Centre and state governments are steadily increasing excise duties and value-added tax
'BJP has started a very dangerous game of political vendetta. It will pay a costly price. There is deep desire on the part of the BJP to take political advantage of certain legal issues.' Congressmen react to party chief Sonia Gandhi and Rahul being taken to the court in the National Herald case.
In the crazily complex cauldron that is India, where caste, community, class and cash are just the primary ingredients, no one has yet come up with a fool-proof method to ascertain how voters make up their minds, on which button to press, in the privacy of their 'confessional' booths, notes Krishna Prasad.
The never-before performance, a clean sweep by the Chief Minister Jayalalithaa-headed party coming on a day when she completed three years in office, decimated her opponents, particularly arch-rival DMK, and put her in the driver's seat for the assembly polls due exactly two years from now
Even as Sonia Gandhi was on Saturday re-elected chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party and asked party men not to bicker in public amid a fierce blame game in the party, the anger and anguish was visible after the meet was over. Anita katyal reports
'It is not that he has not committed any mistakes; he has.' 'But people were willing to forgive you if you were honest.'
Aggarwal also hit out at the media, saying why it was only talking about Jadhav when hundreds of Indians were lodged in Pakistani jails.
'An event that should have made India proud was being perceived entirely as a money-making enterprise, resting on malpractices and without any benefits whatsoever for the Capital and its people.'
As the year 2014 draws to an end, we at Rediff.com take to look at some of the ridiculous remarks made by some blundering politicos.
'If they were really serious (about conferring the Bharat Ratna on Savarkar) what were they doing for the last five years?' 'Why do they have to take so long?' 'Gandhi himself never got the Bharat Ratna so it does not really matter.'
'The only choice we have is to strengthen ourselves militarily and economically and develop friendships with others without alarming our neighbours, says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
'The decline in BJP seats tells us that despite the rote incantation of the development mantra, Gujarat is not immune to the economic pain the country is feeling and is telling the ruling party so,' says Shreekant Sambrani.
Is the demoralised party trying to open its account as an Opposition party?
Shashi Tharoor speaks to Shobha Warrier on the controversy over his article seen as praising Narendra Modi and what the future holds for the Congress and Rahul Gandhi.
In a one-horse race, ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam led by Jayalalithaa on Friday inflicted a crushing defeat on its arch-rival DMK, Congress and BJP-led six-party alliance, winning 4 seats and establishing unassailable leads in 33 out of the 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu.
'I have never seen anybody disliked more as prime minister than Modi.' 'What is interesting is in his prime ministership, no matter whatever happens in any corner of India, Modi is blamed for it.' 'Modi has not suspended any Constitutional liberties. No Opposition leader has been put in jail... Modi is not Hitler.'
Cutting across party lines, legislators on Wednesday voiced reservation on the Supreme Court judgement making gay sex a criminal offence.
Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama's reported remarks that Bihar poll results prove that a majority of Hindus prefer harmony on Sunday received the support of the Janata Dal-United while the Bharatiya Janata Party played down the statement.
Rediff.com lists five reasons for BJP's defeat in the Bihar assembly elections
Union Minister P Chidambaram has opted out of the Lok Sabha election with the party on Thursday night nominating his son Karti from his constituency Sivaganga in Tamil Nadu while another Union Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad was brought as a candidate from Udhampur in Jammu and Kashmir.
'When George Bush Senior decided in 1992 that India and the United States must start talking in this-now-changed world, who would have thought that 10, 15 years down the road, we will start looking at each other as strategic partners?'
Markets ended lower on Tuesday, snapping a two-day winning streak, as investors turned cautious and booked profit in financials.
"Whether we are back or away, if they put Kashmiri Pandits in isolation, they will never see peace in Kashmir."
The Supreme Court's refusal to stay execution of Yakub Memon on Wednesday drew sharp reactions from legal experts.
RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan is regarded as credible by global financiers.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday launched a blistering attack on Narendra Modi, slamming him for his roots in the Rashtriya Syawamsevak Sangh "whose ideology killed Mahatma Gandhi" and debunking his claims of development in Gujarat.
Using the 'tea-seller' jibe hurled at Narendra Modi by rivals to reach out to voters, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday announced the launch of a campaign that will allow people to engage with its prime ministerial candidate over a cup of tea.
'The middle class is already alienated.' 'If the stockmarket is destabilised, the BJP is finished; the party will lose in every town.' 'And if the stockmarket crash happens now, the BJP will not cross the 150 mark in 2019.'
A look at who's saying what about 1993 Mumbai serial blasts convict Yakub Memon's hanging on Thursday morning at the Nagpur Central Jail:
It makes it mandatory for companies to spend on social welfare and seeks to bring in greater transparency.
Congress stalwart Murli Deora passed away on Monday morning after battling a prolonged illness. He was a politician who shared rapport across the political and corporate spectrum.
Mark Tully on the India he loves.
Reacting sharply to Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi's "suit-boot ki sarkar" jibe, Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday attacked the opposition party saying those who had led a "loot ki sarkar" for 10 years have no right to question the "well- meaning" NDA government now at the Centre.
'The category of crime and criminals called Maoist or Naxal or #UrbanNaxals is an illegitimate creation of right-wing propaganda media frenzy.' 'It is a fiction repugnant to the Constitution and the law of the land,' argue Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira.
Rejecting the allegation of adopting "big brotherly" approach towards Nepal, India on said it respects its sovereignty and wants to see the crisis resolved through consensus.
A Ganesh Nadar's tales from the campaign trail.
Sharpening his attack on P Chidambaram, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Narendra Modi on Thursday alleged wrist watches with photos of the finance minister were being distributed to voters and demanded a probe by the Election Commission.
Indian officialdom enjoys well over a week of Sundays every month
India's ONGC has lost the giant Kashagan oilfield to the Chinese after Kazakhstan blocked its $5 billion deal to buy US energy major ConocoPhillips' stake in the Caspian Sea oilfield.
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