Apart from the second pandemic upsurge in Haryana which devastated its cities and villages, in most districts panchayats stopped inviting BJP-JJP leaders to social gatherings, while a few announced a boycott.
Bodo tribals influence as many as 30 seats. No wonder, national parties are keen to forge alliances with Bodo groups.
Talking about the new prime minister's residence, Puri said no design has been finalised for it and only two projects -- the Parliament building and Central Vista Avenue -- are currently being executed at a cost of around Rs 1,300 crore.
The Shiv Sena has spurned Congress' request to participate in the bandh.
Outlining its national ambitions, the Aam Aadmi Party has announced that it will contest "maximum" number of seats in most states in upcoming Lok Sabha polls and the first list of its candidates will be out in the next 10-15 days.
Nobody of consequence from the BJP condemned the lynchings. Nor have the Akalis. Nor has the Aam Aadmi Party. And nor, for that matter, have Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi who are now deeply immersed in Punjab politics, observes Vir Sanghvi.
If Advani's ideological leadership galvanised the party's cadres and core support, Vajpayee's soaring oratory, common touch, easy charm and convivial manners won over the masses and brought new allies on board.
This was her second term as chief minister and, in keeping with the tradition of voters choosing the Congress and the BJP alternately, the ruling party looks set to lose power.
'While all organisations welcome the suggestions of the Supreme Court to stay the implementation of the farm laws, they are collectively and individually not willing to participate in any proceedings before a committee that may be appointed by it,' a statement issued by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha said.
'In Assam we have lost 2,358 sq km to erosion by the Brahmaputra river! Do you know how much area is 2,358 sq km is? This is four times the size of Bombay. But who is concerned?' 'Didn't the BJP say that as soon as we come to power the Bangladeshis will have to pack their bags? Go to Google and search for 'Modi + Bangladeshi' and see exactly the statement he made... I am asking what has happened to it.'
A police team from Chhattisgarh landed in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, on Tuesday morning to arrest a TV news anchor from his house over a case lodged against him for playing a clip of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi out of context. However, the Raipur police were obstructed by their Uttar Pradesh counterparts who took Ranjan along with them, they claimed.
Close friend Tarun Vijay pays tribute to the four-time Goa chief minister and former defence minister who passed into the ages on Sunday.
Why Dalit leaders cross over to the BJP
Congress leaders have hit out at the BJP governments at the Centre and in Karnataka, questioning its timing.
The Rajiv Gandhi assassination, investigation and trial were all jinxed in parts, recalls N Sathiya Moorthy.
Irrespective of their voting preferences, most voters would find this comparison with ISIS revolting. More specifically, would it persuade anybody who voted for Narendra Modi to change her or his mind? asks Shekhar Gupta.
Modi, who spent around 25 minutes at the temple premises amid tight security, offered flowers, bel leaves, milk, coconut water and sweets in a special puja to Lord Lingaraj.
The Punjab government had moved a habeas corpus petition in the high court on Friday.
As controversy continues over senior Uttar Pradesh Minister Azam Khan keeping away from its Agra meet, Samajwadi Party on Friday said no one can "blackmail" the party as nobody has the stature which supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav enjoys among the Muslim community.
'India is a founding and permanent member of this 'club of shame': Journalists are murdered on account of what they write or intend to write, but nobody is finally brought to justice in such cases.'
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology, headed by senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, had called representatives of Facebook to hear their views "on the subject of safeguarding citizens' rights and prevention of misuse of social/online news media platforms including special emphasis on women security in the digital space," according to agenda of the meeting.
'Even if we expect that the economy will be hit and GDP is lowered for a few quarters by the reckless demonetisation, this will itself not be sufficient to dislodge Modi's popularity,' says Aakar Patel.
'The UP election results show that people voted not on caste and religion lines; they went above that and voted for development, honesty, pride in the country, etc.' 'If UP can show the way, the rest of the country also can follow.'
The Bharatiya Janata Party in Bihar is in trouble ahead of the upcoming state assembly polls as two of its ally the Lok Janshakti Party and the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party on Sunday played pressure game to bargain for more seats.
Chouhan had earlier announced constitution of 'happiness ministry' on the lines of Bhutan, the only country to have the gross national happiness index.
Modi seems to have an innate faith in his capabilities to handle the myriad challenges confronting the nation and would rather manage the affairs of the nation as a CEO would of a large industrial-business empire, observes Virendra Kapoor.
Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah on Friday took a dig at the Congress, stating that "instead of trying to find fault with the prime minister's coalition government, the party should find its missing leader."
The Supreme Court's refusal to stay execution of Yakub Memon on Wednesday drew sharp reactions from legal experts.
Realising, that there was a ground swell of anger against several lower level TMC leaders who were often accused of petty corruption in execution of public welfare schemes, Kishor designed the 'Didi Ke Bolo' (Tell Didi) campaign under which citizens could directly approach Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee with their grievances.
Let India rise on the prowess of development, honest money and a non-religionist political discourse. That will secure our future and also make an impact on the theologically run sham democracies in our neighbourhood, says Tarun Vijay.
Merger of the three key ministries is expected to help in removing the hurdles in these areas.
Union minister Ramdas Athawale on Wednesday said the Congress had back-stabbed Sharad Pawar and not the other way round, two days after Shiv Sena leader Anant Geete accused the veteran politician of backstabbing Congress and forming the NCP in 1999.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh say they will ensure that the university does not come up at the temple town. Vicky Nanjappa reports
The sources said Modi appreciated Prasad and Javadekar for their work.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley witll spearhead the campaign with BJP President Amit Shah as its chief strategist.
Nitish Kumar's unanimous election to the top post at the party's National Executive meeting brought an end to the decade-old tenure of Sharad Yadav, who had ruled himself out for a fourth term.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday launched a Rs 100 lakh crore national master plan for multi-modal connectivity that aims to develop infrastructure to reduce logistic costs and boost the economy. PM Gati Shakti targets to cut logistic costs, increase cargo handling capacity and reduce the turnaround time, Modi said at a function to launch the plan. The plan aims to lend more power and speed to projects by connecting all concerned departments on one platform, he said, adding the infrastructure schemes of various ministries and state governments will be designed and executed with a common vision.