Without doubt, the BJP is miles ahead in marshalling digital tools for electioneering better than any other party, observes Virendra Kapoor.
The BJP can't be sure if it should celebrate that the old rival is fading or worry that new ones are rising. Because the last thing the BJP wants to see is alternatives rising, if only to the Congress, observes Shekhar Gupta.
'Modi swept the 2014 elections for two main reasons: First, the disgust with the Congress government with a non-functional prime minister, and second, more importantly, his promise of performance and hope.' 'He cannot expect to win 2019 on these planks again. His own success in finishing the Congress will take away one plank, and with five years of reign on his CV, he will need to flaunt performance more than promise.'
'The BJP has become a reasonably larger force in Tamil Nadu in the last two years.'
The fear that Mamata might snatch the mantle of Opposition leadership which the Gandhis firmly believe to be theirs by birthright seems to have persuaded Sonia and Rahul to give up their hoity-toity ways, observes Virendra Kapoor.
The two-member commission will be headed by former Calcutta high court Chief Justice Jyotirmay Bhattacharya. Former Supreme Court judge Madan Bhimrao Lokur is its other member.
The brewing discontentment in the party may adversely impact the TMC's prospects in the next assembly polls due in April-May next year.
On the eve of the final phase of the Uttar Pradesh elections, Rediff.com's Aslam Hunani reviews the political landscape in the epicentre and beyond.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni would be hoping for a memorable farewell but he faces a major roadblock in the form of Gujarat Titans' run machine Shubman Gill.
IPL 2023 will be very different from earlier ones with the 'Impact Player' rule coming into play for the first time.
The rival promoter group and the entire block of public institutions voted against Basant Jhawar.
Nearly 1,500 akansha petis (boxes of aspirations) have been placed in colleges for students to reveal what they expect from a BJP government. While demonetisation figured high in villages, BJP strategist Siddharth Sikka says city youth were "more concerned" about law and order and sanitation.
Gujarat Titans are currently at the top of the IPL table with 18 points from 12 games and a win on Sunday will more or less secure them a top-2 finish. That would mean an extra chance of making it to the final.
'That would be very bad for them and suicidal for both the Gandhis and the Congress party.'
But his opponents are making a mistake. They shouldn't be smug, argues Vir Sanghvi.
'Your achievements are many, Nitish babu, but it needs a sustained campaign to remind us, the good people of Bihar, what we may have forgotten,' points out Asmita Bihari.
'Chirag Paswan's game plan would be to push out Nitish Kumar from this alliance, but that is only possible if the BJP wins about 90 seats and the LJP wins between 25-30 seats.'
'AAP's next target will be Punjab.'
'Whether the Hindu voter will vote for us or not, we can't say, can we?'
For the first time in seven years the prime minister finds himself at his most vulnerable, observes Virendra Kapoor.
A round-up of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Friday.
The BJP wants to win a state where it has been out of power for 15 years. The Congress wants to make its mark in a state where it has been a bit player for nearly 30 years. And the BSP wants to recapture power it lost 5 years ago.
Attacking the central government, he said it has made everybody stand in queue and wondered if this was the 'achche din' for which people had voted for Narendra Modi. "It has harmed the economy," he said.
'For the Congress, the family is the final court of appeal.' 'If there is no family, all leaders are equal.' 'If all leaders are equal, anyone can lead the Congress.' 'So every time the family has stayed in the background, the Congress has split,' points out Aditi Phadnis.
'The way opposition parties such as the Nationalist Congress Party, Shiv Sena, the Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Jharkhand Mukti Morch have supported her, if she wins, she will be the biggest opposition face for 2024'
All the BJP's present leaders from UP put together cannot win the state for the party. So how about an out-of-the-box leader like Subramanian Swamy, asks Nazarwala, the man who called right the 2007 and 2012 UP elections.
A section within the RSS feels Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani should be projected as the BJP's CM candidate in UP, says Rajeev Sharma.
Rishi Dhawan led from the front with an all-round show as Himachal Pradesh beat Services by 77 runs in the semi-final, at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Friday, to set up the title clash against Tamil Nadu in the Vijay Hazare Trophy domestic One-Day championship.
'Mamata is synonymous with Bengal, its culture, language, traditions.'
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.
It will be a test of wits between two new captains in Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya when defending champions Chennai Super Kings clash with debutants Gujarat Titans in the IPL match in Pune on Sunday.
Why Aaditya Thackeray's decision to plunge into electoral politics is significant.
SunRisers Hyderabad has the biggest purse while Kolkata Knight Riders has the slimmest purse.
Faceless Ambedkarite groups from across the country are running BSP's election war rooms, writes Archis Mohan.
'When corporates have a stake in the government through contributions to political parties, democracy, which is supposed to work for the common man, doesn't.'
How he hopes to retain his fort is anyone's guess, says Nazarwala, the man who called right the 2007 and 2012 UP elections.
'I could have joined the BJP in 2014, the doors were open.' 'I stayed on with the TMC, a party I was involved with since its very inception.' 'But today enough is enough.'
Priyanka Gandhi was earlier actively involved in key decision making in the party along with her mother and brother, including the selection of new chief ministers for Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh recently.
Some of the exiting entries for Lord Ganesha's visit straight from our readers' homes.
