BJP president J P Nadda on Wednesday announced an alliance with Apna Dal and Nishad Party, two parties that draw their support primarily from sections of backward castes, for the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.
The Supreme Court Monday took serious note of the election process reserving the post of president of a panchayat samiti in Maharashtra for the Other Backward Class category, saying it is 'clearly in the teeth' of the judgement delivered by the apex court earlier this year.
Rather than a blind reproduction of the government template, a more productive way of enforcing affirmative action in the private sector could be to emulate an American model, suggests Kanika Datta.
The Supreme Court on Thursday warned the Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) of contempt action if it renotifies the election process to 367 local bodies, where it has already commenced, in order to provide reservation to OBCs.
Seeking to woo Muslims as well as upper castes, the Samajwadi Party on Wednesday promised quota in police and other government jobs for minority community, release of "innocent" youths jailed on terror charges and constitution of an upper caste commission in its manifesto brimming with sops.
There are lessons for the Congress to learn from the Karnataka elections of how burying the hatchet among top leaders and not washing dirty linen in public can help, says Ramesh Menon.
Her inclusion in the Modi's team is significant ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections next year and the Lok Sabha polls in 2024 as the Other Backward Classes have a sizeable number of voters in the key Purvanchal region.
The court further held that the state's legislative competence is not affected by the amendment to Article 342(a) of the Constitution of India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the Bharatiya Janata Party has decided it would not adopt the path of appeasement and vote bank politics.
CM Stalin has a procedural problem. Nominating new ministers would entail his having to seek formal permission from governor R N Ravi. Stalin does not want to interact with the person of this governor, as far as possible, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
Elections to 92 nagar parishads and four nagar panchayats in Maharashtra will be held on August 18, the State Election Commission (SEC) announced on Friday.
Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday lashed out at opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) parties over Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Udhayanidhi Stalin's remarks against 'Sanatan Dharma', accusing them of insulting 'Sanatan Dharma' for votebank and appeasement politics.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a plea filed by the Maharashtra government seeking a direction to the Centre and other authorities to disclose to the state the Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011 raw caste data of the Other Backward Classes.
Once the Bill is passed in the assembly and notified, the Marathas will be entitled to reservation in the government jobs and in admission in government institutions.
The Parliament on Tuesday unanimously passed the bill to restore the power of states and union territories to prepare and maintain their own list of socially and educationally backward classes (SEBCs).
The 102nd Constitution Amendment Act of 2018 inserted articles 338B, which deals with the structure, duties and powers of the National Commission for Backward Classes, and 342A that deals with the powers of the president to notify a particular caste as an SEBC and the power of Parliament to change the list. Article 366 (26C) defines SEBCs.
A bench comprising justices A M Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheswari and C T Ravikumar was told by senior advocate Shekhar Naphade, who appeared in the matter on behalf of the state government, that a plea seeking a recall of the order was filed electronically on Monday.
The Supreme Court on Monday said it would hear on January 17 the matters in which it had directed the state election commissions of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh to re-notify the seats reserved for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the local bodies in these states under the general category.
Shruti Sharma, a student of history, has topped the civil services examination 2021, with the first three rank holders being women in results announced by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on Monday.
Shruti Sharma, a student of history, has topped the civil services examination 2021, with the first three rank holders being women in results announced by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on Monday.
While Modi had a party and an organisation that supported him, all Mulayam, a self-made man with no inheritance in politics, had was a set of (fairly flexible) beliefs.
Senior NCP leader and Maharashtra minister Chhagan Bhujbal on Wednesday said the Supreme Court order on the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) quota was a setback to the state government and it should do everything it can to save the community's reservation.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the State Election Commission of Maharashtra to notify 27 per cent seats in the local body, which were reserved for the Other Backward Classes, as general category so that the poll process can be taken forward.
She lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Samajwadi Party and the Congress, holding them responsible for the lack of jobs and migration from the state.
Medical seats for under-graduates and post-graduates remaining vacant in the NEET era, together with the Centre 'freezing' the number of medical colleges and seats in (Dravidian) Tamil Nadu and the launch of the PM's 'Vishwakarma Scheme' for the nation's craftsmen, are all seen as a bid to further reverse the state's progressive socio-economic agenda of and its achievements of the past hundred-plus years, argues N Sathiya Moorthy.
The apex court said that status of those who have already taken benefits of the 2018 law shall not be disturbed.
The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed the Constitution amendment bill to restore the power of states to make their own OBC lists after a thaw in the logjam as Opposition parties backed the legislation but demanded the removal of the 50 per cent cap on reservation, with many of them also calling for a caste-based census.
According to poll observers, there are about 3.88 lakh voters in Rampur assembly constituency and of them, about 2.27 lakh, about 60 per cent, are Muslims.
The Maharashtra government will bring an ordinance to grant OBC quota in upcoming by-elections to a set of local governing bodies without crossing the Supreme Court-mandated 50 per cent cap on reservation, said state minister Chhagan Bhujbal on Wednesday.
The Centre has moved the Supreme Court seeking review of the May 5 majority verdict which held that 102nd Constitution amendment took away the power of state governments to declare Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) for grant of quota in jobs and admissions.
Marathas have been declared as socially and educationally backward class of citizens and have inadequate representation in services under the state. They are entitled to reservation benefits and advantages enshrined in the Articles 15(4) and 16(4) of the Constitution, the recommendations mentioned.
A BJP source admitted that a census will inevitably reconfirm the numerical majority of the OBCs. 'That will overturn social equations and consign the upper castes to a twilight zone of marginalisation. The RSS won't accept it.' Radhika Ramaseshan reports.
For how many generations would reservations in jobs and education continue, the Supreme Court sought to know during the Maratha quota case hearing on Friday and raised concerns over 'resultant inequality' in case the overall 50 per cent limit was to be removed.
'The moment the BJP loses a state, it announces some policy which never takes off.'
'If you are weak economically, you automatically lag behind in other aspects of life.'
The court rejected all petitions, including that against the conduct of the party's General Secretary election.
Rejection of the three central agriculture laws is one of the three resolutions approved by the Maharashtra cabinet on Sunday which will be moved in the monsoon session of the state legislature beginning Monday, sources said.
Kejriwal asked whether the BJP-led central government was waiting for the Lok Sabha elections to make a move in this direction.
'The common belief in political circles is that if you provide reservation to somebody, s/he will automatically come up.' 'This is a very faulty understanding.'
Brand India's societal divisions and distortions have remained as much relevant in 'liberal' America and Europe as it still is in the structurally stratified Indian society of the 21st century, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
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