Now it's all jibes about his chameleon-like politics and fading grip on the administration. But there was a time Nitish had the BJP trembling in the state, points out Aditi Phadnis.
A timeline of key events that shaped the RSS' journey, including the various highs and lows, as the organization approaches its 100th anniversary.
A day after the opposition parties announced 'INDIA' as the name for their alliance, they finalised 'Jeetega Bharat' as the 26-member bloc's tagline, setting the tone for their 2024 Lok Sabha election campaign.
'People are fed up with rising crimes and poor law and order.' 'Modi must have got feedback and decided not to touch the 'jungle raj' issue as it will backfire.'
They said a 'mock poll' would be conducted in the Central Hall of the Samvidhan Sadan at around 2:30 PM on Monday after the briefing on the procedure to vote in the vice presidential polls.
A big question mark is on whether Shashi Tharoor, who had led the delegation to the US among other countries, will be picked as speaker by the Congress, as the seasoned Lok Sabha member's enthusiastic endorsement of the government's action following the terror attack has soured his ties with his party.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance is planning to celebrate the Ram Temple consecration ceremony, being organised in Ayodhya, in a grand manner in Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, represented by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
This is important because he is to be seen as a sure winner before criss-crossing the state to campaign for candidates of the party or an alliance, highlights N Sathiya Moorthy.
Nitish slammed the opposition and expressed confidence that they will be defeated in the next Lok Sabha elections.
Sources in both the BJP and the Janata Dal-United suggested such a possibility but it remained unclear if Kumar, the unquestioned leader of his party, has finalised a deal with the BJP top brass.
Chandrapuram Ponnusamy Radhakrishnan was sworn in as the 15th Vice President of India, succeeding Jagdeep Dhankhar.
'It is not just about numbers. Sometimes coalitions and alliances have symbolic value.'
By naming a sworn swayamsevak for vice president, the Modi-Shah duo have sent out a clear and positive message to Nagpur, where the RSS headquarters is located, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
With the Bharatiya Janata Party falling short of a majority in the Lok Sabha and needing the National Democratic Alliance partners to form the government at the Centre, Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal-United head Nitish Kumar and Telugu Desam Party's N Chandrababu Naidu have emerged as potential kingmakers.
Vijay, despite the loud message from his delayed arrival at the road-show/stampede venue, and more so his continued inaccessibility for fans-turned-cadres after graduating from a super-star to a political party leader with electoral ambitions, refuses to change. Or, so it seems, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Every passing day featuring parties within the INDIA alliance sniping at each other at state level is bad publicity for the alliance particularly given the proximity of the 2024 general elections, asserts Shyam G Menon.
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar's resignation has triggered the search for his successor. The BJP-led NDA is expected to consider probable candidates soon.
Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal has congratulated both the previous UPA government and the current dispensation for the extradition of Tahawwur Hussain Rana, the mastermind behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Sibal expressed confidence that the extradition will shed light on the involvement of individuals within Pakistan's establishment in the attacks. Rana is being questioned by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to uncover the full extent of the conspiracy behind the deadly 2008 terror strikes. Sibal highlighted the efforts of the UPA government in establishing the NIA and pursuing Rana's extradition, and also acknowledged the current government's success in bringing him back to India. The interrogation is expected to focus on Rana's potential ties to the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and his role in the Mumbai attacks.
'The EPS camp feels assertiveness will help the AIADMK keep the BJP's seat-share ambitions to the minimum,' observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Manjhi had demanded that the NDA field at least one member from his party for the six Rajya Sabha polls in the state scheduled next month
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday sounded the poll bugle in Bihar, where assembly elections are due this year, calling for 'an NDA government, once again', which would protect the state from the 'evil intentions' of the Rashtriya Janata Dal-Congress combine.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticized the RJD's past education policies in Bihar, attributing migration to the state's poor education system under their rule. He praised the current NDA government's efforts to improve education and development, launching several initiatives focused on youth skilling and education in the state.
'It is a crisis of BJP's own doing. This is an in-house fire.'
This divergence is likely to intensify political dynamics both within the party and across the state, particularly as the opposition Mahagathbandhan -- comprising the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Congress, and Left parties -- has been aggressively protesting the SIR and demanding its immediate scrapping.
'They have no incentive to be part of either the NDA or INDIA at this stage, but they may hedge their bets towards the winning coalition in the post-poll setting.'
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance is set to host a meeting of its constituents on Tuesday in what is being seen as a show of strength by the ruling alliance amid a get-together of opposition parties in Bengaluru to forge unity, as the two sides step up their campaign for the Lok Sabha elections in 2024.
Shah on Sunday tweeted a picture of their meeting and welcomed the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party leader to the NDA.
According to the Election Commission data, 30 out of the state's 40 Lok Sabha seats went to the BJP-led coalition in the latest elections, a sharp drop compared with 39 in 2019 and lower than the tallies of 2014 (31) and 2009 (32).
AIADMK insiders see the very idea of an NDA conclave as a measure of the BJP's current electoral assessment, stemming from relative weakness in 2024 compared to 2014 and 2019. In their reckoning, the BJP now needs allies more than the other way round, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The BJP state unit hailed Vasan and said his advice will be used in the coming days to guide the alliance.
The focus now shifts to November 10 counting of votes.
Congress leader KC Venugopal said the opposition meeting is going to be a game changer for Indian political scenario
Like his father Karunanidhi and AIADMK rivals MGR and Jayalalithaa, Stalin would like to confine his real political work to Tamil Nadu, and not want to take after the late Congress leader K Kamaraj and take up a national role, even if to create greater political space for son Udhayanidhi, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray chief Uddhav Thackeray will not switch to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance, Maharashtra Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar president Jayant Patil asserted on Thursday, seeking to scotch speculation about a possible crossover by his key ally.
The BJP's outreach to Paswan, son of late stalwart Dalit leader Ram Vilas Paswan, underscores its push to bring him back into the NDA's fold after he walked out of the alliance in Bihar in the 2020 state assembly polls to campaign against Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who was then the BJP's biggest ally.
'Modi's charisma may have weakened as last year's Lok Sabha poll results showed but in the eyes of the Sangh Parivar, it has not waned.' 'Minus a strong BJP government at the Centre for another decade and more, there is apprehension that an anti-Hindutva government could reverse many of the ideological gains that the Modi dispensation has achieved through its three terms,' points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Bharatiya Janata Party MP Nishikant Dubey emphasised the crucial role of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the party's electoral success, stating that the several sections which did not vote for BJP earlier now support the party and it has broken new ground in many states.
'Prashant Kishor is a businessman before he is a politician, and given that the expected average turnout for JSP candidates is 5,000 to 6,000 votes and since Bihar has a significant number of seats where the margin between the winner and runner-up falls within that range he will capitalise on exactly that to showcase his presence.'
Trinamool Congress had not supported NDA's presidential candidate and abstained from voting. The party also did not disclose for whom it voted in the vice-presidential election.
It's time India re-visited its Western alliances for the attitude and approach that the West reserves for the nation when it comes to security cooperation of the kind that they might not have visualised outside of China, India's bug-bear, asserts N Sathiya Moorthy.
