'The BJP has been tinkering with the Indian Constitution every now and then.' 'Instead of celebrating November 26 as Constitution Day, the BJP was more interested in (the VHP's) Dharam Sabha which was called that day.' 'This shows they believe more in the Ram mandir than in the Constitution.'
What was Team Rahul's big mistake? Why are Brahmins dominating the All India Congress Committee? Why can't Food Minister KV Thomas visit Rome... All this, and more, in this week's Dilli Gupshup.
Military officer Trilokchand Raina's mastery at making bombs in an ordnance factory was only getting him a measly salary of rupees ten thousand a month. Not enough to give wings to his son Suresh's cricketing dreams. But, more than two decades after those days of struggle, riding hard work, determination and luck, Raina ended his professional career as an international cricketer recently with plenty of success.
'Everybody knows that any solution would upstage and expose official bungling.' 'That is something Mrs Sitharaman's masters will not allow.' 'No matter how high the cost in human misery, they will squander a fortune on the unnecessary Central Vista extravaganza,' notes Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
'We should be open to looking at Ramdas Athavale's suggestion of reservations. India will not be unique if it chooses to do this, says Aakar Patel.
'The Congress should have accepted our demands.' 'Gone are the days when it could decide how many crumbs to throw at us.' 'Now, we make the demands.'
While the DMK fears that the Congress with its poor strike rate will pull it down in the 2021 state elections, like it did five years ago, the ruling AIADMK is worried that the BJP may ultimately do a Bihar on it, relegating it to second place in Tamil Nadu, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
A towering figure in the world of letters, Udupi Rajagopalacharya Ananthamurthy, who died in Bangalore on Friday, was modern in his sensibilities and intellectual underpinnings in his literary works questioned many deeply-held beliefs.
General T N Raina was an iconic Indian military leader whose contributions to the nation should be more widely known, notes Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
Sukh Ram and Raja were charged with corruption during their tenure as telecom ministers. Sukh Ram was convicted while Raja has been acquitted. One had cash found under his bed; in the case of the other the trial judge mockingly asks: Where is the money? And if there's no money, where is the corruption? So, pronounced innocent. Sukh Ram is a Brahmin. 'Maybe he strayed just that one time, people like that aren't usually corrupt.' And Raja is a Dalit. 'Can you expect any better?' What race is in some places, caste is in India, says Shekhar Gupta.
All laws have been modified to omit the domicile clause for property rights in the valley. This effectively means that anyone with enough money to spend can now technically buy property there, writes Sai Manish.
His immediate challenge is the February 8 Delhi assembly polls followed by year-end elections in Bihar. However, his big test would be the next year's assembly polls in West Bengal, a state where the BJP has emerged as a strong challenger to Mamata Banerjee-headed TMC.
We bring you the richest, biggest and famous Ganesh pandals from Mumbai.
'I stand by what I said. It is understandable that Rushdie got angry and called me names. But it also means it hurt him because there was some truth in what I said.'
Indian actors from different generations and worlds, Roshan Seth and Sendhil Ramamurthy, star in a remarkable film, co-starring Oscar winner Mary Steenburgen and Oscar nominee Michael Lerner. Brahmin Bulls director Mahesh Pailoor, in a fascinating conversation with Arthur J Pais/Rediff.com
Unlike the regimes of Jayalalitha, Palaniswami and Karunanidhi, ministers are actually getting to make decisions on their own, with the unmentioned rider that they would be held responsible and accountable, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Cinematographer Azhagappan is making his debut as a director
One of prominent religious leaders of South India, the 88-year old Swamiji was admitted to a hospital at Manipal a few days ago for breathing difficulty and his end came on Sunday morning, they said.
Stalin owes his victory this time, like in 2019, to the hate-campaign of the local Hindutva forces, which kept haranguing him, and even his dead father, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'The BJP will get the lion's share of the Opposition vote. I would give the Congress-Left around 15 per cent.'
The Gujarat government has directed seven district collectors to ensure that the identity of each and every person coming for the road show and the Namaste Trump event is verified thoroughly.
'The BJP has the torch and with that same torch, the BJP is trying to light up its house in Bihar.' 'The BJP is trying to burn Nitish Kumar's house with that torch.'
'If you keep inflation low, everything else like messing up after after demonetisation will be forgiven,' says T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan.
The contemporary problem with the BJP in Tamil Nadu is that it has been trying hard to package the DMK especially as anti-god and anti-Hinduism, and seeking it to link to Periyar and M Karunanidhi, and by extension to Stalin, the latter's son and successor to the party mantle. Their hope was to consolidate the perceived 'pro-god, pro-religion votes', which they saw returning to the fold post-MGR, post-Jayalalithaa. But no such substantial vote-bank existed even in Periyar's time, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The film works because of Niveditha's performance.
The focus is not only on governance but also to ensure that the BJP's political considerations are taken care of.
Achyut Yagnik, co-author of The Shaping of Modern Gujarat: Plurality, Hindutva and Beyond, says, "I am surprised to read that Rahul claims that he is a Brahmin. His grandfather (Feroze Gandhi, husband of former prime minister Indira Gandhi) hails from Gujarat and Parsis are Gujaratis."
A time has thus come when state encouragement for rural students led to empowerment of the socio-economically marginalised sections of the population. It included women. Today, with greater exposure and consequent enlightenment, it has gone beyond 'empowerment' to become 'entitlement', says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'At this moment, the Trinamool has an edge.'
Why Dalit leaders cross over to the BJP
Bajirao Mastani has the potential to do for Maratha 'history' what Mughal-e-Azam did for Mughal 'history', says Mohammad Asim Siddiqui.
A 22-year-old girl, born as an unpleasant surprise to her Tamil Brahmin mother and Thevar father, who later abandoned her, and who is now looked after by an NGO tells Shobha Warrier about two dreams she wished somebody could fulfil.
'...by combining religious and political missions -- to destroy the Babri Masjid and establish Ram Rajya.' 'Hindutva was successful in creating synergy with the aspirations of devotees,' Dhirendra K Jha, author of Ayodhya: The Dark Night, tells Kanika Datta.
This is the first Cabinet expansion after he assumed office on July 26 and proved his government's majority on the floor of the assembly on July 29.
On a chilly January morning, Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt and Sharat Pradhan traveled off National Highway 24 to probe rustic Indian minds on corruption, weeks ahead of the election in Uttar Pradesh.
'In a country like India, it is clear that respecting religions -- in politics or in the kitchen -- is disastrous,' says Amberish K Diwanji.
'The non-vegetarian share of the population fell from 75 to 71 per cent between 2004 and 2014, no doubt in anticipation of the lotus blooming.' 'Three years of saffron authoritarianism may have thinned the non-vegetarian ranks even more,' says Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
'If the museum in his memory inspires and instils among Brahminical British Indians an attitude of equality towards Dalits, the edifice would be worth it,' reports Ashis Ray.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances