No BJP president is powerful when the party is in power. Amit Shah is completely dependent on Narendra Modi's clout. He has a protective political immunity and everyone knows its source, says Bharat Bhushan
"K C Venugopal is a buffoon, I feel sorry for him, I feel sorry for my leader Sri Rahul Gandhi ji," Baig told reporters.
Amid the raging controversy over a conversion bid by some Sangh Parivar outfits, Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah on Sunday asserted that such incidents would not derail the party-led National Democratic Alliance government from its development agenda.
Launching a blistering attack against the Centre, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee termed state Transport Minister Madan Mitra's arrest as "political vendetta" and "dirty conspiracy" by the BJP and dared the NDA government to arrest her.
'Modi's interview style is distinct, and alas one that is increasingly being followed by others as well, notably by the man who is out to challenge him, Rahul Gandhi.' 'This may appear aggressive and combative to readers and viewers, but the fact is that sometimes it becomes unclear as to who is interviewing who,' discovers Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday said "positive" talks took place between 14 non-Congress and non-BJP parties for formation of a separate bloc in the Parliament which he said would be based on programme and not person.
Whose political stock is likely to rise and which leader is most likely to make an impact in the coming year?
The Islamic State (Daesh) in the latest edition of its online propaganda magazine warns that the terror group is preparing for fresh attacks in Bangladesh.
Here are 8 factors to watch out for, says psephologist Yogendra Yadav.
'They don't have a political strategy so they are going to try to deal with it purely as a law and order problem.' 'They will try to use the same strategy they have repeatedly used since 2014 in Kashmir.' 'Mr Modi has landed in a situation where he faces the possible prospect of not only being unable to Indianise Kashmir, but his actions may end up making the rest of India a virtual carbon copy of Kashmir.'
'This letter is not a complaint, it's more indignation, because we do not like being used as political tools by people of various parties.'
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.
Stating that the Third Front has no policy or commitment, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader M Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday termed the 'alternative' combination of parties as a "parking slot."
'So complete is Modi's takeover of the foreign ministry, that Swaraj today is less important than a minister of state for secularism in Modi's government!'
Mohammad Sajjad salutes the memory of Mushirul Hasan -- historian, thinker, academic, institution builder, -- who passed into the ages this week.
'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).
Kejriwal believes in good governance and takes pride in his Hindu identity, points out Sudhir Bisht.
'I don't practise yoga. How am I less of a nationalist than the person who practises it? Is it a crime if I don't practice it?'
'The reason I call Dadri a landmark turning point in our politics is the relatively muted response of the self-styled secular forces.' 'Top leaders of the Congress haven't even taken a padyatra to the village, just a 40 minute drive from Delhi. Lalu, Nitish, Mamata, all claimants to the secular vote, are afraid of messing with an issue involving the cow.' 'Holiness of the cow has now become as multi-partisan an issue as hostility to Pakistan,' says Shekhar Gupta.
'The mobilisation is nothing but a political ploy -- a sort of a fixed match between Hindu and Muslim communal forces, towards polarisation, in a run-up to the next election,' argues Mohammad Sajjad.
'Having taken the first step, Priyanka will do well to remember that politics is not a part-time occupation, nor is it meant for guest appearances and cameos.' 'It can't be that come June 2019 and Priyanka goes back to her cocooned life, to re-emerge five years later because the family business is in trouble again,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Bangladesh on Tuesday pressed anti-terrorism charges against several suspects and identified the fifth assailant in the country's worst terror attack as authorities intensified efforts to unravel the plot behind the brazen assault in which 22 people were slaughtered by Islamists.
'Both the governor and the President enjoy an enormous array of 'grey' powers.' 'All parties criticise these when in the Opposition. But why does no government dismantle them when these parties come to power?' asks Aditi Phadnis.
'Bhagwat, aware of the advantages of keeping the BJP in power, is wary about the RSS taking steps that would undermine the popular standing of either the PM or the party.'
'None other but the invincible chariot led by Modi and Shah could have taken up the challenge and won,' says Tarun Vijay.
Life has many challenges. You win some and lose some. You must enjoy winning. But do not let it go to the head.
'Mr Modi's next challenger/s will need to invent a new politics,' says Shekhar Gupta.
'Over the years he has been getting a feeling of being sidelined by his uncle.'
A combative Rahul Gandhi on Saturday signalled an aggressive campaign against the RSS soon and declared that a reinvigorated Congress alone can "smash" the BJP and its ideological mentor.
Veteran scientist P M Bhargava will return the awards he received from the government of India to protest against "the government's attack on rationalism, reasoning and science."
'He always had a choice to resign and walk toward the sunset in protest.' 'Instead, he chose to be a mute witness to one of the most sordid chapters of India's parliamentary history when MPs were bought up like cattle to steer the nuclear deal through,' says M K Bhadrakumar.
With the family patriarch ageing, his successor H D Kumaraswamy not keeping well, and palpable anger against his other son H D Revanna in the family pocket borough of Holenarsipura, the clan is seemingly in decline.
CM Sangma, introducing the resolution, alleged that the notification was "designed to affect" the people of the north-east in general and Meghalaya in particular.
Mark Tully on the India he loves.
An innovator creates intellectual property for a need no one knows exists, says Chandru Chawla.
'Hinduism is the mother of all religions; communal hatred should not be spread in its name.'
'Instead of camping in the cities and leading the party, leaders have to go to the interiors of the country.' 'The Congress is losing touch with the common man.'
'If majority of the country's population is sentimental about a certain species, why are we so ashamed to say that we want to give it statutory protection?'
Non-Congressism is the answer to India's current difficulties, says Dr Shambhu Shrivastava, who gives a historical perspective of non-Congress experiments in 1967, 1977, 1989 and 1998.
'It is imperative that all parties make a commitment that they shall abide by the final decision of the Supreme Court.' 'This will be the best way to bring a closure.' 'It is time India moves on to face several other challenges.'
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