Defying prohibitory orders, protests were held in Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and several other cities. Protesters, mostly students and activists, were detained on a large scale in national capital and other places.
Modi said the wave in favour of the BJP was stronger this time than in 2014.
Article 370 is a golden cage that keeps Kashmiris trapped in a stifling environment, deters other Indians from investing in the state perpetuating its economic penury and expressly hinders the understanding of India; all under the false premise of preserving a narrow parochial identity, says Vivek Gumaste.
Indians must remember that Pakistanis hate losing to India, at war or in cricket, says Sanjeev Nayyar.
The manifesto was unveiled by Jayalalithaa at a public rally, in a departure from usual practice of release at party headquarters in Chennai.
'Without destroying idol worship, you cannot destroy caste because idol worship keeps religious communities in its religious ideology. The RSS is a big promoter of idol worship.' 'They may have an OBC PM, but neither the RSS or the VHP talk about an OBC becoming a priest. The equation is: Business in Baniya hands. Religion in Brahmin hands. OBC votes for the BJP.'
'I want the prime minister to be punished because he put our country in difficulties as he took this decision without Cabinet approval.' 'When he had already ordered the printing of new currency notes on May 19, 2016, why did he tell lies to the country?'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the passage of bills as a "momentous occasion" in parliamentary democracy and said a new dawn awaits the people there as they are now free from the "shackles" of vested interest groups.
'The Kopardi rape/murder was the immediate cause of the unrest.' 'However, there is a feeling of isolation and anger that has been simmering within the Maratha community.' 'The protests gave Marathas a sense of belonging.' 'They felt they have a stake in the protests and the issues being raised.' 'As for the future, let us see what happens.' 'All I can say is it will not stop here.'
U R Ananthamurthy's assertion of leaving the country if Modi is voted to power is an affront to the deep sense of the Indian voters who have time and again shown a certain sagacity and wisdom of judgement. It certainly shows a 'corruption of the mind' on his part and not on the one he chooses to irrationally oppose, says Dr Anirban Ganguly.
Shiv Sena said that Dalit Prez candidate has been chosen for vote-bank politics.
'Nobody in AMU supports Jinnah's two-nation theory.' 'It is shameful we are debating Jinnah and not education or employment.'
Here's the full text of President Ram Nath Kovind's address on the eve of 70th Republic Day of India.
'A robust electoral democracy provides the institutional basis for the generation and regeneration of political hope.'
'Public dissent is the highest public duty and I will continue to speak out,' says Harsh Mander.
'I want to assure the country that no country, no government can tolerate anybody taking the law into their hands, whether it is an individual or a group.'
Nitish 'sent his emissary, Prashant Kishor, to me on five different occasions.' 'Kishor seemed to indicate that if I were to assure in writing my party's support to the JD-U, the latter would pull out of the BJP alliance and rejoin the Mahagathbandhan.' A revealing excerpt from Lalu Prasad Yadav's Gopalganj To Raisina: My Political Journey.
"Any fight with the Congress will remain in the state. At the national level, we will fight together, this I am saying from the heart..." she said.
'The BJP will never do anything substantial to empower Dalits.'
Asserting that Aligarh Muslim University is not a minority institution, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Saturday said the varsity is committing a "big crime" by not implementing the policy of reservation for SCs, STs and OBCs.
'The job of RSS is to unite the Hindu society and make it fearless, self-reliant and selfless,' says RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that vague laws that lend themselves to different interpretations are the foremost reason for pendency of cases in courts.
"We will work out the parameters then we will see as to how mentioning will be done," he said.
'If you look at the entire protest on April 2, you will find it was not only about the Atrocities Act dilution, but the accumulated anger of the Dalit community against the BJP over the last four years.'
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi who envisioned Make In India last September was at his eloquent best as he made a fervent plea to global businesses to come Make In India.
In a shocking first in Maharashtra's history, a mob attacked a police station last week, assaulted two policemen, dragged one of them out, paraded him with a saffrom flag and made him chant, 'Jai Bhavani, Jai Shivaji.'
Kapil Mishra was one of the closest aides of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. However, in May 2017, the tides turned. A loyalist of the Aam Aadmi Party founder, Mishra shocked one and all by openly accusing him of corruption, a claim that the AAP dismissed. Since then Mishra has become one of the most prominent AAP rebels. In the face of the sit-in by Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia and ministers - Satyendar Jain and Gopal Rai at Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal's office, Mishra spoke to Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com and said that this is the first time in history that a sitting chief minister of a state in India has kidnapped himself.
We have failed to acknowledge the volatile events that have changed Mumbai.
'It is a concocted letter and we suspect the IB (Intelligence Bureau) to be behind this game.' 'All the investigation agencies should have quietly gone about finding more about this alleged plot to kill the prime minister.' 'Why are you leaking such a letter that reveals the plot to the press as well as to BJP spokespersons?'
'Modi is the first BJP leader to try to include Dalits in its fold.' 'But the rank and file of his party is backward and want to bash up Muslims and Dalits whenever they have a chance.'
'Despite living in a free nation for so many years, if atrocities like rapes, public flogging, social boycotts are faced by Dalits, then conversion is the only option.'
Biju Janata Dal members had staged a walk-out while NDA ally Shiv Sena did not participate in the voting.
Sanjeev Nayyar suggests 16 measures by which we can tackle our unrelenting and untrustworthy neighbour.
Sumit Bhattacharya paradrops into the eastern Uttar Pradesh temple city to find it enjoying its moment in the national sun.
Educationist Dr Shashi K Pande on how he sees India, and how he would like to see it change.
'The court came to a conclusion using one person's case... Based on that one case, the term "rampant misuse" was used as if it is a generalisation.' 'If one in 10 cases turns out to be false, is it possible to call the Act a charter for blackmail or charter for personal vengeance?' 'Is there any Act either in India or anywhere in the world where there are no false cases?'
'To suggest that activists -- and that too 'five star activists' -- are driving the courts, is to betray an ignorance of the functioning of the legal system of the most gross kind,' says Senior Advocate and former Additional Solicitor General Indira Jaising.
Sudheendra Kulkarni pays tribute to friend, poet and Dalit activist Namdeo Dhasal who passed into the ages on Wednesday.
highlights of what Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi and senior leader L K Advani said at the Statue of Unity launch event
Some of the 19 NIT scholars who spent a week at the Rashtrapati Bhawan as part of an 'in-Residence Programme' share their learnings with Upasna Pandey
