'If you read the TVK manifesto, it is doles and much more doles. But the state has been habituated to this.' 'In no way is he distinct or different from the DMK regime.'
The BJP's landslide victory in West Bengal has not merely redrawn the electoral map but overturned the operating logic of politics in the state, breaching the TMC's entrenched fortress despite a decade-and-a-half of dominance, minority consolidation, and a sustained "outsider" narrative.
'Vijay did not defeat Dravidian politics from outside. He entered the Dravidian field and claimed ownership of it. 'His argument was not that the room should be destroyed. It was that the present occupants no longer deserved to remain in it.'
Peddi buries its powerful story about caste identity and social inequality beneath hero worship, regressive romance and exhausting excesses bemoans Sreeju Sudhakaran.
'Remember Vijay had never spoke of himself as a Christian when he was a film star.' 'The BJP strategy is they want the Christian minority constituency to move away from the DMK.' 'That is what the BJP wants so that it will be very easy to mobilise Hindu votes.' 'This strategy is to weaken the Dravidian ideology and bring in religion based politics into Tamil Nadu.'
Mamata Banerjee's defeat in West Bengal marks a significant turning point in her political career, challenging her ability to rebuild and regain influence after a long period of dominance.
Whether he comes to power or not, both his admirers and opponents agree on one thing -- Vijay may well turn out to be the 'X factor'.
In a dramatic election mirroring the Nandigram contest, BJP's Suvendu Adhikari defeated Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Bhabanipur, marking a significant victory for the BJP and a setback for the Trinamool Congress.
At 11.23 am on May 20, 2026, 22-year-old Saanika Shah fulfilled a dream she had nurtured for five years by successfully summiting Mount Everest, the world's highest peak.
'They will have to adjust themselves to the new reality. Because if they don't understand this changed political perception, their future will be difficult.'
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju indicated that the government may bring a bill to increase seats in the Lok Sabha, potentially to implement reservation for women in the legislature. The Opposition has raised concerns about the timing and implications of the proposed bills.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has strongly criticised the Congress party for including the issue of singer Zubeen Garg's death in its election manifesto, calling it a 'sin' and accusing the party of exploiting the singer's memory for political gain.
Over 700 citizens, including former civil servants, academics, activists, and journalists, have written to the Election Commission alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's national address on April 18 violated the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) for elections. They are seeking an inquiry and remedial action.
'All this talk about women's reservation and Nari Shakti is a mirage.' 'It is a classic Trojan horse to bring about an alteration in the structure of political competition -- to the enduring advantage of the BJP.'
The Congress party has accused the government of scheduling a 'special session' to pass bills related to women's quota and delimitation with the intention of gaining political advantage in the upcoming West Bengal and Tamil Nadu elections, calling it a violation of the model code of conduct.
Delhi High Court judge Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma has recused herself from hearing a plea by Congress MP Karti Chidambaram seeking to quash a CBI FIR against him. The FIR alleges that Chidambaram helped an alcoholic beverage company over the ban on the duty-free sale of its whisky.
Vijay's electoral triumph in Tamil Nadu is poised to dramatically revive the fortunes of his much-anticipated final film, Jana Nayagan, which has been plagued by release delays, censorship battles, and a cancelled streaming deal.
Hopefully, the BJP will realise that it's the right time for parivartan (change) in its polarising poll strategies after achieving the impossible-looking goal of winning West Bengal, argues Sheela Bhatt.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has launched a strong rebuttal against Union Home Minister Amit Shah's 'chargesheet' on the West Bengal government, accusing the BJP of attempting to polarise the state ahead of elections and failing to address critical issues such as violence in Manipur and women's safety in BJP-ruled states.
Ruling Congress in Karnataka on Monday retained Bagalkot and Davanagere South assembly seats, giving a respite to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and the party leadership, amid the ongoing power tussle over the leadership issue.
'If the BJP becomes our political identity, our political face, if we are represented by the BJP, then what happens to our identity as Bengalis?'
'The entire party is centred around one man and that is Arvind Kejriwal.' 'Till the time you are in Kejriwal's good books you are powerful. The day you are not with him, you are no one in the party.'
Congress leader V D Satheesan has criticised Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, accusing him of appeasing both majority and minority communities for political gain. Satheesan's remarks follow allegations of a CPI(M)-BJP deal in the upcoming election and Vijayan's claim that Satheesan has RSS support.
The BJP will use Samrat Choudhary to make a dent into Nitish Kumar's traditional social support base of Kurmi and Koeri/Kushwaha communities.
Under the TMC, Bengal has seen expansion of welfare, but not big-ticket private investment.
West Bengal's Chief Electoral Officer, Manoj Agarwal, has refuted allegations of potential malpractices at counting centres, assuring that robust security measures are in place. This comes after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee raised concerns about possible tampering with EVMs.
This election is different. It is no longer simply about governance or welfare. It is about identity, fear, and who belongs. The BJP has successfully shifted the terms of the debate from what the government has delivered to who the real Bengali is and who is an outsider, points out Ramesh Menon.
'The Supreme Court stated that once the delimitation plan is approved by Parliament and receives assent of the President, it cannot be undone. Nor can it be modified.'
'When Narendra Modi was here, he spoke only about development and what the BJP wanted to do in Kerala. That kind of sober rhetoric or argument is acceptable to the people here.'
'It is going to be a negative vote against the government rather than a positive vote for the UDF.'
Bihar BJP chief Sanjay Saraogi supports Amit Shah's allegations that the TMC government in West Bengal is harbouring infiltrators and obstructing border fencing.
Nationalist Congress Party (SP) MLC Eknath Khadse and his daughter have been booked for allegedly cheating an elderly woman by assuring a sugar factory on her land and taking its possession with the help of forged papers in Maharashtra's Jalgaon district.
'You cannot run Parliament with 800 MPs as nobody will get time (to speak in Parliament). And Parliament sits for barely 60 days in a year.' 'Look at the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. They have 650 MPs and they sit for 150 days on an average in a year.'
'Even if the war ends tomorrow, which is unlikely, and we go back to the pre-war status quo, the world will still need some time to get over the sudden shock of oil price increases.'
'Nitish Kumar may be marginalised as an office-holder, but that is not the same thing as the disappearance of Nitish Kumar's politics.'
TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee has accused the BJP of misusing democratic institutions and stoking communal discord in Bengal, criticising their 'double engine' governance model.
'The reason why they rushed through the bill was they wanted to avoid using the 2026 Census because the 2026 Census by their own decision will be a caste census.' 'The BJP knows that a significant share of the OBCs who will get captured in the census, for the first time after the 1931 Census, are against the BJP. Only a segment of the OBCs are in their favour.' 'So they wanted to avoid the OBC reservation among women, which is a demand of a lot of Opposition parties.'
'The BJP is pouring in money so that only BJP candidates are visible everywhere.' 'If the Congress does not win this time, its survival itself will be a problem...'
After more than four decades, Chhattisgarh's Bastar region has been declared free of Left-Wing Extremism (LWE), marking the end of the armed Maoist rebellion in the area. The decline is attributed to sustained security operations, improved governance, and socio-economic development initiatives.
Nationalist Congress Party (SP) MLC Eknath Khadse and his daughter have been booked for allegedly cheating an elderly woman out of her land in Maharashtra's Jalgaon district.
