Several eminent officials and experts from both India and the United States have told American lawmakers that a Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at the Centre would be detrimental to the basic rights of the religious minorities in India.
'This Ram Navami -- the birth anniversary of Lord Ram -- presents the majority community an opportunity to shed its minority complex and offer an olive branch and discrimination- free society to the minority,' suggests Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati on Sunday lashed out at Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for his 'puppy' and 'Hindu nationalist' remarks and advised the senior BJP leader to study the Indian Constitution thoroughly.
'The Elgar Parishad turned out to be the first rallying cry against the BJP and RSS in Maharashtra.' 'The speakers took a vow not to vote for the BJP.'
Why not triple talaq line to Sabarimala, Yechury asks Centre
Mayawati and Akhilesh, who contested the recent UP bypolls together, will campaign separately for their parties.
'When it vanishes as a national force (meaning when it can no longer get sufficient votes to hold onto its symbol, the hand) it will not have been the first large Indian party to die,' says Aakar Patel.
'It is obvious that the RSS's desire to gatecrash into the gated establishment which has generally been seen as the redoubt of the liberal intelligentsia is putting it at odds with the BJP which is less tolerant of the mentor's freshly-minted open-mindedness,' argues Amulya Ganguli.
In an address that was telecast live on national broadcaster Doordarshan, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Friday patted the Narendra Modi government for initiatives on national security, economy and international relations in a short period of four months.
Expressing resentment at party MP Shashi Tharoor praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress' Kerala unit on Wednesday decided to submit a report to the party high command seeking suitable action in the matter.
Kerala Union of Working Journalists decided to boycott the press meets called by the BJP after saffron party workers attacked mediapersons.
Temple priest performed a 'purification' ritual for an hour before the doors were opened again.
'It will be our attempt that in order to get the country out of the condition it is in because of their (the BJP) coming to power, the Congress will go to them (leaders of parties opposed to the BJP) and if there is need for support we shall do so too.'
'Our modern icons have assumed infallibility and think course correction or admission of a mistake as taboo.' 'Much will depend on the sagacity of the national leadership to show humility that our Gods showed.' 'Else, we are doomed in the coming year to divert our attention to firefighting rather than the task of nation building,' warns Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'I cannot conceive of any reason than my unsparing criticism of government policies that the government picked me to send a message to many who dare to take it on.'
The BJP's losses in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, where the UP CM had addressed nearly 75 rallies, has put a big question mark on his ability to deliver in high-octane contests, reports Virendra Singh Rawat.
The foundations of the army's own peculiar secularism are potentially being destabilised
RSS head Mohan Bhagwat will be present through the exercise in which issues like census figures and OROP are likely to come up for discussion.
The priest-turned-politician is not someone who minces his words.
'The idea of a 'Hindu Rashtra' only emerged in the 1920s and 1930s.' 'The context at that time was the clear British attempt at 'divide and rule' between Hindus and Muslims and within Hindus on caste lines,' argues military historian Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Prachi's controversial outburst that sparked an outrage also saw her asking the Centre to hand over Pakistani terrorist Mohammed Naved Yakub to Hindu organisations.
Stunned by the sudden saffron surge, daggers seems to have been drawn in the Trinamool Congress camp with local leaders blaming those holding top party posts for their "lack of foresightedness" and "arrogant approach" as primary reasons behind the poor poll show.
Government rejects activists' request. Commission requests new witness to attend.
The National Security Act is likely to be invoked against killers of the Mohammad Akhlaq, who was brutally beaten to death on Monday night after locals suspected him of storing and consuming beef.
'It was a reaffirmation of his party's unrelenting defiance of its erstwhile ally, the BJP; an attempt to forge a new relationship with the community the Shiv Sena had always targeted; and a pointer towards the political imperative of taking everyone along if the fight against the ruling party had to succeed,' notes Jyoti Punwani.
From Chief Minister EK Palaniswami to Seeman to TTV Dhinakaran to elder brother M K Azhagiri, everyone's favourite target these days seems to the DMK chief Stalin, which is good news in an election year, but that doesn't mean he is going to sweep the polls, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Today, when one Kamalahaasan launches a new political outfit, vowing to cleanse Tamil Nadu polity and political administration of corruption, mal-governance and non-governance, he is pitted not only against Rajini with his commitment to 'spiritual politics', he is also pitted against the real 'Lotus' in Tamil Nadu politics, representing the ruling BJP at the Centre, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'The Constitution, which talks about democracy and equality, is something that will be applied in this country, and not Manusmriti in which the RSS believes.'
'A unified Hindu votebank -- the creation of the largest and most reliable votebank in Indian politics, ever,' says Mihir S Sharma.
'The Pollachi case will have a negative impact for the AIADMK alliance.' 'The BJP and AIADMK are in alliance in Tamil Nadu.' 'That may be the reason for the delay in the central government's approval for case transfer to the CBI.'
In a bid to tap the sizable youth population of the country ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Bharatiya Janata Party has given the task of mobilising them through social media to general secretary Amit Shah.
'The heart of the matter is that India is not Israel.'
'Anybody who speaks up, anybody who reports something that the government feels uncomfortable with, or comments on anything could be charged with criminal cases, could be summoned to police stations, slapped around or grilled for several hours. This has become a new norm.'
Reason must triumph over blind faith, says Praful Bidwai in this tribute to murdered rationalist Narendra Dabholkar.
Defending the live telecast by Doordarshan of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat's address on Dussehra, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javdekar on Sunday said the government wants to instill professionalism.
People, carrying "Not In My Name" placards and forming human chains, protested across Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Goa and Kerala.
Sangh affiliates believe the government's apparent anti-poor message led to their loss
'The UPA was never soft on Pakistan, terrorists and even China, but Sonia Gandhi's Congress rightly earned a "soft" image on issues of hard national interest, leaving the field open for Modi to take it and wrap it around with his implicit Hindutva,' says Shekhar Gupta.
Bearing in mind how full India's pitcher is with ethnic and communal complexities, only the greatest circumspection can hold this country together in a willing union.
Britain has revoked visas issued to two prominent members of organisations with right-wing leanings from Kerala after the Indian community in the UK complained against their visit.
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