'The Godse controversy may have helped Kamal Haasan reach out to a larger audience, both inside the state and outside, coming as it does when the main campaign for elections 19 is over and only those in the four assembly bypoll constituencies are drudging along,' says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'We fear worse things to happen. We feel this is just a teaser.' 'I wonder whether later, the Christian community will be targeted.'
On Thursday, November 3, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav will launch his Samajwadi Rath Yatra. The official launch of the party's election campaign, but also a way of assessing how much traction he has among the people.
'Do you think Indian voters are so immature that they can be impressed or won over by such freebies before the elections?' Election Commissioner Sunil Arora asks A K Bhattacharya.
Amid hectic discussions on formation of the new government, indications emerged on Saturday that Narendra Modi would have a "small and compact" Cabinet that will take oath along with him on May 26 in the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhawan.
Now that Tamil Nadu's tallest politician is no more, it remains to be seen how new political re-alignments could shape up, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Modi cannot content himself anymore with merely indulging in Congress bashing and referring to the Gujarat 'miracle'. He'll have to show that his party is as clean and as innovative as the AAP. And this is impossible because AAP is new and the BJP is now old: the people have tried it already. What they have not tried already is Modi, and this is what may make the difference,' says the respected political scientist Christophe Jaffrelot.
Given the twin embarrassments of a TTV win and party nominee Karu Nagarajan losing his deposit, polling fewer votes than NOTA, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP boss Amit Shah would be pushed to rethink their strategy. Tamil Nadu would thus become a part of the BJP's grander strategy for 2019 rather than a stand-alone affair, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Although the Opposition has been making a hue and cry over demonetisation, the BJP's programmes have been attracting crowds.
The escalating situation in the Kashmir valley is the vanguard actions of global jihad, says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd). And in this battle, he believes, perception management operations will be just important as operations to neutralise the terrorists.
Aditya Puri thinks the government is on track.
Opposition on Monday picked holes in various government decisions like demonetisation and surgical strikes as well as allocation of funds for MNREGA, agriculture sector and Scheduled Castes, saying it has failed on all fronts despite which it is trying to "fool" the people.
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!
'India is no longer the India of the '70s and the '80s.' 'It's a large country with the fastest growing economy.' 'In working with India, you just can't go and humiliate the nation publicly.' USIBC President Mukesh Aghi tells Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com about how he advises American companies to do business with India, what he thinks of Modi's government and the way forward for the India-US relationship.
