'The irresistible charm of Indian politics is it can always throw up surprises -- even when it looks as predictable as in Tamil Nadu,' discovers Shekhar Gupta.
Australia make solid start to Boxing Day Test in rainy Melbourne
With the real estate sector witnessing robust demand, realtors are doling out freebies and offering a slew of attractive schemes to lure potential customers this festival season. "Developers are providing Amazon vouchers that go up to Rs 1 lakh, iPads, and flexible payment plans that propel customer excitement," said Angad Bedi, managing director at real estate company BCD Group. Bedi said customers have a mindset to go for a change during the festival season, and developers see it as an opportunity to combine it with long-term and practical offers that drive buyers to close in on a deal during this period.
Images from the IPL 2024 match between Gujarat Titans and Delhi Capitals at the Eden Gardens in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.
'What happens in the real estate market is that once the prices go up it goes on to stay at that level.' 'It might not increase and at the same time the prices will not come down too.'
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said the people of Gujarat have given an unprecedented mandate to the party by rejecting those who do politics of hollow promises, freebies and appeasement.
Gujarat witnessed seizures of Rs 71.88 crore in just a few days after the announcement of the election
Gujarat voters, spoilt for choice, are eagerly waiting to see what the BJP will offer them.
'Whichever company offers better incentives, the chemist would prefer it.'
Per capita income in the state has consistently been below the national average for at least 24 years. However, it has narrowed the gap with the all-India level in recent years.
It is in power on its own only in three states -- Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh and Telangana -- with a big question mark on whether it can even stake claim to be head of the INDIA bloc.
Seizures in poll-bound states see sharp rise since implementation of Model Code of Conduct.
Voters can be relied on to punish a party which makes reckless promises without actually implementing them, asserts Virendra Kapoor.
Companies are sending representatives to Bihar, UP, Jharkhand and Odisha to persuade workers to join them.
Is the unusually and unbearably scorching Sun and the general laxity, bordering on laziness, among voters, responsible, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
The last time Tamil Nadu seriously voted on pre-poll promises was in faraway 1967.
'The others have been looting the people all these years. If you don't do that, you can do a lot for the people,' says Tamil star politician Vijayakanth.
Against predictions by most exit polls that the ruling Congress had an edge in the state, the BJP banked heavily on the charisma of the PM.
Assuming we still have a Modi-led majority government after May 2024, there is no guarantee that reforms will move at anything more than a snail's pace, though we must be thankful even for that, notes R Jagannathan.
Sources said while the Congress units of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan will hold separate discussions on May 26 on their preparations and actions to be taken, the party will also hold strategy meets on Chhattisgarh on May 27.
With assembly elections due in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram in the next few months, the Congress is working on poll strategies in these states and has convened a meeting of state leaders on May 24.
World Cup hosts India cantered to their second successive win of the tournament after captain Rohit Sharma's incendiary century set up their eight-wicket thrashing of Afghanistan on Wednesday.
The BJP is the preferred choice because it offers what the Mughals and later British offered in their time: A stable polity and an environment in which business could function, explains T N Ninan.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday wrested power from Congress in Chhattisgarh, winning 54 of the 90 seats in the state assembly, while the grand old party got 35 seats, a far cry from the 68 it bagged in the last elections.
Polling is underway to elect 119 members of the Telangana Legislative Assembly, with voters queuing up to exercise their franchise amid tight security on Thursday.
What is most troubling is that not a single party that is part of INDIA has talked about any kind of reform and economic sense, argues R Jagannathan.
Earlier, Modi was given a standing ovation at the meeting following the party's stupendous win in three assembly polls.
Amid a debate on the freebies, the Election Commission on Tuesday proposed amending the model code to ask political parties to provide authentic information to voters on the financial viability of their poll promises.
The manifesto was unveiled by Jayalalithaa at a public rally, in a departure from usual practice of release at party headquarters in Chennai.
Wouldn't it be better to join the celebrations with the vast Hindu majority while at the same time criticising Mr Modi/BJP/RSS for politicising it? notes Shekhar Gupta.
Fiscal pressure for the Indian economy is gradually rising, suggested analysts at Jefferies in a recent note, as oil prices (Brent) - which are close to the $100 a barrel mark - continue to climb ahead of a busy election calendar. They added that the sharp rally in the equity markets during the last few months has made valuations costly. As a result, Jefferies expects the Indian markets to remain choppy in the near term.
It is not unlikely that ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP government comes up with more imaginative schemes aimed at constituency-building. The party under Modi's leadership has a more modern thinking in such matters unlike its rivals, which are still steeped only in ideology, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
One possible way of accelerating National Education Policy's outcome is to invite 10,000 retired highly accomplished teachers from the developed world and from India in STEM areas to create 2,500 "Train the Teacher" colleges in the country's 28 states and eight union territories, Murthy said.
Vijay Baghel and Jogi accuse the chief minister of prompting liquor vends across the state.
Zakir Hasan (100) and Najmul Hossain Shanto (67) frustrated the Indian bowers for the entire opening session but the visitors pulled back things in the next two sessions
Indications are that the DMK combine will win more seats than the AIADMK and BJP, but is facing a tough fight in about half a dozen from the rest, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy of the electoral contest in Tamil Nadu.
The Gujarat government has announced that people will not be fined for violation of traffic rules during the Diwali festival this year.
The party was trounced in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and is now left with only Himachal Pradesh in the north. It is ruling in only three states on its own and is in power in Bihar and Jharkhand as a junior partner in alliance with regional parties.
Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal understands why Kuldeep Yadav is playing ahead of him in the ODI format.
