'Some of his decisions were not so good, but his intentions were always guided by a deep national interest.'
Newly elected mayors will campaign for the party in poll-bound Gujarat.
The names of several probables, including Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who had led the BJP government in the state in the past, were doing the rounds at the state party office.
Colonel Anil Athale (retd) recalls how the Battle of Panipat, 258 years ago, changed the history of India for the next century and half.
'The BJP's all-India plans can be expected to become clearer around 2022-2023, particularly if -- as some anticipate -- the senior Congress leadership cracks, broadly as between the Nehru-Gandhi loyalists and those who may be termed 'pro-changers',' observes Arun Bhatnagar, a retired IAS officer.
'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.'
Pavan Malhotra, one of our finest actors, shows us another side of Bollywood.
'The summer of 1857 saw violence, perpetrated by the Indians and the Britons, on an unprecedented scale.' 'Never before and never after in the history of British rule in India was there violence at the level that 1857 witnessed.'
"Party's central observers -- Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu and national general secretary Bhupendra Yadav -- will be present at the meeting on Saturday at 5 pm," UP BJP general secretary Vijay Bahadur Pathak said.
A Delhi Police head constable, Ratan Lal, was among the nine killed in the violence that erupted on Monday over the amended citizenship law.
'Having dealt with security and insurgency for 15 years, I am fully convinced that the steps taken by the government in regard to J&K and the measures in force there are essential,' says B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant.
'The downslide has been rapid leading up to the number one and number two of the organisation flinging against each other horrendous accusations of bribery and tampering with investigations for personal gain, and the latest petition to the Supreme Court by the joint director of the CBI, M K Sinha, opening a veritable Pandora's Box of repulsive skeletons,' notes B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant who witnessed the CBI's birth.
Rediff.com takes a look at record-setting wins in Indian politics.
'Savarkar was the closest the RSS had to a freedom movement icon, however flawed.' 'Indira Gandhi wasn't going to gift him to them.' 'And a non-career politician like Dr Singh understands it.' 'It is just that his party never listened to him,' says Shekhar Gupta.
Father of the former Delhi age-group cricketer, caught in the Ashes spot-fixing controversy, says his son has never even been to England or Australia, let alone fix matches involving the two countries.
'If they were really serious (about conferring the Bharat Ratna on Savarkar) what were they doing for the last five years?' 'Why do they have to take so long?' 'Gandhi himself never got the Bharat Ratna so it does not really matter.'
'If development, investment, employment, implementation, credibility and commitment are ensured, security will automatically improve and subversive and militant elements will lose ground and be neutralised by the people themselves,' says B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant.
On the eve of the sixth and penultimate phase of the marathon Uttar Pradesh elections, Rediff.com's Aslam Hunani reports on what's at stake.
A look at the top tweets from your favourite Bollywood celebrities.
A total of 10 women candidates, one less than last time, have emerged victorious in Chhattisgarh Assembly polls where the saffron party is back in power for the third time.
Ever heard of 'gosht ka halwa' or 'dal ki dulhan'? Avantika Bhuyan profiles a battery of food enthusiasts who are out to make sure that you do.
Harnoor Channi-Tiwary wants you to visit the Hampi of Central India.
We celebrate Independence Day with this special feature, published on Rediff.com in January 2013.
The BJP is banking on development. The opposition is raking up caste identities and the dangers of hyper nationalism.
We list down some of the memorable performances as historical figures.
Vajpayee's ashes will be immersed in rivers in all the districts in Uttar Pradesh -- his karmabhoomi.
No BJP president is powerful when the party is in power. Amit Shah is completely dependent on Narendra Modi's clout. He has a protective political immunity and everyone knows its source, says Bharat Bhushan
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Rahul Gandhi and BSP supremo Mayawati will descend on Varanasi on Saturday making it their battleground ahead of the last phase of Uttar Pradesh polls, a schedule that has put the administration on its toes.
'I don't know who is deciding Indian foreign policy today. I don't know who is deciding how India deals with Pakistan,' former Union minister Ram Jethmalani takes on the Modi government.
She tweeted a number of her photographs during a movie shoot and later deleted them following criticism on the social media.
Taking exception to Health Minister Harsh Vardhan not mentioning the death of healthcare workers due to Covid-19 in his statement in Parliament, the Indian Medical Association has published a list of 382 doctors who died due to the viral disease and demanded that they be treated as "martyrs".
Want to add to Sukanya Verma's list? Hit the message board.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Bajirao Mastani has ruffled quite a few feathers among the descendants of the Peshwa and his Muslim wife.
The oath taking ceremony will be on March 19 at 5 pm and all national leaders of the party will attend the ceremony.
In the couple of hours that you spend in the riot-hit city you find it is not the BJP that is asking for the votes of an excited section of Hindus, but it is the people who are clinging to Narendra Modi. Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt reports on the sentiment on the ground in Muzaffarnagar, whose Hindu-Muslim fracture is a long way from being mended.
Political stalwarts Murli Manohar Joshi, Sharad Pawar and former Lok Sabha speaker P A Sangma, cricketer Virat Kohli and Carnatic musician K J Yesudas were among the 89 people who were selected for this year's Padma awards.
The UP government transferred the district magistrate and the senior superintendent of police of Mathura following the violence in the district that left 29 dead.
'The purported jitters of the ministers under Modi, the intriguing part is that the stories churned out by the rumour mill have not so far been denied. For aught I know, they may not be true. Or, if true, all that Modi intended was to subject his ministers to a process of grooming to ensure that all of them adhere to a uniform code of propriety, discernment and credibility,' says the distinguished civil servant B S Raghavan.
Saeed Jaffrey lives on through his versatile body of work.
'Modi should not feel shy of proclaiming as the meaning of secularism regard for all religions in proportion to their numbers in tune with the spirit of democracy and adopting it as State policy,' says B S Raghavan.
