Governments in most of the world saw their approval ratings dip as they struggled to contain the raging virus, which hit economy hard everywhere, but Indian politics followed a different script, with the outgoing year marking further shrinking of a rudderless Congress while the ruling BJP soared riding on Modi's enduring appeal.
The sadhvi, while replying to a question by a media person regarding Dadri lynching case said people who eat beef and kill our 'mother cow' should face the consequence similar to the one faced by the victim, Mohammed Ikhlaq.
The BJP needs to revisit its strategy ahead of the forthcoming Haryana and Maharashtra assembly elections, says Dharmendra Kumar Singh
'Every family in UP has been deeply affected in this second wave.' 'It has only been denial, denial, and denial by the incumbent CM.'
She also vowed to waive farmers' loans up to Rs 1 lakh per head.
This must be the first time in India's history that it has found itself bracketed with countries in a category which political scientists will not rate very highly if only because the group recalls Nazi Germany as one of its most infamous past members, notes Amulya Ganguli.
'Dalits are not going to vote for the BJP in 2019.'
Manoj Bajpayee simply lives, and loves, the role -- of a man who life is fast passing by, and who continues to live the lie of a simple government servant, observes Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
'At a time when the economic situation in the country warrants the closest attention of the government, India can ill afford a situation where the citizenry and the government enter into confrontation on the roads'
'For the Hindutva lobby, there is cause for worry.'
'No more than 43 per cent of the people who were asked by Sushma Swaraj to say whom they supported stood by the trolls.' 'As many as 57 per cent do not approve of the minister's traducers,' says Amulya Ganguli.
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'Every person is a Jatayu, each one of you can be Jatayu, both men and women,' says temple priest behind the group set up to prevent atrocities on women and young girls.
In the midst of a raging row over the conversions in Agra by Hindutva outfits, the Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah on Friday favoured a strong law to stop forcible conversions.
But, Haasan said he one could not rule out an electoral alliance between the two.
More than 750 constituencies spread across four states and one union territory will go to the polls on Tuesday
People are unhappy with the performance of Narendra Modi government at the Centre during its first 100 days as it has failed to keep its promises on rising prices and inflation, the Nationalist Congress Party said on Saturday.
From the standoff with China to the government's response to the farmers' protest, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh holds a freewheeling talk.
Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje breaks her silence.
The colour has been rendered to activities that would have astonished Swami Vivekananda, says Sunanda K Datta Ray.
Strident Hindutva has not been the Shivraj Singh Chouhan's hallmark in his long tenure as chief minister. What has changed?
During the hearing, which went for over two hours, the woman said she wanted to go with her husband Shafin Jahan.
Hadiya is at the centre of a nationwide controversy after her marriage with a Muslim man.
'From now on, every time Modi takes a foreign dignitary in his arms, the Indians will remember how he was taken aback when an Indian indulged in hugplomacy,' says Amulya Ganguli.
Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh will be over before any action would be taken against BJP president Amit Shah and MP Yogi Adityanath for their alleged hate speeches, says Sharat Pradhan
Congress charged that there has been a rise in communal incidents in the country during the National Democratic Alliance coalition's first 100 days in power even as it questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "silence" over the matter.
Kabali will hit nearly 5,000 screens worldwide on July 1.
The test for Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be to convince not just friends in the media with crisp sound bytes but the very people most affected by the politics of hate through concerted action, says Shehzad Poonawala.
If you want Ranbir to get the girl, this film isn't for you.
Arun Shourie, a minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Cabinet, has hit out at the Narendra Modi government, saying its economic policy was "directionless" while the social climate was causing "great anxiety" among the minorities.
'Some reckon his bitterness results from wanting to stay relevant despite a waning career.'
'India has jackboot laws legislated by all parties, a State prepared to stomp all over you, and citizens who don't often realise how easily they can be crushed under both,' says T N Ninan.
'The cow can always be the CAUSE.' 'Cause for murder. Cause for setting India's people against each other.' 'Not recognising the fact that this can tip the country into an unending spiral of civil strife and set the much-vaunted 'India story' back by years is the ultimate stupidity of all,' says Shuma Raha.
The Shiv Sena on Wednesday took potshots at the Bharatiya Janata Party for the reverses suffered by it in the bypolls, saying it should learn a lesson and keep its "feet on the ground".
Can you even imagine the fear that must have passed through Kiran Rao's mind, asks Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
'As a student of history, I am no pessimist, but regardless of which party/coalitions comes to power on May 23, the space for secularism, pluralism and minority rights has shrunk significantly,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
'Today, if the international community is seeking space, if not place, here, then the message is not unclear in any which way. 'It does not reflect well on the nation's standing in the international arena, where human rights issues go a long way in building bilateral relations and benefiting from international cooperation, more than any aspect of politics and diplomacy,' N Sathiya Moorthy.
Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati has warned the people against the "communal designs" of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Bharatiya Janata Party and urged them not to lose their cool in the run-up to the 2017 Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh.
Right actions might help reduce this trust deficit. But what we have today is over- enthusiastic vigilante groups targeting minorities over beef or 'love jihad', against whom the government does little apart from meek condemnation, says Utkarsh Misgra.
'Shaheen Bagh is no longer a mere ghetto of lower middle class Muslims.' 'Now, it is a metaphor for resistance, secularism and struggle,' notes Md. Zeeshan Ahmad.
They claimed that what the country had witnessed in the last two years was just 'empty promises and gimmicks' and dubbed Modi government as 'most disappointing' ruling dispensation since independence.
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