'Post Independence, it is for the first time that people have Rs 500 in their pocket, but the family is sleeping without food.'
The country is all set for the second round of elections on April 18 in the ongoing seven-phase Lok Sabha polls that will elect 543 members to the lower house of Parliament. Going to polls in the second phase will be 95 seats in 12 states and one Union Territory. Here is a look at some of the big names contesting in phase two of Lok Sabha elections.
'Bola nikal jao. Sala firing karte hai Russi.'
The BJP wants to win a state where it has been out of power for 15 years. The Congress wants to make its mark in a state where it has been a bit player for nearly 30 years. And the BSP wants to recapture power it lost 5 years ago.
Blaming Akhilesh Yadav for "sleeping over" the demand for justice by a "beti" in the rape case against Gayatri Prajapati, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the voters in Uttar Pradesh have got an opportunity to perform the pind daan (last rites) of their "tormentors".
Armed with out-of-the box manifestos that promise abolition of income tax and unemployment allowance to educated youth, 48 Lok Sabha candidates of 21 lesser known parties have jumped in the poll fray in Gujarat.
The BSP chief alleged that Modi and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party considered the Dalits as lowly.
'The country has moved beyond the likes of Yogi Adityanath and his medieval thinking. The results of the by-elections are early warning signals by impatient Indians. It's up to the BJP to learn its lesson or face the consequences,' says Ashutosh.
'If this is how the audience likes me, I will continue doing it.'
'In an alliance, you are forced to overlook loyal workers.' 'It sends a negative message and workers turn against the party.' 'I have forbidden this alliance.'
Narendra Modi had to be emotional. Fighting the media, sailing against trends where only the rich and powerful are able to navigate in state and national politics, Modi brewed his own cocktail of ideas and formulae. He has reached here on his own strengths, intellect, cunning and merit, says Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com
Senior BJP leaders had offered the veteran politician the Lok Sabha Speaker's post after he went into a sulk over displeasure to contest from the Gandhinagar seat. However, it is yet to be known whether he has accepted the offer or not, reports Anita Katyal.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley appealed to parties to rise above partisan considerations to support it.
The Congress, out of power in UP for 27 years is making a big pitch to bounce back, on a cocktail of caste politics and promises of agriculture debt waiver worth Rs 49,000 crore and power rate reduction for farmers hit by high input costs and diminishing returns., reports Amit Agnihotri.
A beaming Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav visits Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav's residence in Lucknow to perform the 'shagun' ceremony ahead of his daughter Raj Lakshmi's wedding.
No BJP president is powerful when the party is in power. Amit Shah is completely dependent on Narendra Modi's clout. He has a protective political immunity and everyone knows its source, says Bharat Bhushan
In the wake of forthcoming assembly polls in Haryana, retired bureaucrats and police officers are in the fray to test political waters in the 'jat' heartland which goes to polls on October 15.
'Amit Shah was, briefly, a stockbroker before devoting himself to politics. By instinct or training, he knows the value of keeping blue chips in one's portfolio.'
The two parties, however, are in a neck-and-neck race in Manipur and Goa.
Increasingly seen as the 'bellwether' for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the assembly election results will not only decide as to who will rule UP but show which way the wind is blowing ahead of the Lok Sabha elections two years hence.
Each 'adarsh village' should have piped drinking water, connectivity to the main road, electricity supply to all households, library, telecom and broadband connectivity including CCTVs in public areas. Emphasis will also be on e-governance, says Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com.
'He is a man whose utterances have been so virulent and communalistic.' 'That's why many people did not look at him as the party's choice for chief minister.' 'UP is the state that reports the largest number of communal incidents every year.' 'Modi may not be using the Hindutva card, but he never condemns the incidents too.'
Two persons were injured in a clash which took place between AAP and Congress workers at Sultanpur village in Sangrur district.
Rediff.com gives you a look at newbies in the Council of Ministers
'I called my mother here, to spend some time with her, but I was not able to do that due to my hectic schedule'
Even as there is a strong anti-incumbency mood in Punjab, the multi-cornered contest has made the 2017 assembly polls prediction more difficult.
'Working everyday gives me the most satisfaction. It really doesn't matter whether it is Housefull, Grand Masti, Ek Villain, Lai Bhari, Bluff Master or Tere Naal Love Hogaya. As long as I am working, and I am enjoying my work, that gives me satisfaction.' Riteish Deshmukh and his Bangistan co-star Pulkit Samrat discuss their upcoming film.
The assembly polls are seen as a test of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity, especially in the wake of demonetisation.
One couldn't help feeling a certain melancholy viewing these now vagrant documents and photographs that would never be rightfully cherished. The pictures spoke to you. They offered slices of extinguished lives. They breathed sadness too, for what could have been and will never be. The sweet promises that Life made and insolently, arrogantly never kept.
Dr Siras was a man determined to be a freak in the show called Life, says Vaihayasi Pande Daniel.
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