'The Shaheen Bagh model of bullets and biryani won't work. The RSS looked at a template that would play to Bengali pride and harp on the state's development. Mamata's slogan to defeat the Left Front was 'Bengal awake and arise'. She promised to check the flight of capital from Bengal to far-flung states and usher in a renaissance. The RSS wants the BJP to pitch this line because it feels Mamata hasn't delivered on her promises.'
Even with the elevation of Nirmala Sitharaman to the post of defence minister, the party still needs to redress the gender imbalance and fill the 33 per cent quota in posts.
In a strong show of support for Arun Jaitley, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the finance minister will come through "with flying colours" against charges of corruption levelled against him by the opposition in the same way L K Advani did in the Hawala case.
'Karti Chidambaram may be the beginning of a larger can of worms that the government has waited thus far to pop open,' says Vikram Johri.
Desperate times need desperate actions, and the BJP's only option is to enforce legislation to build a Ram mandir, says Sunil Sethi.
The Congress opened another front against the Bharatiya Janata Party, as it raked up the row surrounding allotment of land to Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association during its rule and accused former CM PK Dhumal and his son Anurag Thakur of causing a loss of Rs 100 crore to the state exchequer.
The PM hailed the armed forces in context of Kargil Vijay Divas and paid tributes to the fallen heroes.
Labelled as the semi-final before the big Lok Sabha poll, assembly elections in five states will set the tone for summer of 2019.
'I don't have the confidence that Emergency cannot happen again,' says BJP veteran LK Advani days ahead of the 40th anniversary of the imposition of Emergency.
At a press conference, the Congress posed 11 questions to the PM over the Lalit Modi controversy, asking if the Modi sarkar would also extend such help to Dawood Ibrahim if he too sought such help.
In some ways, Jyotiraditya parting ways with the Gandhis was similar to the saga of the Gandhis and the Bachchans, largely a story of friendship that turned sour. A fascinating excerpt from Rasheed Kidwai's The House Of Scindias: A Saga Of Power, Politics And Intrigue.
'If you compare Rahul with Modi, then Modi seems larger.' 'The campaign has been built to show that Rahul is not mature enough to lead the nation.'
'I will miss her camaraderie, her humour, love for food and passion for film.'
Four people have died including one each in Delhi, Karnataka, Punjab and Maharashtra.
Despite the monsoon session of Parliament being a near washout so far, the government hopes to resolve the impasse at an all-party meeting on Monday to pave the way for discussion on issues raised by the Opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu said.
'We are asking for the resignation of the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government for killing six farmers in Mandsaur district.' 'His is a killer government.' 'The anti-farmer policies of these state governments have brought ruin for the farmers.'
'This may be good news for Rahul Gandhi, for no matter how Modi performs, there will always be some degree of dissatisfaction with his performance among large sections of voters,' says R Jagannathan.
Veteran Congress leader and former Lok Sabha Speaker Balram Jakhar passed away in New Delhi on Wednesday. He was 92.
'The EC is a sacred institution.' 'In the last few years, more than once, we have found the EC bending over backwards to accommodate the government.'
The reverses for the BJP in the Hindi heartland threw wide open the 2019 Lok Sabha elections which until a few months ago appeared to be in the grip of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party.
Most exit polls have forecast gains for Congress in at least four states including a clear majority in Rajasthan.
The opposition, while not directly stalling Parliament, will insist all legislation goes to standing committees, delaying implementation.
"I am being targeted for a decade-old case, there is an attempt to suppress my voice. Rajasthan Police team came to arrest me. Someone told me plan was being made to kill me in an encounter," the VHP president claimed.
The prime minister tweeted: "Pained to know about the passing away of Mrs Suvra Mukherjee. My condolences to Rashtrapati ji & his family in this hour of grief."
Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje claimed the deputy chairperson of planning commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia was very pleased with the performance of the state.
Modi showered praise on Tharoor for his Oxford speech, saying he reflected the sentiments of the citizens of India.
Rahul Gandhi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rallies for Wednesday were cancelled.
A Union minister and a chief minister stand accused of corrupting their office. If Prime Minister Narendra Modi lets them continue, he will have broken his election promise substantively, says Aakar Patel.
In the Narendra Modi-Shah masterminded regime, organisational elections have acquired the gravity, authority and colour of a national or state poll, reports Radhika Ramaseshan.
The BJP's embarrassing rout in Delhi may affect Modi in many ways.
Ashok Gehlot analysis the shocking rout of the Congress in the assembly polls in Rajasthan.
Senior Congress leaders have dismissed the exit polls conducted by various news channels that indicate that the BJP is likely to sweep the assembly elections in all four states. They remain confident of winning in at least four states. Renu Mittal reports
Patel's victory, which came against heavy odds, has given the Congress and the rest of the Opposition the confidence that Modi and Shah weren't invincible.
Modi could tap into the urban discontent and present a larger picture to first time voters and mid-career professionals.
Two years is when the honeymoon surely starts to sour, so what should Prime Minister Narendra Modi focus on ahead of 2019? Devanik Saha offers some ideas.
Why are states important to win for national parties? What is the significance of local power? That was what we should have a look at because the Congress has been squeezed out of power in more states today than it has ever been in history.
'Modi maintains what has been called a 'strategic silence' on controversial topics,' points out Amulya Ganguli.
'Nobody understands Gehlot's politics.' 'The Congress high command should wake up.'
Stepping up his attack on Narendra Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party rebel Jaswant Singh on Tuesday said "personality cult" was not good in a democracy and it would harm the party.
'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.'
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