'One is forced to wonder whether Modi is serious about all the bills people want him to pass. Because to me he has made no real honest effort at getting things moving legislatively,' says Aakar Patel.
The Association for Democratic Reforms has stated in its report that 87 percent of the contributions or donations made to political parties in the past eight years were from business houses. The corporate houses contributed Rs 378.89 crore, constituting 87 per cent of the total contribution from known sources of political parties.
Recommending statutory backup to the model code of conduct, a parliamentary committee has sought to take away certain powers vested with the Election Commission like de-recognising a political party.
'Rather than 'consolidate' the Hindu majority votes, as the BJP-RSS combine has been known and wont to try, this time round PM Modi has himself taken the party to the next step, by seeking to create a new divide within the majority community, a la V P Singh in his time.'
President Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Rajapaksa will transform Sri Lanka's political landscape after Thursday's electoral triumph, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy, veteran Colombo watcher.
If purists are surprised as to why and how people are not demanding prohibition or not talking about past promises, both in the election manifestos five years back and even those made to the courts, the answer lies in how the state has been evolving and changing these past few years, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Corporate India tempered its victory celebrations for the supposedly business-friendly Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance's landslide electoral victory by highlighting the need for immediate steps to create jobs through inclusive economic growth.
Justice Chelameswar led three senior judges to an unprecedented press conference, mounting a virtual revolt against CJI Dipak Misra.
Elections 2024 is not as open and shut as has been presumed. There is some life left in it, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The party's most important electoral challenge lies in whether it can meet the aspirations of the youth who were drawn by the promise of gainful work.
"Our party was defeated in unambiguous terms," she says about the defeat to the Aam Aadmi Party in 2013.
Maithripala Sirisena, Sri Lanka's president-elect, was a low-profile cabinet colleague of longtime president Mahinda Rajapaksa until he switched sides to become joint opposition candidate and emerge as the proverbial dark horse in the presidential polls.
At first look, the reader would be aghast at the similarities in the DMK and AIADMK's manifestos, wondering if the same hand had drafted both. Yet, when it comes to drinking water and irrigation supplies, both parties are equally silent on the subject -- as if summer did not exist, as didn't water scarcity, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'The BJP leadership and its agriculture minister must make up their mind on what kind of corrective measures will be needed for Indian agriculture at this point in time.' 'The sooner Mr Singh provides policy clarity on this vital issue, the better are the chances of India's agriculture and farmers emerging out of their current mess,' says A K Bhattacharya.
Totackle the serious challenges faced by the banking sector, the government will bring in more professional management and boards in the banks.
If solutions are not found, adequately and in good time, things could simply slip out of everyone's hands, warns N Sathiya Moorthy.
True, Azam Khan is being targeted rather disproportionately and also because of his Muslim identity. That must be protested and resisted. But to say that he is a big messiah, and his profit-making educational enterprise is an issue concerning all Muslims of India, is absolutely unjustified, assert Mohammad Sajjad and Md Mohammad Zeeshan Ahmad.
Budget speeches have been replete with incomprehensible and even hilarious statements, says Rathin Roy.
83 MLAs from the BJP, 11 from the SP, four from the BSP, one from the Congress and three Independents have declared serious criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.
With his surprise sabbatical "for a few weeks" sparking speculations, the Congress on Monday jumped in to damage control asserting that Rahul Gandhi will actively take part in all party processes after he comes back from the leave in near future.
Though EPS has sworn peace for now, or so it seems, his camp is said to be considering the possibility of calling an early meeting of the party's general council, to get a mandate in his favour before things went out of control. Ground-level indications are that OPS had lost his limited base, which alone had forced him to patch up with the other, reportedly at the instance of the BJP ally at the Centre, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Zama, however, said the unions would keep resisting any move that could undermine the position of Coal India.
Eight of the newly inducted ministers in the Union cabinet have criminal cases against them, a report released by election watchdog Non-Governmental Organisation's on Monday said.
Experts say the market is more bullish on the BJP as it will ensure continuity in policymaking.
If Amit Shah is likely to take to the home ministry like a duck to water, Nirmala Sitharaman's handling of finance will show whether she will justify the confidence which Modi has placed in her.
The next key battle the market will watch out for will be in Congress-ruled Karnataka
The Indian economy grew by 4.7 per cent in the April-June quarter last year and the growth rate was also 4.7 per cent for full 2013-14.
Delhi doesn't want Modi to invest his substantial political capital to help Trump without the visit yielding positive results for India.
'The problem here is not that one community's deity has suddenly become another community's meal.' 'Hindus and Muslims have been peacefully coexisting with their cows for centuries now.' 'The problem here is that a section of Indians has been suddenly made to realise that it makes great political sense to degrade each one of the 170 million Muslims to a potential cow-killer, lynch a few of them to keep the heat on, polarise and win elections.'
Mayawati has accused 'Ravan' of being a BJP agent who is dividing the scheduled castes.
The question is no longer whether he will win 2019; it's what he will do with the new status, says Shekhar Gupta.
Cases range from murder to attempted murder and even rape. Some candidates even face cases of communal disharmony. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
'It is the moment where compassion and empathy must supersede our identity, politics, or our ambitions.'
Eradication of corruption, free healthcare, basic amenities, education for every student including computers literacy, formed the 12-point election manifesto of the Lok Satta Party for the general and Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections.
'Once such conduct becomes legitimate through political and popular sanction, then the ordinary citizen will have no defences left,' warns Shyam Saran.
The country's merchandise deficit narrowed to $9.2 billion in November, but exports growth eased to 5.9 percent from 13.5 percent in October, government data showed.
Making an electrifying debut in high-profile Delhi Assembly polls in which it routed Congress, the Aam Admi Party on Sunday ruled out taking support of any political party to form the government, saying it will play the role of a "constructive opposition".
The BJP chief condemned the arrest of over 2,000 devotees, including Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Sangh Parivar activists, across the state agitating against the entry of women of all ages into the temple.
he 2014 electoral verdict has bolstered investor confidence and raised hopes of economic revival, apex banks says in its monthly Bulletin
'Mamata is synonymous with Bengal, its culture, language, traditions.'
