The BJP wants to win a state where it has been out of power for 15 years. The Congress wants to make its mark in a state where it has been a bit player for nearly 30 years. And the BSP wants to recapture power it lost 5 years ago.
The government may claim planted trees compensate for forests lost, but that does not mean complex flora and fauna destroyed have been restored, points out Himadri Ghosh.
Leaders from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh gave an exhaustive account of the reasons for the party's defeat to party general secretary Digvijaya Singh on Monday and enumerated the steps to be taken for rebuilding the party. Rediff.com contributor Anita Katyal reports.
There are also views within a section of the party that a turnaround in Uttar Pradesh is possible only if either of the Gandhis -- Priyanka or Rahul -- takes the lead in the state polls.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
The Rio Olympics bronze medalist shared the stage with Bollywood actress Sonakshi Sinha during the Whisper 'Like a Girl' campaign. When asked about the recent trend of making biopics on sportsmen, Sonakshi said that she will be thrilled to star as Sakshi if at all a movie was made based on the wrestler's life.
Given the subdued pre-poll voter-behaviour in the state over the past couple of decades and more, and the inability of individual political parties to cobble together an alliance and announce candidates, or both, to launch grassroots-level campaigns early on, close fights with landslide victory is an equal possibility, N Sathiyamoorthy.
'The BJP portrays a make believe world.' 'The Tripura victory is being seen by some as a result of bahubal and money power -- but that would be a very simplistic explanation.' 'Money and muscle power can play a role up to a point, but the BJP's victory is remarkable because it replaced a party that was in power for 25 years.'
Congress Vice-president Rahul Gandhi, in an interview to a leading daily, has stated that he is "ready to take charge".
On the occasion of the Narendra Modi government completing one year in office, Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com speaks to BJP president Amit Shah who is yin to Modi's yang. Don't miss it!
Delegates of a bilateral peace delegation urge the prime ministers of Pakistan and India to resume dialogue for peace and full normalisation of relations.
The Indian shooters fired a blank at the Rio 2016 Olympics with Abhinav Bindra missing the medal by a whisker but the 2008 Beijing Olympic champion said he has high hopes for Tokyo.
Downplaying concerns of delay, Amitabh Kant, managing director of Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (DMIC), says the project will be delivered on time.
Martand Singh, the master of weaves, took India to the world.
This historic Vishaka judgement brought the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace into the mainstream discourse says Kanika Dutta.
On Tuesday night with veteran BJP leaders raised a banner of revolt against the leadership of Narendra Modi in the wake of Bihar debacle saying that the party has been "emasculated" in the last one year.
'Like it or not, the Congress is still the only party with the potential to challenge the BJP at a pan-Indian level,' says T V R Shenoy.
Congress sitting MP Sanjay Nirupam is facing a tough contest from Bharatiya Janata Party Gopal Shetty in the North Mumbai Lok Sabha constituency, which goes to polls on April 24.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday.
Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Ansari believes a national debate on a Uniform Civil Code is a must. 'The need of the hour is to debate this issue at length in order to create a consensus,' Ansari tells Rediff.com, adding, 'Such a debate must take place at the grassroot level. We must understand all the divergent viewpoints before any draft can be prepared.'
There is discontent in the Bharatiya Janata Party and Telugu Desam Party cadre, and the decision to turn allies could lead to some members turning rebels, says Vicky Nanjappa
Apart from the two Indians, four others have been selected for the award -- Conchita Carpio-Morales of the Philippines, Dompet Dhuafa of Indonesia, Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers and 'Vientiane Rescue' of Laos
In a frontal attack on the Narendra Modi government, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday said there has been an "alarming increase" in communal incidents since it came to power and asked party men to resist its "authoritarian and sectarian" tendencies.
Journalists all over the world have been disappearing and some have never been heard again, says Narain D Batra.
The Congress is banking on minority-oriented schemes like those providing medical aid, skill development and promoting leadership among women to reach out to Muslims ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
With the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party seat-sharing talks deadlocked over the latter's insistence on getting more seats to contest the assembly polls, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Sunday said he is against breaking the alliance but party workers feel the ally's "body language is anti-Congress".
'My God, what do I say? It's shocking!' 'They had 27 MLAs in 2012. And now they have just seven.' 'My party (the Apna Dal-S) contested 11 seats and won in nine.'
As Maharashtra's main political players, the Congress-nationalist Congress Party alliance and Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena combine, brace for the Lok Sabha and subsequent state assembly polls this year, they would have to contend with a new opponent, the Aam Aadmi Party, which has decided to take the electoral plunge in a big way.
Rajinikanth's personal trait can become a political issue if he enters politics and could get translated as sympathy if not support for the BJP, which can cut both ways, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Modi and Shah can't afford to lose any of the 24 per cent Dalit vote of 2014, says Shekhar Gupta.
Newly appointed Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Shahryar Khan wants cricketing "powerhouse" India to encourage "democracy" in the functioning of the ICC after being forced to let BCCI have the control of the governing body along with England and Australia.
Former Union minister and Haryana Congress leader Kumari Selja decries former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda's style of functioning, his inability to carry everybody with him and pitches for a fresh leadership in Haryana after the poll debacle, in an interview with Anita Katyal.
Rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore and Uttam Ghosh report from Maharashtra's Malnourished Corridor, visiting an anganwadi, which is often the first line of defence in tackling malnutrition.
By region, Thiruvananthapuram leads with 247 defaulters, followed by Kolkata with 173 and Bhubaneswar with 115
One can expect significant changes at India's banks in ensuing months.
Known for his clean image, Harsh Vardhan will face a stiff challenge of uniting the faction-ridden Bharatiya Janata Party as his nomination to the chief ministerial post comes after a bitter internal squabble that had threatened to derail the party's campaign to wrest power after 15 years in the capital.
Dave complained of uneasiness at his home on Thursday morning and was rushed to AIIMS.
Diplomats agree that amid stormy relations with China and Pakistan, Modi has posted impressive foreign policy successes, notes Aditi Phadnis.
'He should bring in a working president from outside the family.'
