'Rahul is not in a hurry. He believes he has time on his side. He wants to fight the battle in the long term, and believes the only way to do it is to reinvent the organisation.'

With a stunning tally of 21 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress has stumped each of its political rivals in the country's most important political state -- the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Samajwadi Party and Bharatiya Janata Party. It will given the Congress leadership the strength to keep both the BSP and SP away from the United Progressive Alliance.

In 2007, Mayawati won extensively in OBC strongholds and lost in some SC ones — those who voted for her were actually voting someone else out

'Why would the Bahujan Samaj Party nominate a Gujjar to fight from South Delhi and the BJP respond by nominating another Gujjar from the same seat?'

'Best Ramasamy', president of Tamil Nadu's newest party, says it is time that the state had a change in its leaders.

'If they get less than 150, they will be communal as far as the other parties are concerned. 150 will be a communal number and 150 and above will be a secular number!' Cho Ramaswamy on the 2009 Lok Sabha election.

'Today's national picture, where the power rests with the states and not with the Centre, is like the picture of India before the British took power in India,' says thinker Dr Ashok Mitra.

'A majority in Parliament is not necessary to run the government,' says Constitutional expert Subhash Kashyap, explaining the legal options before the President once the election results are declared.

'If the Left can get its plans and policies in place and is able to influence the direction of the new government, then we will join,' says powerful CPI-M leader Biman Bose.

'The Congress is the only party that can counter US imperialism and the Left Front has always attempted to put up a fight against imperialism. Logically, therefore, the Congress and Left must work together to battle against it,' says outspoken Bengal Minister Subhas Chakraborty.

BJP spokeperson Ravi Shankar Prasad says, 'It is the time for the real Manmohan Singh, the economist Manmohan Singh, to show his mettle in stemming the rot of the manufacturing sector, the industrial sector, the agricultural sector.'

'The BJP ran a miserable campaign and the Third Front, happily, was clueless. It also showed the disutility of a negative campaign where the BJP could not proffer any viable policy alternatives to Congress,' says Professor Sumit Ganguly.

'At the moment, we don't visualise any scenario where the support of the Left will be an indispensable factor. The Congress is comfortable with its present allies. We will add to their number in the coming days.'

'People of this state have suffered for long. Hence, their patience level is very low at the moment. We have to act double quick to improve the state of life in Bengal,' says senior Congress leader Krishnendu Narayan Choudhury.

'I feel Rahul Gandhi's emerging influence may do good to the Congress.' Political analyst Cho Ramaswamy on the post-election scenario.

'It has everything to do with the West Bengal government's policies. They were too much in a hurry. They should not have hurried through with the land acquisition,' feels RSP leader T J Chandrachoodan.

'She did not push him nor did she push the party in his direction. If she had declared him a leader, that would have been her biggest mistake. She did not do that,' says political thinker Sanjay Kumar.

'The demographics is that the majority of our voters and the majority of the population are youth, so we must make serious efforts,' says Biju Janata Dal MP 'Jay' Panda.

Election Commissioner S Y Quarishi on Election 2009 and the challenges many the Election Commission faced.

In a no-holds-barred conversation, Chandan Mitra, editor and managing director of The Pioneer, member of the Rajya Sabha and BJP supporter, tells Savera R Someshwar that the blame for the failure lies squarely at the party's door.

U.S. employers shed 701,000 jobs in March, in the worst month for job losses since the 2007-2009 recession. But these losses still don't show the pandemic's full impact on the labor market. WSJ's Eric Morath explains. Photo: JOHN MINCHILLO/ASSOCIATED PRESS

With elections just weeks away, Child Relief and You asks that political parties to focus on issues that affect children.

It was once hoped that curbing election expenses would keep the process fairer. Today, the opposite is true, and neither the UPA nor the NDA wants to disturb this comfortable arrangement. Kannan Kasturi reports.

The current national elections have set high standards in management, organization, transparency and fair selection of people's representatives. Now, the chosen representatives must understand that people have voted for governance, writes Arvind Verma.

While the entire country appeared unimpressed by the Aam Aadmi Party and its promises, Punjab not only sent four of its candidates to the Lok Sabha, but also overcame the rural-urban divide in its mandate for the party. Srinivasan Ramani explores why.

Not conducive for independents at all. It is unfortunately so because the political system frowns on these people because they would not fit in into it and if they were allowed in, it would cause huge embarrassment. They are outsiders and would be kept out while a even a rebel can return home and be embraced for he is one of 'them'.

M Karunanidhi, who is keen on ensuring that all his children are well settled before he passes into the ages, needs to learn from President Kalam's example.

'The chips are down for the BJP today, it doesn't show that the issues have been rejected or defeated. People have supported it because it is perceived as the only party that doesn't feel embarrassed to protect the Hindu ethos.'

Forget the first 100 days spiel about what Dr Manmohan Singh will do to kickstart the economy. That's just media hype and, in any case, the economy's on a recovery-path. As has been seen over just the last few days, despite the Congress getting 206 seats in the Lok Sabha and getting support letters from 100 more Members of Parliament, Dr Singh still hasn't been able to form his government -- just 19 ministers were sworn in with him.

Phase IV: BSP has most 'tainted' candidates

The proactive engagement with business and corporate leaders and the reciprocation in turn indicate Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's ability to exploit the superficiality and lack of ideological depth on part of those preoccupied with profit and business isolated from a larger world view, feels Jatin Bhatt

BJP vice-president Purshottam Rupala tells the media, "The initial results are in favour of the BJP, I am sure of our victory. Though we expect a lot more seats, still there is an hour to go before the final results are declared."

With the tide in favour of Narendra Modi, his shift to Delhi is inevitable. Aditi Phadnis examines

'Unless he engages with the darkness within, unless there is remorse for what happened within his rule, I don't think he is going to be my leader,' says filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt in his forthright style.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's march towards a two-third majority was halted by the presence of Keshubhai Patel's party in Saurashtra and the saffron outfit suffered reverses in Chief Minister Narendra Modi's own backyard of north Gujarat.

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday said its top leaders will attend the oath-taking ceremony of Narendra Modi as Gujarat chief minister on December 26.

Supporters of a "dislike" button, which Facebook does not have, say the culture of Facebook has become too nice. WSJ's Andy Jordan reports from San Francisco on what some creative contrarions are doing to game the Facebook system to "get" a dislike button.

Its getting tougher to tell the difference between a joke and a real app in Silicon Valley. Some apps which begin as spoofs, like "Jotly", are getting serious attention, as WSJ's Andy Jordan finds out.

For those without a ticket at the London games, there's another option. A game design group, Hide&Seek, has placed 99 "Tiny Games" in each of London's 33 boroughs. They're meant to be happened upon, and as WSJ's Andy Jordan finds out, they can lead to some random and funny situations.

Keiko Neutz, 87, died of Covid-19 in March. Her family wasn't able to be by her side, so they said goodbye through a series of video chats. Photos: Neutz family

The new iPhone SE may seem like a sad, recycled phone but it's more than that. WSJ's Joanna Stern (with the help of an animator) brought the budget phone to life to explain how its performance and camera tricks make it a worthy option—even compared to its expensive, bigger iPhone 11 siblings.

By bringing the benefits and the knowledge of science to their people, Haseena and Tajunnisa have helped secure the future for the resources on which their families depend. Their home, Agatti, has, now become a model, writes Papri Sri Raman.

A voter discusses the chances in the Sawaimadhopur Lok Sabha seat in Rajasthan where Colonel Kirori Singh Bainsla, who led the Gujjar agitation last year, is the BJP candidate.

'I run up to every neta who campaigns on the roads and tell him about our problem. It is not only me but the rest too have not been paid. It is not as though we don't work. I work from 8 am to 6 pm.'

'We have tried both DMK and the AIADMK. What have we gained? Nothing! Now, let us give him a chance. If he doesn't perform, we can change him then.'

Land pooling has helped steer development in Ahmedabad more equitably than in many other Indian cities, but with some limitations and challenges still to be overcome. A World Resources Institute report provides insight.

In January, the Ratan Tata-chaired Investment Commission green-lighted coal-to-liquids (CTL) technology for India and the goverment appears eager to develop policy to promote CTL. But beyond the pressing demands for energy security and new investment lies a starker reality less seen by the public, notes Sunita Dubey.

The Electricity Act, 2003 requires each hydel project to be considered in light of other projects in the same river basin, but investigation of one project shows that this is not really enforced, writes Shripad Dharmadhikary.

Our personal choices directly impact the pressure on managing infrastructure support that we all need for energy, water, and waste management, writes Chandrashekar Hariharan.

When nuclear companies are unwilling to stake their financial health on the safety of a reactor, how can the Government ask local residents to risk their lives, ask M V Ramana and Suvrat Raju.