Non-Congressism is the answer to India's current difficulties, says Dr Shambhu Shrivastava, who gives a historical perspective of non-Congress experiments in 1967, 1977, 1989 and 1998.
Congress is the only other horse in the race for national power, never mind how distant. Narendra Modi and Amit Shah know better than to take the Congress lightly, observes Shekhar Gupta.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Sunday wrote in his blog that a non-Congress, non-BJP prime minister supported by any of these two parties is "feasible" in the next general elections but cautioned that this may not be a very stable dispensation.
In the most candid admission of Team Anna's political ambitions, Arvind Kejriwal has said a non-Congress, non-Bharatiya Janata Party people's front will be put up in the 2014 polls, which will be backed by Anna Hazare and his team.
Pushing efforts to firm up a Third Front, top leaders of the Janata Dal-United, Left and the Janta Dal-Secular met in New Delhi on Monday and decided to convene a meeting of 11 parties after the end of the current Parliament session to give concrete shape to a non-Congress and non-BJP alternative.
The numbers, however, appear to be in favour of the ruling dispensation to get these bills passed from Rajya Sabha, while the lower house has already cleared them despite a key NDA member Shiromani Akali Dal vehemently opposing them.
A two-day meet of Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo began in New Delhi on Sunday amid attempts to bring all non-Congress, non-BJP parties on a common platform ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has been fielded again from Karnal.
When the Centre tries to encroach upon the subjects that are under the prerogative of the state, or where the centre tries to evade from any responsibility guaranteed to a state through a constitutional provision/obligation, it poses a threat to federalism.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar Thursday did not rule out emergence of a Third Front, which was also favoured by the Samajwadi party, after the Bharatiya Janata Party-Janata Dal-United face-off triggered the possibility of a non-Congress, non-BJP grouping to fight the next Lok Sabha polls.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday said "positive" talks took place between 14 non-Congress and non-BJP parties for formation of a separate bloc in the Parliament which he said would be based on programme and not person.
The Telangana Rashtra Samiti had backed the NDA on demonetisation, GST and in the elections to the post of President and Vice-President during its last term.
Neither Modi nor Shah had held legislative or executive power in Delhi before 2014. They have no training in appealing to the diversity of India as represented in Parliament. Their prism is the provincial politics of Gujarat. An exclusive excerpt from Vinay Sitapati's fascinating new book, Jugalbandi: The BJP Before Modi.
Almost without exception, all ministers from non-Congress coalition partners of the UPA have been behaving as though they are a law unto themselves.
The BJP stalwart continues to be in the intensive care unit of the Cardio-thoracic Centre at the hospital.
In an interview to Rediff.com's Anita Katyal, Shambhu Srivastava speaks about the need of breaking out of the communal-secular paradigm and focusing on the Congress party's poor performance and its track record in fuelling communalism.
'KCR's plan for the future is three-pronged. He wants to see a non-Congress, non-BJP government at the Centre in 2019 so that he can become the Union minister for home or defence,' says R Rajagopalan.
However, he will continue to be in hospital till infection is controlled.
'I think there must be some sort of a nexus between the rioters and a section of police officials which resulted in gruesome killings and arson'
'When economic policies were attacked by people on his own side, he went ahead despite all the criticisms in the coalition, within the party and the Sangh Parivar.'
'The story of how Modi won a re-election in the face of severe agrarian crisis, mounting unemployment, looming economic crisis, is the story of how the power of the message can be put to devastating effect in the hands of a strong leader,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Seeking to capitalise on the large number of non-Congress and non-Bharatiya Janata Party parties having "substantial support and strength in the country," the All India Anna Dravida Munetra Kazhagam and the Communist Party of India-Marxist on Monday entered into an alliance in Tamil Nadu for Lok Sabha polls.
'This does not appear to be a crash. Had it been one, then the debris would have been found... Al Qaeda today has greater presence around the world... If the West withdraws completely, Afghanistan will rely on Pakistan which in turn will use the situation to pursue its own agenda...' Ajit Doval, former director, Intelligence Bureau, speaks to Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa.
'Given that the RGF is a family-controlled trust, why would the Congress defend it every time someone accuses it of wrong-doing?' asks Virendra Kapoor.
If Narendra Modi becomes prime minister next month, he will be India's second prime minister from the western state of Gujarat. Thirty-seven years ago, Morarji Desai was sworn in as India's first non-Congress prime minister, indeed the oldest man at 81 to then hold the office.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has taken full advantage of the anger of the people against Congress and its policies and complete absence of a non-Congress, non-Bharatiya Janata Party alternative in the Lok Sabha polls, Left parties said on Friday.
It won't be the Third Front, nor even a Federal Front. In case of a fractured verdict, a minority coalition comprising AIADMK, BJD and Trinamool Congress is the most likely outcome -- but it's the BJP that will call the shots, says Bharat Bhushan
Those who know Naveen Patnaik well say his final decision will depend on who has the edge after the election.
A very small number of Muslim voters could be the deciding factor in the next election, says T C A Srinivasa Raghavan
There is more than sufficient space for this amongst the electorate in India that will respond definitively and favourably to a credible alternative. Nitish Kumar has an excellent chance of capturing this space through the inclusive politics of third front formations, says Seema Mustafa.
Most chief ministers chose to miss a high-level conference, convened to thrash out challenging issues on public order and policing, with only seven state leaders attending it.
The Centre has convened a meeting of chief ministers next month to discuss various internal security issues, including controversial National Counter Terrorism Centre which is stuck due to opposition from non-Congress state governments.
A host of leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Bharatiya Janata Party patriarch at the hospital.
"All opposition parties should work together. It should be a one-to-one fight against the BJP. All opposition parties should help the strongest one in the state against the BJP," Banerjee said.
Launching a fresh attack on Press Council of India chairperson Markandey Katju, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday said the former Supreme Court judge was expressing "unsolicited and bizarre" opinions against non-Congress ruled states and demanded that he step down.
KCR, as Rao is popularly known, was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor E S L Narasimhan at a simple ceremony on the lawns of Raj Bhavan.
The situation today is far more conducive for a third front than it was in 1996, says TDP leader Chandrababu Naidu. Mohammed Siddique reports
The victory in the assembly elections, the first in Telangana after its formation in June 2014, might well act as a springboard for the leader, often accused of perpetuating family rule and promoting nepotism, to realise his ambition of playing a greater role in national politics.
'The Modi government, like the Singh one, has run into what is called a perfect storm, where everything that can go wrong does so at the same time,' points out T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan.
The best option in 2014 is the formation of a non-Congress, non-BJP government based on alternative policies, says CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury
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