'A fierce crusader against communalism, George joined hands with majoritarian forces, never to revisit or re-assess his saffron association.' 'He was a Union minister in 1998-2004, a time when people like Graham Staines were lynched in Orissa.' 'On the Gujarat pogrom of 2002, George went on to kind of justify the slashing of pregnant women, by saying in the Lok Sabha that this was nothing new for India.' 'Thus, he was in sharp contrast to what he had himself stood for in the heyday of his political career in the 1970s and 1980s, says Mohammad Sajjad.
Nearly 30 per cent work on casting of the monumental bronze statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, billed as the world's tallest sculptural work, has been completed, says noted artist Ram Sutar.
'He is a BJP man among Dalits, not a Dalit man in the BJP.'
'You are sending the army to Rohtak? There are six paramilitary forces in the country. Why can't you use these people?' 'What is the need to call out the army? And that too at a place where there is an army man in every house.' 'Can you imagine how stupid this decision is? How insensitive?'
The petite princess is the newest catch of the Bharatiya Janata Party. The glamorous Rajkumari of Jaipur Diya Kumari is the third princess to join the saffron brigade.
'Since we don't have toilets, we go in the fields. It is worse for the women. Men and women have demarcated different area for themselves. But it is most difficult for us during the monsoon.'
His tweet came after media reports said that he took a U-turn on his remarks.
No one on that glittery occasion could possibly have imagined that the Chinese were conspiring to invade India, nor could anyone have predicted that the seemingly benign Dalai Lama was plotting to flee Tibet and seek asylum in India. A fascinating excerpt from Sukanya Rahman's must-read Dancing In The Family: The Extraordinary Story Of The First Family Of Indian Classical Dance.
'On a new kidney, her immune system still getting used to it, she took on the Pakistanis at the UN, held meetings with her counterparts from across the world, and presented a picture of incredible poise and dignity,' notes Shekhar Gupta.
Anil Shastri, one of the late prime minister's six children, recounts memories of his father.
The awardees included one Padma Vibhushan, 11 Padma Bhushan and 44 Padma Shri.
'What I remember best is the vigour with which she threw herself into the job, the passion she had for issues, particularly those that affected the poor.'
'Karpoori Thakur must be remembered by people today who are tired of witnessing fractious politics where corruption, bigotry, hatred and violence seems to have become distressingly recurrent,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
'On corruption the Yadavs of UP and Bihar will find it very tough to give an answer to the accusations of the BJP and its supporters,' says Aakar Patel.
Supreme Court's ruling favouring Haryana on the contentious Sutlej-Yamuna Link canal issue has set political temperature soaring in Punjab, with the state Congress chief Amarinder Singh quitting as Member of Parliament and all MLAs following suit, as Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal asserted "not a drop of water" will be allowed to be taken out of the state.
'In Bihar, the Dalits are not a consolidated socio-political constituency,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
While it is the right-leaning Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) which chose Kovind, Narayanan, a diplomat-turned politician, became vice president in 1992 and the president in 1997 courtesy active support from the Left, which had proposed his name first
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
India's regional supremacy at the South Asian Games went unchallenged. The hosts were crowned overall champions for the 12th consecutive time after a record-breaking haul of 308 medals.
London Olympics bronze-medallist MC Mary Kom led the charge as six Indian boxers stormed into the final with comprehensive wins to remain in hunt for all the 10 medals on offer at the 12th South Asian Games, in Shillong, on Sunday.
RJD chief Lalu Prasad and other leaders claimed the countdown for the ouster of the BJP and its allies from power in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls had begun.
It is possibly the first time that a regional party with not even enough numbers to move a no-trust motion has taken the lead, and others are following it. The hints of a no-trust move first came from the YSR Congress, and the ruling TDP could not have stayed on together when the question is another version of 'Telugu atma gouravam' - an issue that fired its founder N T Rama Rao in the 1980s, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Rajiv Ranjan, the Janata Dal-United legislator from Islampur assembly seat in Nalanda district, speaks to rediff.com's M I Khan about the circumstances that led to his suspension.
Amarinder, who is also former Punjab Chief Minister, has sent his resignation to the Lok Sabha Speaker, copy of which was released to the media here, and has also sought a personal meeting with the Speaker next week.
29 years ago, Karnataka was hurled into a huge political crisis after MLAs withdrew support to S R Bommai's Janata Dal ministry. As the governor recommended that the chief minister be dismissed and President's Rule imposed in the state, then President R Venkataraman disagreed with Rajiv Gandhi's Cabinet and argued that 'the question whether a ministry commanded the confidence of the assembly should be tested in the House and not by the governor.' A fascinating excerpt from President Venkataraman's My Presidential Years, published with the kind permission of the publishers HarperCollins India.
'If majority of the country's population is sentimental about a certain species, why are we so ashamed to say that we want to give it statutory protection?'
The Unnao gold hunt is an exercise in softening Hindu sentiments in the bigger dig for votes in Uttar Pradesh in 2014
What you need to know about M S Sathyu's classic Garm Hawa.
Long-distance runner Kavita Raut's Olympic qualification was the icing on the cake on yet another impressive day for India at the 12th South Asian Games, in Guwahati, on Friday. Firmly entrenched atop the overall standings, India increased their medal tally to 248 -- including 146 gold, 79 silver and 23 bronze.
India garnered most of the gold medals on offer for the fourth successive day at the 12th South Asian Games, as their swimmers, archers and track-and-field athletes ensured the top position on the medals tally remained unchallenged, in Guwahati, on Tuesday.
It is unusual to see Narendra Modi highlight his OBC status -- something he has never done in his long political career. Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com examines Modi's compulsions for bringing his caste to the foreground
'Narendra Modi might not have made 145 in Maharashtra, but it is definitely true that the Congress, and other dynastic parties, are well and truly stumped.'
If the wave has become a tsunami, why is the BJP's prime ministerial candidate playing safe by polarising voters along communal lines, asks Bharat Bhushan.
'In her insecurity, she destroyed the institutions of democracy,' says Khushwant Singh.
The India that needs strategic alliances, defence cooperation and engaging meaningfully with neighbouring countries is quietly moving ahead with confidence, says Tarun Vijay