What happened in Uttarakhand is a national tragedy. Why couldn't Dr Manmohan Singh announce that he was forming an Uttarakhand Relief and Rehabilitation Committee, with himself as chairman but inviting Narendra Modi to become the deputy chairman, asks T V R Shenoy.
Amit Shah is the man of the moment. The architect of the BJP's stunning transformation in the Hindi heartland during the Lok Sabha elections is all set to emerge as the CEO of Modi's political dreams and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's cultural passion, says Sheela Bhatt.
'When you meet Rahul Gandhi, you will know he is definitely the right guy to lead this country.'
'The mindset of people needs to change.' 'We still believe in accepting cash when we can do business with digital money as well.'
The priest-turned-politician is not someone who minces his words.
The party desperately needs another state where, unfettered by the Centre, it can fly its flag.
'Kejriwal has taken a leaf out of Modi's campaign of 2014 and improved upon it.' 'That suit will haunt Modi till he exits politics.' 'Of all the factors that favoured Kejriwal, the biggest was the arrogance and over-confidence of the Modi-Shah led BJP.' 'What the Congress could not do in the last two decades in Gujarat, Kejriwal did it in no time in Delhi.' 'The BJP has behaved exactly like the Congress in decoding Kejriwal's politics.'
A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com visited many polling booths in Varanasi on polling day. This is what he discovered.
Nandigram today is a conglomeration of model villages fenced by its greenery.
Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa talks to security experts about the possibility of militancy returning to the Kashmir Valley in the eventuality of Narendra Modi becoming the prime minister
Here's the full text of President Ram Nath Kovind's customary address to the joining sitting of Parliament on the first day of the budget session.
The resurgence that Congressmen feel is in fact more sentimental than substantive. The substantive reality is that the Congress is a party in terminal decline since 1989, says Shekhar Gupta.
'After Modi, Yogi is the most popular face of Hindutva, but it's too early to say that he is someone who could succeed Modi.'
The 1992 Babri Mosque demolition was an "act of planned sabotage" and not a by frenzied mob of Hindu outfits, a news portal claimed on Friday on the basis of a sting operation it had carried over a period of two years.
The BJP and the Shiv Sena rule the state in coalition, apart from officially being partners in Delhi as well, while also never missing an opportunity to portray each other as a bungler deserving to be dumped.
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Modi has plenty of opportunities to test out his strategy. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott will visit India this month, and Modi will fly to Washington towards the end of September for a summit with US President Barack Obama.
'The Opposition has no option but to make it an 'All versus One' fight to even think about winning.'
'Every time I step on stage, I feel like I'm performing the play for the first time,' Manoj Joshi tells Sadiya Updade.
Post Jayalalithaa's death, the Tamil Nadu government is in confused state.
The 61-year-old former top cop from Mumbai changed professions after listening to his 'inner voice'.
Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley on Sunday said with slew of graft cases surfacing during the UPA government, corruption has taken the shape of a "small scale industry", and the upcoming Lok Sabha polls will be a fight between morality and immorality.
'The party had opposed FDI when it was in the Opposition. Now, its government has allowed FDI in all sectors.' 'Modi had opposed GST when he was chief minister. Now, he is strongly advocating it.' 'The BJP must come clean and inform its supporters and the people why it is diverging from its basic agenda.'
Power and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal warned that it would take years to alleviate coal supply shortages, which have reduced stocks at thermal power stations to their lowest since a huge blackout in 2012 cut off 620 million people.
Several states that imposed prohibition in the past lifted it once revenue loss began to pinch
'She was once asked what the secret to political leadership was and she said it was the ability to like all kinds of people.' 'I don't think Rahul fundamentally likes people -- that's probably why he can't deal with them and it shows.' 'Sonia is a more talented political mobiliser than her son, but I think the decline of the Congress set in in 1969...'
Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Friday said a security cover is being provided to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal without his knowledge and despite his repeated rejection for it.
'Mamata Banerjee was an anti-body that the people of West Bengal needed to throw the CPI-M out. Though the disease is no more, we are suffering the anti-body. It is a punishment for the people of this state.' BJP leader Tathagatha Roy lashes out at the West Bengal chief minister.
In a sharp attack on Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party campaign centric around him, expelled party veteran Jaswant Singh on Sunday deprecated "veneration" of an individual and said world was full of graveyards of those who are considered indispensable to their nation.
Ahead of the assembly elections next year, the BJP has been wallowing in a welter of ideas that has resurrected the debate on populism versus pragmatism, as it has to pander to two important but incompatible constituencies, of the freebie consuming masses and Bengaluru's heavy hitters craving for even roads, pristine lakes and unbroken power supply, reports Radhika Ramaseshan.
'The partnership of Amit Shah and Narendra Modi has made their biggest mistake. They have been very successful for their party in the last two years, but this batting pair has made the biggest political mistake of their life so far, which is calling Kejriwal a chor. It will backfire on them.'
There have been no major blasts in the state, but most terror operatives are trained in camps in the state. Extremely volatile, Kerala has been declared a Red Zone by the NIA.
The 10-year UPA rule came under sharp attack in the BJP's National Council meeting in on Saturday, which unveiled the new government's future plans and policy prescription in domestic and foreign affairs arena in a political resolution, which hailed the "strong and able" leadership of Narendra Modi.
The party, which was expecting to win at least three seats in the region this time, feels that the statements by senior leaders L K Advani and Sushma Swaraj on Thursday are counter-productive to their future plans. Vicky Nanjappa reports
AAP candidates from Mumbai, Medha Patkar and Meera Sanyal, are poised to play a crucial and complementary role. While Patkar gives voice to the suffering of people at the grassroots, Sanyal is articulating the key principles that could build a more just and equitable society or economy, says Rajni Bakshi.
The rising price of pulses has become a hot issue during the Bihar assembly polls.
Kerala is one state where the Congress may do well in the general election and it where Rahul Gandhi has demonstrated why he is serious about rebuilding his party, says T V R Shenoy.
The second part of BJP president Amit Shah's interview to Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com, to mark the completion of one year of the Narendra Modi government.
After placating sitting MP Suresh Kalmadi who was sulking over denial of ticket, the Congress managers are confronted with a tough task of retaining the Pune Lok Sabha seat by overcoming the main challenge from a resurgent BJP in a quadrangular contest which is on cards.
One can understand that all MPs are equal in that sense and are endowed with varied talents but that does not automatically qualify them to run ministries. Some are adept at meeting challenges and some simply are not, and remain ornaments. By seeking pro-rata quotas, the very purpose of a forming a ministry of talent is lost, says Mahesh Vijapurkar.
