Nitish 'sent his emissary, Prashant Kishor, to me on five different occasions.' 'Kishor seemed to indicate that if I were to assure in writing my party's support to the JD-U, the latter would pull out of the BJP alliance and rejoin the Mahagathbandhan.' A revealing excerpt from Lalu Prasad Yadav's Gopalganj To Raisina: My Political Journey.
Priyanka Gandhi will strike a deal with Mayawati and not Akhilesh, says Nazarwala.
Mulyama's remarks came against the backdrop of marathon meetings Congress' poll strategist Prashant Kishor had with him in Delhi and Lucknow.
The marathon meeting, spread over two sessions and kept under wraps, came a day after top leaders of socialist-leaning parties attended SP's silver jubilee meet here -- a move seen as an attempt by Mulayam to forge an alliance ahead of the assembly polls hardly a few months away.
The election in Bihar will never be the same, reports Aditi Phadnis
'When corporates have a stake in the government through contributions to political parties, democracy, which is supposed to work for the common man, doesn't.'
The saffron party which has a lot at stake in the last two phases of polling scheduled for March 4 and 8 has moved its war room to Varanasi, entrusting Union ministers and senior leaders with the task of strengthening the campaign with the prime minister in the vanguard.
Official celebrations in most states were restricted to unfurling of the national flag and chief ministers and governors addressing the people, with fewer guests in attendance.
'Modi swept the 2014 elections for two main reasons: First, the disgust with the Congress government with a non-functional prime minister, and second, more importantly, his promise of performance and hope.' 'He cannot expect to win 2019 on these planks again. His own success in finishing the Congress will take away one plank, and with five years of reign on his CV, he will need to flaunt performance more than promise.'
Priyanka Gandhi was earlier actively involved in key decision making in the party along with her mother and brother, including the selection of new chief ministers for Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh recently.
Why Aaditya Thackeray's decision to plunge into electoral politics is significant.
'For the Congress, the family is the final court of appeal.' 'If there is no family, all leaders are equal.' 'If all leaders are equal, anyone can lead the Congress.' 'So every time the family has stayed in the background, the Congress has split,' points out Aditi Phadnis.
Forget India, UP won't accept Rahul's leadership, says Rita Bahuguna Joshi while joining the BJP
While the RJD has decided to deploy 50 tamtams, the JD-U has hired PM Modi's former campaign advisor to engage voters and counter the BJP.
'The people of India have not only challenged the ruling dispensation with the constitution, they have also opened the eyes of the leadership that sits in the Opposition.'
On the eve of the final phase of the Uttar Pradesh elections, Rediff.com's Aslam Hunani reviews the political landscape in the epicentre and beyond.
Modi could tap into the urban discontent and present a larger picture to first time voters and mid-career professionals.
All the BJP's present leaders from UP put together cannot win the state for the party. So how about an out-of-the-box leader like Subramanian Swamy, asks Nazarwala, the man who called right the 2007 and 2012 UP elections.
Nearly 1,500 akansha petis (boxes of aspirations) have been placed in colleges for students to reveal what they expect from a BJP government. While demonetisation figured high in villages, BJP strategist Siddharth Sikka says city youth were "more concerned" about law and order and sanitation.
A section within the RSS feels Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani should be projected as the BJP's CM candidate in UP, says Rajeev Sharma.
Even as the BJP dithers over what it needs to do, the Congress has stolen a lead by projecting its chief ministerial candidate -- Priyanka Vadra nee Gandhi, says Nazarwala, the man who called the 2012 UP assembly elections right.
There are also views within a section of the party that a turnaround in Uttar Pradesh is possible only if either of the Gandhis -- Priyanka or Rahul -- takes the lead in the state polls.
How he hopes to retain his fort is anyone's guess, says Nazarwala, the man who called right the 2007 and 2012 UP elections.
'All appointments are from one family. And this is the fundamental difference between the Congress and the BJP'
'The brutal violence of the UP government's first response to the anti-CAA protests suggests that the BJP will test drive the NPR/NRC in UP, where it has both a massive majority in the assembly and a chief minister whose instinct for Hindutva extremism and whose appetite for punitive policing allows a prime minister as darkly majoritarian as Modi to appear statesman-like,' notes Mukul Kesavan.
Through the yatra the UP CM would try to send the message that he was in the driver's seat, notwithstanding all the hue and cry within the party.
A full majority might be difficult, but Mayawati is in a commanding position this time.
But he doesn't want to shut the door completely on the Yadav family as that could create problems for him in 2019.
Nitish Kumar's decision to resign as the state chief minister was as dramatic as the time he decided to tie up with old foe Lalu in 2015.
'The unusual aspect of this election is that this time there is a triangular fight.' 'Previously, the fight used to be between two parties.'
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.
'For a party with a fuzzy ideology, one that lives only for power, having a leadership that thought vaguely about returning to power in the distant future was a distinct handicap,' points out Mihir S Sharma.
Akhilesh Yadav begins his campaign for next assembly election in Uttar Pradesh.
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
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
'The family is the final court of appeal, the first among unequals. If there is no family, all leaders are equal. If all leaders are equal, anyone can lead the Congress. So every time the family has stayed in the background, the Congress has split.'
The BJP wants to win a state where it has been out of power for 15 years. The Congress wants to make its mark in a state where it has been a bit player for nearly 30 years. And the BSP wants to recapture power it lost 5 years ago.
BJP leaders said the party will take corrective measures, while its long-time ally Shiv Sena appeared taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Faceless Ambedkarite groups from across the country are running BSP's election war rooms, writes Archis Mohan.
Even as there is a strong anti-incumbency mood in Punjab, the multi-cornered contest has made the 2017 assembly polls prediction more difficult.
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