Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi had brought in the United States style 'primaries' with much fanfare to empower grassroot leaders to fight the Lok Sabha elections.
BJP chief Amit Shah had set a target of winning 22 Lok Sabha seats out of 42 seats in West Bengal.
At 35 years, April 1981 born Anupriya Patel, who comes from electorally crucial Uttar Pradesh, is the youngest face to be inducted in the Modi government.
The BJP's relations with some alliance partners, including its oldest ally the Shiv Sena, Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United, Akali Dal and Rashtriya Lok Samta Party of Union minister Upendra Kushwaha, have been somewhat tense, and Shah's comments are being seen as an attempt to smooth their ruffled feathers.
Independent candidates may have won just three seats in the just-concluded Lok Sabha polls, but they have garnered close to three per cent vote share -- higher than parties like Aam Aadmi Party, the Nationalist Congress Party and Communist Party of India.
The Centre also justified the abrogation of Article 35A of the Constitution which "enabled the then State to make laws giving special rights and privileges to permanent residents, while imposing restrictions upon others".
Ninong Ering, the MP from Arunachal East, wants to meet his tribesfolk across the border in China. But he is not going to make that trip on a stapled visa, unlike the 'backdoor entry to China' made by some BJP MPs in the past.
'Political elites need to feel that these are our children dying, that this is a crisis for us, a tragedy for our community, we must take immediate action to save the lives of our people.'
'Modi skillfully navigated Trump's ego and pushed the right buttons.' 'Critics assailed Modi's speech for its personalism, but in the Trump era this is par for the course.'
'Amit Shah's trajectory seems unstoppable; no wonder some say the day is not far off when he could be pitching for the top job, and that this is only the first step,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
The Congress party's first list of 194 Lok Sabha candidates released on Saturday night has no major surprises. Anita Katyal reports
The Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's key confidants -- general secretaries Madhusudan Mistry, P C Joshi and Mohan Prakash -- were clearly among the most notable absentees. Rediff.com contributor Anita Katyal reports
'You can never say never in politics.' 'We may still see the return of AAP, but hopefully not of the same abusive politics again,' says Shekhar Gupta.
The BJP registered a victory in the Rajouri Garden assembly bypoll, handing a humiliating defeat to the ruling Aam Aadmi Party, which finished a distant third and even lost its deposit.
Minister for Development of North Eastern Region Jitendra Singh said the government is trying to woo industries to the eight Northeastern states so that enough jobs are created for the youths of the region.
Opposition parties have closed ranks to target the government on a range of issues from intolerance to rising prices as the winter session begins on November 26.
With reports suggesting a rift between the Congress and its ally Nationalist Congress Party, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday dubbed the United Progressive Alliance as a "sinking ship" which is being deserted by its allies.
The 89-year-old leader was expelled by the CPI-M after he refused to step down from his position as Speaker holding that the post is above any party politics.
'Every seat the Congress gets above 100 will keep pushing the Modi-Shah BJP lower in the dangerous sub-200 zone,' points out Shekhar Gupta.
The last leg of poll campaign saw many national leaders canvassing for their parties.
Varun Gandhi contesting from the Bharatiya Janata Party and describing the seat as his late father Sanjay Gandhi's karambhoomi is seen as a comedy of errors by his opponent, Congress' Amita Singh, who asserts that while bringing in these emotions, he forgets that his father was a Congressman.
Yet to come to terms with the poll drubbing, knives are out in the Congress state units against Prithviraj Chavan, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Tarun Gogoi and Partap Singh Bajwa as there's a gradual crescendo seeking their resignations. Anita Katyal reports.
Even as questions continue to be raised within the Congress party over Rahul Gandhi's primary election experiment, the party has managed to avoid a major embarrassment by forcing controversial former MP Jagdish Tytler to withdraw his nomination
'The frequency of 'vikas' being used in speeches and slogans has reduced noticeably. Why is the 'BJP's Chanakya' so aggressive and combative?' asks Utkarsh Mishra.
'You've got to be a doer to be re-elected.' 'You don't have to be a great communicator or an orator any more because voters want to see action and development on the ground.' 'And they want a doer rather than just an orator.'
Apart from Kerala, the northeast perhaps is the only region where Congress can expect a decent win in the recently held Lok Sabha elections. K G Suresh looks at what the elections hold for the northeast.
Trinamool Congress will go it alone in next month's Assembly election in West Bengal, party supremo Mamata Banerjee on Friday said and declared the list of TMC candidates which included sports personalities, actors and journalists.
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.
Congress Vice president Rahul Gandhi's live video chat session appeared to be a last-ditch effort to bridge the gap with party workers and boost their morale with an eye on the coming general election. Anita Katyal reports
'On November 8, two women activists were assaulted and left for dead because they were following the illegal mining trail. This is how bad the coal mafia is in Meghalaya.' 'Most politicians own coal mines, some policemen own coal mines and some in the administration own them.' 'So what you have is a nice cocktail and everybody is protecting each other.'
Party insiders say the high command could consider replacing state chief Manikrao Thakre, reports Sanjay Jog.
'For the sake of the nation, and the preservation of its polity, it is high time the country's largest political party and the country's largest religious minority make peace between them,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Porbandar, the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi, and nearly 170 towns in Gujarat were declared Open Defection Free on the birth anniversary of the 'Father of the Nation'.
'Modi remains the most popular politician in India; the BJP's organisational and fundraising prowess is considerable; and the Opposition, while newly collaborative, has no leader or clear economic messaging as of yet.'
The chief minister is not being hailed as the leader who led the party to a victory in the state.
A never-seen-before Rahul Gandhi exuded toughness and aggression. And it was not only about the words he used to castigate the opposition but his dialogue delivery, facial expressions, overall body language that conveyed a different, more confident Gandhi, says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Self-proclaimed heir of Rani Rashmoni, lottery baron join businessmen in the list of MP-aspirants with assets worth over Rs 100 cr, reports Abhineet Kumar.
'It is for the first time that Modi has chosen someone as CM who happens to be a mass leader, a polarising figure, a vote catcher, a powerful orator and a Hindu mascot all at once -- qualities usually associated with Modi,' points out Rajeev Sharma.
Strategy or confusion? The Tamil Nadu BJP has many reasons to feel let down by Prime Minister Modi's whistlestop tour to the state on Tuesday, says R Ramasubramanian.
'The BJP should realise that a very large number of people -- from the 'perfumed liberals' to the 'illiterate' masses of Bihar -- is trying to tell them that this is not the 'development' they wanted.' 'Stop telling people what to eat, what to wear, what to read, who to love and how not to show dissent.'
