In the absence of the over-arching 'Jaya charisma', EPS has to convince the AIADMK's traditional constituencies, including those in his western districts, that his leadership would stand up against the BJP-led Centre even in a post-poll scenario, a la Jayalalithaa, and would not yield as much as party founder MGR had done, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The tiny hill state of Himachal Pradesh, which acquired its present shape after merger of Punjab Hill areas on November 1, 1966, has remained a Congress bastion with the party winning all but three state assembly elections since 1967.
'Minus Modi, the BJP will get only 50 seats.' 'He is planning 25 big meetings in Gujarat and that will make a difference.'
On the one side there is a strong 'chowkidar', on the other, a line of tainted people, the prime minister said.
Mulayam laid bare his anger for the first time after the SP's defeat in the UP assembly election fought under the leadership of Akhilesh.
Has Owaisi's MIM become an albatross for Imtiaz Jaleel, former journalist and the party's candidate in Aurangabad?
MK Stalin's ruling AIDMK rival does not thankfully face such problems as he did, but its problems could be worse if saner counsel does not prevail between now and the assembly polls, warns N Sathiya Moorthy.
WB: Graffiti ban prompts new innovations
Indian-American Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has for the first time acknowledged that he is considering a 2016 presidential run and will make a decision on it after the November Congressional polls.
From educating people about the internet, connecting far-flung areas with a high-speed net, promoting entrepreneurship, building start-up incubators, women empowerment, to even running a voter registration campaign, cybersecurity and counter-terrorism, Facebook and Google have done it all for the government.
'He is wily and has everything that a political leader needs to succeed at that level.' 'He would be outstanding as a counter to Modi in the Lok Sabha, if he had the Opposition benches behind him,' says Aakar Patel.
The logic behind the BJP targeting Mayawati's votes.
Take a look at the famous faces who exercised their democratic right.
Farah and Sara, joined at the head, flashed their inked fingers after exercising their right to vote during the third phase of the assembly polls.
Rajasthan Chief Secretary D B Gupta said he and the representatives of a few other states raised objections to a few questions to be asked by enumerators during the NPR exercise. He said the central government officials told them that answers to all such questions are not mandatory.
'What has India got out of Howdy India in substantive terms?' asks Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
"We are the people, especially in the Kashmir Valley, who upheld the tricolour high over the years at the cost of thousands of our workers who were martyred," Mufti told reporters in Jammu at the end of her five-day visit to Jammu -- her first after release from over one-year-long detention under the Pubic Safety Act (PSA).
Elections for 19 Rajya Sabha seats spread across eight states will be held on Friday with the contest in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan promising to be a close affair between the BJP and the Congress.
The vituperative campaign against the BJP by the Shiv Sena does not make for an easy post-poll tie-up should either of the two be forced to come together to cobble the numbers. Either must get a clear 145 seats to avoid a forced remarriage to the same political spouse. Any one going with Congress or the NCP only means the platter serves up a goulash, says Mahesh Vijapurkar.
The bone of contention is believed to have been the number of the seats the Congress wants to contest in the national capital.
The bypolls are termed as a 'rehearsal' for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls by CM Yogi Adityanath.
Nirmala Bhuria lost to former Union minister Kantilal Bhuria, who wrested the tribal-dominated seat from the BJP by a convincing margin of 88,832 votes.
Even as there is a strong anti-incumbency mood in Punjab, the multi-cornered contest has made the 2017 assembly polls prediction more difficult.
The scales started tilting in favour of smartphones in 2014, when a slew of new, yet vibrant, brands entered the market, with their competitively priced offerings helping smartphones become the indispensable device that it has turned into today.
Modi said this government will offer all 'sahyog' to Kovind.
Lok Sabha elections result of 2019 tells us the Modi wave has only consolidated, instead of waning.
The challenges authorities face in cleaning Ganga and other holy rivers in Varanasi.
R Rajagopalan predicts that Tamil Nadu won't have single party rule for the first time in its history.
'Modi has been successful in convincing people that from a social point of view, he is closest to Indian citizens. His is a victory of Indian-ness.'
A senior Congress leader said the Opposition's presidential pick Meira Kumar might also pay a visit to Lucknow to seek votes from the electoral college as the party "will not leave any stone unturned" for the election.
The much-awaited schedule for the Lok Sabha polls will be announced by the Election Commission on Wednesday.
G V L Rao, part of Save India Democracy which exposed the frauds being committed through EVMs, told rediff.com that the bigger issue was that the government dragged its feet on sanctioning funds for the introduction of VVPAT despite the Supreme Court passing its order a year ago.
Observing that subsidies, high tariffs and government involvement in markets continue to stand in the way of many potential partnerships between American and Indian businesses
Projecting BJP as a fresh option in Jammu and Kashmir, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said Congress "sneaks" into every government that is formed in the state but attacks these dispensations just before elections.
In an exclusive interview to CNN-IBN, Rashtriya Swayam Sevak leader Indresh Kumar says that Bharatiya Janata Party s' prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is like former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and compares them to Subhash Chandra Bose and Mahatma Gandhi.
Here are some of the big political leaders' who await their fate on Monday.
With no state leaders worth projecting, the BJP is left with no option but to focus on Modi for the Maharashtra assembly poll and harp on the importance on smooth Centra-state relations, says N Suresh.
A 6 per cent swing in favour of Biju Janata Dal appeared to have catapulted the regional party to a landslide victory in simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly polls in Odisha where it stormed back to power for the fourth consecutive term.
The video of the speech he made in Gujarati has gone viral.
The Opposition can only question us if we stop them from campaigning. The opportunities are equal for all, he said.
