Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday hosted a high tea for all National Democratic Alliance members of Parliament -- the first such event after the Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance stormed to power in May -- and utilised the occasion to ask them to be a symbol of positive political entity.
By keeping the Sanatana Dharma row alive and adding the Ayodhya temple consecration scheduled for January 22 and adding the free darshan promise from four polled states to the entire country, the BJP may have a self-fulfilling concoction, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) sees India as a "bright spot" in the global economy and as per the World Bank, India is in a better position to deal with the global headwinds than many other countries. This is because of India's strong "macroeconomic fundamentals", Modi said while virtually addressing the inaugural function of the 7th edition of Invest Madhya Pradesh-Global Investors Summit in Indore. In the past eight years, the government has increased the speed of reforms and removed many hurdles in the way of investments.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has created a flutter with his first Independence Day speech. While diverted the national attention to social issues, Modi smartly avoided political traps.
There are 1,349 candidates in the fray and over 1.45 crore electors are eligible to exercise their franchise in the elections to the 250 wards of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), the results of which may have ramifications beyond the national capital.
The Akali Dal is convinced that Waris Punjab De and Amritpal Singh are part of a bigger plan to create a law and order problem in the state, leading to the imposition of central rule and even the exclusion of Punjab from the Lok Sabha polls as was done in 1991.
"Our party is stronger than the Congress in the state. While the Congress won 40 seats in panchayat polls, we scored a victory in 83 panchayats. AAP got over 40 lakh votes in these polls, where 1600 party candidates contested," Singh, AAP's UP in-charge and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said.
A review of key pronouncements he made in his first Independence Day Speech on August 15, 2014.
Brand India's societal divisions and distortions have remained as much relevant in 'liberal' America and Europe as it still is in the structurally stratified Indian society of the 21st century, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The bypolls were conducted for two Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh, one each in Meghalaya and Odisha and the Jalandhar Lok Sabha constituency in Punjab.
Modi said different laws related to Hindus, Christians and Parsis and the Special Marriage Act 1954 has determined minimum marriage age of 18 years for a woman and 21 years for man but the Muslim Personal Law holds marriage of a girl legal after she has attained puberty.
'The Congress is not pragmatic about politics or about people.' 'Rahul's intention is good, but good intention does not win you elections.'
Away from the distraction of its new high-profile politics, Wayanad's worries seemed very down to earth, discovers Shyam G Menon.
Unless controlled and contained, given the untested belief that the north Indian labour support and follow the Hindutva kind of political ideology, there is a potential in terms of ideological clashes with their Dravidian brethren in the local neighbourhoods, and it all escalating into violence, especially during election time, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
'It doesn't help to transpose the Hindi heartland model on Bengal. Bengalis don't understand its dynamics. They won't comprehend the impact of Modi's dip in the Ganga because Bengal's political culture is different. Even in the Ramakrishna Mission Ashrams, Christ is worshipped on Christmas. It's difficult to polarise Bengal religiously'
No major glitches in electronic voting machines were reported and the voting passed off peacefully with high security observed at the 3,360 critical booths in 493 locations where more than 25,000 police personnel, nearly 13,000 home guards and 100 companies of paramilitary forces were deployed, officials said.
Success in Karnataka's assembly polls will hinge on two factors: Drop a large number of incumbent MLAs and project Modi and not the state leaders, least of all Bommai.
A local leader of Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray faction confirmed they painted the buses.
In presence of Union minister Jasvantsinh Bhabhor, MLA Ramesh Katara says who voted in favour of the Congress and such people will be given less work.
Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav and warring uncle Shivpal were conspicuous in their absence.
Strident Hindutva has not been the Shivraj Singh Chouhan's hallmark in his long tenure as chief minister. What has changed?
He targeted the prime minister over the controversy, saying "one Modi is standing by another Modi".
While eight children were taken out safely by people working in nearby fields, four, including a girl three-year-old girl, were charred to death, they added. Punjab CM Amarinder Singh ordered a magisterial enquiry into the incident.
Saisuresh Sivaswamy tells us what we must know from the election news in the print and television media.
Around 700 migrant workers, women and children have lost their lives in this reverse migration. But what is happening today with the migrant labour is only a continuation of the policies pursued by the Modi regime during the last six years. It is not for nothing that India was ranked the most dangerous country in the world for women in 2018 by the Thompson Reuters Foundation poll, points out Rashme Sehgal.
'It is the moment where compassion and empathy must supersede our identity, politics, or our ambitions.'
Saying that the country was passing through a deep economic crisis for the first time since Independence, BJP president Rajnath Singh on Monday said that the country needed a 'realistic' prime minister and not an economist like Manmohan Singh.
A mix of industrialists and businessmen, who have inherited riches or rose from humble backgrounds and even endured boom and bust cycles, the top five MPs are illustrative of how the political stock of the wealthy is increasing rapidly.
From being called 'paon paon wale bhaiya' (foot soldier) by villagers to being addressed as 'Mama' (maternal uncle) by children, Chouhan's long innings at the top was interrupted when the BJP fell short of seven seats from the majority mark in the 2018 polls.
'Wasn't it the PM's duty to reach out to the daily wagers of whom he claims to have been a part?' asks Jyoti Punwani.
In his short speeches at various places, Gandhi assailed Modi over demonetisation and a host of other issues.
Kicking up a controversy, Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Suresh Rana said that curfew will be imposed in Kairana, Deoband and Moradabad if he is elected again in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls next month.
'The confidence of the Opposition will go up and alliances will be easier to form if it becomes apparent that the BJP is losing ground in the north of India,' says Aakar Patel.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday addressed the nation on the 68th Independence Day from the ramparts of the historic Red Fort for the first time.
In three cities across MP, his NGO is working towards ensuring educational, emotional and financial support to the children living in shelters and orphanages.
It was alleged that Sidhu violated the model code of conduct as he, along with his family, entered the premises of the booth in private cars.
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The absence of Rajasthan BJP leadership in Narendra Modi's rallies in the poll-bound state is fuelling speculations. Shahnawaz Akhtar reports
'Consider this image of today's youth in Bihar -- armed with a bike, a smartphone and possibly some illegal arms too, imbibing incessant stream of images from the Internet and television.' 'Some of them would turn into gau bhakts, some would listen with interest the exploits of Salafism, dig deep into the Internet to come out with images which cry vociferously that their respective religions are in danger.'
'Tiger reserves were created to protect areas from developmental activities.' 'If we go ahead with these projects, then it is a complete mockery of our institutions and our laws, it is against everything we have stood for, our Forest Conservation Act, our Wildlife Biodiversity Act.'
