'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.
Second-line AIADMK leaders and cadres alike say that by starting the talks first with the BJP and committing the party to an alliance without discussing seat-sharing, the leadership might have commenced the coalition discourse at the wrong end. According to them, even 20 seats for the BJP may be too many, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'It will be a grand alliance where they could get the Muslims, Dalits and Yadavs in one camp and pose a serious challenge to whatever the BJP might conjure up in the run-up to the 2019 election.'
'What are the circumstances at that time? Had you thought Modi will come after Vajpayee?'
The only objective of the government's ordinance was to protect it's loyal ally, says BJP's Arun Jaitley
Amit Shah now enters an unfamiliar and interesting phase of his political career. His success or failure will henceforth be assessed based on his performance as a key minister, points out Shekhar Gupta.
If the Congress manages to upset its dominant rival, the BJP, in these assembly polls, then it will be a big boost to the opposition for the Lok Sabha polls, while a good show by the BJP will energise its cadres and give a fillip to its hopes of retaining the power at the Centre in 2019.
Muslims need to get out of their Isolation Syndrome, argues Mohammad Sajjad.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, which is eyeing a majority government in Haryana, has launched a high-pitched poll campaign by pressing its top leadership into campaigning to realise its target of 'Mission 60 plus' seats in the state.
He secured required 44 votes after votes of two Congress MLAs who cross-voted for BJP were rejected by EC.
Losing power after having come so close, Yediyurappa was determined to regain the reins of power from H D Kumaraswamy.
The comments came after Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley warned of tough measures in his first budget on July 10, saying 'mindless populism' needs to be checked as India aims to boost growth.
A single party will need at least 137 of the directly elected seats to be able to form the government on its own.
The SP candidates in these seats include Mulayam Singh Yadav's daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav and three ministers, one of whom was recently sacked.
The 58-year-old leader will expand his council of ministers after the trust vote on Friday which he is expected to win without any hiccups.
'Wisdom demands Modi moves to restore the critical institutions of the State and dial back on the cult building around his persona,' say Sonali Ranade and Shealja Sharma.
Vijaykanth on Sunday kickstarted the first major political move in Tamil Nadu, and against the ruling AIADMK, ahead of the 2016 assembly polls. But what if Jayalalithaa were to win the 'wealth case' ultimately? N Sathiya Moorthy explores the scenario arising from the Supreme Court's order in the Jaya case on Tuesday.
'If there is lesser number of elections, populism will naturally be restricted.' 'Decisions will be taken speedily because there won't be the spectre of adverse electoral impact of the decisions because elections will be held once in five years or maximum two times in five years.'
Whenever they are announced, the bypolls to 20 assembly seats in Tamil Nadu will be a mini referendum on the state government's performance. It will also be a do-or-die battle for the ruling AIADMK, opposition DMK, as well as the rebel AMMK, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'How many Indian parents, still alive, really have documents of, their parents's date and place of birth? Not more than 27% of still alive Indians have got birth certificates,' points out Mohammad Sajjad.
If the Anandiben Patel administration was shaken by the Patidar agitation, the Vijay Rupani government would have to deal with the Jignesh Mevani-led Dalit movement.
It's a close fight between the Election Commission trying its hardest to prevent Tamil Nadu's electoral malpractice and the political parties out to buy votes at any cost, says B Srikumar.
Vaihayasi Pande Daniel glances at the life and political career of Alexey Navalny who has been banned from challenging Vladimir Putin in Russia's presidential election.
A number of royals have thrown their hat in the ring in the high-voltage Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.
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Nitish Kumar has spotted a secular trend in Bihar and with the minority's support he could trump Lalu Prasad, says Aditi Phadnis
For the AIADMK's cadres, it is much more than an election symbol, they believe the party's electoral chances rest on owning it, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'His secularism merely declared the equality of all religions in India under fundamental rights.'
'In the name of pluralism-secularism, the kind of politics that was pursued revealed to many that it was basically a favour to Muslim conservatism and communalism -- a politics of minority-ism, rather than of secularism.' 'This is how significant sections of Hindus have been made to loathe the very idea of Indian secularism by now,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
It should not surprise anyone if either of the contending parties in the 'TN speaker's case' comes up with a submission for referring the matter of 'speaker's powers' to a Constitution Bench. In political terms it could buy more time for the Edappadi camp, to settle down and stabilise itself, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Kamala Harris, Pramila Jayapal, Ro Khanna and Raja Krishnamoorthi make their way to the Congress.
The new government has to make conscious efforts to rebuild social equality and bring the people together.
'The so-called old guard is uneasy and resentful. These are the makings of a new Congress where there will be little or no role for them. And in their opinion, it is not a Congress that will win elections,' says Aditi Phadnis.
A year after he took over as the Indian Boxing Federation's President, which was followed by its international suspension, Abhishek Matoria's election for the top post has been challenged by the very body he claimed to represent in the controversial polls.
The two were convicted on July 6 in the Avenfield properties case linked to the Sharif family's ownership of four luxury flats in London.
Refuting allegations of divisions in the Congress in Rajasthan, Corporate Affairs Minister and Member of Parliament from Ajmer, Sachin Pilot, speaks to Kavita Chowdhury on a range of issues, including the Congress's prospects in the coming Rajasthan Assembly polls.
Azad was taken into custody by police on Tuesday for violating the model code of conduct.
'It behoves us in India to watch how the US is pushing back.' 'It's a lesson in rising to the defence of Constitutional values when the administration won't,' says Mitali Saran.
The last time Tamil Nadu seriously voted on pre-poll promises was in faraway 1967.
Faceless Ambedkarite groups from across the country are running BSP's election war rooms, writes Archis Mohan.
