The Congress won 77 seats or 42% of seats in the 2017 polls. How then can Gujarat be called a BJP bastion, asks Sanjeev Nayyar.
It is not much of an issue just now, but it could become one if the idea of caste census captures socio-political imagination, going beyond electoral tags and identities, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Somehow, Rahul Gandhi is not able to connect with the youth of the country.' 'While Modiji is 72, Rahul is only 52.' 'But the popularity of the prime minister among the young population is a lot more than Rahul's.'
The Opposition's stand on the Ayodhya consecration is puzzling. Their only objection seems to be that the BJP has hijacked a religious event for political benefit. In saying this, the Opposition is either being naive or hypocritical, argues Jyoti Punwani.
'It is this new brand of nationalism, where the saffron has elbowed out the other shades in our Tiranga, that will go before the electorate later this year.' 'And it is this new nationalism that will power Modi back into office with 300-plus seats when elections are held,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
While the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party hit out at the MLA and the Congress government, Shivakumar seeking to clarify, said no guarantee scheme will be stopped and it will be continued for five years.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday invoked the "exodus" of Hindus from Kairana a few years back, telling people in the western Uttar Pradesh town that those who shoot at traders now will be dispatched to the "next world".
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Tuesday claimed the Muslims made a "huge mistake" by voting for the Samajwadi Party, which she accused of being "complicit with the Bharatiya Janata Party in giving communal colour" to the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.
In the Interim Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that a high power committee would be set up to consider the challenges arising from 'fast population grown and demographic changes.' 'But who wants data? It pays to feed people's fears, insecurities and apprehensions. If such fears don't exist, they must be created,' her husband Parakala Prabhakar says in this fascinating excerpt from his book, The Crooked Timber of New India: Essays on a Republic in Crisis.
'Nobody is speaking up for Muslims today.' 'Secular parties too have calmed down because they feel this will hurt the Hindu vote (bank).' 'In this scenario, where does a Muslim go?'
Narendra Modi has proved through execution of this event in Ayodhya that amongst all his contemporaries in politics he knows ordinary Indians like none other, notes Sheela Bhatt.
'They are happy for the Hindu community as Ram Lalla is consecrated in Ayodhya.'
Even death threats and a fatwa issued against Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ruby Asif Khan for installing a Lord Ganesh idol in her home in Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh, did not deter her from stepping out to immerse the idol in Narora Ghat.
The transformation of the Modi-Shah baiting Hardik Patel into saffron poster boy.
Ramesh asked the PM why river Ganga is "dirtier than before" even after spending Rs 20,000 crore on the Namami Gange project.
The BJP continuing to look at the Dravidian polity through the religious prism has not worked in Tamil Nadu whereas it has yielded political and electoral results across much of the rest of the country, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and other right-wing outfits had strongly objected to the paintings which had portrayed the trishul, a symbol of Hinduism and 'Bharat Mata', in an inappropriate manner.
The national award-winning actor had organised a mass Vishu kaineettam campaign earlier this week in Thrissur, where he unsuccessfully contested in the last assembly and Lok Sabha polls.
'Whoever thought that building toilets and providing free rations to the poorest of poor Indians would give Modi a halo other political leaders would envy?' asks Sheela Bhatt.
Earlier on Wednesday, the district court ruled that a priest can perform prayers before the idols in a cellar of the Gyanvapi Masjid, a significant development in the legal battle over the mosque adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath temple.
Later, Pratibha Singh said she and her son Vikramaditya Singh have received a joint invitation and she is yet to take a call on attending the consecration ceremony at Ayodhya on January 22.
January 22, 2024 has passed into history. Scenes from a day of religious fervour in many parts of India.
'He should not come to Kerala and fight against the CPI which is an integral part of the INDIA alliance'
Chavan submitted to the police some video clips in which the Rane brothers, sons of Union minister Narayan Rane, were purportedly seen making the remarks.
Kerala's election discourse operates surreptitiously. Its explicit face focuses on important national and local issues. At the same time, it seeks to secure apt communal equations to ensure votes, notes Shyam G Menon.
'Kejriwal tries to project that his party is not Hindu virodhi.'
'Kejriwal could have easily deputed someone to step in as chief minister, but being the authoritative and self-centered personality that he is, he chose not to do it.' 'If the AAP loses Delhi, where it has a huge majority, the only one to blame would be Kejriwal,' asserts Ramesh Menon.
The BJP has many ruthless leaders with super-sharp political minds. But none has all this and Yogi's charisma and personal ambition, observes Shekhar Gupta.
'We are very close to become a theocratic State where Hinduism is the official religion of the government.'
'People are questioning these highways and expressways in UP because ultimately, they want to get bread and butter first.'
The BJP is not taking the AAP challenge lightly. Amit Shah has cautioned party insiders to ensure that AAP does not cross a vote share of 24%. He has always seen AAP as a much more significant challenge than the Congress, observes Ramesh Menon, author, Modi Demystified: The Making Of A Prime Minister.
It is unusual in democratic countries two decades into the 21st century for laws to become regressive instead of progressive. But that is clearly what is happening in India today and more of this is ahead, asserts Aakar Patel.
Such a course would require a Constitutional Amendment, requiring a two-thirds majority in both Houses of Parliament. Even assuming that the INDIA combine comes to power at the Centre next year, a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha could way off the mark for them, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
No major glitches in electronic voting machines were reported and the voting passed off peacefully with high security observed at the 3,360 critical booths in 493 locations where more than 25,000 police personnel, nearly 13,000 home guards and 100 companies of paramilitary forces were deployed, officials said.
Against the backdrop of Kerala's appetite for commonsense, it was assumed that this controversy would pass. Respect for rationalism and scientific outlook is strong in the state despite political forces gnawing at it for their own goals, observes Shyam G Menon.
'The BJP while being in government in Gujarat continues to campaign like an Opposition party whereas the Opposition does the opposite.'
A communication to Sharma from the party's disciplinary committee said she has expressed views contrary to the party's position on various matters, which is in clear violation of its constitution.
'During the nine years of BJP rule, not a single temple has been reconstructed.' 'They might have constructed the Ram temple as it is an emotional issue. But they are not much interested in issues like heritage.'
Sakshi Maharaj, Bharatiya Janata Party member of Parliament from Unnao, has stirred a hornet's nest yet again by saying that Hindu women should produce at least four children in order to protect the Hindu religion.
Delhi Lt Governor V K Saxena has recommended an NIA probe against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for allegedly receiving political funding from the banned terrorist organisation 'Sikhs for Justice', Raj Niwas sources said on Monday.
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