Thousands of farmers from around 100 villages of Noida and Greater Noida on Thursday took to the streets seeking hiked compensation, bringing traffic to a standstill in several parts of Delhi-NCR as they made an unsuccessful bid to march towards Parliament.
Karat and CPI-M MP P K Biju are in Gujarat to meet the victims of atrocities on Dalits.
Congress says RSS was working for "Dalit-mukt Bharat" which was "sponsored" by BJP to polarise communities ahead of next year's Gujarat polls.
He also termed the draft notification issued by the state government providing Kunbi certificates to all Marathas as a mere 'eyewash', and said caste is determined by birth and not affidavits.
Amid the row over Congress leader Sam Pitroda's remarks, the party on Wednesday asserted that it has no plans whatsoever to introduce an inheritance tax and cited former Union minister Jayant Sinha's remarks to allege that it is the Modi government that wanted to do so.
Jayesh Solanki, cousin Prakash Solanki and two other Dalit men were sitting near a house adjacent to a temple in Bhadrania village when a person made "derogatory remarks about their caste", police said quoting a complaint filed in connection with the incident.
'Our study finds that only about 20% of Indians are vegetarians and the rest of the 80% are non-vegetarians or meat-eaters.'
Why Dalit leaders cross over to the BJP
Many Dalits claim that an atmosphere of fear continues to prevail in the village after the attack and some Dalit families were reported to have fled from the village.
Cutting across party lines, members in Lok Sabha highlighted the cases of atrocities being committed on Dalits in various parts of the country and demanded steps to prevent them.
On seeing them, Gandhi got off his vehicle, walked up to them and shook hands with several people in the crowd.
The Opposition in Rajya Sabha on Thursday launched a frontal attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party over growing attacks on Dalits and other sections, saying a "Taliban-like attitude" was prevailing in some parts of the country and the 'Gujarat model' had been thoroughly exposed.
Gandhi said the Congress' slogan is 'count' because that would be the first step towards justice.
The Congress on Saturday appointed 50-year-old Jitu Patwari, who belongs to the Other Backward Classes, as president of the party's Madhya Pradesh unit replacing veteran Kamal Nath.
'This is against the Constitution and we will oppose it tooth and nail.'
A case has been registered in Hyderabad against Telangana Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Raja Singh for his remarks which allegedly defended the attacks on Dalits in Gujarat's Una and supported the cow vigilantes involved.
'I declared myself a Sikh. We want freedom from caste discrimination.'
The Kalaram temple, located in Panchavati area of Nashik, is dedicated to Lord Ram.
A senior SP leader requesting anonymity said that the party chief had called a meeting to brief the MLAs about the voting process of the Rajya Sabha elections.
Cops said it was still a matter of investigation as to who called the 'cow vigilantes' when the Dalits were skinning the cow and what was the motive behind giving such false information, which led to the brutal thrashing.
Prominent Dalit leader Udit Raj joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday which said it believed in inclusive growth and the welfare of the last man in the queue and accused Congress of causing disparity in the society during its rule.
"If you want to shoot, shoot me," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, as he called for stopping the attacks on Dalits and the politics over it.
'The government says it will file a review petition against the Supreme Court, but there is no conviction here.' 'It is doing this purely because it is worried.' 'It comes from the same sentiment as asking BJP MPs to spend two nights in a Dalit village,' says Aakar Patel.
Saini's elevation as Haryana chief minister fits in with a pattern that has gathered pace in the BJP after the Congress and its allies like the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh and the Rashtriya Janata Dal in Bihar began making an aggressive bid to woo the largest group of communities and politically most significant, especially in Hindi-speaking states, by pushing for a caste census.
In his poll rallies, Modi framed Pitroda's comments in his wider onslaught against the Congress, asserting that they have exposed its hidden agenda and that the party has become so removed from the country's social and family values that it wants to legally rob people of their assets and lifelong savings they want to bequeath to their children.
'The Dalits have always asserted themselves, but there has never been any gain for Dalits.' 'But now the most significant thing that has emerged, and which has got all the political parties in denial mode, is the assertion of smaller OBCs along with the Dalits.' 'I accept that the Dalits by themselves are not in a position to make a Mumbai bandh successful.' 'It was only because of the participation of the smaller OBCs that the bandh has become a success.'
'We can't sit back clutching our memories of the riots. The country, the future of our children are more important.' Jyoti Punwani reports on an unusual election meeting in Mumbai.
The party also demanded the formation of a commission of inquiry by a sitting Supreme Court judge on the clashes between Dalit groups and supporters of right-wing Hindu organisations during the 200th anniversary celebrations of the Bhima-Koregaon battle in Pune that left a man dead on January 1.
BJP sources suggest that the upcoming elections will likely revolve around the renewed enthusiasm for the temple unless another theme with religious and nationalist undertones emerges.
The Delhi high court on Thursday asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to take down his social media post which revealed the identity of a minor Dalit girl, raped and murdered in 2021, so that the child's identity is protected worldwide.
This is Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya's maiden Lok Sabha election, but political experts and voters feel he can easily win Porbandar seat in his home state Gujarat, despite the electorate facing some key issues like unemployment.
'We don't believe in the BJP. But the Congress has no main leader who is credible.'
Disputes over a temple has torn a Tamil Nadu village apart.
For the first time in his political career, he failed to carry his party to even a working majority -- and again, for the first time in his career, he finds himself in a situation where he cannot rule by dictatorial fiat, points out Prem Panicker.
'For voters, PM Narendra Modi's name and developmental works in Rajkot are enough reasons to support the BJP'
Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com does a deep dive into four elections when Narendra Modi resorted to anti-Muslim fervour and points out that Hindu-Muslim politics does not necessarily mean victory for the BJP.
'A large number of people from Sindh province will now opt to migrate to India as they would be granted citizenship through an easy process.'
Diljit Dosanjh's switch in singing style as he smoothly assumes Chamkila's vocal persona highlights the brilliance of his artistry, observes Sukanya Verma.
Victim Amar, a resident of Roda village in Lalitpur, told ANI one Sonu Yadav forced him to drink his urine a few days ago. "When I refused, he attacked me with a stick. He also attacked my son with an axe. We then complained against him to the police," Amar said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday suggested that if the Congress comes to power, it would redistribute 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.
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