Only in the event of the RSS managing to force Modi into accepting a consensual candidate, will the party not continue to 'being' the 'next Congress', observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has said that the date of Ram temple consecration in Ayodhya should be celebrated as "Pratishtha Dwadashi" as it marks the "true independence" of India, which faced "parachakra" (enemy attack) for several centuries. Bhagwat said that the Ram temple movement was not started to oppose anyone, but to awaken the "self" (swa) of Bharat so that the country could stand on its own feet and show the path to the world. He also said that the invaders destroyed temples of the country so that the "self" of India also perishes.
"If Rajmata Sahab was here today, she would be elated to see you put the nation first. I admire your strength of character and courage. It's good to be on the same team. Welcome to the BJP," she tweeted.
'Vijaya Raje Scindia had assured the prime minister that nothing would happen to the Babri Masjid'
Jyotiraditya Scindia, the grandson of the late Vijaya Raje Scindia, quit the Congress on Tuesday along with 22 MLAs, putting the 14-month-old Kamal Nath-led government in deep crisis. "His grandmother Vijaya Raje, once a close confidant of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, the great grandfather of Rahul Gandhi, had started her political innings in 1957 from the Congress. However, she left the party in 1967.
Exigencies of electoral politics and individual ambitions often stoke family feuds and sibling rivalries.
Some of India's best-known royals gathered in New Delhi to watch the final of the Sir Pratap Singh Polo Cup, which is named after Sir Pratap Singh, the man credited with the foundation of modern polo in India.
'Political convenience' and 'personal ambition' played a major part in Scindia's decision to the Congress, said a party leader.
Asked how he will feel now to work with Scindia whom the BJP targeted during the assembly polls campaign, Chouhan said, If anyone was popular among Congress leaders, it was Maharaj, so we used 'Maaf karo Maharaj' slogan. Now Shivraj and Maharaj are together in the BJP."
More than a year after playing a key role in installation of a Bharatiya Janata Party government in Madhya Pradesh, Jyotiraditya Scindia was rewarded with a berth in the Union Cabinet, a familiar terrain for the Rajya Sabha member who had served as a junior minister in the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government.
Jyotiraditya lost out on the chance to be among the youngest chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh, as Kamal Nath, 72, was picked for the top job in the state.
Heckling, confrontation and strong-arm tactics don't come to him easily, reveals Aditi Phadnis.
A u-turn by the BJP will be an apocalyptic occurrence in Indian politics and society, argues Amulya Ganguli.
The fact that Home Minister Amit Shah recently met Raje was a marker that Delhi will be compelled to take her more seriously than it would care to. Like B S Yediyurappa, she's a regional chieftain who can't be discarded at will, reports Radhika Ramaseshan.
Scindia, who was also named as its Rajya Sabha candidate from Madhya Pradesh by the BJP, hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his "competence and complete dedication" to serving India and asserted that the country's future is fully secure in his hands.
Madhavrao Scindia briefly left the Congress in 1996 and was later pacified to rejoin ranks
Singh said nobody anticipated that Scindia would quit the party.
With Scindia quitting the party, the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh appeared headed for a collapse.
'Unlike the Congress, the BJP is not a party that merely goes by family connections.' 'Scindia's future will depend on what he brings to the BJP table.' 'The BJP is also a party where vertical growth is mostly factored by RSS preferences.' 'To secure confidence of the saffron brotherhood, Scindia will have to be his grandmother's grandson and not his father's son,' notes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
People close to the erstwhile royal family underline that Jyotiraditya Scindia is neither as accessible nor as unpretentious as his father.
'Should the Congress take Jyotiraditya's departure as good riddance?', asks Mohammad Sajjad.
The imprudent, not to mention immature, attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi by Congress leaders, especially on the election trail, can only be read as a sign of nerves on the eve of an important poll battle.
'Change is the rule of politics.'
The Congress has been reduced from 440 seats in the Lok Sabha to 44 seats due its 'arrogance' but it is still not ready to introspect or correct itself, he said.
Even with the elevation of Nirmala Sitharaman to the post of defence minister, the party still needs to redress the gender imbalance and fill the 33 per cent quota in posts.
A modern day prince and princess are getting married in Bengaluru this weekend.
Far away from the glare of publicity lives Atal Bihari Vajpayee's family -- three sisters, nephews, nieces and their children. A large family proud of its bond with India's leader.
'In her insecurity, she destroyed the institutions of democracy.' 'She packed Parliament with her supporters with loyalty being more important than ability; she superseded judges; she corrupted the civil service.' 'She knew how to use people against each other and was quite a master of that.' 'She would do this with calculated skill and in the bargain cause enmity between brothers, split up families.'
'In her insecurity, she destroyed the institutions of democracy,' says Khushwant Singh.
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