Author: News Analysis India
Chances are, in contrast to most BJP leaders and activists who would be celebrating their mammoth victory, glancing with pride at the saffron-splashed map of India, when Amit Shah looks at it, his eye would not fall with delight at the hue that has covered states from Kashmir to Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat to Arunachal Pradesh, or the big new splashing of it in Bengal, Odisha and North East but rather on the 100-odd seats of south India where the colour is anything but saffron. The three states of Tamil Naidu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have been politically represented strongly by regional parties…
The Rahul Gandhi-led Congress finds itself ship-wrecked on a 52-square metre sinking island infested with snakes and surrounded by crocodiles and sharks. That’s the grim picture for the Congress after the just-concluded general elections. How could the 134-year-old Grand Old Party have done any better than its 52-seat tally, still three short of getting the leader of the opposition status, when it failed to open its account in 20 states and Union Territories (UTs) and could manage to get into double digits only in one state: Kerala? In sharp contrast, the BJP-led NDA won all the seats in 10 states…
Amidst attempts to convince him to change his mind about stepping down as party president, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday held a meeting with his sister and general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot, and Congress communication head Randeep Surjewala. Mr. Gandhi also separately met Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot at his 12, Tughlaq Lane residence. There may be more meetings in the evening even though there was no official word on it. Though none spoke to the media, presence of both the Rajasthan leaders is being taken as an indication that Congress’ top leadership is…
In a big blow to Mamata Banerjee, two of her West Bengal MLAs and at least 50 TMC councillors on Tuesday defected to the BJP just days after the saffronparty made significant inroads in the state. A CPM MLA has also jumped ship to the BJP.BJP leader Mukul Roy’s son Subhrangshu, who was suspended by the Trinamool for six years for “demeaning the party”, Trinamool MLA Tusharkanti Bhattacharya and CPM legislator Debendra Nath Roy are among those who have joined the saffron party. They joined the BJP at the party’s headquarters in the national capital in the presence of BJP general secretary Kailash Vijaywargiya and Mukul…
This is perhaps the first time that the three members of the Gandhi family are terribly at odds. Rahul has reportedly been urged by mother Sonia and sister Priyanka to remain in office – they are completely against his quitting. Ahmed Patel, his mother’s closest aide, apparently warned him at today’s meeting that the Congress will split if a Gandhi does not helm it. Rahul Gandhi so far has been inflexible. Sonia, who holds the distinction of the Congress’ longest-serving President, has given a giant hint about her feelings in a letter to her constituency Raebareli. She writes “I know that…
Two days after the Congress Working Committee ‘unanimously rejected’ party President Rahul Gandhi’s offer to reign, it appears that the leader is unlikely to change his mind about stepping down. Rahul Gandhi met with Congress leaders KC Venugopal and Ahmed Patel on Monday and conveyed that the party would have to find a new President as he would not give into pressure to continue in the top post. Telegraph’s Sanjay K Jha also reported that Rahul Gandhi had insisted that the new President should be from outside the Congress’ first family, ruling out the idea of his mother Sonia Gandhi…
The Bharatiya Janata Party’s landslide victory in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections is based on many stunning results. None is probably so compelling and puzzling as its phenomenal win in West Bengal. Almost all commentators, including the authors of this article, had underestimated the BJP’s performance by a wide margin. From a seat count of two in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP has increased its tally to 18 in 2019. Equally, if not more, impressive is the increase in its vote share from 16.8% in 2014 to 40.25% in 2019. In this article, we provide some preliminary attempts to…
BJP leader Mukul Roy described Trinamool Congress (TMC) president Mamata Banerjee’s offer to quit as the West Bengal chief minister following her party’s drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls as nothing but a drama to stay in the news. Banerjee would never step down from the chief minister’s post as she was more keen on relishing the powers of the chair, he said. “Mamata Banerjee offering to quit is nothing but a drama. She said all these only to stay in the news headlines. To whom did she submit her resignation? She herself is the party (TMC). Has anybody seen…
Perhaps no other speech that Narendra Modi has made since he became Prime Minister in 2014 has been so widely appreciated as the one he delivered at the meeting of the newly elected MPs of the National Democratic Alliance on Saturday in the Central Hall of parliament. It indicated that he wants to change the substance, idiom and image of his second term in office. Both admirers and critics could see the difference between Campaigner Modi and Captain Modi. After all, he had led the most polarising campaign in the history of parliamentary elections. But having won the renewed mandate, Modi,…
The Varanasi visit comes three days before he takes oath after being re-elected as Prime Minister for a second term. An LED screen was installed at the entrance of temple which live-streamed visuals from inside when he offered prayers. The chief priest performed a ritual with PM Modi. PM Modi won from Varanasi by a huge margin of 4.79 lakh votes. He not only retained his seat, but also saw his victory margin increase by nearly a lakh votes as compared to 2014. In a video message ahead of the May 19 polling, PM Modi had called himself a “Kashivasi (a resident…