The BJP moved with tyre-burning speed to clinch numbers and power in Goa and Manipur, where the verdict wasn't purely in its favour. One Chief Minister has already won a trust vote, another will get there soon.

The resounding win in UP is not a full stop in the BJP's political effort in the crucial state but just a comma. If the party has risen to the top from spot 3 by winning over diverse caste groups to lay the foundation for the general election in 2019, the real test starts now.

I recall on Sunday, March 5, the "Modi-Modi" chant at Varanasi's Pandeypur from a sea of saffron-capped heads wasn't abating. Every minute, in groups, people with BJP flags in their hands would join the swelling gathering. The BJP had prepared for the PM's Road Show Number Two in Varanasi in as many days. Campaigning was to end the next day.

On the main arterial road in Ayodhya, Santosh Bhargava lifted a kerosene stove he had repaired and came forward to hand it to a customer. His spine bent after 83 years of a life of struggle in the temple town. I had met him several times from the start of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement in the late 80s - till the peak 90s. He used to repair harmoniums...

Najib, with his popcorn cart, has increased the frequency with which he visits the primary school 'chabootra' (a round cemented platform) in Mau village each day. The village elders and men would gather only once each day before members of the Samajwadi Party's first family went to war against each other. Now debates erupt like corn in his hot pan ...

On Lucknow's Vikramaditya Marg, Mulayam Singh Yadav's house and the new residence of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav share a wall. On Sunday night, hours before a meeting called by Mulayam Singh, this wall represented a divide that father and son may not even be planning to bridge. The pale half-moon was positioned right between the two white bungalo...

The Aishbagh ground in Lucknow will host Prime Minister Narendra Modi today for the annual Ramlila, which depicts the slaying of Ravana (evil) by Ram (good).

Despite the clamour, the government remains committed to not releasing evidence of the strikes. The PM saw the "evidence" right after the action.

As the Kashmir region spent its 48th day without any signs of peace, alarm bells are ringing in the central government. Home Minister Rajnath Singh's outreach is a desperate bid by the centre to retrieve even partially the situation in the Valley. Apart from the Home Minister's "doors open for talks", the centre is preparing for the long haul.

Urjit R Patel will be stepping into Raghuram Rajan's big-sized shoes from September 4. But he has been walking through the minefield of Indian economy long enough behind Mr Rajan and won't need a map.

If searching for messages from the cabinet reshuffle and expansion exercise yesterday, this is the stand-out: PM Modi has indicated that no one is indispensable.

Politics is predatory, but sometimes all pretence at civility is abandoned and politicians, like gladiators, don't mind letting blood show on their hands. Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh are instances, though not the first and certainly not the last.

A year ago, the name Vijay Mallya evoked a response very different from what it does today in Parliament House.

But insiders on both sides admit that India has had to wait since 2011 for its biggest tax reform not because the bills had flaws in them or for a lack of consensus, but simply because the battle is political not numerical.

Ashok Singhal will be remembered as one of the most divisive figures in Indian politics without ever being in active politics.