The National Democratic Alliance was set to sweep the Bihar assembly polls, surging ahead in over 200 of 243 seats on Friday with the Bharatiya Janata Party emerging as single largest party with about 90 per cent strike rate, reaffirming the popularity and campaign clout of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was the face of the ruling alliance through the poll battle in the highly sensitive political state.
'When the BJP wanted the election to focus on 'ghuspathiya' and promises that look like pies in the sky, we forced them to talk about jobs, giving free 125 units of power, and addressing women's indebtedness.'
If he cannot do it this term by using his bureaucracy and experts from different fields, it will be a tragedy, asserts Ramesh Menon.
Left to its machinations, the BJP would have loved to cut Nitish down to size, but it can't afford to do so as the JD-U is in alliance with the BJP at the Centre, and cannot form a government on its own in Bihar. For now, both need each other: Nitish for legitimacy, the BJP for numbers, points out Ramesh Menon.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagging the 'deplorable' conditions in residential hostels for Dalit, ST, EBC, OBC and minority students and the delay in post-matric scholarships for those from marginalised communities.
The Department of Social Justice and Empowerment has received Rs 13,611 crore in the Union Budget announced on Saturday, while the allocation for disability welfare now stands at Rs 1,275 crore.
Jarange is a strident critic of the senior BJP leader and has routinely accused him of being the main obstacle in the Maratha community's quest for reservations.
Modi spoke to the BJP's longest serving president, who is credited with crafting the party's rise through the 90s when it came to power for the first time as the head of coalition governments under Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and congratulated him.
An institution of national importance must reflect the "national structure", the Centre told the Supreme Court on Tuesday while pointing out that around 70 to 80 per cent students studying at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) are Muslims even without reservation.
'This is going to generate a new debate on reservation because the quota for Economically Weaker Sections is 10%, and that is for nearly 16% of the population.' 'For 16% you are giving 10%. This is set to raise eyebrows among the OBCs after the caste survey.'
Political watchers say the caste survey report was made public to play the OBC-EBC card and stall the BJP's campaign to win most of Bihar's 40 Lok Sabha seats.
It's great to win election after election on the strength of Modi's charisma and voter appeal, but the larger the Modi myth grows, the more the BJP diminishes, notes Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
'...it gets a survey report that they are going to lose elections.' 'The fear of losing elections will make them immediately conduct a caste census.'
Important quotes from the Supreme Court judgment upholding the validity of the 103rd Constitution amendment providing 10 per cent reservation to people belonging to the economically weaker sections (EWS) in admissions and government jobs.
'He is exposing the failings of the BJP, which is rankling the party.'
At present, a 10 per cent EWS quota is in force for those sections of the society which are not covered by any kind of reservations. The central law on the EWS quota was enacted more than two years ago to allow reservation for the poor in jobs and education among the general category.
The National Judicial Commission Bill, 2022, was introduced after the majority of voice votes were in its favour.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday reserved its verdict on a batch of pleas challenging the validity of the 103rd Constitution amendment providing 10 per cent reservation to economically weaker sections (EWS) persons in admissions and government jobs.
Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) have been given 10 per cent quota in admissions and jobs out of 50 per cent general category seats for the first time without eroding the "totally independent" reservation for SCs, STs and OBCs, the Centre told the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
As we celebrate Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar's birthday on April 14, Subhash K Jha picks 5 fine films based on inequality and the caste system.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday posed a slew of queries to the Centre on the grant of 10 per cent quota in admissions and government jobs to the EWS category, saying the "slice of cake" of 50 per cent open general seats available to OBCs above the creamy layer now stands reduced to 40 per cent.
Anand Kumar, the founder of Super 30 tells Aditi Phadnis that IIT-JEE is not error-free and why he trains economically backward students each year to help them crack the exam.
A five-judge Constitution bench, headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan, gave a week time to all the states to submit their brief note of submissions after some of them sought time.
A separate ministry for welfare of nomadic tribes, 15 per cent quota in jobs and educational institutions for economically backward classes and stabilising prices have been promised in the manifesto of Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance for the October 13 Maharashtra assembly elections.
The chief minister has recommended 4 to 6 per cent additional quota under nomadic cateogry to certain castes including Gurjars, and 10 to 20 per cent to Rajputs, Brahmins, and Vaishyas under EBC, BJP national treasurer Ramdas Agarwal, who is also the Chairman of Gurjar special package committee, told reporters after a party meeting.
The DMK claimed in its plea that reservation is not a poverty alleviation programme but is more in the nature of social justice to uplift communities that have not had access to education or employment for centuries.
'When those in power fail on the twin fronts of employment and poverty, they have to play the reservation card'
Subhash K Jha picks five unforgettable Hindi films that capture the inequality of the caste system.
'Nitish Kumar was not happy about promoting R C P Singh as Union minister.'
The judgment came on a batch of pleas challenging the Bombay high court verdict which had upheld the grant of reservation to Marathas in admissions and government jobs in the state.
Internet and mobile SMS services have been suspended indefinitely by authorities in Rohtak district in the wake of protests by Jat community.
The bill proposes to make university or college as a unit instead of department for the purpose of providing reservation for filling teachers posts in central education institutions.
'The Congress has indeed become overly dependent on the RJD.' 'A few Congress leaders have successfully convinced the national leadership about the benefits of maintaining ties with the RJD.'
At present, 27 per cent quota in government jobs and educational institutions is given to OBCs, provided the annual income of the family is up to Rs six lakh. Those with higher earnings are referred to as the 'creamy layer' and are not eligible for reservation.
'Our legal team is doing their best to argue the matter in the court.'
The meeting was to know how the party plans to grant reservation to Patidars if voted to power in the upcoming assembly polls in Gujarat.
Patel told Congress to clear their stand on Patidar quota by November 3.
'...there are people in the NDA, who don't wish to see Narendra Modi as the prime minister. They are the ones circulating misleading news,' he claimed.
The Bharatiya Janata Party in Bihar is divided over the party's controversial MP Yogi Adityanath's stand on 'Love-Jihad'.
'As soon as the BJP feels they are going to lose power, they will publish the caste census data of 2011 and conduct the caste census of 2021.'
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