Syed Firdaus Ashraf covers national politics, and sometimes movies too -- a truly wide arc! You can e-mail the author at firdausa@rediff.co.in
'The government does not want to be transparent or accountable. Therefore, they do not want to appoint information commissioners.'
'Mrs Gandhi had nothing to do in the day-to-day working of Dr Singh's government.' 'People say Mrs Gandhi's office used to give orders, which is nonsense.'
'During his stint as prime minister, he got 270 million people out of poverty.' 'This, according to the World Bank, is the fastest compression of poverty anywhere in the world.' Arvind Mayaram, the former finance secretary, recalls his encounters with Dr Manmohan Singh.
'He used to do his homework before singing a song.' 'He used to find out who the hero of the movie would be or the situation in which the song would play in the film.' 'Accordingly, he moulded his voice.' 'For example, he sang Tel Maalish and Main Bambai Ka Babu for Johnny Walker in Johnny Walker style.' 'He would sing in different tones for Shammi Kapoor, Dilip Kumar and Guru Dutt.'
Simran Shaikh stays in a tiny 12 by 12 feet room along with her grandmother, parents and siblings. On Sunday, her life changed perhaps forever when she became the most expensive hire at the Women's Premier League auction.
'In the case of a road accident, prevention is the only answer.' 'There's no cure to death or disability when the accident happens, and when it's due to reckless or negligent driving, it's worse because it's avoidable.'
'Maharashtra is virtually in a debt trap.'
Allu Arjun broke the myth that dubbed South movies don't do well at the pan-Indian box office, and became a brand.
'What is the harm in having more polling booths?'
'We accept EVMs cannot be hacked because it is not connected, but can they be manipulated?' 'Are you allowing us to check if EVMs can be manipulated?'
'This is leading to anarchy.'
'There are 7,000 guns which are in the hands of the armed militia of the Kuki and Meitei communities.'
'Party workers sit outside polling booths and they know everything that is happening.' 'Besides, as a voter when you push the EVM button to vote there is a paper slip that comes out showing you who you voted for.'
'Pro-incumbency worked big time for the ruling party.' 'It has never happened in the past of pro-incumbency working so much for the ruling party.'
'Maharashtra election result is a chamatkar of EVM.' 'There has been a sudden one percent rise in the voting percentage after the counting day.' 'This is what made the difference to the election results.' 'How did this vote percentage increase after counting day?
'If someone fiddles us on our religion then we will pay back five times more to that person. We have proved that time and again.'
'The reason I am not anxious about the opponent facing me in the front (Ajit Pawar) is because of who is standing behind me like a rock (Sharad Pawar).'
'We have given riot-free Maharashtra in our 18-month rule.'
'That was my mistake.' 'Gautam Adani was not involved in forming the Maharashtra government.' 'Adani was not there in the meeting.' 'The meeting was at his guest house and we were sitting in his guest house.'
'When I see people's faces I can see that there is a certain sadness in their eyes which makes me unhappy as a person.' 'I want to see people happy in their lives.'
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