The Modi government had touched the maximum strength of 78 in 2021 after expansion, but the outgoing council of ministers had 72 members, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
'The word 'ally' in a coalition is misleading because it suggests someone who is always for you and with you. This is incorrect.' 'They are always for themselves and sometimes with you,' explains Aakar Patel.
'He knew that a regime which believes that power flows from the barrel of the gun can only be handled from a position of comprehensive strength and not from a position of vulnerability and weakness,' says Rup Narayan Das.
After being elected president of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in 1999, Najma Heptulla rang up the then Congress chief Sonia Gandhi from Berlin to convey the news but had to hold the phone line for an hour as a staff told her that 'madam is busy'.
He did not spare even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who had dropped by to wish him on his birthday.
Union minister Chirag Paswan has caused a flutter by stating he would choose to give up his ministerial berth instead of a compromise on his principles, in keeping with the precedent set by his late father Ram Vilas Paswan.
Mr Pradhan's understanding of realpolitik and organisational dynamics makes him the ultimate party man, notes Aditi Phadnis.
Many were hoping that with Vajpayee's NDA gone, there would be a return to the Congress normal. Nobody was prepared for the opposite. Sonia Gandhi was sceptical. This became the only issue over which Manmohan Singh took on his party bosses and risked his government. Politically, it was riskier than the 1991 reform, recalls Shekhar Gupta.
Freedom At Midnight is a bold attempt to revisit the whole discourse about Partition, its causes, and the predicament under which the Congress leaders accepted it. It perfectly captures the extremely confused and complicated situation to which it seemed the only viable solution, observes Utkarsh Mishra.
The two leaders had some firm convictions in defence matters and are idolised by their respective people because they salved the scarred collective psyches of their societies.
Former Union minister Yashwant Sinha who joined Trinamool Congress on Saturday narrated how West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had offered to go as a hostage in exchange for passengers of Air India's IC 814 that was hijacked by the militants over two decades ago.
During Vajpayee's tenure, he was there as an indispensable insider, witness to every action that had an impact on history: Pokhran-II (nuclear tests in 1998), the 1999 Kargil conflict between India and Pakistan, the Indo-Pak Agra Summit in 2001, intense engagement with the United States on nuclear issues besides the Kandahar hijack.
The decisions were taken in the state cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
Former RA&W chief A S Dulat, who served as Atalji's adviser on Kashmir, gives us an insider's glimpse of a prime minister he has hailed as the 'greatest after Nehru'.
'It indicates the grooming of the party's new leadership.' 'It is also a signal to the states that these ministers represent.'
'All the big things happening today in economic development have their beginning in Dr Manmohan Singh's ideas.'
Former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief K S Sudarshan and former Bharatiya Janata Party president Murli Manohar Joshi on Friday attended a function to release a book, which severely criticises former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Union minister RCP Singh, who was recently denied another term in the Rajya Sabha by the Janata Dal-United he formerly headed, should "heed the message" and resign from the cabinet, a key political aide of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has said.
Modelled loosely around the National Highway System of the US, he in 2001 launched the Golden Quadrilateral and the North-South & East-West Corridor projects to build 4/6 lane highways between four top metropolitan cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata as well as from Srinagar to Kanyakumari and Porbandar to Silchar.
From highways connecting once-remote regions to aviation networks carrying millions, India's infrastructure story is one of transformation.
'Suddenly we had a new comprehension of affairs, which reminded that the luxury of politics floated atop a foundation by economics.' 'Along with this, finance ministers became crucial in molding the perception and reputation of Union Cabinets.' 'Governments couldn't afford a wrong person in that portfolio,' asserts Shyam G Menon.
His meeting with Vajpayee was described as a 'courtesy call'. Manmohan Singh called on the President to inform him about the Cabinet decision to request him to address both Houses of Parliament on June 7.
He was admitted to the AIIMS on June 11 with a kidney tract infection, urinary tract infection, low urine output and chest congestion.
In an exclusive interview with IBNLokmat, Union Agriculture Minister and Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar has blamed the United Progressive Alliance for the spiralling prices of food items.
Offering his condolences to Vajpayee's family and admirers, Rahul Gandhi said the former prime minister was loved and respected by millions.
With the Bharatiya Janata Party falling short of a majority in the Lok Sabha and needing the National Democratic Alliance partners to form the government at the Centre, Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal-United head Nitish Kumar and Telugu Desam Party's N Chandrababu Naidu have emerged as potential kingmakers.
'Someone who cannot even take his cabinet into confidence, how will he take the NDA alliance into confidence?'
India's tactical and operational response demonstrated its ability to prosecute tri-service operations, even without a formal tri-service doctrine or the higher command structure needed to coordinate it, points out Ajai Shukla.
Mohite is expected to replace Heavy Industries Minister Balasaheb Vikhe Patil, who has resigned on the directive of his party chief Bal Thackeray.
The prime minister will be in the state for four days.
Cutting across party lines, political leaders welcomed the government's decision to confer Bharat Ratna, the nation's highest civilian honour, on former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and freedom fighter Madan Mohan Malviya.
Shiv Sena leader and Heavy Industries Minister Balasaheb Vikhe-Patil on Saturday resigned from the Union Cabinet.
Much drama is likely to continue in the coming year, within the Sangh Parivar as well as involving the Opposition parties and, of course the BJP's allies, predicts Modi biographer Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
The first meeting of leaders of the National Democratic Alliance after the election results was held at caretaker Prime Minister Narendra D Modi's residence in New Delhi on Wednesday, June 5, 2024.
Trinamool Congress vice-president Yashwant Sinha on Sunday demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah following the outcome of West Bengal assembly poll.pti
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday urged Railway minister Mamata Banerjee to order a high-level inquiry into alleged "jugglery" of figures in profits between 2005-06 and 2008-09 during her predecessor Lalu Prasad's tenure.
Those joining Prime Minister Narendra Modi's council of ministers for the first time include three former chief ministers -- Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh), Manohar Lal Khattar (Haryana) and H D Kumaraswamy (Karnataka).
The two countries to resume a composite dialogue next month to resolve all outstanding issues, including Jammu and Kashmir.
The coming weeks are sure to have a lot of drama unfolding in Maharashtra, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
