In the manifesto released on Saturday, the Congress also promised unemployment allowance of Rs 3,000 per month, Rs 2,000 pension to divyangs, widows, senior citizens and needy women, and waiver of loans of up to Rs 3 lakh of all fishermen, among other things.
It is unusual to see Narendra Modi highlight his OBC status -- something he has never done in his long political career. Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com examines Modi's compulsions for bringing his caste to the foreground
'I cannot imagine that any NSA before Ajit Doval would have given us this kind of time and this kind of engagement. They would have offered slogans, or nothing at all. That, too, tells you something.'
'This personal connection he forms with everyone he interacts with makes him truly exceptional.'
Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee challenged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to resign, citing hypocrisy in Shah's call for 'clean politics' given his past arrest. Banerjee also criticised the Election Commission and defended his party's record.
The meeting is being held purportedly to discuss ways and means of raising the issues of Hinduism and the Ram Temple at Ayodhya in the coming weeks.
'Mr Modi has the power and pre-eminence in the BJP-RSS to choose how long he wants to serve, and he is definitely going to want to contest in 2029.' 'He will only be 79, as old as Donald Trump now, and fitter,' observes Shekhar Gupta.
"I believe that we have the potential of dominating the Asian economy," he said.
Party's declaration of Delhi candidate list sans Kejriwal is a sign of this move
A Bharatiya Janata Party minister in Bihar on Thursday said that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had failed to fulfill the minimum courtesy of congratulating Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for his win.
This will be the first time BJP's prime ministerial candidate holds a discussion with IT, telecom czars.
Of late, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has been concentrating on Uttar Pradesh, where he has held four rallies over a span of one month. Clearly, this was a departure from the routine as UP was not even among the states where assembly elections were being held currently.
Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Friday asked the party's youth brigade to launch a strong, fearless and "tit-for-tat" campaign against Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on the social media.
A minister submits his resignation, alleging Modi humiliated him. Party chief gives Modi free hand to axe minister.
Modi's real problem is not his silence on Hindutva excesses growing in the country. He needs to transform India without the minute-by-minute tweets.
Hindi Diwas was observed across India with leaders emphasizing Hindi's role as a unifying factor and the need to enrich all Indian languages. Events were held in India and abroad to promote the language.
If women voters are mobilised in big numbers to the voting booths on November 6 and 11 by the Nitish Kumar-led NDA, then it will be quite difficult for the Tejashwi Yadav-led Mahagathbandhan to defeat the incumbent government, points out Sheela Bhatt.
Muslim voters in the Old City in Lucknow know the decisive value of their votes, but are wary that their votes are divided, and that, they fear, will only help Narendra Modi. Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com speaks to Muslim voters in the land of tehzeeb and gauges their apprehensions about a Modi sarkar.
Let there be no doubt that Modi in these 24 years so far has reshaped politics and governance considerably, if not completely, asserts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author, Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times.
Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Lal Kishenchand Advani has convened a meeting of National Democratic Alliance chief ministers on Saturday to hold talks with them and evolve a strategy to counter the Congress campaign in next year's Lok Sabha elections. The meeting will begin at 11 am in the morning and continue after lunch.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Monday took on Narendra Modi today saying that the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate was 'irresponsible' and had made 'wrong statements' at his rally two days ago.
In the last 11 years, India and the world witnessed what he stood for, what he promised and did not deliver, and what he actually stood for and practised without fearing how history would judge him. Modi's tenure has been punctuated with headline-grabbing decisions, symbolic gestures, and stage-managed moments that continue to define his leadership and India's politics, points out Ramesh Menon.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi officially commissioned the Vizhinjam International Seaport on Friday in Thiruvananthapuram in the presence of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, whose presence at the inauguration, Modi said, will give 'sleepless nights' to many.
Kharge alleged that it was the leaders of the Hindu Mahasabha and RSS and later, the Jan Sangh, who made statements that Kashmir should be declared an independent country.
Hundreds of people on Sunday joined the rallies and candle light vigils held in several cities, including New York, Washington, Chicago, Boston, and Tamarac, Florida to mark the 10th anniversary of the Gujarat riots and to pay homage to the victims.
Modi, who is on a visit to Gujarat, paid tributes to those who died in Sunday's bridge collapse.
The war of words between West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi hit a new low on Wednesday when the former called the BJP prime ministerial nominee a 'donkey'.
'Personalities are temporary, policies provide for stability.' 'With the former, when personalities change so does the nature of the relationship.' 'Policies and structures, on the other hand, are idiot-proof, as well as maverick-resistant,' explains Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Growth is impressive but there are questions on inclusiveness.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj on Saturday said that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is fit to become the prime minister of the country.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's real test will be whether he can bring a longer-term vision to India's foreign policy planning, says Ravi Agrawal.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi appeared before the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team on Saturday and was questioned for the first time on his alleged role in the 2002 Gujarat riots that have come back to haunt him.
Trashing allegations of illegal snooping against Narendra Modi, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday ruled out the Congress's demand for a rethink on its prime ministerial candidate and claimed that the ruling party's "dirty tricks wing" was behind the controversy.
He said that his state wants to reflect all the three colours of the national flag in the land of Gujarat. While the white revolution that began in Gujarat as a co-operative movement, the green revolution was represented by the handsome growth in the agriculture sector, he said.Narendra Modi stated that his state now exports milk to European nations and Singapore. Milk production has increased by 66 per cent in the state in the last decade.
Gujarat is all set to produce 15 per cent of the power India hopes to generate in the 11th Five Year Plan, chief minister Narendra Modi has said.
Can Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi ever wash away the taint of the 2002 anti-Muslim riots? Prasanna D Zore spent five days in Ahmedabad meeting several Muslims across the socio-economic-caste divide, to find out what the community feels about Modi.
Residents of Vadnagar, the native village of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, on Friday congratulated him as he completed a decade in office.
The situation in rain-battered Gujarat improved slightly on Thursday as the rainfall activity subsided, but Vadodara and some other parts of the state are still reeling under a flood-like situation due to overflowing rivers while the authorities continue the rescue and relief operations.
The long-delayed declaration that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi will be the Bharatiya Janata Party's candidate for prime minister had a certain air of inevitability about it. But the last-minute drama should not take away from the plain fact that, in naming Modi, the BJP has merely acknowledged that it has in him a politician of rare skill and charisma -- of a degree unseen in national politics perhaps since former prime minister Indira Gandhi.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday tweeted that the United States Congressional Research Service report on Gujarat is recognition for the six crore people of the state.
