A Ganesh Nadar's tales from the campaign trail.
'I have seen that many madrassas do not celebrate Independence Day and Republic Day. They don't even invite people for Independence Day celebrations and this is an insult to nation. It is wrong.'
Here's your weekly digest of the craziest stories from around the world.
'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.'
LGBT citizens also enjoy the right to privacy, right to equality and above all, right to life, like any other citizen, writes Sharad Sharma.
President Ram Nath Kovind said he was 'a determined champion of democracy during the Emergency' and would be missed by his readers.
The 70-year-old is so unassuming that it is reported that he has not removed the name plate in his ancestral home in Jodhpur that reads, 'Judge, Supreme Court'.
The celebrations after the 2017 World Cup went on for the next few months. But there was one question that the Indian cricketers failed to respond to in their interviews. 'What was their next assignment?' Nobody knew; the players were waiting for the BCCI to tell them. The BCCI, with barely any time from its endless legal tangles, had nothing in mind immediately. The likes of Australia and England were back on the field, battling it out in the Ashes in front of sizeable crowds. But for Mithali Raj and team, there was no road ahead.
Priyanka Gandhi on Wednesday took on Narendra Modi by raking up the "snoopgate" controversy surrounding him and said leaders who indulge in wrong acts against women should be "thrown out".
Tamal Bandyopadhyay offers some unsolicited advice for a government wh,ich came to power, with brute majority and the nation's pragmatic chief money man.
With the Apollo Hospitals chairman saying that she has recovered, the party can go back to business as usual.
'What shame is there in the government accepting a drought situation and taking appropriate measures to help people live?' a Marathwada farmer asks Neeta Kolhatkar.
Modi seems to have forgotten the solution to rising tomato prices he had in mind in 2014.
If Narendra Modi could tame his obsession with the Congress and the Nehru-Gandhi family, Arvind Kejriwal resist polishing his halo and Rahul Gandhi find his voice, we could begin a debate about the future of this country that actually addressed the seriousness of its problems, says Rahul Jacob.
'If Urjit Patel had resigned after the five-state elections results people would have taken a different view. So this was the right time for him to resign.' 'He rightly resigned as he felt the differences with the government were not getting settled.'
'Those who have seen the functioning of the Modi government in Gujarat know that the issues related to Hindutva and issues of economy and growth function simultaneously.' 'Modi's politics are based on the understanding of the middle-class consumer society which is in pursuit of material aspirations.' Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com reveals the Modi government's economic and political plans for the year ahead.
The finance minister defended the change in the tax rates.
'Imran Khan hopes to fulfill the dreams of the founders of of Pakistan in establishing an Islamic Welfare State.' 'The grave situation of the economy makes realisation of this dream very difficult,' points out Colonel R N Ghosh Dastidar (retd).
'It is folly to think that religious-identity-based politics and a flourishing economy can co-exist in a diverse society.' 'We can fight and kill each other, or fight together and kill poverty. We cannot do both,' says Dasarathi G V.
The secret behind Singh's success was that he mostly set about undoing all the mistakes made by the Marans, points out Anjuli Bhargava.
'No lives should be taken during Paryushan.' 'When fish is taken out from the sea it is dead, hence no ban on it.' 'They hang the meat in shops and those who are fasting are pained by this sight.'
'In the final analysis, all Budgets everywhere are like the schemes hatched by A A Milne's lovable Winnie-the-Pooh.' 'They may be well-intended, but often go awry.' 'Although Pooh and his friends agree that he 'has very little brain', he is occasionally acknowledged to have a clever idea, usually driven by common sense.' 'This Budget at a first glance does not appear to belong to that latter category,' says economist Shreekant Sambrani.
'I have seen so many cows roaming the streets of Mumbai. When people from foreign countries see cows roaming on our streets, it is not good.'
'The world wants India to succeed. It also worries now that India over-promises and under-delivers,' says Shekhar Gupta.
Even as their venture Snapdeal is clocking rapid growth, Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal are mentoring young entrepreneurs.
Pushback to Modi govt's policy pronouncements has already started, it now has a very small window of opportunity to bring in reforms.
Mukund Rajan, who worked closely with Ratan Tata, recalls the unique experience of working with the corporate titan.
A glance back at some of the important ups and down Indian Inc faced in 2018.
In peace and at war, firms remain tethered to promoter families in a uniquely Indian way.
Verifiable 'distress-sharing' of available water may still be the way out of the Cauvery water row, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Power sits lightly on Arun Jaitley's shoulders. Just because earth-shaking election results have brought his party in power, he has not gone recklessly ambitious. "Too soon, too fast" is not what he likes,' says Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com about Budget 2014.
Getting the balance between fiscal restraint and growth-contracting policy remains a problem.
Let those in power put trees on par with the sacred cow. And century-old trees certainly need to be worshipped, says Anil Singh.
'In today's digitalised world, news about the prevalence of such intolerant groups with their pathological animosity towards the minorities cannot remain a secret.' 'Silicon Valley CEOs will undoubtedly factor in such disturbing inputs as they draw up their investment plans.'
'Narendra Modi is single-handedly changing the formula to win elections. With money, human resources, mobile technology, the Internet, advance planning and tremendous confidence, he has spread his image more in UP villages than in urban areas.' Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt reports from Lucknow on how Team Modi is changing the rules of the election game.
For the past, blame the Congress. For the present, blame the Congress. For everything, blame the Congress. But for your future, vote BJP.
'Look at Mr Modi. He is a part of this new middle class.' 'India has never before seen this kind of social mobility, certainly not since medieval times.' 'As a result, India's entrenched elite, which is a class of people with a strong sense of entitlement, is being tamed,' Sanjeev Sanyal tells Shyamal Majumdar and Arup Roychoudhury.
'I do not call the BJP or RSS as extremist groups, but some small groups all over India have started behaving aggressively after the BJP came to power.' 'These groups think they have the authority to attack anyone and impose their ideas on people.'
Filmmaker Prakash Jha opens up about his life.
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