Since 2004, Amethi has been Rahul Gandhi's nursery: the seat from where the Congress party has been nurturing its plans for him to become PM.

A true leader is one who puts himself to tougher tests than others. Furthermore, he asks people to subject him and his utterances to closer scrutiny than they normally do with ordinary crowd-pleasers.

The Congress under Rahul Gandhi has lost the plot. On the pretext of establishing his pan-India leadership, he has decided to stand from Wayanad, a constituency in the southern state of Kerala, to fight not the BJP, which has little presence there, but the Left. In another southern state, Karnataka, the Congress is a partner in the ruling alliance....

As Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party announced that he would be contesting Wayanad in Kerala besides Amethi, his traditional seat, a huge outcry went up from the usual suspects.

It is not that there hasn't been visible change in the villages of India. Almost all villages have 18 hours or more of electricity, some access to water, latrines, many villagers have gas and a few even have pucca houses. But the fact is, real poverty hasn't disappeared.

"Agar firdaus bar roo-e zameen ast, Hameen ast-o hameen ast-o hameen ast" (If there is heaven on earth, it is here, it is here, it is here) -- Amir Khusro's famous words were ringing in my ears as I landed in Srinagar for my first trip to Kashmir.

Writers like Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti are telling our stories, undisguised and unsweetened - of a confident Naya Bharat that celebrates diversity, is inclusive and hopeful of overcoming the odds. What's not to celebrate - or watch?

The bigger question is what was the PM trying to achieve? In terms of electoral dividends, the address to the nation was an anti-climax. It raised expectations but delivered very little. If it was intended to seize the agenda back from Rahul Gandhi's NYAY, it was unlikely to work in rural India. Even the urban voter, who opinion polls show care mor...

As we approach the 2019 elections, five years after Narendra Modi was elected with a thumping majority on a plank of economic development, no one talks of achhe din or Modinomics any more. Is it a case of mission accomplished - or topic-change out of necessity? How does the Modi government's economic scorecard look if we consider some key in...

"... If history teaches us anything, it is that throughout the ages the woman diplomat has struggled to resolve a fundamental and existential tension between being representative of her country and being herself."

Is this going to be another election dominated by the aura of Narendra Modi's personality or will it be more a state-by-state result determined by the localised strengths of regional parties?

Priyanka Gandhi's entry has given a new dimension to the electoral battle in UP. Now the battle seems to have turned triangular. It is expected that this will split anti-BJP votes and will finally benefit Modi, but one should not hasten to any conclusion.

India has seen many successful leaders who have, individually or for their parties, won election after election. There are others who have been admired and cherished by their people. Few have been blessed with both. That is why Parrikar stood a class apart from most politicians of his generation.

To see just how badly they have bungled RCom, consider the stinging rebuke the lenders received from an appeals judge at India's bankruptcy tribunal last week:

The truth is that Priyanka and Rahul are wasted on UP. The Congress needs about 120-130 seats to be able to lead a multi-party coalition government at the centre. And it doesn't need UP for that.