PM Modi as Secure and Confident at Helm as Ever

Allies TDP, JD(U) and LJP (RV) have turned out to be strong pillars of support, outdoing each other in lauding PM Modi's leadership

- AGENCIES

As the Modi government marks its first anniversary in its third term and 11th overall on Monday, the Prime Minister looks as secure and sounds as confident at the helm as ever, while his two allies have not turned out to be unreliable crutches, as the opposition hoped, but strong pillars of support, outdoing each other in lauding his leadership.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi sounded upbeat on the back of the BJP's unexpected loss of majority in the Lok Sabha polls. But the BJP went back to the drawing board to recraft its political and governance outreach and regained momentum by notching up surprisingly big wins in a string of assembly polls; the burst of fresh optimism in the main opposition Congress and other INDIA bloc parties fizzled out.

If the BJP turned the tide in Haryana and Maharashtra, two states where it suffered reverses in the Lok Sabha polls, on the back of its welfare measures and social engineering associated with regional leadership, it finally wrested Delhi after 26 years, eclipsing its plucky adversary Arvind Kejriwal of the Aam Aadmi Party on his home turf.