Can welfare schemes truly transform from being flagship to flag-bearers for a government that is looking to get a second term in 2019?
'The BJP currently occupies the centre stage of Indian politics, much the way the Congress did in the 1970s. That may be comforting to the party, but it could also be the road to perdition of easy self-congratulation and sycophancy.'
The high court verdict on AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa's disproportionate assets conviction appeal just got delayed, says N Sathiya Moorthy
If the Modi government's approach to economic policy making is any indication, expectations of a sudden spurt in economic reforms after the assembly election results appear to be grossly misplaced.
The 2015 RK Nagar bypoll, in which Jayalalithaa was elected by a huge margin of 1.5 lakh votes, had witnessed a record 75% turnout
'Some semi-literate lunkhead tweeting at Rs 2 per tweet from a dingy basement in Chennai or San Diego accomplishes nothing, but give hundreds of thousands of them a time, date, and talking points, and they can create a wall of sound -- a nonsensical wall, perhaps, but one that is heard, and that can occasionally prevail just because it's there,' says Mitali Saran.
'In today's situation, it is not going to help anyone's case if they try to politically contest with the BJP on ideological issues.' 'Instead, it is best is to swim along the tide, present the more acceptable face of the cultural Hindu, but not be a political Hindu as the BJP or Mr Modi is.'
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.
'Here's a list of the things we should be reading more about in the media,' says Mitali Saran.
Assuming office for the sixth time as chief minister, Jayalalithaa began a new chapter in her chequered political career.
'Modi's advent has made the mass of Indians realise that there was absolutely nothing wrong or objectionable in proclaiming nationalism as the masthead of the polity and Hinduism as its centerpiece,' says B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant.
Fiscal discipline has been maintained but toxic assets worth Rs 7 crore are a massive headache
'The question now is how long the exercise in perfection he created will last once his influence isn't there any longer,' says Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
'In the coming months, expect more government action that will be packaged as an assault on black money,' warns A K Bhattacharya.
Maharashtra registered over 64 per cent voter turnout while a record 76 pc polling in Haryana, which witnessed stray incidents of violence, in the first eight hours of polling on Wednesday in the riveting contest to elect assemblies in the two states.
A K Bhattacharya lists three reasons why Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will most likely present a full Budget on February 1, 2019.
'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.'
'Mr Modi's next challenger/s will need to invent a new politics,' says Shekhar Gupta.
"As we continued with (preparation for) voting, the Maldives Police Services have said no document relating to the election can leave the commission's offices, stopping the election," said a statement issued by the Election Commission.
Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and Congress president Sonia Gandhi may be poles apart on most counts, but they seem to be acting in a strikingly similar manner when it comes to fixing responsibility for the debacle of their respective parties in the recently concluded LokSabha poll. Sharat Pradhan reports
Will Mumbai North Central, the constituency Priya Dutt lost to the Bharatiya Janata Party's Poonam Mahajan in 2014, welcome her back?
Cassandras and Congressis may sneer at the findings, but the Times Now poll indicated that the Modi government was very much on its way to a second term.
'The brutal violence of the UP government's first response to the anti-CAA protests suggests that the BJP will test drive the NPR/NRC in UP, where it has both a massive majority in the assembly and a chief minister whose instinct for Hindutva extremism and whose appetite for punitive policing allows a prime minister as darkly majoritarian as Modi to appear statesman-like,' notes Mukul Kesavan.
What Saisuresh Sivaswamy learnt about the election from television and the newspapers. A must read column, folks!
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.
Javadekar, along with Piyush Goyal and Dharmendra Pradhan, is among the few ministers who have party as well as ministerial responsibilities.
'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.
'The government and the RBI have been playing a very good part in terms of inflation management.'
Governance was Nitish Kumar's USP among voters in Bihar -- it is now being appropriated by the Gujarat chief minister, says Aditi Phadnis
The government is following a path where it will not be irresponsible or profligate with public money but will intervene in the interest of the poor
Kamala Harris could be US President in 2020. These badass moments show us why.
'As demonetisation showed us, the Shah-Modi duo can take big risks.' 'Risking economic damage for political benefit, however, is one thing, stoking old fires in complicated Assam is another', warns Shekhar Gupta.
The economics behind the surprising popularity of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders.
'What I want is not for the elected to tell me what they did in the 1990s or for the past 5 years,' says A Bihari Abroad. 'I would rather know what they plan to do in the next 6 months and give the people a report on the progress of these initiatives. Perhaps, a presentation on their performance and their future plans, to the electoral public, who they represent and are actually answerable to.'
Maldives on Friday affirmed that the controversy-ridden presidential polls set for Saturday will go ahead in order to avert a constitutional crisis.
The government must realise that it has very little time to recover itself, its reputation, its legacy - and India's fortunes,says Mihir S Sharma.
The ruling party has indicated willingness to discuss opposition-sponsored motions on 'intolerance'; Jaitley has also shown willingness to accommodate concerns on GST
Inscrutable have been the ways of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. She is a political strategist and tactician rolled into one that her unpredictable ways have won the day for her - mostly, says N Sathiya Moorthy
The question that is being asked is: Does the GST campaign gain from his all-too-familiar face taking forward its message or will brand fatigue flatten the impact?
Tuesday's contrasting speeches -- one by Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi and the other by Narendra Modi in Jaipur -- set the tone for the mother of all political battles, reports Anita Katyal.
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