'My primary point was where is the Mamata Banerjee who jumps and reaches out, starts talking directly and starts solving over the heads of the bureaucracy.'
Asked about the BJP's claim that its performance in southern states will be exemplary, Tharoor said, "The claim of an 'exemplary' performance is yet another product of the BJP's propaganda mill."
'Hindutva will not win any elections. Hindutva as a political plank never works.'
The TDP and the LJP also supported the Bill being sent to a parliamentary committee for further examination.
The Congress in Kerala on Friday approached the Election Commission of India (ECI) against the decision of Doordarshan to telecast the controversial movie The Kerala Story, saying it was a 'tacit effort' to divide society on religious grounds to further the electoral prospects of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
The CPI-M leader was fluent in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Bangla, and also Malayalam. He was also well-versed in Hindu mythology, and often used those references in his speeches especially to attack the BJP.
Curfew remained in force in the northern Odisha town of Balasore for the second day on Wednesday following a clash between two groups over animal slaughter in which 10 people were injured, an official said.
'Episodes of targeted attacks on Muslims established that for a section of people and, sadly, even officials of the State, the election results conveyed no lessons.' 'Opposition parties must not be hesitant in speaking out whenever the mob with tacit State support targets Muslims,' asserts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author of Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times.
Gandhi's remarks drew massive protests from the treasury benches and a rare intervention from the prime minister, who slammed the Congress leader for calling the entire Hindu community violent.
Sangakkara, who was appointed the first non-British president of prestigious Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) earlier this month, expressed shock at the communal riots in the island nation.
The Election Commission Wednesday directed the leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party to refrain from making speeches on religious and communal lines, and opposition Congress from potentially divisive statements on the socioeconomic composition of the armed forces.
The Centre on Monday extended the ban on terrorist group Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) for five years for its involvement in fomenting terrorism and disturbing peace and communal harmony in the country.
'The inauguration of the Ram temple was the pinnacle of the BJP's religious politics.' 'Politics is dynamic. What goes up has to come down.'
'The election results mean that the Opposition can no longer either be ignored or attacked in the way that it has been.' 'For this reason it will be interesting to see how it behaves from here on and whether there is any change in its behaviour,' notes Aakar Patel.
The Supreme Court slammed the Uttar Pradesh government on Friday for not counselling students who were allegedly instructed by their school teacher to slap a Muslim boy for not doing his homework.
Surat police commissioner Anupam Singh Gehlot identified the arrested accused as Maulvi Sohel Abubakr Timol (27), who worked at a thread factory as a manager and offered private tuition on Islam to Muslim children.
Launching a strong campaign over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks against its manifesto, the Congress said on Monday that party chief Mallikarjun Kharge has sought an appointment with Narendra Modi to "educate him" about its poll promise document.
The Uttar Pradesh government on Friday defended its directive requiring eateries along the kanwar yatra route to display the names of their owners and staff, saying the idea was to bring in transparency, avoid 'potential confusion' and ensure a peaceful yatra.
A key suspect and his accomplice accused of fanning communal hatred on social media and instigating the recent violence against the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh have confessed to their crime in a pre-trial hearing, a court official has said.
Alleging that the BJP would end democracy if it was not voted out, Kharge said it was because of this democracy that a tea-seller's son could become the prime minister of India and he, the son of a labourer, could become the president of the opposition Congress.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday said he will back any candidate announced by the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar as Maha Vikas Aghadi's chief ministerial face.
Banerjee accused the BJP of resorting to divisive tactics in the face of anticipated defeat in the initial phases of polling.
'Rabindranath Tagore, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar and Swami Vivekananda, all wanted and argued for a united Bengali culture, and there is no room in their social objective for trying to excite one community against another'
On August 13, Muhammad Yunus visited the Dhakeswari Temple and reached out to the distressed Hindu community members in the wake of attacks on the minority communities.
On January 29, the Central government had extended the ban imposed on the SIMI for five more years.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday described her party Trinamool Congress's "landslide victory" in the state assembly poll as a vindication of its fight to protect communal harmony.
The term 'love jihad' is used by right-wing groups to allege a ploy by Muslim men to lure Hindu women into religious conversion through marriage.
Modi also said the BJP has "not just today but never" acted against minorities.
1,605 people were killed, 30,719 were injured in 10,399 incidents of communal violence from 2004 to 2017.
An Uttar Pradesh government spokesperson said a formal order for all eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route in the state was likely to be issued soon.
Incidents of arson and vandalism were reported on Saturday after stones were pelted at the rally when it was passing through a Muslim-dominated locality, according to police.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Sanjay Kumar termed the plea as "absolutely misconceived" and said how can it sit in appeal over an order passed by another bench of the apex court.
A purported video of three monks being attacked by a mob in West Bengal's Purulia over suspicion that they were 'kidnappers in disguise' has triggered a political row, with opposition Bharatiya Janata Party alleging collapse of law and order in the state.
The opposition INDIA bloc has written to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google CEO Sundar Pichai over their social media platforms' alleged role in "aiding communal hatred" in the country and demanded that the platforms maintain neutrality in the upcoming elections.
Setting aside the order of the assistant commissioner of police, the judge directed the officer to grant the permission and provide necessary police protection, besides imposing reasonable conditions.
In the notice issued on Sunday, the ECI has notified the main organiser of the 'Auto Rajakanmar Iftar' event, Abubakar Siddique, for violating the election model code of conduct.
Modi on Sunday suggested that if the Congress came to power, it would redistribute the wealth of people to Muslims and cited former PM Manmohan Singh's remark that the minority community had the first claim on the country's resources.
Just a day after an agreement was signed between Hmar and Meitei representatives to restore peace in ethnic violence-hit Jiribam district of Manipur, the apex body of the Hmar community said that the pact stood 'null and void'.
Police have so far arrested 11 people on charges of rioting and murder in connection with the clash.
'The 2024 general elections proved that UP is not Gujarat.'
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