"Religious festivals seem to have become occasions to intimidate and bully others -- a far cry from when they were occasions for joy and celebration. Instead, there is intimidation and discrimination only on account of their religion, food, caste, gender or language," Gandhi said.
Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of forcing it to walk out of the alliance by not being forthcoming on Narendra Modi's future role, senior Janata Dal-United leader Shivanand Tiwari on Saturday said the announcement of a split in the coalition was a "mere formality".
Taking forward the Bharatiya Janata Party's aggressive dalit outreach, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday flew into Nagpur to pay homage to Bhimrao Ambedkar at 'Deekshabhoomi'.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Saturday said the political atmosphere in the country is ideal for the party to get "record breaking results" with the Congress-led government failing to tackle corruption and price rise, creating a favourable condition for the main Opposition.
Known as an astute strategist whose non-political interests range from playing chess and watching cricket to stage performances and listening to classical music, 54-year-old Shah is often hailed as the BJP's most successful president for crafting its way to power states after states.
Singh had on Saturday called on the jailed activists, one of whom was arrested recently in connection with a communal flare-up that took place last year
Four new governors -- three of whom are Bharatiya Janata Party leaders including Tathagata Roy for Tripura and Draupadi Murmu for Jharkhand - have been appointed by President Pranab Mukherjee.
Senior bureaucrats say the government has planned a 'feel-good' Budget after the 'pain' of demonetisation.
'One goal of the Congress would surely have been to rebuild its organisation so that it begins to match that of the BJP.' 'However, this has not happened, though Rahul Gandhi has been in the party for 15 years now,' says Aakar Patel.
'To summarise, PM Modi's failures in the last nine years can be categorised under 'durniti' (bad policies), 'anyay' (injustice) and - perhaps most importantly - 'badniyat' (ill intention)'
Yogi Adityanath's aura is no longer limited to Uttar Pradesh. At the age of 49, his journey to the higher echelons in the BJP has well and truly begun, predicts Sudhir Bisht.
The Congress leader said he sought to know whether the cooker blast was as big as the terrorist attack in Mumbai, Delhi or Kashmir.
The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed three bills to replace the colonial-era criminal laws by voice vote.
'These guys who are running away -- they are running away from all that the BJP stands for.'
Khandelwal also said the Advani's controversial Pakistan visit should be discussed.
The Brij Bhushan camp, who claim to have the support of 22 of the 25 state units, expressed 'confidence' of winning all 15 posts during the WFI elections on August 12.
'... are losing faith in the institutions of government, where people do not believe that the institutions of government operate according to the Constitution, within the confines of the law, where these institutions are seen to be representing a small faction of a particular community against all other (minority) communities.'
Union Home Minister Amit Shah asserted that with pro-people measures and infrastructure development, Modi has not only prepared a blueprint for making a strong 'new India' but also a self-reliant one for the country's 'golden future', while party president J P Nadda declared that the period will be known for taking tough and big decisions and turning challenges into opportunities.
From someone who broke minority assertiveness in Gujarat to someone who eschews caste and creed for national pride -- this is how Narendra Modi bids to win over India, says Gyan Varma
The opposition strategy to corner the government on Manipur will continue in the Rajya Sabha as well, the sources said.
Tharoor argued that the proposed bill represents a "grave chapter in the history of the Indian republic, seeking to ratify an ordinance that in many ways is an assault on our democratic heritage and the spirit of federalism."
'If we politicians cross the line, the common man teaches us a lesson'
West Bengal CID claimed that two of its teams in New Delhi and Guwahati were restrained on Wednesday morning by the local police in the respective places from carrying out investigations into the cash seizure from three Jharkhand MLAs.
BJP sources claim that before Nitin Gadkari received the nod from Narendra Modi that he would attend the party national executive meeting in Mumbai, the Gujarat leader's intermediaries secured an assurance that if Modi registered an impressive victory in the state assembly election, scheduled for the winter, then BJP leaders would "invite" Modi to perform a bigger role on the national stage.
Born as Ajay Singh, the diminutive shaven headed politician is known for his provocative speeches and mass following across Uttar Pradesh.
The thrust of the conclave would be to expose the UPA's failures on price rise and inflation which has hit the the common man adversely.
A revealing excerpt from Mani Shankar Aiyar's fascinating new book, The Rajiv I Knew.
Higher education policy may be at the core of the Tamil Nadu assembly polls next May, with a potential to break the ties between the ruling AIADMK in the state and the BJP counterpart at the national level, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
While it took the Congress nearly a half century to earn the hatred of other political outfits, the BJP appears set to reach there in around six years, says Arun Bhatnagar, former secretary to the GoI.
The BJP also suspended its state executive council member Kheto Semaparty, who had signed the joint declaration.
A parliamentary panel on Friday questioned top Twitter officials over a whistle-blower's revelations on its India operations, and gave them a dressing-down as their replies on issue of data security and privacy were "not satisfactory", sources said.
'Sometimes we use political pressure and sometimes political acumen to get what we want.'
West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar was on Saturday announced as the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance's vice presidential candidate.
The now active member of the Janata Dal-United has been approached by Trinamool Congress, Shiv Sena in Maharashtra and Janata Dal-Secular in Karnataka to help them in the upcoming elections, reports Satyavrat Mishra.
The meeting at SP headquarters was attended by Akhilesh, his uncle Shivpal Yadav, senior leader Azam Khan and party office bearers.
Member of Parliament from Arunachal Pradesh Tapir Gao said on Wednesday that a teenager, identified as Miram Taron, was abducted by the People's Liberation Army from Lungta Jor area under Siyungla area on Tuesday.
'They are innovating and a new Dalit leadership could be seen at the horizon'
