'The Modi Sultanate -- like the Congress Sultanate -- does not understand local aspirations and politics. It will repeat the same mistakes whenever it takes on powerful regional leaders.'
'It is a political failure, and not a medical failure.'
Biju Janata Dal members had staged a walk-out while NDA ally Shiv Sena did not participate in the voting.
'We will have a big say in Delhi in 2018 or 2019 (whenever the elections are) in the Lok Sabha.'
The man who led this journey is 50-year-old Kalanithi Maran, chairman and managing director of the Sun Group.
The two rival factions of the AIADMK may have merged, but there are problems staring at it on all fronts -- governmental, political, electoral and organisational, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Its 'failure not just affects the military's effectiveness but could also be politically vulnerable for the BJP,' observes Ajai Shukla.
We look back at the many leaders who took contention with Rahul Gandhi in the recent past.
Ten trade unions with a combined membership of 15 crore workers in public and private sector, including banks and insurance companies, are on a nationwide strike to protest against changes in the labour laws.
The dispossessed of Delhi cropped up repeatedly in the rhetoric
'Muslims are depressed and disillusioned.' 'The safety valve is that we still have a multicultural mosaic in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala.'
'People will realise sooner or later that there are no jobs, inflation is unchecked and loads of corruption charges are coming from various states which the government is totally brazen about.'
While asserting that the growth of coronavirus cases in the country has been more or less linear and not exponential, it also said testing has been ramped up consistently.
Calculated or otherwise, if Azhagiri's firing of the first salvo after Karunanidhi's death does not create some space for him to politico-electorally exploit at a later date, there may not be any space left for him at all, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The blaze started on the second floor of the Arpit Palace Hotel in the heart of the national capital around 3.30 am, trapping many guests who were in deep sleep.
Farmer leaders on Monday started their day-long hunger strike against the Centre's new farm laws and said protests will be held at all district headquarters later in the day, even as more people are expected to join the ongoing agitation at Delhi border points.
'With over 50 per cent of medical seats reserved for those who have the ability to pay a fee ranging from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1.5 crore for a five-year MBBS course and quotas in accordance with affirmative policies in government colleges, the band of seats available for the not-so-rich and non-OBCs is very narrow.'
The Opposition said that the government was 'bull-dozing'.
On the final day of his two-day visit to India's financial capital, Congres vice president Rahul Gandhi tried to connect with Mumbaikars by raising the issue of high electricity bills en route his padyatra from National College, Bandra to Dharavi, Asia's largest slum colony.
'There were areas where the JD-S put up weak candidates against the Congress to benefit the BJP.'
B S Prakash takes a tongue-in-cheek look at what India's neighbours think about the proposal of a SAARC satellite.
Nitish Kumar will be the chief minister only till the time the BJP wishes, points out Ramesh Menon.
The home minister said he was deeply pained at the loss of precious lives during the agitation at Tuticorin.
The COVID-19 tests will be started at every polling station in the containment zones of Delhi in a few days
By annoying potential allies ahead of the polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate is playing a dangerous game but if he wins, he gets it all, says Aditi Phadnis
'It is still God's own country. Nobody needs to worry about coming here. Anybody can come to Kerala without worry because bad elements will be kicked out of the state mercilessly... These terrorists visited many places and not only Kerala,' says Kerala Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, reacting to the fears that Kerala has become a terror hub.
Modi and Shah's next focus will be South India, and the Maharashtra and Jharkhand assembly elections. Shah is unlikely to abdicate control over the party even after he joins the government. Modi and Shah both know only too well that the party makes the government, and not the other way round.
Notwithstanding reluctance of some leaders of regional parties to make it public, UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav is strongly in favour of a Third Front to prevent communal forces from coming to power after the Lok Sabha elections
Narendra Modi's victory does not represent a victory of 'the Indian nation', but only an elite-driven polarising phenomenon. The sooner we -- and the BJP -- recognise this, the better, says Praful Bidwai.
While believing that the senior leadership does not have what it takes to resurrect the party, members at the same time are often heard repeating, "It's the Gandhi family that holds the party together". Kavita Chowdhury explains
Whatever be Kamala Harris's preference for her identity, many Indians in the US will rally around her as she is the first person with Indian blood in her veins to get close to the White House, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
In Rajya Sabha, the Opposition and the government clashed over technicalities of the passage of an anti-graft amendment bill with the latter insisting that it should be adopted without debate.
Sonia Gandhi's iftar was meant to be a powerful show of unity of Opposition parties to take on the Modi Sarkar, but that was not to be...
In heart-wrenching scenes reminiscent of the aftermath of the 2019 Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed, coffins of soldiers arrived in several states for the last rites with full military honours.
Economic reforms seem to be on a slow train, while good old fiscal populism is alive and flourishing.
'He is anything but astute or charismatic. He believes the Congress can win elections without alliances in the Hindi heartland.'
Ahead of the Parliament session, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday reached out to parties appealing them not to come in the way of prosperity of farmers, saying the deadlock over the land acquisition bill is seriously impacting rural development.
Trade union leaders claimed that the strike would be even bigger than the one last year as the number of striking workers is expected to swell to 18 crore
'The handling of the pandemic, under this totally constitutional and legal three-level dictatorship, has begun to show its downside,' observes Shekhar Gupta.
The year threw up quite a few shockers, some rather rude one. Below are Rediff.com's 12 picks that made us sit back and think, 'Did that really happen?'
