'Mamata is an emotional person, she follows her heart.' 'We loved that Didi, we still love her, but she is a changed person.' 'Why and how the change happened, who is responsible, I can't say.'
Legislators, bureaucrats feel an impact, with works relating to their constituencies stuck at various levels.
The first phase of the crucial panchayat polls in West Bengal will begin on Thursday even as the ruling Trinamool Congress kept up its attack against the State E1lection Commission.
'The Left's decline is now a reality, both nationally and in West Bengal.'Behind it lie: Ideological rigidity and confusion, outdated party programmes... a socially conservative upper-caste leadership,' says Praful Bidwai.
The reasons for the snail's pace at which the commission is proceeding are linked both to the government's indifference to it as well as the indifference of the parties appearing before it.
'If Mamata Banerjee doesn't want, then violence cannot be stopped.'
After an acrimonious split, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena are together again with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday announcing that Sena will be joining his government on Friday 'in keeping with the mandate' and will get 12 ministerial berths but there will be no deputy CM.
'When you have a village which is controlled by the BJP, who are the people likely to perpetrate the attack?'
'The TMC has become a private limited company.'
'We are hoping the preparations we have made will not be needed.'
'Modi is larger-than-life, but not invincible. Yet,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Aman Garg, 17 Devansh Kaushik, 17 and Anmol Gupta, 18 share their success journey.
With her various overtures and right noises at the right time, Mamata is once again trying to reshape her image from being a regional leader to one with national appeal and acceptability. After all, the charge of building a Federal Front may also bring to the fore Mamata's chances to become prime minister in 2019.
'There is no future for the Shiv Sena under Uddhavji's leadership.'
'In a democracy, how can you be scared of Amit Shah?'
Mayura Janwalkar travels to Kedambe, a tiny village in Maharashtra's Satara district, now better known as 26/11 hero Tukaram Omble's home. An excerpt from 26/11 Stories Of Strength by The Indian Express.
Why are far right Hindu organisations growing in strength? Why is there a rising subscription to Neo-Wahabism, the Saudi Arabian version of contemporary Islam?
'From chaiwala he has now become Rafalewala. He speaks a bunch of lies,' the West Bengal CM said.
'Mamata is synonymous with Bengal, its culture, language, traditions.'
The BJP and the Shiv Sena rule the state in coalition, apart from officially being partners in Delhi as well, while also never missing an opportunity to portray each other as a bungler deserving to be dumped.
Ramji Raghavan is using this principle to help village children from government schools enjoy science and maths. Indulekha Aravind reports
'The Chennai floods in particular clearly show there is a nexus between corruption, disaster, destruction and death.' 'Urban development in India is the source of all corruption.'
'These people are living on the edge of starvation and governments need to show much greater compassion towards them.'
'We have to find a way out of this confrontational politics.'
More than 25 years after the Babri Masjid was destroyed, another generation proclaims its commitment to building a Ram temple.
BJP President Amit Shah -- arguably the second most powerful politician in the nation -- granted a rare television interview to the Network 18 group of news channels. Rediff.com's Rajesh Alva checks out what the BJP boss said in this word cloud assessment of the interview.
