Non-BJP chief ministers are retaliating. If the Centre can use its agencies to threaten, intimidate and jail its rivals, so can they. The fightback will get more intense, observes Shekhar Gupta.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the operation of sedition law, and ruled that all pending cases, appeals and proceedings with respect to charges framed for sedition should be kept in abeyance.
'The BJP is scared it may lose the Delhi municipal elections where they have been in power for the last 15 years.'
"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.
Expressing anguish over the move to recite "Hanuman chalisa" at an AIDS awareness programme, the Bombay high court has asked the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Nagpur Municipal Corporation if, according to it, "India is for Hindus only".
The inaugural Sangamam turned out to be a political Hindutva function than a gathering on the Hindu religion, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
"Even Lord Ram is not helping the party to win polls. They (those two Indians) shared their views on the day of vote counting (for Delhi polls)," the Sena leader said.
The Delhi police has arrested three more people in connection with the communal clashes in Jahangirpuri, including a key "conspirator and executor" who was nabbed from West Bengal, officials said on Thursday.
The ASI also said the fundamental right of the applicant cannot be availed in violation of the existing status of the land.
Bulldozers demolished several structures at Jahangirpuri on Wednesday amid a heavy paramilitary and police presence during the NDMC's anti-encroachment drive that was stopped within hours following a Supreme Court order.
'The fire burning on the streets because of BJP's hateful politics will not light up homes'
Beniwal, a former BJP leader and Raje-baiter for a long time, claimed that there is an "internal understanding" between her and incumbent Chief Minister Gehlot.
Protests erupted in Madanpur Khadar area under the South Delhi Municipal Corporation on Thursday during an anti-encroachment drive by the civic body, with people pelting stones at security personnel which left a few injured, the police said.
Over 56 per cent turnout was recorded on Monday in 54 assembly seats, including in Varanasi, in the seventh and last phase of Uttar Pradesh polls, marking the end of the voting process spread over two months in the crucial state.
In the last ten years, 96 per cent of the sedition cases against 405 individuals pertained to making critical remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, points out Ramesh Menon, author, Modi Demystified: The Making Of A Prime Minister.
The War of the Tiranga is a metaphor for a new battle of ideas in national politics, observes Shekhar Gupta.
"Nitish Kumar and his officers will be behind bars if we come to power," Paswan said. Addressing a rally in Dumraon, Buxar in the run-up to polling in Bihar, Paswan raised several questions before the present state government.
Police had sought an extension of Zubair's custody by five days.
It is clear that Kamal Nath is gearing up for the 2023 assembly polls, reports Sandeep Kumar.
The dizzying inflation has failed to dampen the spirit of the Durga Puja festivities in Assam. In capital Guwahati, puja organisers have outdone themselves and their efforts are visible in the opulent and colourful puja pandals across the city.
"Do you remember that 'kar sevaks' were shot in Ayodhya and bodies were thrown into the Saryu," he said referring to a 1990 incident during the SP regime while addressing a rally at Government Inter College in Faizabad.
Fans and filmstars were at their colourful best as Royal Challengers Bangalore pipped Daredevils on Tuesday.
The Supreme Court Tuesday asked the Centre to apprise it about the views on the issue of protection of interest of citizens till the colonial-era penal law on sedition is reconsidered by an appropriate forum.
'This kind of love from our audience shows that our music is working.'
Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal, Randeep Surjewala and Jairam Ramesh of the Congress and Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut were among the 16 candidates elected to the Rajya Sabha from four states where polling was held on Friday after tussle over cross voting and alleged breach of election rules delayed the counting by around eight hours in Maharashtra and Haryana.
Five members of a school management near Bantwal in Dakshina Kannada district have been booked.
The BJP delegation also demanded that the CEO Aarif Aftab disallow Kolkata Police from having direct control to maintain law and order in the constituency on the polling day to ensure free and fair poll.
From Lord Ram's birthplace to where Sita was held captive by Ravana, this trip will be full of mythical stories.
The ultimate consequences of Rahul Gandhi's yatra may be known only in 2024, points out Dr Sudhir Bisht.
West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party leader Shyamapada Mondal waded into controversy by calling Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee a 'eunuch' and accused her of practicing politics of appeasement. "Today you cannot understand whether Mamata Banerjee is a female or a male... I'd say she has become a 'hijra' (eunuch)," he said.
'We are also running Ram rasoi (kitchen) free of cost for Ram devotees in Ayodhya'
'Uddhav has told the cops to crack down hard on the MNS agitation if MNS activists try to vitiate the communal harmony in the state.'
'Many have tried to imitate her. They've fallen flat on their faces.'
No member of the Congress' first family has visited Ayodhya since the demolition of the Babri Masjid 24 years ago, in December 1992.
The Enforcement Directorate on Friday said it has issued a show cause notice to the country's largest cryptocurrency exchange for undertaking transactions worth over Rs 2,790 crore in alleged violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). WazirX, registered under the company named Zanmai Labs Pvt Ltd, was incorporated in December, 2017 as a domestic cryptocurrency start-up and its directors Nischal Shetty and Hanuman Mhatre, along with the company, have been named in the notice issued by the central probe agency after completion of investigation. The agency issued a statement saying that it stumbled upon the transactions of the company during an ongoing money laundering probe into the "Chinese-owned" illegal online betting applications.
Had the drama been sustained through the two-hour narrative, Bhavai would have had more impact, feels Joginder Tuteja.
'Nobody will be saved if you don't stop this ideological and political-strategic bulldozer.'
'Politicians have long appropriated the hero turned god as their totem, but never before with the ferocious intensity of the present regime,' notes Arundhuti Dasgupta.
Hemmed in by barricades and police and paramilitary swarming all over the place, the troubled Jahangirpuri on Friday showed signs of returning to normalcy, with the local peace committee calling for communal harmony and members of the warring communities embracing each other, agreeing to let bygones be bygones.
'This Sunday holds special significance for us, as we woke up to a new and transformed Sunday, with a feeling of relief that the lingering issue of Ayodhya dispute has been resolved once and for all'
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