In the last 11 days, about Rs 8 crore rupees were deposited in the donation boxes, while the amount received through cheque and online is around Rs 3.50 crore.
Modi wants the BJP to gets an additional 10% of the vote share from what it won in 2019. Plans are afoot to get new faces to replace MPs with poor chances of winning. Sources say more than 100 MPs are like to be axed, notes Modi biographer Ramesh Menon.
People are finding unique ways to commemorate the consecration of Ram Mandir.
A cabinet meeting outside Lucknow -- a rare event -- was held for the first time in Prayagraj in January of 2019.
'Standing before the majestic Ram Mandir, embraced by a sense of peace and devotion. A truly humbling experience. Grateful for this blessed moment.'
'Undeniably, Modi's position has stabilised and he has staged a comeback of sorts from the weeks after the Lok Sabha results.' 'Coalition partners are likely to be more tolerant of Modi... The forthcoming elections in Delhi and Bihar will determine whether this continues or not.' 'To win Delhi and Bihar, Modi will have to work in conjunction with the RSS.' 'However, because of the 'truce' that has been worked out within the Sangh Parivar, Modi will have to be more consultative than he has been in the past ten years,' reveals Modi biographer Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Modi claimed the Congress, when in power at the Centre, had drawn up plans to allocate 15 percent of the total budget to minorities.
Online travel portals are flooded with flight and train bookings, hotels teeming with requests for accommodation, and spiritual merchandise on e-commerce platforms is selling like hotcakes. As the consecration ceremony of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya on January 22 draws near, Indians across the country are putting their travelling boots on as the temple frenzy catches on. India's largest travel technology (traveltech) platform MakeMyTrip (MMT) has witnessed a substantial four-fold increase in bookings for Ayodhya compared to the previous year.
Vedic rituals for the pran pratistha will begin in Ayodhya on January 16, a week before the main ceremony. A priest from Varanasi, Lakshmi Kant Dixit, will perform the main rituals of the consecration ceremony on January 22.
'Your activities are not in the interest of the nation. Being a public institution, TISS cannot permit or tolerate its students indulging in such activities which are anti-national and bring a bad name to the nation. Hence all such activities fall under the category of serious criminal offence'
After dating for almost four years, Rakul Singh and Jackky Bhagnani are set to get married on February 21.
Besides the present CJI Chandrachud, former CJIs Ranjan Gogoi and SA Bobde and former judges Ashok Bhushan and S Abdul Nazeer were part of the bench which had delivered the historic verdict on November 9, 2019.
Modi referred to the Lok Sabha polls as a "Kurukshetra (battle)" in which "there is development on one hand and 'vote jihad' on the other".
'The greatness of India can be experienced by meeting Indians on the frontiers of India.' 'Every citizen on the border is a soldier'
While main events throughout the country were organised on Sunday by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America, several community members gathered at the iconic Times Square in New York to celebrate the historic event.
'I just invited PM Modi for Kalki Dham for shilanyas, so what crime did I commit as a Congressman?'
Occasional lovers' tiffs have marked the history of RSS-BJP relations. To think that Nagpur will bring about any change in leadership is a misreading of both its intent and its power, points out Shekhar Gupta.
While the country is gripped by Ram Mandir frenzy, Danish Husain -- without shouting from the rooftops -- silently staged his opinion with this play on one of India's best-known poets, observes Neeta Kolhatkar.
The extended timing to offer prayers at the new Ram temple in Ayodhya came into effect on Thursday with 'darshan' being allowed from 6 am as key roads leading to the temple town remained closed to regulate vehicular movement.
On Friday, November 3, 2023, Kangana Ranaut declared that she will contest the 2024 Lok Sabha election if Lord Krishna so wishes.
January 22, 2024 has passed into history. Scenes from a day of religious fervour in many parts of India.
Indian Olympic medallist shuttler Saina Nehwal reached Uttar Pradesh on Sunday to take part in the Ram Temple 'Pran Pratistha' ceremony to be held in Ayodhya on Monday and expressed their delight, saying that she feels fortunate to have come for the event.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday visited Arichalmunai, a southern tip in Tamil Nadu, in Rameswaram as part of his Ramayana-connect visits in the state, and paid floral tributes at the seashore.
Asked about the BJP's claim that its performance in southern states will be exemplary, Tharoor said, "The claim of an 'exemplary' performance is yet another product of the BJP's propaganda mill."
A man playing Lord Hanuman in a 'Ramlila' fell down at the feet of the person portraying Lord Ram for a bit longer, the audience clapped and it seemed a scene well enacted, except that it turned out to be the last performance of the 62-year-old.
With the Ram Mandir scheduled to open its doors to visitors in January, Ayodhya is expected to welcome travelers both from India and abroad.
The ministry of home affairs (MHA) has sent a high-level team to Ayodhya to deal with cyber threats ahead of the inauguration of the Ram Temple in the historical town on January 22.
Several states declared a holiday for schools, while government offices, other establishments and public sector banks remained closed for half a day.
Veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani has said the Ram Janmbhoomi movement, whose primary objective was construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, also became a symbol of 'reclaiming the true meaning of secularism from the onslaught of pseudo-secularism'.
The Uttar Pradesh cabinet will hold its meeting on Thursday in Ayodhya as the city gears up for the opening of the Ram temple in January.
As a consequence of prominence given to the brutality during those few days, a very important aspect of that episode got almost glossed over. This was the intervention by a very significant section of people who restored faith in humanity, and conveyed the message that only a small section of Indians, that too politically backed, were consumed by anti-Sikh majoritarianism. The overlooked facet of the events of 1984 was the story of significant sections of the city's populace, public figures and nondescript ones, stepping out hand-in-hand, to first stand with little but bravery in hands, in the way of attackers, and thereafter to provide immediate relief to those who lives were uprooted and who lost family members in the violence, recalls Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Aiyar in a video posted on Facebook, however, stated that she did not live in the colony represented by the RWA and that she did not receive any "notice" (letter) from it.
Atal (Bihari Vajpayee), Advani and Joshi have contributed a lot for the BJP to reach where it is now, he said.
"The holy water of the Sharda Kund at the Sharda Peeth PoK was collected by Tanveer Ahmed and his team. Our civil society member across the LoC (Line of Control) carried it to Islamabad, wherefrom it was sent to his daughter Maghribi in the UK.
'When our daughters, wrestlers Sakshi Malik and Vignesh Phogat, were protesting at the Jantar Mantar, the police kicked them with their shoes.'
Struggling to gain political traction on issues of corruption, the West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party is shifting its focus to emotive topics such as the Ram Temple in Ayodhya and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in a bid to achieve its target of securing 35 out of the 42 Lok Sabha seats from the state.
By the end of 2023, the construction at the sanctum sanctorum is expected to be completed, Rai said.
On the second day of the 10-day Ganesh festival, several devotees in Mumbai bid farewell to the idols of their favourite deity after worshipping them for one and a half days.
With Atishi at the helm it will not be easy for the BJP to continue using the LG's office and the bureaucracy as political instruments to hinder governance and thereby provoke the electorate's ire against the AAP, expects Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
While the country awaits for the grand pran pratishtha ceremony of Ram Lalla at Ayodhya's temple, on the sixth day of the ceremony, the Ram Lalla idol was bathed with water from 114 Kalash (vases), each containing specially medicated liquids.
