'If Article 35A is scrapped, then Jammu's identity will be over.'
Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Trinamool Congress competed with each other in trying to raise the issue more vociferously
'A change of government will bring about a lot of changes because everything is frozen for the last two years. So, the frozen energies of India will be released.' Swadeshi Jagran Manch convenor Swaminathan Gurumurthy discusses the Modi phenomenon with Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com
Whatever Mr Modi's other shortcomings be, his consistent efforts to motivate have created an aura of positivity, hopefully stable. He has also shown that he is not averse to taking decisions with possibly negative implications for him, says Shreekant Sambrani.
'He will be missed by all of us in Saurashtra.'
It seems the Congress just does not have the energy and vitality to break through even in the states where it has a ground presence and the wind of anti-incumbency on its back, says Aakar Patel.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar wants the Modi government and BJP to reap the profit of the surgical strikes. But electoral history suggests a political party's ability to exploit military successes for poll gains has a mixed record.
On the second day of his visit to Varanasi, Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday undertook a road show in the rural parts and interacted with villagers, including farmers, in a bid to make inroads in the temple town where he is facing a formidable rival in the Bharatiya Janata Party's Narendra Modi.
The present elections were held in states where the BJP has a strong presence and organisation and where it was pitted directly against the Congress. But the party's real challenge lies in states outside the northern belt where it has a negligible presence and has to contend with strong regional players, reports Anita Katyal.
'Nitish Kumar's government has proved during these floods that it is a helpless government.'
The really disturbing numbers relate to inequality.
The significance of the Assembly poll results will be more psychological than real for the impending parliamentary elections, says Bharat Bhushan.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jailtey on Tuesday defended the Vajpayee government's releasing the three most wanted terrorists in return for the safety of passengers of the Indian Airlines plane hijacked to Kandahar in 1999, saying the lives of all Indians were "more precious" than the release of the terrorists.
But the police campaign aimed at ensuring safety of women, especially young girls, was reportedly marked by some stray cases of harassment of innocent youths amid concerns that it could spawn moral policing.
At the Facebook townhall, Modi again showed a side of him that is at odds with his tough-as-nails public persona.
The minister also cautioned the social media giant and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg of repercussions under the IT Act in case of any data breach came to light.
Shah said the Opposition's 'irresponsible' conduct caused a loss of over Rs 333 crore of public money and the ruling National Democratic Alliance MPs' decision to forgo their salaries was a 'call of conscience'.
The kisan is as integral a part of the BJP's master plan for the 2019 polls as the Dalit because it surmised that the farmers and Dalits were as restive in UP as in much of the country, and if it had to cut its losses, its reflexes must kick in fast. Radhika Ramaseshan reports.
What does one deduce from this silence? That the minorities in the BJP era have been muted, perhaps even coercively, asks Sajad Ahmad Dar.
Dr C P Joshi, the rising star in the Congress party, explains his strategy for the Rajasthan poll.
'If Mr Modi continues growing as a Hindu Hriday Samrat, better that it is done by restoring ancient temples than demolishing medieval mosques,' says Shekhar Gupta.
Sharpening his attack on P Chidambaram, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Narendra Modi on Thursday alleged wrist watches with photos of the finance minister were being distributed to voters and demanded a probe by the Election Commission.
In the couple of hours that you spend in the riot-hit city you find it is not the BJP that is asking for the votes of an excited section of Hindus, but it is the people who are clinging to Narendra Modi. Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt reports on the sentiment on the ground in Muzaffarnagar, whose Hindu-Muslim fracture is a long way from being mended.
Narendra Modi's 'lackluster' speech in Bengaluru was a planned move, political analysts tell Vicky Nanjappa
'The situation has improved because oxygen tankers are now coming.' 'Before this it was chaotic.'
During the searches at about 66 places, I-T officials said they've seized cash and jewellery worth over Rs 15cr.
L K Advani has less to lose because he has actually lost what is vital in politics. His support base within the party is lost because the party thinks Advani can't help the BJP regain power. Since Modi is vulnerable, Advani, now and then, hits the headlines. Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt explains the Advani Affair.
On being asked why he doesn't talk about his humble background like Modi, Singh said, "I don't want the country to take a pity on the basis of my humble background."
The Congress campaign is muted in Varanasi, but the party is hoping that anti-Modi votes and caste combinations will help Ajai Rai, the only local candidate in the fray. A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com reports from the Congress campaign headquarters.
It is possibly the first time that a regional party with not even enough numbers to move a no-trust motion has taken the lead, and others are following it. The hints of a no-trust move first came from the YSR Congress, and the ruling TDP could not have stayed on together when the question is another version of 'Telugu atma gouravam' - an issue that fired its founder N T Rama Rao in the 1980s, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
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'I don't think you would have seen this level of enthusiasm or phenomenon in the NRI community ever before.' 'Even before he was chief minister, Modi had lots of friends, lots of supporters throughout the world. That support has become more and more popular within Gujarat as his achievements have become more well known in India and overseas.' NRI and Modi supporter Manoj Ladwa tells Vaihayasi Pande Daniel how a Modi win will galvanise global Indians.
The saffron party will use Lord Ayyappa the same way it made use of Lord Ram in the north to take away the Nair vote and make electoral inroads in the state.
State after state has imposed an alcohol ban, and has had to retreat, unable to address the financial and administrative fallout. Are we set for more of this cycle, asks Aditi Phadnis.
'It is the regional parties and their leaders who are the ones we have to watch.'
'The UPA was the gang that couldn't shoot straight. The NDA is the gang that can't stop shooting. They (the Modi government) are shooting at anybody, everybody, all directions, shooting themselves in the foot.'
Downplaying concerns of delay, Amitabh Kant, managing director of Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (DMIC), says the project will be delivered on time.
He also attacked Modi on the CBSE question papers leak and on the 'leak' of assembly election date for Karnataka, saying Modi was silent on these issues too.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Narendra Modi on Thursday chose a global NRI meet to hit out at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who had said that "we are set for better times".
Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of forcing it to walk out of the alliance by not being forthcoming on Narendra Modi's future role, senior Janata Dal-United leader Shivanand Tiwari on Saturday said the announcement of a split in the coalition was a "mere formality".
'Villages are much better prepared than towns as far as COVID-19 is concerned.'
