The prime minister's insistence that his voice cannot be suppressed left me both puzzled and amused. He has at his call, the government's official news dissemination/publicity channels, the pliant newspapers and television channels that were eager to prostrate themselves before a powerful government and yet, the dominant voice thinks it is in competition with other voices! exclaims Shyam G Menon.
'Laluji personally telephoned several Opposition leaders to attend the meeting.'
Amidst suspense about his whereabouts, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has reached his official residence in Ranchi, a source in the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said on Tuesday.
'At no point did Kamal Nath and Digvijaya indicate that the Opposition bloc was formed only to fight the Lok Sabha polls.'
The one-year-old Himachal Pradesh Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu was expanded on Tuesday with the induction of Rajesh Dharmani and Yadvinder Goma as cabinet ministers.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi has moved the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the Bombay high court order dismissing his plea for quashing a defamation case against him for allegedly blaming Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh for the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi told British parliamentarians in London on Monday that functioning microphones in the Lok Sabha are often silenced against the Opposition.
'...only if we sort it out with Pakistan.'
Sachin Pilot, Parliamentarian from Dausa, Rajasthan and a prominent member of the Congress' young brigade, draws inspiration from his father, late Rajesh Pilot, as well as party chief Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul."Of course, the star campaigners in the coming Lok Sabha elections would be Sonia Gandhi, Rahulji and our Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, who has been making rapid progress after his heart surgery. Rahulji is one of the most acceptable politicians around,"he said
Distraught family members of Mundka fire victims, who are still missing, continued to wait outside Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital on Sunday for their loved ones as 19 bodies are yet to be identified.
Filing of nominations for the post of Congress president is scheduled to begin on Saturday with a contest between Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and former Union minister Shashi Tharoor on the cards.
Novelist Shobhaa De's typically original advice for Congress neta Rahul Gandhi, his sister Priyanka and his bro-in-law Robert Vadra...
It is clear to any observer that the BJP risks its demolition drive boomeranging on itself. Except for one unpredictable factor in the works -- Rahul Gandhi himself, observes Shyam G Menon.
Bunny gave the audience at the India Day Parade a riff on his memorable line from Pushpa, to thunderous applause of course.
In both of these Hindi heartland states, the straight contest between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the opposition Congress.
Clearly, he is in the right place, at the right time.
Following the post, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan accused Congress leaders of spreading "misinformation" and creating social hatred by sharing a "false" post on Golwalkar.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Wednesday filed a complaint against Rahul Gandhi in a Maharashtra court over his remarks linking the saffron organisation to the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.
On one hand, South Indian states have been complaining about denial of a proportionate portion of the sharable funds from the Centre, based on population. On the other hand, they stand to lose Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha seats that again are based on population, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Indications are that the DMK combine will win more seats than the AIADMK and BJP, but is facing a tough fight in about half a dozen from the rest, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy of the electoral contest in Tamil Nadu.
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, senior leaders K C Venugopal, P Chidambaram and Salman Khurshid were among the party's top brass taking part in the satyagraha at Rajghat.
Chairman of central election authority Madhusudan Mistri will be available in Congress headquarters in the national capital to take the nomination papers as returning officer of the election.
The Karnataka cabinet on Thursday approved the revision of Kannada and Social Science textbooks of Classes 6 to 10 in the state for this academic year by removing the chapters on Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh founder K B Hedgewar and Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar among others.
A total of 517 candidates have withdrawn their candidature till on Monday, even as parties faced "rebel trouble" in several segments.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday claimed he has the support of party workers from across the country for his bid to fight the AICC president polls.
...close to the 2024 general election. The BJP calling the Congress 'seasonal Hindu' is as laughable as the saffron party sparing itself the title of 'seasonal extreme Hindu.'
How else should one describe its election campaigns of the past years?
It was typically obsessive religion and personality cult with economic development for fig leaf, asserts Shyam G Menon.
Amid speculation over Congress leader Sachin Pilot's next move, sources close to him on Tuesday said he was firm on his demands, including action against alleged corruption during the previous Vasundhara Raje government, and was waiting for a definitive response from the party high command.
Punjab National Bank claims Vadodara municipal corporation worker Shantilal Solanki owes them Rs 16 crores.
A court in Thane district of Maharashtra on Saturday said trial in the defamation case filed against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi by an activist of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh will be conducted on a day-to-day basis from February 5.
'They have been pursuing their agenda of bulldozing everything and everybody on their way.' 'They suddenly see Rahul Gandhi standing in front of them without fear and fighting against them aggressively.' 'He doesn't show any compromise in his attitude towards fascism.'
Away from the distraction of its new high-profile politics, Wayanad's worries seemed very down to earth, discovers Shyam G Menon.
CM Stalin has a procedural problem. Nominating new ministers would entail his having to seek formal permission from governor R N Ravi. Stalin does not want to interact with the person of this governor, as far as possible, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) who invest from Mauritius into Indian companies that dole out bonus debentures will get impacted by the tax avoidance provisions on bonus stripping. The FY23 Budget has extended these provisions - applicable only to MFs, so far - to shares and units of REITs, InvITs and AIFs. The move will especially affect large institutional investors who sell original units within nine months after the record date because the loss arising from sale of original units would have to be ignored for the purposes of computing taxable income and cannot be set off against any other capital gain.
Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Thursday expressed happiness that the Congress party has taken cognisance of the issues raised by him about welfare of youth and corruption under the previous Vasundhara Raje government in Rajasthan, and asserted the party will contest the assembly polls unitedly to secure a massive victory.
Tharoor's close aide Aalim Javeri collected the forms from the office of the party's central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry on the first day of the start of the nomination process, all but confirming an electoral face-off for the top party post with Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.
Every defaulter is not a wilful defaulter who has the capability of paying back and is yet not servicing the bank loan, observes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
However, that could only be for sectors where 100 per cent FDI is allowed under the automatic route and pose no risk to national security.
Also, with Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra not in the running for the party president's post, a non-Gandhi would be at the helm after over 24 years following the polling on Monday and counting on Wednesday.
'If the Congress gets to form the government in 2024, then Sonia Gandhi by virtue of being CPP chairperson will have the authority to decide who will be the prime minister and not Kharge.'
Anti-Congress regional parties may have felt the possible impact of Rahul's South-North yatra, pending a second East-West padayatra, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
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