With celebrities and sportspersons being roped in by parties for the upcoming elections, it looks like Rajasthan is back to playing the caste card, reports Shahnawaz Akhtar.
Mohammed Azharuddin, who has bagged the Congress ticket from Tonk-Sawai Madhopur in Rajasthan, tells Rediff.com's Shahnawaz Akhtar that there's nothing called a 'Modi wave' as people of the country haven't yet forgotten the 'barbaric' 2002 communal riots in Gujarat.
In an e-mail interview with Shahnawaz Akhtar, Jonty Rhodes, now Mumbai Indians' fielding coach, got candid on Mahendra Singh Dhoni's captaincy, Sachin Tendulkar, Indian stadia, his divorce and lots more.
At the rally in election-bound Rajasthan the Gandhi scion stressed on the collective dream for a prosperous nation, reports Shahnawaz Akhtar
Right from teaching ABC to comparing Marwaris with Gujratis, Modi did all to bill the connect in Jaipur, reports Shahnawaz Akhtar
Rape accused and self-proclaimed 'godman' Asaram Bapu has been arrested and booked under the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences Act, for allegedly sexually abusing a minor
'Next time a BJP supporter asks you to vote for the BJP with the promise of Modi working wonders, just ask them if they have met Modi? Did they ever get to meet Modi, shake hands with him? Modi comes by helicopter and says he will clean the Ganga. How can anybody who hasn't taken a dip in the Ganga even know how dirty the water is?' Shahnawaz Akhtar accompanies Arvind Kejriwal on a day's campaign in Varanasi.
Shahnawaz Akhtar visits Karni Mata temple near Bikaner where scores of devotees turn up every morning to seek blessings from the deity and her favourite rats. Legend has it that the rats of the temple are in fact reincarnations of the people of the Charan community.
Naseema and Kabir's love story proves that truth, indeed, beats fiction hollow.
Swati Vashishtha chronicles the history and beauty of the pink city. Shahnawaz Akhtar reports
It seems that to shed her Royal background tag, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje is going the 'commoner' way, just like Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi. Shahnawaz Akhtar reports
The BJP candidates are on the winning trail, outdoing their opponents with thumping leads. Shahnawaz Akhtar reports.
Stones were pelted and two vehicles were burnt by miscreants who were allegedly trying to rig the process. Shahnawaz Akhtar reports.
"I am Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje's friend; no police can act against me." This is what some harassers told the family of the Sikar gang rape victim, who has just undergone her 20th operation in 17 months.
Of the 2,67,82,371 votes cast in the state, 3,27,911 were cast in favour of NOTA while 2,72,642 were in favour of AAP. Shahnawaz Akhtar reports.
I decided to become a shooter after watching Abhinav Bindra win a gold medal for the country, 21-one-year-old shooter Apurvi Chandela tells Shahnawaz Akhtar.
Create your own identity to reach the top, says journalist Ravish Kumar at the Jaipur Literature Festival. Shahnawaz Akhtar reports.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi, while addressing a rally in Jaipur Rural on Monday, attacked the BJP and Narendra Modi and said they are not seeing the achievements of the UPA government. She also sought to point out, in a barb at Modi, that running a state and a country are two different things. Shanawaz Akhtar reports.
Actor Irrfan Khan doesn't see it as a good sign when film stars are worshipped like God and feels that the myth should be broken. Shahnawaz Akhtar reports from Jaipur
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Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said the Bharatiya Janata Party is number one in marketing and so are able to claim to have done more. He said the United Progressive Alliance had done more development work than the National Democratic Alliance.
The party's plan to win all 25 seats in Rajasthan may have been affected owing to the decision to field new candidates from five seats. Shahnawaz Akhtar reports
On the eve of the first phase of polling in Rajasthan, Rediff.com spoke to some of the first time voters in Jaipur who form a considerable chunk of the voters. While some youth seek a sincere, development-oriented leadership which has zero-tolerance towards corruption, there are others who think communalism is the main issue. Shahnawaz Akhtar reports.
Truth is stranger than fiction, as far as Muslim politics in Rajasthan is concerned. The community which comprises more than 11 per cent of the state's total population, only one leader from the community has became a member of Parliament in the last 62 years. Shahnawaz Akhtar reports
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has promised to provide free MRI and CT scan to patients if brought back to power. Shahnawaz Akhtar reports
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The absence of Rajasthan BJP leadership in Narendra Modi's rallies in the poll-bound state is fuelling speculations. Shahnawaz Akhtar reports
Everyday coal is illegally ferried on around 5000 bicycles out of the mines of Central Coalfield Limited in Giridih, Jharkhand but no seems to mind. Shahnawaz Akhtar reports
Delhi's ruling party is all set to tackle the Parliamentary polls in the desert state, says Shahnawaz Akhtar
In one of his longest speeches, All India Congress Committee vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday tore into the Bharatiya Janata Party's poll manifesto. The BJP's manifesto was released on April 7 when the first phase polling of Lok Sabha 2014 had already begun. Shahnawaz Akhtar reports
If you thought that the skewed sex ratio of Rajasthan has dampened the spirit of the fairer sex in the desert state, then you are in for a surprise. For, if you browse through the ongoing Rajasthan assembly poll candidature list, you will realise how the female candidates are way ahead of their male counterparts, says Shahnawaz Akhtar
Until now, a bipolar contest has been taking place in the desert state between the BJP and the Congress, so it will be interesting to see how many AAP candidates taste success in reaching parliament, says Shahnawaz Akhtar.
After the denial of ticket to Jaswant Singh, a member of the Rajput community and a former Union minister, BJP cadres and members of the community across Rajasthan are incensed, says Shahnawaz Akhtar
Will the BJP get an advantage because of Modi in Rajasthan by using NaMo factor to the hilt in promoting the party in dessert state, Shahnawaz Akhtar reports from Jaipur
The Dalits of Thabola village in Rajasthan's Bhilwara district are facing social and economical boycott for a month now after two grooms from the community decided to defy the diktats of the upper caste villagers. Shahnawaz Akhtar reports.
As veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jaswant Singh and former Union minister and vice president of the BJP Kisan Morcha Subhash Maharia have now made the infighting within the saffron party in Rajasthan public, chances of the ruling party touching the mark of 25 seats now seems impossible, say political observers. Shahnawaz Akhtar reports
Reticent author Cyrus Mistry on Saturday beat off stiff competition from five other writers to become the fourth winner of the $50,000 DSC prize for South Asian literature for his book "Chronicles of a Corpse Bearer".
Shahnawaz Akhtar spoke to Diya Kumari at the iconic City Palace, which doubles up as her residence and office, where the princess opened up about her joining hands with the saffron brigade, being addressed by name and to a lot more.
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