'The right wing has worked for 70-80 years at the grass roots before it burst onto social media.' 'Social media is an extension of its formidable work in society.' 'If you think you can fight them on social media, forget it. You can't.'
The Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government will have a total of 30 ministers, including 18 who had resigned earlier.
'If PM has some concrete information against gau rakshaks then he must disclose it, otherwise we will take legal action against him.'
'The BJP's solo aim in Mumbai and Maharashtra is to finish off the Shiv Sena and Sharad Pawar's NCP.'
'A unified Hindu votebank -- the creation of the largest and most reliable votebank in Indian politics, ever,' says Mihir S Sharma.
'Since 2002, we have not received any justice and we are still fighting for it.'
'Haven't you heard of the magical EVM machines? They can negate all our votes.' 'There is no hope. Modi is India's Putin.'
'In Kairana, the grand coalition was able to transfer its votes to a Muslim candidate in supposedly an era of anti-Muslim ambience.' 'Given this perspective, the Kairana result seems more significant than that of Gorakhpur and Phulpur a few months ago,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
'Shaheen Bagh is no longer a mere ghetto of lower middle class Muslims.' 'Now, it is a metaphor for resistance, secularism and struggle,' notes Md. Zeeshan Ahmad.
'The government must consider that Modiji's vision of India turning into a $5 trillion economy will happen only when there is rule of law in the country.' 'Investors will not invest if these lynchings keep happening.'
'Reflex responses to Dalit student Rohith Vemula's suicide are band aids that stem the current hemorrhage but do precious little to the festering wound beneath,' says Vivek Gumaste.
In yet another sign that not everything is fine between Bihar's ruling partners, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar opposes the BJP's demand for a population control law -- even while seeking a caste-based census, a red flag for the BJP. M I Khan reports.
In Lok Sabha, the Opposition demanded action against cow vigilantes.
Nitish Kumar has failed to curb communal forces and hoodlums across communities. And that is ominous for Bihar's present and future, warns Mohammad Sajjad.
The prime minister said he was expecting members of the House to show enthusiasm by thumping their desks as a large number of those from the Dalits, Scheduled Tribes and OBC communities as well as sons of farmers and those from economically backward and rural backgrounds have become ministers in the recent rejig.
With time on his side, that Hardik Patel will one day occupy the top spot in Gujarat is a no-brainer. But the BJP doesn't like rabble-rousers.
It also provides that no preliminary enquiry will be required for registering a criminal case and an arrest under this law would not be subject to any approval.
According to a National Crime Records Bureau report, a total of 356 cases of sedition -- as defined under section 124A of the IPC -- were registered and 548 people arrested between 2015 and 2020, out of which only six were convicted.
Shah assured members of minority communities that none of them will lose citizenship due to the CAA.
'What the UP administration wanted was political mileage, and they also had the silent approval from the central government.'
The CM assured the family of stringent action against all the accused.
Nirahua, a Bhojpuri star and the BJP's candidate, is drawing huge crowds in his road shows and meetings after he entered the poll fray against Yadav, but voters with caste and local equations appear favourable for the senior Yadav.
'The Mallahs may remain divided between the two competing coalitions in Bihar,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
'Zund makes one sit up and wonder why we have allowed ourselves to be played like pawns by power mongers,' says Neeta Kolhatkar.
Campaigning came to an end on Saturday for the single-day election in Uttarakhand and Goa, two states known for political volatility where the Bharatiya Janata Party is attempting to retain power, and for the second phase of assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh on February 14.
'For the first time one single party is getting 49% which is a record of its own.'
Increasingly seen as the 'bellwether' for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the assembly election results will not only decide as to who will rule UP but show which way the wind is blowing ahead of the Lok Sabha elections two years hence.
As of now, there is nothing to suggest that the 'Michaelpatti episode' has the potential to polarise Dravidian Tamil Nadu on religious lines, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Calling for attention to cases of sexual violence against women and girls in India, UN Resident Coordinator in India Renata Dessallien said the alleged rape and murder in Hathras and Balrampur are a reminder that those from disadvantaged social groups are at greater risk of gender-based violence.
"Our daughters go to schools and colleges. They (Muslims) do not believe in sending their girls to schools. Our daughters, therefore, are vulnerable to filthy remarks, unwanted advances and eve-teasing. We have to fight for our izzat (honour)," said Uday Veer. One comes across different versions of the same narrative in Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur and Meerut. It cuts across caste lines and made class differences redundant.
'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.
Sources in various parties suggest that two lakh votes of the Patel community, locally known as OBC kurmi, for which mother-daughter led Apna Dal (S) and Apna Dal (K) are competing and over one lakh of OBC Rajbhars would be crucial in deciding the outcome of the assembly seats in Varanasi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday slammed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for seeking en bloc voting by Muslims for the Trinamool Congress and said had his party made a similar appeal to Hindus, it would have been criticised and censured.
Yadav also called for firming up of an Opposition alliance to take on the BJP in the 2024 general elections, suggesting that the Congress must focus on over 200 seats on which it is in direct fight with the saffron party, while taking a 'backseat' in states where regional parties are a formidable force.
Gleaning lessons from Amit Shah's compendium of Chanakya-isms, the Samajwadi Party is keeping its operations low-key and working on an inclusive strategy.
Two students, who had shouted slogans during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address at a convocation function in Lucknow, on Saturday said they took the step to ensure that no Dalit student faces the same fate as HyderabadUniversity's scholar Rohith Veluma.
Speaking at the Annual Prime Minister's National Cadet Corps Rally 2020, Modi said the problem in Jammu and Kashmir persisted since Independence and some families and political parties kept issues in the region "alive", as a result of which terrorism thrived there.
'When he was killed, did you ask questions of the Muslim community? When we spoke of 'aar-paar' you are asking questions.'
'We are known political activists, so the police put our names in.'
Roy accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of telling a "lie" at his Ramlila Ground rally in New Delhi on Sunday that his government never said anything about the NRC process and that there are no detention camps in the country.
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