'The Election Commission's involvement in the avoidable SIR controversy has carried a message down to the last voter -- who just does not like it,' observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Embroiled in a controversy over his 'slip of the tongue' on Lord Jagannath, Bharatiya Janata Party leader and party's Puri Lok Sabha candidate Sambit Patra apologised and announced he will undertake penance by observing fast for three days from Tuesday after being criticised from different quarters.
Thackeray had addressed the audience as his deshbhakt and deshpremi brothers and sisters" instead of the traditional invocation of "Hindu brothers and sisters" at the Shivaji Park gathering in Mumbai.
According to insiders, their lack of enthusiasm is showing on the ground. There is nothing to suggest that their enthusiasm will return in the final four phases of polling, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
There is an impression within the Tamil Nadu BJP -- although no one is airing it -- that over-exposure for Narendra Modi over the past months may work against party candidates, as they have triggered a near-continuous social media debate on his achievements and failures, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
At a time when the BJP's stars are at the top on the eve of the Lok Sabha polls, the Puri-Joshimath Sankaracharyas may have kick-started a row whose efforts might be to divide Hindus, not in the name of castes, but on what passes for greater belief, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
By comparing I.N.D.IA. with banned terror outfits, Modi has exhibited the kind of nervousness never ever associated with him even at the height of the Gujarat riots, and certainly since his prime ministerial days, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The BJP seems wanting to return to a 'Tamil Hindutva' agenda for elections in Tamil Nadu, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
Sticking to his claim that Rajnath Singh had met Pragya Thakur, Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Saturday posted on Twitter a photo purportedly showing the Malegaon blast case accused seated beside the Union home minister and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
The AIADMK is convinced that the BJP will remain an electoral burden for a long time to come, beginning the Lok Sabha polls next year, reveals N Sathiya Moorthy.
'When I said the Gandhi family had to step aside, it was because we have consistently seen that the public has not accepted them.'
Party leaders from across the spectrum have been using the harshest of words to run down their opponents.
Party leaders from across the spectrum have been using the harshest of words to run down their opponents.
Two years into power, there is very little to show for the Modi government by way of 'achievements' on the foreign policy front, and his China, Pakistan policies are gasping for breath, says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
While many praised Narendra Modi's US Congress address, Syed Firdaus Ashraf had only two words to say: SO WHAT?
'Nationalism has been defined for us. It is what the BJP and Modi bhakts decide, not me, you or Salman Khan. If you don't agree with their view, you are a Pakistani agent and an anti-national. Period. No more argument. The discussion ends there.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had faced backlash on social media over his morphed photo during the aerial survey of flood-hit Chennai earlier this year, is now mired in a similar controversy once again.
'AAP achieved what it wanted. The BJP achieved what it wanted, a 'Congress mukht Delhi,' and the Congress also achieved what it wanted, which was to keep the BJP out of power.'
'Narendra Modi knows that the Congress without the Gandhis is a more formidable and more dangerous adversary.'
That is what you will hear again after Nirmala Sitharaman presents a speech that will prove to be meaningless and numbers that will show themselves to be wildly off the mark, observes Aakar Patel.
Higher education policy may be at the core of the Tamil Nadu assembly polls next May, with a potential to break the ties between the ruling AIADMK in the state and the BJP counterpart at the national level, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Last year, he was the BJP's darling. Today, Arnab Goswami is a hated figure for the Modi bhakts. What changed?
The Malda riots occurred on January 3, a day after the Pathankot terror attack. Common sense must dictate that an attack on the nation deserves more coverage than a local riot, says Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
'Even if the BJP wins Maharashtra because of a division of votes, I want to be counted as one of those who voted against Modi.'
'Modi cannot drag India back into a primitive epoch resembling the religious wars in medieval Europe and at the same time claim to represent the aspirations of modernity among Indians,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'If not for the sentiment against Shah Rukh Khan's statements, Dilwale would have earned Rs 10 crore more.'
'I am just making a creative film. It has nothing to do with propaganda.'
It was Gadgil's idea to print a wedding invitation on fabric with temporary ink so it can be used later as a napkin.
In these times of Rs 2,000 notes and digital payment apps, Syed Firdaus Ashraf tries to book tickets for Dear Zindagi.
Possibly for the first time since Prime Minister Indira Gandhi called upon the nation to donate/sacrifice for the 'Bangladesh war' efforts, and also suffer blackout at nights with patience and pride, has the nation reacted so very positively to the government's diktat, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Syed Firdaus Ashraf lists 10 ways in his life has improved under the first Modi Sarkar.
Allegations of strains on democratic and constitutional institutions across the board, security threats from outside, a greedy Opposition inside, were all a part of the package then as now, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'To them, the day may not be far off when the state BJP starts claiming and propagating that Modi is next only to AIADMK's late boss Jayalalithaa,' says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'From his persistent fuelling of pan-Hindu nationalism to pandering to narrow Gujarati chauvinism, Rambo rides again, using fair means and foul -- and often foul -- to gain the battleground,' says Sunil Sethi.
'Hindus are safe only if Modiji is ruling India. If he goes, then Babur will rule us. I want Modiji to rule for another 25 years, then you will see how India will change.'
'Only he can bring change in India that all of us have been dreaming of since we saw America for the first time when our plane touched down at JFK airport.' Narendra Modi's friends in New York and New Jersey travel down memory lane and remember a simple man with great ambition. Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com tracks down the Modi bhakts, who knew since his first visit in 1993 that he was destined for bigger things.
The IIT-Madras alumnus, who moved to Canada for an MBA programme and settled there, is not new to investing in India.
Blaring music. Manic shoppers. A foreign brand launch.
'By crudely dragging the topic into the bazaar to flog it for momentary pleasure, we turned it into a dead carcass by the time Modi even got back from Xiamen,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'This is a historic juncture when the US is in great need of an alliance with India to strengthen its hands in the fierce struggle with China in the Asian theatre,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
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