Congress leader Rahul Gandhi told British parliamentarians in London on Monday that functioning microphones in the Lok Sabha are often silenced against the Opposition.
'In the course of my interactions with him, Modi insisted that he does not believe charisma alone can sustain people's trust for long.' 'That is why Modi consistently refers to Mahatma Gandhi to contextualise his politics.' 'He believes in taking his ideas to the masses and getting their acceptance as an index of approval.'
A revealing excerpt from Ajay Singh's The Architect of the New BJP: How Narendra Modi Transformed the Party.
The election tamasha that was successfully taken online by the BJP during the 2014 general elections is playing out in a bigger avatar, reports Sanjay Jog
Modi said Congress's 'politics begins and ends with one family'.
The BJP seems wanting to return to a 'Tamil Hindutva' agenda for elections in Tamil Nadu, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
His fresh attack came a day after he said the government is coming up with 'excuses' to stop the Kanyakumari-to-Kashmir yatra, which is currently in Haryana and will enter the national capital on Saturday.
'Rather than 'consolidate' the Hindu majority votes, as the BJP-RSS combine has been known and wont to try, this time round PM Modi has himself taken the party to the next step, by seeking to create a new divide within the majority community, a la V P Singh in his time.'
There is disquiet and discomfort in the citizenry that can be touched and felt. No one is talking, but then, the Indian voter has not talked much -- with the conviction that all that goes up has to come down, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'My role will be to take her message across the country.'
Opposition parties now recognise that the king on one side of the chessboard, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is ensconced, and unlikely to be shaken, although on his side there are no identifiable kings, queens, rooks, bishops or knights.
Five years after demonetisation, which sought to curb black money and reduce cash circulation in the economy, 70 per cent of respondents said they paid a large component of the total payment towards a real estate transaction in cash. About 16 per cent said they paid over half the amount in cash, observes Shyamal Majumdar.
'How does one square up the fact that despite the infusion of money at election time there was no price rise?' 'It is time the new government ordered an external audit of the RBI to find out the truth,' says Col Anil Athale.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday accused the Congress leadership of "desperation" in the face of his "tough" demonetisation decision and said it was the first time that a concerted effort was made by the Opposition to "openly" protect the dishonest through disruptions in Parliament.
He said that land, a state subject, was a big destination of black money while reform in political funding was also important
A handsome victory for the BJP in UP would act as confirmation of its recent political choices. The UP chief minister would be cemented in the popular mind as Mr Modi's chosen heir within the Hindutva fold, and presumably as his successor in New Delhi, observes Mihir S Sharma.
Kapoor has told the Enforcement Directorate that he was 'forced' to buy the M F Husain painting from Priyanka Gandhi and the sale proceeds were utilised by the Gandhi family for the medical treatment of Congress president Sonia Gandhi in New York, according to the charge sheet filed by the federal anti-money laundering agency in a special court in Mumbai.
'India's manufacturing will take 10-15 years to catch up with China.'
The broad patterns tell us that to sweep UP, the BJP has to retain its voteshares of the past three elections. But to merely win it, the party can do so while losing some voteshare, and perhaps up to as much as 10 per cent, observes Aakar Patel.
His about-turn in the farm laws proves that he sees everything in just one dimension: Politics. That helps sometimes. But not always, observes T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan.
'Who would want to be the man nominally in charge of driving the economy when your boss orders you to swerve it into a ditch of unknown depth?'
'Demonetisation demonstrates that this government is simply too amateurish in terms of economic policy-making to properly address India's deep, deep problems,' argues Mihir S Sharma.
Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs will continue their overnight protest at the Delhi assembly for the second consecutive day on Tuesday to demand the sacking of Aam Aadmi Party ministers over alleged corruption charges.
'The Covid situation is like demonetisation.' 'People were upset with the government initially, but eventually they voted for the BJP again.'
'The Presidential Years' would be the fourth to be authored by Mukherjee, who passed away on Monday at the R&R hospital at the age of 84.
'You can accuse him of many things but one thing you cannot accuse him of is being bad at politics,' says Aakar Patel.
The country may become militarily impressive, pile on GDP and the durbar of the ruling party may fill with the wealthy indebted to the rulers for their riches. But the spontaneous camaraderie of a free people will diminish and with it, our shared ownership of the country, warns Shyam G Menon.
Political funding of elections has led to the rise in black money in the economy.
The NCP minister said while fake notes were seized in other states after demonetisation on November 8 2016, there was not a single such instance in Maharashtra.
'The government is scared of this Congress yatra, that is why various orders and letters are being issued'
Modi is not being consistent with his past record of caution.' 'Has something changed in the way Modi does things?'
Shridhar Madhav Patankar, the brother of Thackeray's wife Rashmi, "owns and controls" Shree Saibaba Grihanirmiti Private Limited, it said.
As vice president and ex-officio chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Jagdeep Dhankar is inheriting a troubled legacy. Although the government faces no real numerical challenges in the Upper House, political and legal challenges are there aplenty.
Addressing party MPs at the general body meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party in the central hall of Parliament, she said when facing a significant national challenge, it has been the tradition in our country to bring Parliament into confidence.
While GST and insolvency laws are among the major achievements of the Modi government, the list of failures include demonetisation, toxic banks, manufacturing hiccups and most prominently bizarre job creation figures. Mihir S Sharma takes a look at the four years of Modi government.
'Modi was in as sweet a spot as is possible for an Indian prime minister in mid-term.' 'Why, then, did he plunge into this massive disruption?' 'The answer,' argues Ashok Malik, 'lies in a single word: Belief.'
'These guys who are running away -- they are running away from all that the BJP stands for.'
The minders of the Modi government's economic policy believe it would take 7 to 8 quarters -- or till around late 2018 -- for the economy to reap the rewards of demonetisation.
The PM has demonetised high currency notes to waive off Rs 1.14 lakh crore loans of industrialists and he is now planning for another waiver of Rs 8 lakh crore, he said.
'When you need to revive the economy, when you need to revive aggregate demand, you cut taxes.' 'But what's this government doing?' 'It's increasing taxes for the middle class and the vast majority of the poor on fuel, which has a ratchet effect on most other products.'
The central government, in its typical sledgehammer style, has unleashed the might of its investigative agencies like the Enforcement Directorate against NCP and Shiv Sena leaders.
Our work in last five years and the problems people are facing due to demonetisation will lead us to victory, he said.
