When Nitin Gadkari was president of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the party had announced it would set up a separate ministry for handlooms and handicraft. Instead of doing that, the BJP government has abolished the only institution that took into account the voice of the weavers.
The campaign's main theme song 'Main hi toh Hindustan hoon' has been penned by Javed Akhtar.
The 2020 assembly polls marked the coming of age of a politician who valiantly went down fighting an army of battle-hardened veterans.
As the party moves forward into the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, it not only needs to strengthen the state units and reach out to the grassroots level, but also forge alliances with like-minded parties.
'What happened in the Vajpayee era will repeat in the Modi era in 2019.'
During Vajpayee's tenure, he was there as an indispensable insider, witness to every action that had an impact on history: Pokhran-II (nuclear tests in 1998), the 1999 Kargil conflict between India and Pakistan, the Indo-Pak Agra Summit in 2001, intense engagement with the United States on nuclear issues besides the Kandahar hijack.
'For the Shiv Sena, Hindutva is like a shawl which can be put on and discarded at will.'
Leaders hope the Ayodhya temple ceremony would pave way for harmony.
'Neither Modi nor the BJP have lost control over the minds and votes of their original supporters due to their tremendous political ability to play upon baser communal instincts.' 'But this buoyant support will melt away if the economic scenario remains depressing.' 'That makes 2020 an interesting year to watch out for,' notes Sheela Bhatt.
'They want to keep the BJP out, but how to make it happen is the issue that the Congress high command will resolve.'
'In Rajiv Gandhi's time, out of every Re 1 spent by the government only 15 paisa reached the public.' 'At this moment, I cannot say that the entire Re 1 reaches the common man's pocket, but yes, two-thirds of that money definitely reaches the common man.' 'And the rest of the money will also reach soon.'
'Good economics isn't necessarily bad politics, or vice versa,' says Shekhar Gupta.
President's Rule can be revoked before the six-month period if a situation emerges for formation of a stable government.
This will also be his first August 15 address after coming back to power with a huge mandate.
Left behind after elections will be the Biharis with their stagnant conditions of poor education, poor health infrastructure, poverty, unemployment, division of society and the aftermath of coronavirus. What will remain is the Bihari tenacity, observes Asmita Bihari.
Thakur's name was proposed by Suresh Bharadwaj and Mahender Singh and seconded by other members.
The Shiromani Akali Dal chief said the passage of the Bills marks a 'sad day' for the 'country's millions and for democracy'.
'This movement is not about Hindus, Muslims or Bengalis, but about all Assamese, irrespective of their religious faith or economic class'
Congress hopes to field upper caste candidates to eat into BJP voter base while SP-BSP focuses on consolidating Dalit-OBC votes in their favour.
In a joint statement issued on Monday, the central trade unions also threatened to give a call for nationwide agitation to protest against such moves by state governments. "The CTUs consider these moves as....gross violation of the Right to Freedom of Association (ILO Convention 87), Rights to Collective Bargaining (ILO Convention 98) and also the internationally accepted norm of eight hour working day espoused by Core Conventions of ILO)," the statement said.
"The Congress believes in the politics of appeasement and dynasty, whereas BJP follows politics of performance," Shah said.
As B S Yeddyurappa is all set to launch his party on Sunday, the BJP's focus is on legislators who will attend his rally defying orders from the party. Vicky Nanjappa reports
Earlier, BJP leader Ram Lal said the Goa government is stable and no demand has been made for a change in the leadership.
The people of Delhi are the victims, Gandhi alleged.
The Delhi Police on Thursday said the statements by Twitter on the ongoing enquiry in the 'toolkit' case was mendacious and designed to impede the lawful enquiry.
Biharis can confidently decide whether they want to follow Badlav Se Bhadiya Bharosa (Trust is Better than Change) or Badaliye Sarkar, Badaliye Bihar (Change the Government, Change Bihar), asserts Asmita Bihari.
The Congress, which is the single-largest party with 16 MLAs, has already staked claim to form the government in the coastal state.
After terror attack, Mumbai red alert, a large posse of officials to fly down with PM, reports Archis Mohan.
Taking note of the court's verdict upholding Gujarat's blanket ban on slaughter of cow, bulls and bullock, they decided to review their existing legislation on the subject and re-inforce to the extent now permitted by the apex court.
The days of coalition governments are here to stay, said the Congress general secretary, who is seeking a fresh mandate from the electorate of Madhya Pradesh's Guna-Shivpuri seat for a fifth term
The Congress in Kerala on Friday warned Shashi Tharoor against praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi but the former minister set the record straight holding that he is a "proud Congressman" and had not even remotely endorsed the "Hindutva agenda" of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has paved the way for the appointment of Jagadish Shettar as the next chief minister of Karnataka. BJP leader L K Advani who had reservations about the appointment of Shettar appears to have given in to the demands made by former Karnataka CM B S Yeddyurappa and his camp.
The desecration of Vidyasagar's statue during Amit Anilchandra Shah's rally, which the TMC projected to be a 'Bhojpuri' and 'Dhokla' invasion on West Bengal's culture, may help her gain some favour with middle-class and erudite Bengalis in the last phase of the polls.
Political leaders bid an emotional goodbye to Vajpayee.
The former CM of the state also lashed out at the state government saying the Peoples Democratic Party-Bharatiya Janata Party ruling alliance was a failure.
The core BSP campaign continues to be 'cadre-based' and personal connect, such as knocking each door or through nukkad sabhas.
'It is less polarising than Hindutva.'
The new legislation on J&K puts a cloud over the state's constitution, through which the state became `an integral part' of India, says David Devadas.
'Modi wants to go down in history not necessarily as India's first overtly Hindu RSS pracharak prime minister, but as a world statesman who built the idea of India as a great nation.'
The BJP on Monday welcomed the Allahabad High Court verdict on Ayodhya issue saying it was a "significant step" towards building a grand temple at the birthplace of Lord Ram and opened a new chapter for national integration.
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