Here are the main factors that impact the November 23 elections in the state.
A string of populist promises, including extension of the free ration scheme announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Mahadev betting app issue and the Hindutva card are among key factors that have catapulted the Bharatiya Janata Party to power in Chhattisgarh after five years.
Chavan's aide also said police security has been increased for the senior Congress leader.
The gau rakshak stated that the famine-stricken people were suffering because of their past karma and nothing could be done for them. The reply apparently infuriated Vivekananda, who told the gau rakshak bluntly that he had no sympathy to spare for societies which would not lift a finger to help human beings but wasted piles of food on birds and beasts. A fascinating excerpt from Govind Krishnan V's book, Vivekananda The Philosopher of Freedom.
Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat took everyone by surprise when he opened a seven-day national convention of the organisation in Gorakhpur with all focus on corruption. Interestingly, he steered clear of the traditional Hindutva-related issues.
Breaking his silence on the Hanuman Chalisa row that has seen a lawmaker couple being booked for sedition and the Bharatiya Janata Party raising the Hindutva pitch, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday said reciting the Hanuman Chalisa at his home is not a problem but 'dadgiri' won't be tolerated.
'Benares has always encouraged healthy debate where disagreement and dissent was never frowned upon. Today, the people are faced with a situation where a political opponent is not being allowed to give election speeches and is being physically attacked.' 'We are going to hand over power to a person who has a reputation of being dictatorial, who does not brook dissent and is known to be vindictive to his opponents,' author Kashinath Singh tells Rediff.com contributor Anita Katyal.
The trigger was Raut spitting on the ground in front of cameras during a press conference on Friday when reporters sought his reaction to Shiv Sena MP Shrikant' Shinde's jibe targetting Uddhav Thackeray.
Addressing his party workers in Nagpur, the home turf of Fadnavis, Thackeray on Monday said the BJP leader, his former ally, was a taint on the city as he had aligned with a section of the Nationalist Congress Party despite asserting that he would never do so.
Should the BJP embrace Hindutva or should it reach out to all sections of Indian society? Tell us?
In the last 9 years, the BJP govt has marked some anniversaries and events with more zeal than Congress-led governments.
Shown the door by Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and having been cold-shouldered by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a rudderless Kalyan Singh is now toying with the idea of launching a political party.
The Congress is now gearing up to take on the BJP over alleged corruption, jobs and issues tied to tribals, farmers and women.
The former CM said his party's Hindutva is "nationalism" and the Bharatiya Janata Party should explain what is its Hindutva.
The film, a 90-minute biography of Golwalkar, recounts what Sangh leaders call selective attacks against Hindus during the Partition and conflicts with Pakistan and China.
The BJP, however, defended Vajpayee for his Goa musings, in which he said some peoples projection of Hindutva in an extremist manner was not acceptable.
Modi wants the BJP to gets an additional 10% of the vote share from what it won in 2019. Plans are afoot to get new faces to replace MPs with poor chances of winning. Sources say more than 100 MPs are like to be axed, notes Modi biographer Ramesh Menon.
'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.'
On one hand, South Indian states have been complaining about denial of a proportionate portion of the sharable funds from the Centre, based on population. On the other hand, they stand to lose Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha seats that again are based on population, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Therefore, his entry into politics will prove to be mangal (auspicious) for everyone in Budhni, Mastal claimed, adding that he will ensure development of the constituency.
BJP's ideological mentor, the RSS, has asked the party to revive its flagging Hindutva plank if wanted to stage a resurgence
'There is ample evidence to suggest that attacks on the PM's probity and his connections with business houses do not resonate with voters.'
Jawan is disproportionately extolled for making political comments, but it is a small film like Bhagwan Bharose that usually sticks its neck out, notes Deepa Gahlot.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray chief Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday said the country needs a strong government but not of 'one party with brute majority', and batted for a coalition rule.
'These frequent visits show the BJP fears that the Congress will retain power.'
He did a volte-face on his stand against the Muslim community and Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
'He is a BJP man among Dalits, not a Dalit man in the BJP.'
Over 160 people, including a number of Israeli nationals were killed in the terror attack on November 26, 2008
There are concerns within the Congress with respect to the articulation of the party's demand for the caste census, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently accusing the grand old party of attempting to divide Hindus through its push for the Other Backward Classes.
'Hindutva doesn't teach you to stab someone in the back.'
Will Vijay will go the most successful MGR/Jayalalithaa way, or that of Vijayakanth, Seeman or Kamalahaasan, or will he end up as another Rajinikanth who cries wolf at the last minute and quits the scene even before it all had really begun, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
Former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, the son of Bal Thackeray, and his family members did not attend the event.
'Hindus have never been polarised across Maharashtra in any state election.'
Biographies of India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, spiritual leader Swami Vivekananda, Arya Samaj founder Swami Dayanand Saraswati, and writer and freedom fighter Pandit Shriram Sharma have been included in the curriculum.
The veteran socialist leader, who ended his long alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party last year, was responding to queries from journalists about the 'Hindu Rashtra' clamour, which was openly endorsed earlier this week by his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Yogi Adityanath.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Chief M Karunanidhi has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to rein in Hindutva outfits who are making a "mockery of communal harmony" and joined other parties in voicing apprehension that observing Good Governance Day on December 25 could hamper Christmas festivities.
Calling former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda-led party "communal" following its alliance with the BJP, he urged Janata Dal-Secular, to remove the word 'Secular' from its name.
India's voting pattern in the United Nations with regard to the Israel-Palestine conflict is lately marked by a calibrated distancing from Israel, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
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