Electorally, the yatra seems to have paid dividends in the south, but the march does not seem to be helping the Congress in stopping the BJP's surge in the Hindi-heartland states.
'Their role model is Iran: high control of the citizens by the State.' In Iran it is Islamic control; in India, it will be Hindutva control.'
'Commentators have said that dealing with allies as equals will make Modi more sensitive.' 'Remember that the people Modi is dealing with are equally autocratic in their own lairs.' 'Further, Modi always has handy the threat of dissolving Parliament and calling for fresh polls.' 'Most of his own party, and certainly his allies and opponents having blown their budgets of efforts and resources in the just concluded elections, have no stomach for this.' 'They are all greatly looking forward to the loaves and fishes of office on offer.' 'That gives Modi an unbeatable advantage in any push-comes-to-shove situation,' explains Shreekant Sambrani.
Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde on Tuesday tore into the Uddhav Thackeray faction for 'abandoning' Hindutva and Bal Thackeray's ideology and even recited the Hanuman Chalisa in Lok Sabha as his party opposed the no-confidence motion against the Modi government.
For firebrand Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yogi Adityanath, Hindutva and development complement each other and the sitting MP from Gorakhpur is harping on this ideology of political Hinduism, which he says is a "symbol of our nationalism", as he eyes a fifth straight term.
Gadkari, addressing a gathering organised as part of the 'Savarkar Gaurav Yatra' at Shankar Nagar in Nagpur, said Gandhi should realise that he insulted the Hindutva icon due to some misunderstanding.
Bihar Education Minister Chandrashekhar reiterated that temples are the path to "mental slavery" while schools mean the path of light in life, extending support to party MLA Fateh Bahadur Singh whose similar statement drew the ire of a fringe outfit that announced a "reward" of Rs 10 lakh to cut off his tongue.
NDA partners will meet on Monday in the backdrop of the controversy generated over the BJP's attempts to revive the Hindutva issue.
'In the first elections, Hindutva forces got only 6% of the votes and won only 10 seats.' 'It was a great defeat for them.' 'They have held that grouse against Nehru since then.'
Born as Ajay Singh, the diminutive shaven headed politician is known for his provocative speeches and mass following across Uttar Pradesh.
In the second part of the three-part interview with rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa, Gatade says that only continuous vigil by people would ensure that the law of the land remains supreme.
The RSS today said that Hindutva is the "identity" of the country and asked the people to be proud of it. "Our identity is Hindutva and the people should be proud of it. The society should work for removal of evils and the welfare of the country," RSS chief Mohan Rao Bhagwat said while addressing volunteers at a gathering in Jaipur.
Talking to reporters in Pauri, Yashpal Benam, the bride's father and Pauri municipal chairman, said he thought of getting his daughter married to a Muslim youth for her happiness.
The party's executive president Uddhav Thackeray made this clear on the opening day of the two-day conclave of Sena office-bearers in Aurangabad.
While the responses of the candidates were predictable, depending on which side they belonged to, an interesting point slipped through when Rahul Shewale cited the Dharavi Redevelopment Project as a scheme that would add to Mumbai's importance. No big infrastructural project in Mumbai, he said, could be successful without the Centre's nod.
'There is no scope for any doubt. This was a scheme designed to enrich the ruling party.'
He said Shiv Sena protected a political leadership for 25-30 years but they (the BJP) didn't want Sena and also the Akali Dal -- the erstwhile members of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Seen by political watchers as the favourite to retain power for a third straight term, the Bharatiya Janata Party has set itself an ambitious target of winning 370 Lok Sabha seats, a goal aimed as much at projecting its strength as at diminishing the opposition in popular imagination.
'Many BJP MLAs and ministers tell us the police does not listen to them.'
'When I felt that the party is drifting away from Hindutva, I tried to speak to Uddhavji. But nobody was ready to listen.'
Union Minister Kapil Sibal on Sunday said Arun Jaitley's reported comment that the Bharatiya Janata Party was using Hindutva as an opportunistic tool has exposed the real face of the party and demand an apology from him. The senior Congress leader also asked BJP veteran L K Advani and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh to tell the nation "what they now think about Jaitley."
'Those who hope for a strong united Opposition are disillusioned at the way in which the INDIA alliance has already been caught in debilitating squabbles.'
Describing Fadnavis as a friend, Thackeray also said he does not view him as opposition leader.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and the tribal face of the party, Vishnu Deo Sai, on Wednesday took oath as the chief minister of Chhattisgarh, 10 days after the saffron party returned to power after a gap of five years by unseating Congress in the assembly elections.
Kerala's election discourse operates surreptitiously. Its explicit face focuses on important national and local issues. At the same time, it seeks to secure apt communal equations to ensure votes, notes Shyam G Menon.
Rahul Gandhi has spoken to Nitish Kumar and Lalu Yadav about the Begusarai seat, but the CPI is unwilling to give up the seat.
The fifth-term Lok Sabha member is the mascot of the party's Hindutva-wrapped agenda of development as the BJP makes a final push in its bid to capture power in the state
'There will be no compromise with someone who has betrayed the party at this stage even if she is my sister,' Congress MP K Muraleedharan told reporters.
The BJP game-plan: Take the top slot, or a close second, either for the 'Lotus' or the larger NDA, if it can and push the AIADMK to the third place, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
Virtually reopening its Hindutva judgement, the Supreme Court has decided to expedite hearing by a seven judge-bench for an authoritative pronouncement on electoral law categorising misuse of religion for electoral gains as "corrupt practices".
If the idea was to garner AIADMK votes with or without the three faction leaders after the party broke ties with the NDA, it may not work after all, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Both the BJP and the Congress have their share of challenges, with finding winning horses on top of this list.
According to insiders, their lack of enthusiasm is showing on the ground. There is nothing to suggest that their enthusiasm will return in the final four phases of polling, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Udayanidhi has handed over to the BJP one real issue to draw the line between it and the INDIA alliance, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
'In today's situation, it is not going to help anyone's case if they try to politically contest with the BJP on ideological issues.' 'Instead, it is best is to swim along the tide, present the more acceptable face of the cultural Hindu, but not be a political Hindu as the BJP or Mr Modi is.'
'If Kanhaiya can be attacked inside the court, who will assure us about his security now when he is back on the JNU campus?'
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh today accused the National Democratic Alliance government of turning the programme to clean Ganga as a "Hindutva project" by attempting to polarise politics through the initiative on the holy river.
Hindutva is being conflated with good governance and economic performance in a determined bid to promote Narendra Modi, says Sonali Ranade
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