"If any wrong words have been spoken about him, I apologise to God Shri Ram for it," Nishad told reporters in Fatehpur. "Lord Shri Ram has done a lot for our community and our community has played an important role in the construction of the Shri Ram temple," he said.
Promising to positively consider several representations of Christians including site for cemetries, Palaniswami, in an apparent reference to his party's alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party for assembly polls likely in April, said electoral tie-ups were different from ideology.
'Nitish does not want to talk about development, unemployment, education, health infrastructure and poverty'
Unless controlled and contained, given the untested belief that the north Indian labour support and follow the Hindutva kind of political ideology, there is a potential in terms of ideological clashes with their Dravidian brethren in the local neighbourhoods, and it all escalating into violence, especially during election time, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
The 71-year-old Dhankhar has been a noted lawyer, was instrumental in getting Other Backward Class status for Jats in Rajasthan and loves to beat his own cappuccino desi-style.
Portfolios were on Tuesday allocated in the new Bihar cabinet headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who, predictably, retained the all-important home department which helps him keep direct control on the state police.
'While the US-Pakistan relationship has been stabilised, it's still mired in uncertainty.'
Today, a friendship forged by common ideals behind prison walls has become a transactional understanding, notes Aditi Phadnis.
'Earlier, a lot of fear was in the minds of people that the BJP is anti-Christian and anti-minority, but over the years people have learnt to accept that the BJP is just another national party.'
"This is not a manifesto, it is our pledge to bring a change which is set to become true. Every sector has been taken into consideration while preparing this manifesto so that we can make Bihar a happy, better and prosperous state," Tejashwi Yadav said while releasing vision document.
The people will view it from their viewpoint, their immediate interest, historical experiences, their insecurities, he said.
As many as 10 ministers in the Yogi Adityanath government failed to win their seats in the 2022 assembly elections, despite the BJP registering an impressive victory.
"Our party is stronger than the Congress in the state. While the Congress won 40 seats in panchayat polls, we scored a victory in 83 panchayats. AAP got over 40 lakh votes in these polls, where 1600 party candidates contested," Singh, AAP's UP in-charge and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said.
'With vendetta politics as its main plank, the BJP will be looking out for every opportunity to destabilise this Mahagatbandhan government.'
Stressing that the Apna Dal-S stands for social justice, Union minister Anupriya Patel on Monday dissociated her party from "Hindutva and all those issues" and said it is ideologically different from the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The BMC election will hold the key to a new shift in political power -- not just in Mumbai but in Maharashtra, reports Sarthak Choudhury.
Attacking the Nitish government over policy discrepancies, RJD scion claimed that the health and education sectors were in shambles under the current government.
Political power has now been outsourced fully to the Modi government. Even if the RSS is still, in principle, his guru, nobody would dare to whisper a word of advice to Modi, forget some whiff of criticism. When the shishya grows into such a popular and domineering leader, the guru has to applaud from the sidelines, points out Shekhar Gupta.
'Badle ki bhavna (revengeful politics) was never seen in Maharashtra and Indian politics, but now we are witnessing all that today.'
Renowned women's rights activist and founder of the Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) Ela Bhatt passed away in Ahmedabad on Wednesday due to age-related ailments, her associates said.
The BJP continuing to look at the Dravidian polity through the religious prism has not worked in Tamil Nadu whereas it has yielded political and electoral results across much of the rest of the country, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Union minister RCP Singh, who was recently denied another term in the Rajya Sabha by the Janata Dal-United he formerly headed, should "heed the message" and resign from the cabinet, a key political aide of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has said.
The Assam cabinet had on December 13 approved a proposal to close down all Madrassas and Sanskrit Tols (schools) however, the legislation brought in the assembly during the day did not contain anything related to the Sanskrit tols and the education minister also did not mention anything about it.
Long caught between two polarities, Gujarat's electoral field has expanded to include a third party with the Aam Aadmi Party challenging the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party as well as the opposition Congress that has lost ground but still has significant presence.
Ending the more than a month long suspense over cabinet formation, five ministers, including two from the Bharatiya Janata Party, were inducted in the Chief Minister N Rangasamy-led National Democratic Alliance cabinet.
Tejashwi took the four MLAs to the assembly in a car he himself drove, in a gesture that was rich in optics as well as symbolism.
Shah said he is confident that BJP will return to power in four states -- Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur -- and make impressive gains in Punjab.
The substantially increased economic dualism may exert lasting negative influences which could include a reduced potential for economic growth; the persistence of a very weak employment and poverty situation; rising social and political discord; and heightened vulnerability to geopolitical challenges, cautions Shankar Acharya, former chief economic adviser to the Government of India.
Even as the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi dispensation is currently facing a survival crisis due to a rebellion by Sena minister Eknath Shinde, the departments -- mostly controlled by ruling allies Nationalist Congress Party and Congress -- have issued government orders for the release of funds for various development-related works worth thousands of crores in the last four days.
Atique Ahmed is one of the most feared dons of Uttar Pradesh today. There was another don who preceded Atique and had he survived, Atique wouldn't have been around today, recalls Sudhir Bisht.
West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar was on Saturday announced as the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance's vice presidential candidate.
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.
'Washington appears to be playing the long game, and making the argument to India that over the longer term, Russia -- sanctioned, cash-strapped, isolated by the West -- will no longer be a viable defence partner for India'
The message for 2024 is that the man on the street is not going to be euphoric if the G-20 crowns Modi as king-emperor for 2023, or if India sends its first man to space just ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Even a 'temple consecration' in Ayodhya, or a Uniform Civil Code, or both of them together, may not have enough electoral purchase if fuel and commodity prices are not rolled back, and money-in-the-pocket does not fatten, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Celebrations broke out outside the Rajasthan BJP headquarters in Jaipur and the party workers burst firecrackers and distributed sweets as Murmu emerged victorious in the presidential poll.
At 64, the woman who will be India's 15th president, taking over from Ram Nath Kovind, will also be the youngest and India's first President to be born after Independence.
The perception is rapidly gaining ground that though the chief minister is from the Shiv Sena, the government is being run by the NCP.
The 2+2 was attended by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin and their Indian counterparts S Jaishankar and Rajnath Singh respectively.
Women, if addressed properly, have the potential to become a decisive factor in elections.
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