A BJP source admitted that a census will inevitably reconfirm the numerical majority of the OBCs. 'That will overturn social equations and consign the upper castes to a twilight zone of marginalisation. The RSS won't accept it.' Radhika Ramaseshan reports.
The kisan is as integral a part of the BJP's master plan for the 2019 polls as the Dalit because it surmised that the farmers and Dalits were as restive in UP as in much of the country, and if it had to cut its losses, its reflexes must kick in fast. Radhika Ramaseshan reports.
Rajnath Singh, under whose stewardship the Bharatiya Janata Party has stormed to power with its highest-ever tally, took charge as the Union home minister.
'The present government swears by Hinduism. But we lost three of our sants during earlier BJP regimes.'
On the eve of the final phase of the Uttar Pradesh elections, Rediff.com's Aslam Hunani reviews the political landscape in the epicentre and beyond.
The saffron party which has a lot at stake in the last two phases of polling scheduled for March 4 and 8 has moved its war room to Varanasi, entrusting Union ministers and senior leaders with the task of strengthening the campaign with the prime minister in the vanguard.
He congratulated the Uttar Pradesh government and industrialists for their commitment for development.
'I went to Kashmir for the first time during the shoot of The Final Call. It was stunning!' 'The people are amazing.'
A total of 1.71 lakh earthen lamps were lit up at the grand event while a chopper decorated as the mythological 'Pushpak Viman' descended on the Ram Katha Park with artistes decked up to resemble Lord Ram, Sita and Laxman.
But the police campaign aimed at ensuring safety of women, especially young girls, was reportedly marked by some stray cases of harassment of innocent youths amid concerns that it could spawn moral policing.
'Poverty-stricken and drought-affected families in Bundelkhand and Marathawada are selling their children for as little as a few hundred rupees.'
Mounting a blistering attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi on Friday said the demonetisation drive launched by him was "firebombing of 99 per cent honest people" and not a "surgical strike".
"Crores of Muslim women had always demanded that triple talaq should be banned, as it is also banned in Islamic countries," he said.
In the event of a triangular contest the winning party will need about 40 per cent of the votes polled. And it is here that the votes of the numerically smaller communities will come into play.
N Sundaresha Subramanian, Karan Choudhury and Shreya Jai report on the sorry condition of homebuyers who invested in Jaypee Infratech and the Amrapali group's Noida-based projects.
At the 53rd annual convocation ceremony of the IIT-Bombay, Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi shared stories of his struggle and victories.
Modi's NDA is good enough to give a psychological boost to the once 'untouchable' BJP and Modi but if the NDA doesn't get a majority on its own, then walking the last mile will be the greatest challenge of this election for Modi, says Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com
