The BJP seems wanting to return to a 'Tamil Hindutva' agenda for elections in Tamil Nadu, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
'There is no scope for any doubt. This was a scheme designed to enrich the ruling party.'
'If you post on social media on an issue like power cuts in Tral, the police will come to your home and tell you to remove your social media post.' 'If you don't, then the local police threaten you that they will book you under PSA.' 'This is happening all the time in Kashmir.'
'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.
Both the BJP and the Congress have their share of challenges, with finding winning horses on top of this list.
'Hindutva doesn't teach you to stab someone in the back.'
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.
In a statement, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh questioned the motive behind the inauguration of the "incomplete" temple by the leaders of the BJP and the RSS.
In the documentary, Sen speaks of social choice theory, development economics, philosophy and the rise of right wing nationalism across the world including India.
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.
They say we became 'Congresswasi'. We didn't become 'Bhajapawasi' even after spending 30 years with the BJP. Then how can we become 'Congresswasi'?
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.
'We are very close to become a theocratic State where Hinduism is the official religion of the government.'
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.
It is shameful that Governor Ravi has become a representative of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Raj Bhavan has turned into an office of the saffron party, he alleged.
A fierce competition among parties to offer freebies and guarantees, a scramble for tribal, OBC, women votes and a touch of Hindutva -- all have combined to make the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls a high-stakes battle with main rivals BJP and the Congress pulling out all the stops to gain power.
If Tamil Nadu voters preferred the DMK combine, it owed to the Modi-Annamalai combo's ideological battle which often crossed the line of political decency and also challenged 'Tamil pride', argues N Sathiya Moorthy.
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.
'Bringing in Dr Mohan Yadav as the Yadav-OBC face from Ujjain as chief minister, and a scheduled tribe leader Jagdish Devda from Mandsaur district, and a Brahmin face Rajendra Shukla from Rewa, the BJP is making an attempt to put in place a new caste equation in the state keeping an eye on the general elections next year.'
Two young men can be seen in the video breaking the mazars with hammers amid cries of Jai Shri Ram.
'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.
To equate the Hindu propensity not to persecute non-Hindus is a sign of mature self-confidence, not weakness as the rabid insist, asserts T C A Srinivasa Raghavan.
Earlier, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said at the function that he would request CM Shinde to rename Ahmednagar city as Ahilyanagar'.
The former CM said his party's Hindutva is "nationalism" and the Bharatiya Janata Party should explain what is its Hindutva.
VHP general secretary Pravin Togadia claimed the Gujarat elections had proved that 'Hindu bashing is not profitable in India.
It will try to exploit the infighting in the state's ruling Congress while it manages factionalism within its own ranks
According to DMK, the voters are already consolidated on ideological lines, hence the impact of anti-incumbency, whether against the BJP Centre or the DMK state may not be too much, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Everyone relies on caste to win elections in Bihar.'
Former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, the son of Bal Thackeray, and his family members did not attend the event.
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.
Such a course would require a Constitutional Amendment, requiring a two-thirds majority in both Houses of Parliament. Even assuming that the INDIA combine comes to power at the Centre next year, a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha could way off the mark for them, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
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.
'The fight was against those who were being immoral. Not once was there any directive from me or anyone to beat up women,' says Pramod Muthalik, the man behind the shameful Mangalore pub attack incident
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray chief Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday claimed a "Godhra-like" incident may take place during the "return journey" of the large number of people expected to converge at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh from across the nation for the inauguration of the Ram temple.
While Chouhan has emerged as a favourite to remain at the helm in MP despite the presence of some challengers, the leadership race is wide open in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, two states where the BJP has snatched power from the Congress.
'...the Congress tally in 2028 would further plummet under 50.' 'A fresh face as CM would further strengthen the BJP and weaken the Congress in Madhya Pradesh.'
The unrest in the Sandeshkhali region of West Bengal ballooned into a major political row on Thursday as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee blamed the saffron camp of fomenting trouble in the area, while the Bharatiya Janata Party and the National Commission for Women (NCW) accused her party Trinamool Congress and the state government of being complicit in crimes against women in the area.
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.
In a state where thin margins and minor swings decide electoral outcomes, nothing can be left to chance, even for those relishing the cocooned life, observes Shyam G Memon.
Chavan's aide also said police security has been increased for the senior Congress leader.