Springing a surprise, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday picked Mohan Yadav, a leader of Other Backward Classes (OBC) and a three-time MLA, as the next chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, state party president VD Sharma said.
At a time when the BJP's stars are at the top on the eve of the Lok Sabha polls, the Puri-Joshimath Sankaracharyas may have kick-started a row whose efforts might be to divide Hindus, not in the name of castes, but on what passes for greater belief, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Ajmal in an interview to a media house on Friday had commented on women and Hindu men as well as Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, purportedly as a rejoinder to his remarks on 'love jihad'.
Almost all will say no. Then ask them why they don't push back at those who rise the slogan of Khalistan. Somebody would confront you with a counter-question: If people can talk of a Hindu Rashtra, why get so upset if others talk of a Sikh Nation, points out Shekhar Gupta.
"Who is Shahrukh Khan? I don't know anything about him or his film Pathaan," was Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's curt answer to queries by reporters in Guwahati on Saturday.
According to the data released in Patna by Development Commissioner Vivek Singh, the state's total population stood at a little over 13.07 crore, out of which the EBCs (36 per cent) were the largest social segment followed by the OBCs at 27.13 per cent.
"Indians see religious tolerance as a central part of who they are as a nation. Across the major religious groups, most people say it is very important to respect all religions to be 'truly Indian'.
Deepa Gahlot lists Hindi biopics about Indian political leaders: Some worked, some did not, but they managed to avoid controversy.
Narendra D Modi and his party campaigned in these elections uncharacteristically without any big ideas. Of course, winning each election at all costs could be a big idea as well, observes Shekhar Gupta.
'The biggest change that the BJP can initiate in the run-up to 2024 is appointing new faces as chief ministers.' 'In doing so, it will send a message well beyond 2024.'
Women politicians bring to politics and policy a sensitivity that most of their male counterparts, at least until a generation back, lacked.
Bharatiya Janata Party Minority Morcha on Sunday said Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat's 'Hindu nation' comments were made in the social context and not a religious one.
The Bharatiya Janata Party hit out at the Congress over Patil's remarks and accused it of playing vote bank politics.
The Gorakhpur-based Gita Press, which is the world's largest publisher of Hindu religious texts, has declined the Rs 1 crore cash award for the Gandhi Peace Prize amid a political row over its selection for the prestigious honour.
By keeping the Sanatana Dharma row alive and adding the Ayodhya temple consecration scheduled for January 22 and adding the free darshan promise from four polled states to the entire country, the BJP may have a self-fulfilling concoction, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
Some of her best films are not available on streaming platforms, but Deepa Gahlot looks at her Hindi cinema oeuvre on OTT.
He also alleged that those doing violence in the name of Hinduism are not Hindus but hypocrites.
'When there was no crime committed, everything had to be fabricated. They see it as a war, and everything is fair in love and war.'
The opposition party also said that it would like to remind the BJP that Hindu Mahasabha president Syama Prasad Mookerjee aligned with Jinnah's Muslim League to form the government in Bengal during the British rule.
Anybody who's plugged in to the modern, globalised world will understand why, says Kanika Datta.
Reacting to the statement, Uttar Pradesh BJP chief Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary said "insulting the Sanatan Dharma again and again" has become the habit of the Samajwadi Party and its leaders.
At the Leo fete, Vijay had this also to tell his fans: 'I know you all are in my heart. But today, I also know that I am also in the hearts of all of you...' A typical politician's line, did you say, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Delhi Police on Monday questioned former minister Rajendra Pal Gautam over his presence at a religious conversion event where Hindu deities were allegedly denounced, and he will again be quizzed on October 11, senior officials said.
The ad, which draws a link between the character Kachra with 'kachra', the Hindi word for garbage, was aired on World Environment Day on June 5.
'The BJP is doing politics 24x365, but the Congress revs up only during elections.'
The former Madhya Pradesh chief minister said because of this, people feel they (the Khans) do not oppose the activities of fundamentalists.
For the most battle-hardened, specialised and successful counter-insurgency army in the world, this is an unfamiliar, first-time experience of dealing with the north east's deepest complexities, observes Shekhar Gupta.
While the Mughals seems to be receding from text books and memory, the stage presentation of Mughal-e-Azam is spreading its message of love in North America.
As the curtain come down on 2022, Roshmila Bhattacharya flashbacks to some of the year's newsmakers and events.
Government on Friday hit out at Congress, saying the term "Hindu terrorism" coined by its previous government had "weakened" the fight against the scourge by diverting the direction of probe into the incidents of terrorism.
A 20-year-old youth was allegedly stabbed by his neighbour in a petty dispute in northeast Delhi's Dayalpur area, police said on Saturday.
'But he was very quick and did a very stylish adab.' 'Of course, I didn't expect him to hug.'
'The dialogues and language used in this movie are indecent. In Tulasidas' Ramayana, Lord Ram was portrayed as 'Maryada Purushottam' and decent language was used. In Adipurush, dialogues of characters are of very low level'
'Muslim actors like Dilip Kumar thought they had to give themselves Hindu names to be acceptable. Was their caution justified?' 'My view is that Indians, of all faiths, are tolerant. Secular is a complicated word and I do not know if I can use it in this instance. Tolerance is something that is inherently Subcontinental.'
Religion matters. Aspirational India is still poor. India admires strong leaders. India values decency. Shreekant Sambrani highlights the reasons why the BJP pulled off improbable victories in the Hindi heartland.
"Karthik Pandey, a student leader, came to me and started hurling abuses and casteist slurs at me and hit me," Professor Ravi Kant Chandan of the university's Hindi department said.
Opposition leaders on Saturday lauded the Congress for its victory in Karnataka and thanked the people of the state, saying that this win has showed that 'Modi is not invincible'.
41 years ago, Dalits in Meenakshipuram converted to Islam, sending shockwaves through the nation.' A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com returns to the village to discover that past antagonisms lurk below the surface.
The film, which was released on May 5, has kicked up a political storm.
'My father's life sends a message that there are positive things happening between India and China, no matter what happens at the border.'
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