Why are Dalits protesting against hangings in Hyderabad? Why is the focus on Muslims in JNU? Why are the students insisting on representation from marginalised communities when they are being judged by a committee? The fact is that India reserves the death penalty mostly for Dalits and Muslims, says Aakar Patel.
The Congress party's Bihar unit has suspended controversial party leader Sadhu Yadav on Wednesday for opposing the passing of the women's reservation bill and criticising the party high command for it.
The deaths brought back the focus on NEET in the state, with all political parties but for the BJP opposed to the qualifying exam.
The two senior most leaders of the Communist Party of India-Marxist are at the loggerhead over alliance or adjustment with the Congress.
Amid the controversy over the issue of north Indian migrants in Mumbai, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi will visit the country's financial capital on Friday. During his visit, Gandhi will interact with college students, especially dalits, and is likely to address five meetings in the city.
Rediff.com gives you a look at newbies in the Council of Ministers
Shah said that the BJP hoped the Dalit nominee would be unanimously selected as the President.
Asserting that organ donation is an important issue, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday praised Tamil Nadu for their leading endeavours in this regard while praising the other states for their initiatives towards the cause.
Even his critics say Thaawar Chand Gehlot is a man of delivery. 'If a task is assigned, he wins it over with political sagacity,' they say.
The fact that so many victims turn hostile should be a matter of concern. If so many accused persons continue to roam freely in society, this becomes an additional liability to women's safety, points out Rashme Sehgal.
HRD Minister Smriti Irani is likely to be the target of Opposition attack in Parliament where Rahul Gandhi will lead the Congress charge against the government on Tuesday.
Here's a list of the full first-time ministers in the second term of the Narendra Modi government.
Former union minister for child and women development and senior Congress Party leader Krishna Tirath on Monday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party after meeting party chief Amit Shah.
In further rumblings within the Bharatiya Janata Party over its big loss in Bihar, party MP Hukumdev Narayan Yadav on Monday said the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat's quota comments 'agitated' backward castes who rallied around the grand alliance and asserted that many who voted for the Modi government are not RSS supporters.
'As a student of history, I am no pessimist, but regardless of which party/coalitions comes to power on May 23, the space for secularism, pluralism and minority rights has shrunk significantly,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
The focus is not only on governance but also to ensure that the BJP's political considerations are taken care of.
Republican Party of India president Ramdas Athawale's supporters on Wednesday staged a rasta roko on the Eastern Express highway in Mulund, Mumbai, alleging that TV channel 'Colors' dropped Athawale from its reality show Bigg Boss-2 because he was a Dalit.
'If the BJP thinks it is going to overnight transform Bengal into Madhya Pradesh, sorry, that's not going to happen because I have faith in our ethos and culture.'
The 36 new ministers included 10 cabinet and four ministers of state (MoS) of the NCP, eight Cabinet and four MoS of the Sena, and eight Cabinet and two MoS of the Congress.
Left behind after elections will be the Biharis with their stagnant conditions of poor education, poor health infrastructure, poverty, unemployment, division of society and the aftermath of coronavirus. What will remain is the Bihari tenacity, observes Asmita Bihari.
'There are some castes that grab power, then pass on the benefits to those who belong to their own caste.'
Will the M (Muslims) in the RJD's M+Y move fast swiftly towards the MIM and away from the RJD, asks Mohammad Sajjad.
Party insiders say middle class votes can be captured if Kiran Bedi is declared BJP chief ministerial candidate. Archis Mohan reports
He also accused her of nepotism by choosing to play the limited role of "bua" (aunt) to her "bhatija" (nephew) instead of becoming "Didi" (elder sister) to the people.
'Muslims may turn to the BJP or may not come out to vote in great numbers like they have in the past.' 'Anything can happen.' 'They can feel an increased sense of alienation, but that depends on the BJP -- on how it includes them.'
The Congress general secretary in-charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh said the people of Amethi and Rae Bareli have self-respect and they do not beg from anyone.
Janata Dal-United on Wednesday suspended two Lok Sabha MPs, Jai Narayan Nishad and Purnmasi Ram, from the party for six years on charge of engaging in anti-party activities.
The letter was written by 49 eminent personalities, including filmmakers Mani Ratnam, Anurag Kashyap, Shyam Benegal, actor Soumitra Chatterjee as well as vocalist Shubha Mudgal in July this year.
The president-elect has vast public, social, and political experience which will help him better to discharge his duty as the First Citizen of India.
'After Modi, Yogi is the most popular face of Hindutva, but it's too early to say that he is someone who could succeed Modi.'
Amit Shah requested Adityanath to tighten the reins of the HYV's activities, now that he was CM. But Adityanath is not prepared to let go so easily.
The results, while bringing the Congress back to power in this state, also end the rule of the 66-year-old BJP stalwart, who has earned several monikers during his 15-year-long tenure -- Doctor saheb being a trained Ayurvedic medical practitioner, chaur wale baba for his popular rice scheme and the 'Mobile Wale Baba' for giving free smartphones to 50 lakh women and students.
12 years after he was sacked form JD-S, Siddaramaiah, offered Karnataka's CMship to his political foe Kumaraswamy.
The Bihar CM has made a sagacious attempt to consolidate his extremely backward castes (EBC) support base while trying to make a dent into RJD's Muslim-Yadav combine.
Has Owaisi's MIM become an albatross for Imtiaz Jaleel, former journalist and the party's candidate in Aurangabad?
Asked if he considers himself as a front-runner for the chief minister's post in case the Congress wins the elections, Scindia said he does not want to answer hypothetical questions.
The Congress president said that if he was allowed to speak for 15 minutes on a host of issues, including the Nirav Modi scam, PM Modi would "run away".
'In Kairana, the grand coalition was able to transfer its votes to a Muslim candidate in supposedly an era of anti-Muslim ambience.' 'Given this perspective, the Kairana result seems more significant than that of Gorakhpur and Phulpur a few months ago,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
Opposition members tried to corner the government in both the Houses over the Supreme Court decision that states are not bound to provide reserved seats for the SCs, STs and OBCs in appointments and promotions.
The list of the 314 MPs, however, does not include Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, who is also a BJP MP, they said. The majority mark is 268.
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