'Other communities are also equally frustrated, but they have not been able to put up a front so far. Now a wind of change is blowing,' says Gujarat Congress leader Arjun Modhwadia.
On June 6, five farmers were killed as the agitation by peasants turned violent in Mandsaur.
Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's task is to live down the hype and address the nitty-gritty, reports Radhika Ramaseshan.
Sharad Pawar of the Nationalist Congress Party, Sharad Yadav of the rebel Janata Dal-United, D Raja of the Communist Party of India, Hardik Patel (Gujarat's Patidar leader), Dinesh Trivedi (Trinamool Congress) and Sushilkumar Shinde (Congress) attended the meeting and joined the march.
Police on Tuesday lifted the ban they had imposed on mobile internet, social media and SMS services in the wake of violence during the Patel stir in various parts of the state last week.
National Democratic Alliance allies on Monday put up a united front amid vocal demands being made by some parties on their share of seats in Bihar polls but the crucial issue of seat-sharing was not discussed at their maiden joint meeting chaired by Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah.
Tension persisted on Friday in violence-hit Gujarat which has been rocked by the Patel quota reservation stir even as curfew was lifted from many cities and some parts of Ahmedabad and no major incident reported since on Thursday.
The Trinamool Congress and Nationalist Congress Party, have indicated that their party chiefs have better credentials for the post than the newly-elected Congress head, reports Archis Mohan
'It will not be a battle of unequals as it may have been thought a few months ago, but one on more or less a level playing field.' 'The Gujarat outcome cannot but breathe new life into the Congress for having almost succeeded in bearding the lion in its den,' says Amulya Ganguli.
'It is clear that economic policy and reform under this administration will always be afterthoughts, something to be carried out only when no other political concern intervenes -- when, in other words, the government feels safe and comfortable enough to take a moderate risk,' argues Mihir S Sharma.
'Given that he would have a good understanding of how many jobs the economy can create at the moment, was Modi hailing the modest pakoda-seller to infuse some charm in self-employment?' asks Udit Misra.
"Some persons chased my car near Bayad (in Aravalli district)... then I was picked up by some persons.. after that I was made to sit in a car for the entire night," Hardik told reporters.
Banerjee feels that as long as Sonia Gandhi is the leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party, she should be the undisputed leader of a united front of opposition parties, reports R Rajagopalan.
Amid tight security, the funeral of a 32-year-old man from Patel community, who allegedly died in custody after being caught by police during the quota violence, was held in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
Anandiben insists her daughter was not involved in any land allocation scandal.
At a press conference, the Congress president-elect also said, "What Modiji has said about former PM Manmohan Singh is not acceptable."
The narrow win in Gujarat can be contributed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his no-holds-barred approach and party president Amit Shah who plays to win and knows that there are rules to be followed when suited and broken when needed.
The Congress, desperate to make a comeback in Gujarat, which has been ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party for over 20 years, has tried to reach out to various sections of society in its blueprint unveiled.
In his campaign blitzkrieg in poll-bound Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday accused the Congress of seeking to divide the people on caste and religious lines.
''The Congress has forgotten how to mobilise people on political issues,' says Aakar Patel.
Smartly blending its development agenda with Hindutva politics, the BJP has not lost assembly elections in the state since 1995.
A summary of Friday's Super League matches in the Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament.
With her various overtures and right noises at the right time, Mamata is once again trying to reshape her image from being a regional leader to one with national appeal and acceptability. After all, the charge of building a Federal Front may also bring to the fore Mamata's chances to become prime minister in 2019.
'In a democracy, how can you be scared of Amit Shah?'
'Gujarat should have been a breeze. But the Patidar agitation and economic uncertainty queered the pitch.' 'Yes, the BJP won and its rank-and-file will take great comfort in the assembly victory. But the leadership is taking stock for a very tricky set of elections coming up in 2018.'
'Gujarat is a high turnout state and the BJP, even if it leads opinion polls, must ensure that its base comes out and votes.' 'The Congress can be confident that, even though its base is smaller, their voters will turn out because they are angry.'
'Had Sam Bahadur not dictated the timing of India's military intervention, Bangladesh would not have been created without a prolonged battle.' 'Manekshaw's strategy won the war for India in just 13 days,' says Sudhir Bisht.
The quota stir by Patels has led to the emergence of new leaders on the political scene of Gujarat.
At the best, the so called Rs 1.25 lakh crore package will not provide anything more than Rs 10,368 crore as additional or incremental resource to the state, said Chief Minister Nitish Kumar
The Congress forget Modi has demigod status in Gujarat and there is no way he can be defeated in the state, argues Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
As lakhs of Patels gather for a rally seeking reservations, Ahmedabad has 20,000 cops ready with water cannons, drones, surveillance cameras, bomb disposal squads and quick response teams to maintain law and order, reports Prasanna Zore/ Rediff.com from Ahmedabad.
Army was called in on Wednesday to help control widespread violence sparked by quota agitation by Patel community in Gujarat which has claimed seven lives even as curfew was clamped in several areas.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah and chief ministers of various BJP-ruled states attended the ceremony.
Pacer Jasprit Bumrah produced his career-best spell in first-class cricket as Gujarat staged a sensational comeback to beat Jharkhand by 123 runs and reach their second ever final of the Ranji Trophy cricket Tournament. Bumrah finished with figures of six for 29 and alongside veteran pacer R P Singh plotted the downfall of Jharkhand, who were skittled out for 111 in their second innings after being set a target of 235 runs on day four of the semifinal.
Left-arm spinner Vijay Gohil registered his best first-class bowling figures to put defending champions Mumbai in firm control against Hyderabad in the quarterfinal of the Ranji Trophy cricket tournament in Raipur on Monday. Gohil picked up five wickets giving away just 28 runs from his 10 overs to reduce Hyderabad to 121 for seven while chasing 232 runs for an outright win at stumps on the fourth and penultimate day of the match. Besides Gohil, Abhishek Nayar (2/27) picked up two wickets for the 41-time winners.
'In Gujarat, for 22 years when the BJP was in power, they sold only dreams, but the delivery was zero.'
Over 20 political parties, except the Biju Janata Dal and the Communist Party of India-Marxist-led Left Front, took part in the massive rally.
The result in Gujarat was not as grand as the saffron party had expected as the party did not even cross its 2012 tally.
A total of 89 seats -- out of 182 -- spanning the Saurashtra and south Gujarat regions, are up for grabs in the first phase with 977 candidates in the fray, including Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.
Expressing concern over damage to public and private properties during violent protests, the Supreme Court on Wednesday said it would lay down "parameters" to fix accountability for losses on organisers as the country cannot be held to "ransom".
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