the government has made serious efforts to provide proper houses to the poor living in shanties."
Will Priyanka contest against Modi in Varanasi? Will Rahul also contest from Karnataka? Rasheed Kidwai -- Sonia Gandhi and the Congress party's biographer -- reveals what is churning in the Congress.
Desperate times need desperate actions, and the BJP's only option is to enforce legislation to build a Ram mandir, says Sunil Sethi.
Bharatiya Janata Party's Varun Gandhi, Aam Aadmi Party candidate in Amethi Kumar Vishwas and Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan were among the prominent candidates who filed nominations on the fourth day for the penultimate phase of Lok Sabha election covering 64 seats in seven states.
