On Election 2014: 'So far it looks like a one horse race. The difference between the first and the second challenger is so large that if the first one looks back in the last round, he'll probably not see the second one anywhere.' On the AAP prospects: 'They should be happy if they're able to open their account.' On Rahul Gandhi: 'He has a confused message. His campaign is in the abstract. And his campaign has nothing to offer.' Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley in a free and frank conversation with Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt.
The Congress, out of power in UP for 27 years is making a big pitch to bounce back, on a cocktail of caste politics and promises of agriculture debt waiver worth Rs 49,000 crore and power rate reduction for farmers hit by high input costs and diminishing returns., reports Amit Agnihotri.
Pressures in the BJP-Akali Dal alliance have created grounds for a rise in extremism.
'Freebies are yet be proven a 'pucca' vote-catcher. But don't say that to KCR because he takes pride in two things: His record of delivery and imagination,' says Shekhar Gupta.
Sidhu said that the corridor would promote peace and erase "enmity" between India and Pakistan and create infinite possibilities between them, including the resumption of cricket ties.
'Across the political spectrum, especially from the side of the NDA itself, there is complete disillusionment (with the way the BJP is treating its allies).' 'This leaves a very bad taste in the mouth.'
'Which path should Muslims take politically as they have been completely marginalised?'
Andhra Pradesh posted 8.14% consumer inflation in October.
'Rahul is misguided by a handful of family retainers who don't want him to show unrestrained initiative in forming allies.' says Sudhir Bisht.
'When you start delving deeper into these disappearances, you have to face the question: Was it a policy at the State level?' 'It surely couldn't have been random officers acting on their own.' 'Was it planned? What does it mean if the State allows its police to become lawless and act with impunity?' 'Perhaps the NHRC, for the 21 years that it has been seized of the matter, avoided these questions.'
Confrontation between the Sikh bodies of Punjab and Haryana has become more political than religious, says Rediff.com contributor Upasna Pandey.
A series of bypoll losses has pushed the Modi government into panic mode. Uncharacteristically, it's letting events dictate its actions, says Shekhar Gupta.
Hitting out at the Badals, the ruling family of Punjab, the Delhi chief minister said that once his party comes to power, it will launch a commission of inquiry against the family to investigate their 'misrule' in last ten years and send them behind bars.
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Union Minister and senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily on Saturday claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party was turning to be a friendless party after it named Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who lacked a pan-Indian acceptance, as chairman of its National Campaign Committee.
Its governing allies are not happy on the economy and complain of ignored concerns but find themselves unable to be assertive.
'...Take him in the sense that I will defeat him. This is just our military term... If there's anybody today who's anti this government, it is the youth of Punjab. All of them are being coerced, there are no jobs being created, all of them are taking to drugs because of frustration... There is no Narendra Modi factor, there is no national anti-incumbency. In Punjab there in only anti-Akali incumbency.' Former Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, once the Maharaja of Patiala, pulls no punches when taking about his rivals, especially his BJP opponent from Amritsar Arun Jaitley and the Badals, in this no-holds-barred interview with Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com
Thursday's judgement implies that the 2004 Act was not in consonance with the apex court judgement of 2003 which had mandated the construction of the SYL canal that has been stalled.
Taking a swipe at the Bharatiya Janata Party, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday accused it of bringing in supporters from other parts of the state for Prime Mister Narendra Modi's rally in Srinagar.
'I support Udta Punjab because we must show the reality of Punjab.' 'If there is a problem, it should be highlighted, not hidden.' 'The truth must come out and people must know the harmful effects of drugs.'
The initiative would provide double the relief announced by the states of UP and Maharashtra, the Punjab CM said.
Having focussed excessively on the Congress, and continuously drawing a Modi-Rahul parallel as if it were the sole selling point, the BJP has lost sight of the regional parties that are seeking to take the centre-stage, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'I hope he will continue to be what he is. And doing so, he won't be much different from those whose example he is being given right now,' says Utkarsh Mishra.
The 52-year-old former cricketer and commentator who is also a popular television personality, was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in April.
On Election 2014: 'So far it looks like a one horse race. The difference between the first and the second challenger is so large that if the first one looks back in the last round, he'll probably not see the second one anywhere.' On the AAP prospects: 'They should be happy if they're able to open their account.' On Rahul Gandhi: 'He has a confused message. His campaign is in the abstract. And his campaign has nothing to offer.' Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley in a free and frank conversation with Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt.
Supreme Court advocate and Aam Aadmi Party member H S Phoolka on Saturday resigned from all his posts in the party, saying he wants to focus on the 1984 riots cases of Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler, which are at a very crucial juncture.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar wants the Modi government and BJP to reap the profit of the surgical strikes. But electoral history suggests a political party's ability to exploit military successes for poll gains has a mixed record.
'It will be a mistake to imagine that Sidhu will be a permanent feature of the Congress' Punjab scene,' says Amulya Ganguli.
With the National Democratic Alliance being reduced to a three-party alliance after Janata Dal-United's exit, Shiv Sena on Monday asked the BJP to explain its plans to bring in new allies, saying, "Friends don't grow like trees."
Bollywood celebs take to Twitter to voice their opinion on the Udta Punjab controversy.
'Feeling claustrophobic and humiliated by the manner in which the Congress vice-president was treating him, he started toying with the idea of floating his own party.'
'Once the violence is contained, the politicians must play their role, but unfortunately that is not happening.'
You'd wonder what madness seized Rahul that he has decided to play to the BJP's strengths, says Shekhar Gupta.
The former cricketer reiterated his love for his state, saying he would choose it over any party or family.
A beaming Amarinder Singh thanked the people of the state for their overwhelming support, saying he was committed to good governance and tackling the drug menace.
Congress' Amarinder Singh on Wednesday said that Navjot Singh Sidhu would have been a tougher contestant from Amritsar than Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley whom he dismissed as a "nominal candidate".
Arun Jaitley and Amrinder Singh, locked in an intense battle for Amritsar Lok Sabha seat, were on Monday engaged in a fresh war of words, this time on the 1984 riots, with the BJP questioning the "clean chit" to Congress leader Jagdish Tytler.
The babas' vote banks and the politicians' greed for en bloc votes, is the curse of Punjab and Haryana.
Citing documents, AAP leader and an advocate fighting for the victims of the 1984 riots, H S Phoolka, claimed that Nath was a part of the mob that attacked the Rakab Ganj Sahib Gurdwara in Delhi on November 1, 1984. Two Sikhs were also burnt to death in the attack.
The only factor working against the AAP, and in favour of the Congress, is the infighting in the former.
'The Pathankot episode shows that the security forces handled the attack well after the initial setback, although there is no denying that there are shortcomings in India's security grid that need urgent correction,' says national security expert Nitin Gokhale, founder, BharatShakti.in
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