'This time, even the professedly secular parties have maintained a conscious distance from being identified with Muslims.' 'This could be interpreted as a success of the BJP campaign of what it has been calling 'minority appeasement', says Mohammad Sajjad.
'If you interpret Akhilesh's statement, he is clearly saying Shivpal wants to become chief minister.'
On Thursday, November 3, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav will launch his Samajwadi Rath Yatra. The official launch of the party's election campaign, but also a way of assessing how much traction he has among the people.
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.
'The Congress-JD-S alliance will be intact for the next three years, for sure.'
'Why do the English-speaking class feel they are the only ones who are efficient in work?' 'My own mother was from a village and she was more efficient than me. She used to handle crises better than me.' 'We will have to come out of our elite perception of governance.'
Accusing the erstwhile Congress governments of pursuing "vote bank politics", PM Modi reached out to the numerically significant Nishad community in Uttar Pradesh
The bill was passed with 165 voting in favour and 7 against it.
'If any party talks too much about Muslims, it will lose.'
Rediff.com gives you a look at newbies in the Council of Ministers
The results, while bringing the Congress back to power in this state, also end the rule of the 66-year-old BJP stalwart, who has earned several monikers during his 15-year-long tenure -- Doctor saheb being a trained Ayurvedic medical practitioner, chaur wale baba for his popular rice scheme and the 'Mobile Wale Baba' for giving free smartphones to 50 lakh women and students.
The significance of the Assembly poll results will be more psychological than real for the impending parliamentary elections, says Bharat Bhushan.
'Will Muslims in large numbers react positively, especially in the context of the events of the last thirty years?' 'In the process, could Modi end up alienating his core supporters?' A fascinating excerpt from Jaithirth Rao's The Indian Conservative : A History of Indian Right-Wing Thought.
'At this moment, the Trinamool has an edge.'
The BJP has begun identifying officers who can 'rid' the administration of SP-BSP 'hangover'.
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav today claimed that several BJP leaders have "contacted" him to prevent Narendra Modi from becoming the prime minister.
'Mainly, his strategy to win UP veered around spreading the message of Hindu identity, projecting Modi's leadership, encashing anti-incumbency against the Samajwadi Party and UPA governments in Lucknow and Delhi respectively.' Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com provides exclusive insights into Amit Shah's strategy that gave Narendra Modi an awesome victory in Uttar Pradesh.
She said poor people and farmers have been badly hit by high denomination rupee ban decision.
The BJP assessment -- or at least that of some of its leaders -- is that the Congress in Gujarat has peaked too soon, having already fired all its weapons and has nothing new to say.
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Saturday said that those seen at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's roadshow in Varanasi were "mere spectators" brought in from other states and districts in Uttar Pradesh where voting had already taken place.
'Where should shudra-OBCs go because of whom the nation is surviving?'
It is unusual to see Narendra Modi highlight his OBC status -- something he has never done in his long political career. Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com examines Modi's compulsions for bringing his caste to the foreground
'If there is one thing our politicians, especially those with their ear to the ground, understand, it is the reality that their voters want three things from their children's schooling: English, English, English', notes Shekhar Gupta.
Cracks in the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar is frittering away the ground gained in social justice and contributing to increasing polarisation in the state, says Mohammad Sajjad.
'The BJP has sent out a message that its allies are at its mercy.' 'The allies cannot pressurise or bargain with the BJP any more,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
Why are far right Hindu organisations growing in strength? Why is there a rising subscription to Neo-Wahabism, the Saudi Arabian version of contemporary Islam?
'A one party-State, with only one kind of Indian,' argues Mihir S Sharma.
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Expressing desire to bring about permanent solution to the Kashmir issue, the government on Monday said it is willing to have any dialogue under the ambit of 'insaniyat' (humanity) to address the problem and favours good relations with Pakistan.
'Nitish is now a helpless junior ally of Hindutva.' 'He just cannot think of reining in the hoodlums raging, marauding and killing in the mohallas,' argues Mohammad Sajjad.
Arun Jaitley and Janardan Dwivedi have rewritten the rules of politics in the Age of the Internet and its young and restless user base, reports Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt.
'The Congress has indeed become overly dependent on the RJD.' 'A few Congress leaders have successfully convinced the national leadership about the benefits of maintaining ties with the RJD.'
'We have learnt lessons from Mamata Banerjee who overcame the BJP's canard by reciting Chandi Path and playing up her Brahmin origins in her campaign. We need to adopt strategies like asking Muslims to lie low and distributing tickets prudently so that we are not accused of favouring one community.' Radhika Ramaseshan reports.
She accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of being 'anti-Dalit' and recalled the Una incident and the death of Dalit scholar Rohit Vemula to back her assertion.
'It is possible that Akhilesh has set his sights on 2022.' 'By then, his present day enemies will be more or less a spent force while he himself will still have a clean image and, at 49, will be regarded as young.'
Formidable challenges including funds for the farm loan-waiver, and law and order stare him at his face, with the opposition claiming the misses have outnumbered the hits.
On possible alliances for the upcoming state polls, the SP president said, "Doors of our party are open for all small parties. Many smaller parties are already with us. More will come with us."
The BSP is planning to bring the second line of leadership from among the cadres.
In another jolt to the Bahujan Samaj Party, Mayawati's once trusted lieutenant and former minister R K Chaudhary on Thursday quit the party accusing her of "auctioning" tickets to contest assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh.
It is an ode to his politics that believed in building bridges across social or political divides that he was one of the most liked state leaders among the upper castes even as he drew his support mostly from Dalits, a group which at times shared antagonistic relations with the more prosperous communities due to a number of social and political reasons.
Asserting that organ donation is an important issue, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday praised Tamil Nadu for their leading endeavours in this regard while praising the other states for their initiatives towards the cause.
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