In the Inner Manipur constituency, which goes to the polls on Thursday, the Communist Party of India candidate is backed by the Bahujan Samaj Party, Shiv Sena, et al. Nitin Sethi reports
To remember Jawaharlal Nehru only for his mistakes on Kashmir or China is unfair. A democratic and secular India is in no small measure the awesome legacy of India's first prime minister, says Amberish K Diwanji
'As he has no executive track record, so far, he is all talk and hence essentially a braggart and a bigot.' 'That he is described as the 'Trump of the tropics' should give a shorthand summary to what he stands for on issues in general,' points out Ambassador B S Prakash, India's former envoy to Brazil.
Recent IMF forecast said China's growth is expected to slow down.
The Congress kept sheltering Quattrochi, and the BJP was more intent on shielding the Hinduja brothers. The fact is that the two roads crisscrossed, and neither the truth prevailed nor did the law take its course, says Mohan Guruswamy.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji turns 90 on December 25. I wish him all the best. The nation has honoured him and Pt Madan Mohan Malaviyaji with the Bharat Ratna.
'One big leader said you might get 3 lakh votes and still lose.' 'I said if I do I will make sure you are sleepless because it will be me and three lakh people.'
'Almost deified by enough Indians now, never mind his politics and, worse, economics,' says Shekhar Gupta.
Cracks in the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar is frittering away the ground gained in social justice and contributing to increasing polarisation in the state, says Mohammad Sajjad.
Non-Congressism is the answer to India's current difficulties, says Dr Shambhu Shrivastava, who gives a historical perspective of non-Congress experiments in 1967, 1977, 1989 and 1998.
'You can ascribe any ideology to him, and it will be equally right - or equally wrong.' 'Even though the comrades on the Left will never admit it, he seems as much Stalinist as capitalist.'
Whatever the ideologies of our leader are, the end result should be nothing more than well being of our fellow citizens, says Khemchand H Sakaldeepi and Nupur Pavan Bang.
The opposition in Lok Sabha on Monday tore into the controversial Land Acquisition Bill
'Hindu middle class doesn't like anti-Muslim rhetoric'
'There is an insistence that the government bring about reforms if India is to succeed. The fact is that many nations have done reforms, but are not Great Powers,' says Aakar Patel.
It is the last place where the dinosaurs who once dreamt of ruling the Earth can still be seen in their natural habitat, says T V R Shenoy.
Louisiana Governor Piyush 'Bobby' Jindal may not have been among the top 10 Republican presidential hopefuls at the first GOP primary debate in Cleveland, Ohio. But he sure did make a strong pitch for his candidature, ripping apart President Barack Obama and forcefully putting across his thoughts on contentious issues like immigration and foreign policy.
'In the first elections, Hindutva forces got only 6% of the votes and won only 10 seats.' 'It was a great defeat for them.' 'They have held that grouse against Nehru since then.'
#Not In My Name, said ordinary citizens, as they took to the streets to reclaim the India they believed in.
'Amit Shah was, briefly, a stockbroker before devoting himself to politics. By instinct or training, he knows the value of keeping blue chips in one's portfolio.'
'How can the BJP give Muslim candidates tickets if they don't have any good Muslim candidates?'
Rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore reports from Bhopal and Manikhedi Kot, Etkhedi Kot and Kejra Dev, about the October 30-31 escape and encounter in which 8 prisoners were killed, a case that has many questions and few answers.
"Will anybody want a servant that who is on vacation when needed at home? And nobody knows where he is," he continued.
We take a look at Time magazines top world leaders.
The sudden proximity between India and US has, in the eyes of many, sidelined China. This is not the case, argues Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Brutal and ruthless, with terrible human rights records, these autocrats will welcome Narendra Modi to their realm this coming week.
The greatest challenge before India is how to strike a fine balance of its relationship between its neighbour and strategic rival China, and the US.
Angus Deaton's Nobel Prize should spark off more research on the measurement and usefulness of poverty percentages.
'Non Resident Indians know that India's problems are the combination of many factors over the centuries, including foreign rule, lack of resources and the ever-growing population, among other things. Yet, India has achieved many things and even looks at Mars as a neighbour.'
Kanhaiya Kumar is India's latest political rockstar. More so in Mumbai, where his address this evening gave Mumbaikars a glimpse of the heydays of the Communist movement in the city of textiles mills and mill workers.
This Budget signals a shift from a hand-out to a hand-up economy.
The bravado of NDA ministers may have undone the gains made in cross-border security cooperation over the past several years.
'If the dimensions of the strategic partnership worked out by India and the US seem like a grand alliance targeted at you-know-who, China had better realise that it has fathered it,' says B S Raghavan, a long time observer of China.
PM Modi's China visit may strengthen ties between both the countries.
Manipur needs an integrated politico, military, socio-economic approach, says Sanjeev Nayyar.
'Lending to Mr Mallya was the bankers' season ticket to corridors of power and glamour. Borrowing from them was like a favour Mallya did to them,' says Shekhar Gupta.
'The diplomat's arrest has led to a major diplomatic spat, the likes of which I have not seen in my nearly three decades of covering the US-India relationship, says Aziz Haniffa. 'The knee-jerk reaction by the powers-that-be in Delhi was myopic to say the least.'
Israel is no longer the valiant and beleaguered underdog, but increasingly seen as an increasingly arrogant oppressor seeking to crush another old nation under its jackboots, says Mohan Guruswamy.
In his last column for Rediff.com, Praful Bidwai joins issues with those lauding India's covert operation against Naga rebels based in Myanmarese territory.
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