Rajan said the government focussed more on fulfilling its political and social agenda rather than paying attention to the economic growth.
'If they felt that my post was wrong they should have filed a defamation case against me.' 'Why pick up in the night and detain me?' 'I was scared and thought I will be beaten up. I thought anything can happen to me and I can even die.' Abhishek Mishra on his detention.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley witll spearhead the campaign with BJP President Amit Shah as its chief strategist.
There is no use of the BJP targeting the likes of Mamata Banerjee and M K Stalin, directly by the party's political bosses, both in Delhi and the respective state capitals, or even using the Raj Bhavans to fire those salvos from. Successive elections have proved that it's counter-productive, if anything. But the BJP is yet to understand it, acknowledge it, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Although the BJP has never been ballistic about the BJD and Narendra Modi has avoided being critical of Naveen Patnaik, the BJP is optimistic that the party can improve its electoral fortunes in Odisha on its own, notes Rup Narayan Das.
With the reality of coalition politics staring the BJP in its face, this was inevitable, points out Ramesh Menon.
Launching a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Opposition parties on Wednesday alleged that selective leak of information on demonetisation of 500 and 1000 rupee notes to 'friends of BJP' and demanded making public the names of those who had bought gold and foreign exchange of over Rs 1 crore since April.
It is hard to escape the feeling that solving the problems of 2020 and 2021 will require something special which at the moment is not on view, observes Aakar Patel.
Pakistan may want to undertake a 'false flag' operation in J&K to divert attention from the situation in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but infiltrating one SSG battalion into J&K and having two SSG battalions waiting to follow suit means war, which Pakistan cannot afford in its current economic crisis, notes Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
James Wilson tracks down discrepancies in the much-hailed demonetisation policy and the subsequent statements of the government and the Reserve Bank of India.
The most important lesson is that you have to build your political proposition, and sell it yourself. You can't leave it to the courts, media, NGOs and civil society and expect them to play the role of the Opposition. That's precisely what Mr Modi's challengers have been doing and we know the results, notes Shekhar Gupta.
'My suspicion is that most of the bonds were given by companies who had got contracts or who had benefited from policy changes by the government.'
Opposition's relentless demand for a debate on demonetisation under a rule which entails voting on Thursday forced the adjournment of the Lok Sabha
'Till the time you have the equations right the market will remain concerned.' 'If the (coalition) government is taken care of, then probably (the markets will) come back to its rhythm.'
Some initial reactions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement of demonetisation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes with effect from midnight.
'Who has given how much money to which party, the people of India must know this fact.'
It will be in Modi's interest to reinvent his party, read the writing on the wall that voters wrote, and move ahead. He has little choice now. The country is watching, asserts Ramesh Menon.
"They need to clarify that demonetisation means it is demonetisation for all. Same rules for everyone. If 500/1000 are illegal tender, then how are they trying to show that there is a division between common people and political parties?" Banerjee said in a series of tweets.
The Congress president alleged that the surgical strike was made public as the BJP was fighting elections in Uttar Pradesh.
What is the wider political strategy behind Mr Modi's concerted attack on black money, asks Subir Roy.
In a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former prime minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday accused him of lowering the dignity of public discourse and the gravity of the office of the PM by giving "hateful speeches" during the poll campaign.
BJP workers depend on Annamalai's popularity to emerge victorious. He has has made 100 promises to be fulfilled in 500 days and assurances include cleaning up rivers, an international airport and food vans named after former Chief Minister K Kamaraj.
The 'black paper', titled '10 saal anyay kaal' also alleged that issues such as rising prices, unemployment, subversion of institutions and farmers' 'distress' had plagued the country.
'It's not really going to bring about purity in the election process.'
'The moment a new election comes, new guarantees are announced.' 'The BJP is adept at diverting people's attention.'
'Deep pockets have become a prerequisite for contesting elections on a major party symbol in most states.' 'Given the premium parties place on self-financing candidates, once you have accounted for the suspected criminals, dynasts, industrialists, and celebrities, there is not much room for anyone else.'
Attacking the central government, he said it has made everybody stand in queue and wondered if this was the 'achche din' for which people had voted for Narendra Modi. "It has harmed the economy," he said.
Clarifying on reports that it cannot scrutinise tax returns of political parties, CBDT said: "There are enough provisions in the Income Tax Act to scrutinise the accounts of the political parties and these political parties are also subject to other provisions of income tax including filing of return."
He will be around for another crack at the elections, and a clear majority, predicts Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Going by the RBI directive and the overall narrative, Paytm may have lost the rigour of stress tests, audits and compliance.
A 'White Paper' versus 'Black Paper' battle erupted on Thursday as the Centre and the Congress unveiled documents and crossed swords over the handling of the Indian economy during the nearly 10 years of the BJP-led NDA rule and the previous 10-year tenure of the Congress-led UPA government.
'Never before in Bengal had a single party been re-elected with two-thirds of the assembly,' notes Trinamool Congress MP Derek O'Brien.
The 78-year-old Naveen is on the cusp of creating history. He must win the forthcoming Assembly polls to become India's longest-serving chief minister, a record held by Sikkim's Pawan Kumar Chamling.
"The people are completely frustrated with this government. Now, people are raising their voice, they are saying that everyone (political parties) will have to come together under Congress' leadership to fight against them (BJP)," he added.
'Modi is still immensely popular and, therefore, he can sustain any number of policy failures.' 'Modi himself has worn multiple faces so it would be naive to think that the Modi of 2021 will be the same Modi that will be campaigning for re-election in 2024.'
'You have to do good work and also do good politics.' 'I think that part was missing, communication was an issue, but we have bridged that gap.'
Modi took on the opposition parties, especially the Congress, saying it is the corrupt who are sleepless now.
Defending his economic policies, Modi said demonetisation was 'a very big success story'.
"This was not a political meeting, (but an) absolutely development oriented meeting. I have taken up several issues with the prime minister," Banerjee told reporters, describing it as a "customary" meeting between the state government and the Centre.
It has the potential to burnish his image as a strong leader, bring down inflation and could turn out to be common man-friendly.
