The no-confidence motion moved by the Opposition against the National Democratic Alliance government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was defeated by voice vote in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
The Congress needs to reorganise itself at the grassroots, infuse younger blood, and have more boots on the ground. Just offering freebies is not the answer anymore. Leadership matters, asserts Ramesh Menon.
With former Congressmen the Radadias in the BJP fold thanks to Narendra Modi's deft coup, the latest bye-election result may create an energetic power balance within Saurashtra, reports Sheela Bhatt
Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday led the Bharatiya Janata Party to a decisive win in Gujarat for a third time in a row with the party securing majority clinching 103 seats of the 162 results declared for the 182-member assembly and leading in 13 seats.
...close to the 2024 general election. The BJP calling the Congress 'seasonal Hindu' is as laughable as the saffron party sparing itself the title of 'seasonal extreme Hindu.'
How else should one describe its election campaigns of the past years?
It was typically obsessive religion and personality cult with economic development for fig leaf, asserts Shyam G Menon.
'My feeling is that these parties will not learn their lesson despite their electoral drubbing. They cannot put forward a leader. They have no record of improving their constituents' lives by providing basic services. All they offer is their "'secularism",' says T V R Shenoy.
While the term of 288-member Maharashtra assembly ends on November 9, that of the 90-member Haryana assembly expires on November 2.
A sombre mood prevailed at the Delhi BJP office ahead of the results, where the party leaders hoped that the exit polls will be proved wrong during the counting of votes.
Voting in the first phase began with reports of multiple faulty electronic voting machines at various booths, prompting Congress leaders to request quick action from the poll body.
The BJP has managed to retain its lead in all the six municipal corporations -- Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot, Vadodara, Jamangar and Bhavnagar -- which went to polls last month.
The Congress would also take inspiration from history as it was from Karnataka that an embattled Indira Gandhi had revived her dwindling political future by winning a Lok Sabha bypoll from Chikmagalur.
Hindu temples are also coming up in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi, the prime minister told the gathering.
Invincible as he appears in his western stronghold, can Narendra Modi sweep forth from it and take New Delhi for an insurgent BJP? The good news for Modi's rivals in his party is that these results don't even begin to suggest he can.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Saturday said the political atmosphere in the country is ideal for the party to get "record breaking results" with the Congress-led government failing to tackle corruption and price rise, creating a favourable condition for the main Opposition.
With the tide in favour of Narendra Modi, his shift to Delhi is inevitable. Aditi Phadnis examines
'Who will vote for and against who will be clear once the election results are declared on December 18.'
The new chief minister, if from the Congress, will have little or no time for political administration, to ensure that he does not lose the voter's goodwill even before the Lok Sabha polls. He can count only on one thing. That the BJP may not want to upset him too early lest an early failure should become an added problem for the party in all the polls to follow, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday termed the cancellation of over 25,000 school jobs as 'gross injustice' and alleged that it was a ploy by the Bharatiya Janata Party to stop these job losers from being deployed in poll duty.
He alleged that the Congress was 'deceiving' the people over the issue of reservation, while the agitators were lining up for poll tickets.
Teary-eyed Congress leader D K Shivakumar on Saturday briefly belied the combative force he is for the Congress party, not just in the just concluded 2023 assembly polls, but on several crucial occasions in the past when his party needed him.
The Congress on Saturday made a stunning comeback in Karnataka ousting the Bharatiya Janata Party from its lone southern citadel with a comfortable majority in a morale booster win that will be key for reviving its electoral fortunes ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
'The temple's construction is the result of collective wisdom of some of the best brains in the country. Water and sacred soil from almost all pilgrimage sites in India, including Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kailash Mansarovar, Prayags (there are seven Prayags) and all 'puris' (seven holy towns in India, besides Ayodhya) have been used in the making of the temple'
The rising pitch of road shows and long rallies with hectoring pitches seem to have exhausted and numbed the audiences, rather than motivating them to vote for the party, observes Shreekant Sambrani.
Modi knows how to turn Gujarati pride into an emotive issue at election time and a Gujarati President would have its own electoral resonance and significance, note Sunil Gatade and Venkatesh Kesari.
'In Chhattisgarh, MP and Rajasthan, he is far more popular than the defeated chief ministers,' notes Karan Thapar.
Finance ministers from Congress-ruled states say they have alerted the Centre about the problems in GST for several months, but it is only now with the Gujarat assembly election around the corner that the Modi regime has started heeding these suggestions.
While voters have been traditionally used to Kshatriya candidates in Bhavnagar, parties have fielded candidates from a different community this time around, and it would be interesting see how the divided city votes this time, says Haresh Pandya
With Narendra Modi ready to move to New Delhi, the chief minister's post is vacant in Ahmedabad. Anandiben Patel is the odds-on favourite for the post
De-scaling of businesses, job losses and subsequent impact on disposable incomes has created negative sentiment among traders, business owners and workers alike, says Abhishek Waghmare.
Congress on Friday disapproved of its MP Sanjay Nirupam reportedly using defamatory and indecent language against Bharatiya Janata Party MP Smriti Irani during a TV debate, saying it was "very regrettable".
'I do not think it's possible for the winners and losers to shake hands and go back to regular business at the end of this.' 'It seems visceral, personal and nasty at a depth we have not plumbed before,' says Aakar Patel.
Sarma, whose stock is high in Delhi had earlier captured eyeballs as the BJP's first star campaigner from the region in far away Gujarat and Delhi.
The AAP's mandate in Gujarat is similar to the one in Delhi -- address issues related to corruption and other grievances of the common man, says Vinay Umarji and Premal Balan
In switching over, Nitish has sent out a message that if he could not now become the NDA's PM, then he would need to stay on as CM at the very least, which a third term for Modi would not let him have, N Sathiya Moorthy points out.
Following the outcome of the Gujarat poll, the NCP is keen that secular forces unite and engage communal elements in a straight contest.
Solanki, on his part, confirmed the Congress had the backing of the PAAS, adding they had come to agreement on numerous issues with the Patidar leaders, which would be announced soon.
If the CM can steer the BJP into forming a government for a third term, he will have achieved a unique place in the party's history -- Mewat notwithstanding.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's comprehensive defeat to the Congress in Karnataka where the two parties ran a campaign of contrasts has left the ruling party much to ponder as the two rivals are facing a direct contest in three more state polls this year in the run-up to the all-important 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
While the BJP and the Congress have always supported the bill, opposition by other parties and demands from some for quota for backward classes within the women's quota have been key sticking points.
