This time Modi has no emotive message to take to the stump. Muscular nationalism doesn't work against the backdrop of China's successive inroads into Indian territory. Rising prices is a sore point that cuts across class and caste barriers; unprecedented levels of unemployment has the youth in a ferment. This has reduced the BJP campaign to a laundry list of recycled grievances and thinly veiled communal appeals, neither of which are working as well as they have in the past, argues Prem Panicker.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday suggested that if the Congress comes to power, it would redistribute wealth of people to Muslims and cited former PM Manmohan Singh's remark that the minority community had the first claim on the country's resources.
On Tuesday, the former minister also claimed that he wanted to table the diary in the assembly.
The Bharatiya Janata Party swept Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh on Sunday inflicting a resounding defeat on the Congress to tighten its stranglehold in the Hindi heartland, in a big boost for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and setting the tone for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
An embarrassed Union Minister K Chiranjeevi beat a hasty retreat on Wednesday after a youth objected to his jumping the queue to cast his vote in a polling booth in Hyderabad.
'What should surprise BJP supporters is Modi's call for 'stability' at the manifesto launch, a theme that he and his team members had not touched ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in 2014 and 2019.' 'The last time the party called for 'stability at the Centre' was in 1998 and 1999,' recalls N Sathiya Moorthy.
On a visit to his Tonk assembly constituency, the dissident Congress leader indicated that it was the last day before what was being seen as an ultimatum to Gehlot ends.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday assured the country that the beginning of building a "new and developed Kashmir" that will be free from terrorism has been made under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that full statehood would be restored to Jammu and Kashmir at an appropriate time.
'The BJP has started a war-like situation against farmers and the Jat community.'
'The economy is in a free fall.'
'And it's been declining for so long, so consistently, that the promise of growth and better days now looks a fantasy.' 'A mid-1970s kind of pessimism, even hopelessness, is growing among the young.' 'This isn't what Mr Modi promised them.' 'Their aspirations and needs are clear and present, and not being fulfilled,' notes Shekhar Gupta.
The PM appealed to politicians, members of the film fraternity, sportspersons, businessmen, spiritual leaders and members of the media to encourage increased voter participation and urged them to inspire more people to come out and vote during the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday promised loans to farmers and unemployed youth, creation of 15 lakh jobs and quota for Gujjar and other backward communities if voted to power in Rajasthan in next month's assembly election.
With no apparent wave on the ground or pressing everyday issues, that's what it boils down for voters as Rajasthan readies for assembly polls this week.
The SEC, which held a meeting on Sunday evening, went through reports of vote-tampering and violence which affected polling in many places, and passed the order, an official said.
He accused the BJP of starting a "factory of lies" and using huge cash to lure voters but said he was confident that the people of Amethi won't fall into this trap.
Shailaja Teacher, arguably the most famous Covid warrior in India, versus former student leader Shafi Parambil who defeated 'Metro Man' E Sreedharan in the last assembly election. Shyam G Menon reports from the Vadakara Lok Sabha constituency, which some feel is the most politically important contest in Kerala this election.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday received wholehearted support from a group of women from the troubled Sandeshkhali area who met her after a Trinamool Congress rally in Kolkata, party sources said.
'Baseball/softball, cricket (T20), flag football, lacrosse (sixes) and squash will be in the programme at LA28.'
'After giving my own money to this party, I was insulted.'' 'Neither this party nor its leaders have no respect for women.'
Cricketer Yusuf Pathan will contest from the Baharampur Lok Sabha seat, whereas Kirti Aazd will fight from the Bardhaman-Durgapur constituency.
'If he has not achieved 'Congress mukt Bharat' even now, the question of his creating a 'DMK mukt Tamil Nadu' does not arise,' points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Voting came to an end for the Karnataka assembly elections on Wednesday at 6 pm with data showing a voter turnout of 65.69 per cent an hour ago.
After staying away from campaigning till now, Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav on Saturday addressed his first rally where he sought votes for brother Shivpal, saying the election is important for both of them.
Yadav, a general secretary in the SP, also said once there is a change at the Centre, investigations will be conducted into the incident and claimed that prominent people will come under the scanner.
Infighting between Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot has been out in the open throughout the Congress term.
Leader of the opposition and People's Democratic Party, Mehbooba Mufti, has accused the central government and the Jammu and Kashmir government of using the youth of Kashmir as scapegoats to cover up militant attacks.
The 14-year political journey of Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra has encountered both upheaval and elevation, as her expulsion from Parliament in a cash-for-query case marked the culmination of her tumultuous parliamentary term.
'They have been imposing Hindi on Tamil Nadu,' says DMK spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai.
Asking Team Anna to clarify its stand on reservation issue, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Wednesday said he suspected "political ambitions" behind Anna Hazare's decision to expand his committee to include Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Muslims.
Batting great Sachin Tendulkar and Dilip Vengsarkar are among 39 international players eligible to vote in the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) elections, scheduled to be held in Mumbai on October 4.
Saddam, a businessman, is the eldest among the two siblings. He has studied in England. Sofiya Nabi Azad, his sister, has studied journalism.
'Modigate is snowballing into a huge thing with the electorate. The BJP is in for huge punishment by the electorate.'
The three main political parties in Pakistan on Sunday intensified their efforts for the formation of a coalition government after it became clear that the coup-prone country faced a hung Parliament after general elections marred by allegations of rigging.
'Rahul Gandhi never gets firsthand information. He does not know what is good or bad going on in the party.'
From the voter-level, traditionally anti-BJP, anti-Hindutva minorities and other secular voters would have an option, especially in the face of the mounting anti-incumbency against the ruling party -- as it happened in the 2001 assembly polls, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday accused the opposition of playing 'negative politics' and said now the entire country is rooting for corruption, dynasty and appeasement to 'quit India'.
The Congress has made lack of jobs, along with agrarian distress, its key election plank in the run-up to the December 7 assembly polls.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress remain the most dominant political forces in Chhattisgarh, though the state has several regional outfits that have pockets of influence, while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is making a determined bid to challenge its well entrenched rivals and make a mark in polls to the 90-member House.
The dates for the much-awaited WFI elections have been confirmed, with the results also set to be announced on the same day.
