Scindia, who was also named as its Rajya Sabha candidate from Madhya Pradesh by the BJP, hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his "competence and complete dedication" to serving India and asserted that the country's future is fully secure in his hands.
'There is no meritocracy or at least there is none that is visible and transparent.' 'The Congress has two opportunities to change this,' says Aakar Patel.
Prime Minister Singh has assigned a senior Congress leader to placate the President, who is upset with Finance Minister P Chidambaram, reports Anita Katyal.
They claimed that the 'harsh reality' in the backdrop of Goswami's statement is that the 'fake encounter of Ishrat Jahan and three other accomplices was ordered by the then chief minister and present Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with the then MoS, Gujarat Amit Shah'.
Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh continues to be the rising star in Rahul Gandhi's Congress. With the Congress war room at Gurdwara Rakabganj Road being re-designated as the Congress Coordination Centre, Ramesh has been appointed as the convenor of a small group which would look after the co-ordination work for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
The prime minister is likely to talk about its possible extension.
Meanwhile, Gandhi said Modi has betrayed the people, claiming that he had not fulfilled promises of providing two crore jobs every year and "depositing" Rs 15 lakh in their bank accounts.
The Centre on Thursday evening took the first significant step towards creation of a separate Telangana state from out of Andhra Pradesh and decided that Hyderabad will be the joint capital of the two states for 10 years.
During the day, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan held a meeting to review preparedness for COVID-19 management, through video conference with health ministers, chief secretaries of all states and UTs, central ministers and representatives from the related organisations and stressed on the need for keeping testing and quarantine facilities, isolation wards, and labs in active readiness.
Indications are that Modi will have words of encouragement for Stalin, and the meeting is likely to be much less acrimonious than critics of either would want it to be. notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Commissions of inquiry are potentially powerful instruments to fix responsibility on public functionaries, but everything possible has been done to blunt this instrument, says Dr Madhav Godbole, retired Union home secretary.
It is believed that the attack was the handiwork of a freshly-infiltrated group of terrorists who could have entered along the Salamabad Nallah into the town.
The manner in which a large proportion of common people have mortgaged their rationality and questioning spirit to let hatred, prejudice, and bigotry take over their minds is a cause of worry, observes Mohammad Sajjad.
'In all likelihood, the Congress will fall short in Gujarat.' 'The Modi-Amit A Shah duo will hold on to the state for the BJP,' predicts Sudhir Bisht.
Marking the culmination of the 67th Republic Day celebrations, the military on Friday held the beating retreat ceremony at Vijay Chowk in Delhi with patriotic fervour.
The veteran politician's desire to quit politics may just be a new entry into the long list of occasions where he has gone back on his word, notes Neeta Kolhatkar.
Nitish Kumar will be the chief minister only till the time the BJP wishes, points out Ramesh Menon.
The present elections were held in states where the BJP has a strong presence and organisation and where it was pitted directly against the Congress. But the party's real challenge lies in states outside the northern belt where it has a negligible presence and has to contend with strong regional players, reports Anita Katyal.
As fuel prices continue its northward march with petrol and diesel being sold at Rs 80.73 and Rs 72.83 per litre in the national capital, at least 21 opposition parties, led by the Congress have staged a Bharat Bandh protesting the rise in fuel prices and depreciation of the rupee.
The year 2015 was a mixed bag for the Grand Old party --with the performance in Bihar being a consolation while the the National Herald case came back to haunt its leadership.
Likening the situation in the country to a "social emergency", Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday made it clear that the nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of Covid-19 cannot be lifted in one go on April 14, asserting that the priority of his government is to "save each and every life".
With her various overtures and right noises at the right time, Mamata is once again trying to reshape her image from being a regional leader to one with national appeal and acceptability. After all, the charge of building a Federal Front may also bring to the fore Mamata's chances to become prime minister in 2019.
President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vice President Hamid Ansari, Union ministers, Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and various other top leaders have condoled Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's demise and paid glowing tributes to her.
"Today the country is moving forward from women development to women-led development," Modi said.
With this phase, election will be over in 424 seats and polling in the remaining 118 seats will be held on May 12 and 19.
Given the international practice, it is inexplicable why the government is going with anonymous electoral bonds.
'Modi wants to go down in history not necessarily as India's first overtly Hindu RSS pracharak prime minister, but as a world statesman who built the idea of India as a great nation.'
Jaitley will be cremated on Sunday afternoon at the Nigambodh Ghat, BJP leader Sudhanshu Mittal said.
Hospital authorities said of the deceased at the GTB, at least nine received gun shots. One of the deceased is also a woman, they said.
In a major exercise ahead of Lok Sabha polls, Congress on Thursday night constituted screening committees for all states and union territories for early selection of candidates.
In the 2009 election, P Chindambaram the Sivaganga seat by a narrow margin. Then the Congress was in alliance with the ruling DMK. This time his son Karti is battling the seat with the alliance. India abstention at the UNHRC on an anti-Lanka resolution will further fuel Tamil anger against the Congress party. This leaves the finance minster sulking and his son facing an uphill political debut, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'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.'
The attack on a Dalit family in Faridabad days before the Khattar government's first anniversary suggests that nothing has changed.
Ram Nath Kovind is the first Bharatiya Janata Party leader and second Dalit in Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Shah said the Opposition's 'irresponsible' conduct caused a loss of over Rs 333 crore of public money and the ruling National Democratic Alliance MPs' decision to forgo their salaries was a 'call of conscience'.
Based on the GDP numbers and the remarkable stability of the taka Bangladesh's Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, is a better manager than our 'economist prime minister',' says TVR Shenoy.
There are indications that India may be shedding its Stockholm Syndrome vis-a-vis the Modi government, says Bharat Bhushan.
The issue of imposition of President's Rule in Uttarakhand echoed in Parliament on Monday with Congress members in both Houses storming the Well and party leader Mallikarjun Kharge staging a dharna in the Lok Sabha.
'Abrogation of Article 370 is not legal because it is the legal basis of Kashmir's accession to India.'
Ambitious diplomats continue to be attracted to politics but do they make good politicians, asks Jyoti Malhotra
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances