'She was once asked what the secret to political leadership was and she said it was the ability to like all kinds of people.' 'I don't think Rahul fundamentally likes people -- that's probably why he can't deal with them and it shows.' 'Sonia is a more talented political mobiliser than her son, but I think the decline of the Congress set in in 1969...'
The ruling party legislators have expressed serious reservations about MLCs not elected by the people being made ministers, lack of representation to certain regions, with most ministers still from Bengaluru and Belagavi districts and also on their 'seniority or sacrifice' not being considered.
The tally of Congress has been reduced from 122 to 77 and Chief Minister Siddamaraiah lost from his traditional seat, and barely managed to win from another, he said, mocking the opposition party.
Defending his economic policies, Modi said demonetisation was 'a very big success story'.
'It is not going to be a fight between the AIADMK and the DMK; that fight is over.' 'The fight is going to be between the BJP's attempt to finish the Dravidian era and the DMK and the others trying to prevent the BJP from doing so.'
Jaitley said the Congress party which ruled the country for decades is out of sync with the ground realities and aspirations of India as it exists now.
Two of Xi Jinping's chosen officials have disappeared from view, an indication of turmoil in Xi's government, months after he installed a collection of loyalist leaders in his cabinet, observes Dr Rajaram Panda.
"Maharashtra has got nothing to do with Kashmir? Soldiers from Buldhana sacrificed their lives for the protection of Kashmir. Opposition doesn't feel national issues are important," he said.
'When the Congress is put against someone like Narendra Modi, they do not have anything new to offer to the people of India.'
The contrast between the two meetings couldn't have been more stark, yet, both were organically linked, the latter a show of support for the former.
"Is it any surprise that the new Parliament is being consecrated with typically false narratives from WhatsApp University? The BJP-RSS distorians stand exposed yet again with maximum claims, minimum evidence," Congress general secretary communications Ramesh said in his tweet.
'This election was the first opportunity where Kashmiris told the world they do not agree with the Centre's policies and are unhappy about their disempowerment.'
'India is a founding and permanent member of this 'club of shame': Journalists are murdered on account of what they write or intend to write, but nobody is finally brought to justice in such cases.'
No wonder Parliament has some 130 MPs out of the 545 hailing from political families. This class threaten to make the Lok Sabha, which the People's House, into a sort of Chamber of Princes which we once had before Independence, says Mahesh Vijapurkar.
'Incompetent dynasts can lead to national ruin,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Gandhi said he was proud that his father Rajiv Gandhi and grandmother Indira Gandhi got killed while standing and defending something.
Noting that the Trinamool Congress which boasts of the slogan 'Maa Mati Mansuh' (Mother, Land and people) actually indulges in extortion, corruption and appeasement, Shah exuded confidence of forming the next government in the state and take it to the path of development.
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, senior leaders K C Venugopal, P Chidambaram and Salman Khurshid were among the party's top brass taking part in the satyagraha at Rajghat.
The two-day meeting will begin with BJP president J P Nadda's speech and at least two resolutions, including a political resolution, will be passed during the proceedings.
'A full majority might please the stock market for a couple of days, but the damage it usually does over five years is too high a price to pay,' argues Aakar
Tandav is as mainstream and contrived as it gets, but not completely without its moments of charisma and drama, observes Sukanya Verma.
Karunanidhi was convinced that using the 2G cases against the DMK and reopening the fodder case against Lalu Prasad Yadav were products of the Congress leadership's short-sightedness. A revealing excerpt from A S Panneerselvan's Karunanidhi: A Life.
Political Pundit R Rajagopalan lists his big takeaways from the election results.
Kicking off Bharatiya Janata Party's poll campaign in Jharkhand, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday launched an attack on the state government over the issue of development and asked the people to free the state from dynastic rule to end corruption.
The 1984-batch IRS officer was otherwise to remain in office till November 18, 2023, according to the notification issued by the government.
Stalin is preparing the DMK to go the whole hog in making 'federalism', 'Tamil self-respect' and 'communal cohesiveness' the party's poll plank next year, and package the BJP and its possible allies, as 'divisive' and 'reactionary', predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the BJP is looking to fill the Opposition slot and not aspire to occupy pole position.
'Political narrative in our country today is tilted towards Hindutva orientation and so Kejriwal becomes very dangerous to the BJP.' 'For them, he is a leader to watch.'
Policies to break down the business group format are far more likely to be effective, argues Simon Commander.
Rao exuded confidence that his party will win 90-plus seats in the 119-member assembly and will not take support from other parties.
Days after Mulayam Singh Yadav warned Uttaer Pradesh ministers to "mend" their ways or face the sack, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday removed Anand Kumar Singh and Manoj Paras from his ministry apparently as they had earned the ire of the Samajwadi Party supremo.
He slammed the Samajwadi Party for being sympathetic towards terrorists and claimed that the previous government headed by it had sought to withdraw cases against several terror accused as 'a return gift'.
The journey for 24-year-old Akash Anand would be much tougher, because dynastic succession goes against the grain of Dalit politics that B R Ambedkar founded.
The BJP president said it is parties run by "dictatorial mindset" which can think about bringing Emergency.
'Compared to other social groups, managing the Muslim constituency has always been easier for the secularists.' 'Just some symbolic measures and window-dressing would keep the Muslim flock together.' 'Having been betrayed by all the supposedly 'secular' political parties, Muslims should turn into citizens without any ascriptive identity marks,'says Mohammad Sajjad.
Accusing Congress of pursuing vote-bank politics, Narendra Modi on Sunday said that the turmoil over the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh was a perfect example of how the ruling party sowed "seeds of poison".
The Brij Bhushan camp, who claim to have the support of 22 of the 25 state units, expressed 'confidence' of winning all 15 posts during the WFI elections on August 12.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Wednesday expanded his 17-month old cabinet, inducting seven ministers, and indicated that excise minister H Nagesh would be dropped. Governor Vajubhai Vala administered the oath of office and secrecy to the ministers at a ceremony at the Raj Bhavan.
If not for Palaniswami, it is hard to guess if the AIADMK would have been able to garner 33.3 per cent vote share as against the DMK's 37.7 per cent. AIADMK won 66 seats, its allies Pattali Makkal Katchi and Bharatiya Janata Party five and four seats respectively and proved yet again that the western region was its fortress.
