'Narendra Modi could be too old to change his personality. On the other hand, his attachment to the RSS could be mostly sentimental. So one must hope that if he becomes prime minister, he is able to detach himself from the RSS view of the world as completely as Narasimha Rao detached himself from the Congress's First Family.' 'India cannot be governed by the autocratic methods by which he has governed Gujarat. If he becomes prime minister he will have to learn to speak in a more civil language about his political opponents,' historian Ramachandra Guha tells Arthur J Pais/Rediff.com
Mahinda Rajapaksa completed 50 years of parliamentary politics in July this year. He was elected as a Member of Parliament at the young age of 24 in 1970. He has since been elected president twice and has been appointed prime minister thrice.
While the Congress will go on fast on April 9, BJP MPs will go on a day-long fast on April 9.
Later the controversial minister Anil Vij retracted from his comments.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi led the delegation. She said Modi government was 'shutting down' people's voices and bringing legislations which are not acceptable to them.
'Whom do I want to marry and what decisions I make for marrying the person I love are totally personal decisions, in which neither the State nor the courts have any right to interfere.'
"Hemant Karkare falsely implicated me. He died of his karma. I told him, he will be destroyed. I told him his entire dynasty will be erased," Pragya said.
Aam Aadmi Party leader Somnath Bharti was on Wednesday assaulted allegedly by BJP workers at the Assi ghat in Varanasi when he went there to participate in an election-related programme.
While the bulk of the speeches were lessons in sycophancy, there were some eye-openers, workers who had come prepared to speak the truth and as they articulated the sentiments of the silent majority present there, there was loud applause and genuine appreciation. One such example was Umaid Sheikh from Ahmednagar in Maharashtra who said that Sheila Dixit only won in Delhi because of her performance while the others were winning because of the Gandhi name.
The West Bengal chief minister also accused the PM of 'removing crucial files' related to demonetisation.
'It promises to get much, much darker before the dawn.' 'But at least dawn has a fighting chance,' says Mitali Saran.
From Bollywood strong men to cricketing greats, celebrities upped the glam quotient this poll season. Some we will see as future MPs, the others just have to get back to business. Rediff.com takes a look at some popular faces, who fought Election 2019 and here's the verdict on them.
Before unveiling the giant 'Adiyogi' bust, Modi lighted the 'Maha Yoga Yagna' and released the book Adiyoga: The source of Yoga, which deals with yogic sciences.
Naidu also termed the dharna by opposition leaders near the Gandhi statue in Parliament premises as a big tamasha and an insult to the Father of the Nation.
The CM said the alleged sex abuse of girls at the shelter home "has left us with a sense of shame and guilt".
'One minute and 45 seconds of that clip are on Modi praising gauraksha.' 'In the last 30 seconds he speaks about violence, but says only that killing is unacceptable.' 'We don't need the prime minister to tell us that.' 'We need him to tell us why the killing is happening and what he will do to stop it,' says Aakar Patel.
Mauritius promises India full-cooperation on tax treaty issues.
'Look at Kejriwal. With his work, he's made a place in our hearts. But the BJP leaders have only abuses for us," protesters at Shaheen Bagh tell Jyoti Punwani.
Exuding confidence that the Third Front will form the next government at the Centre, Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav on Thursday said his party would set no preconditions to join it and help form the alliance in national interest.
'This is a negative campaign, of slurs and fears.' 'The BJP has no desire to fight a positive campaign as it did in 2014, on the issue of governance and achche din.' 'Where the BJP can use these tactics, it will,' says Aakar Patel.
Secularism as a principle and practice in India is in "danger", but "forces of hatred" cannot alter the country's secular character, senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said during an interview on his new book 'The Battle of Belonging'. In the book, Tharoor makes a stinging critique of the Hindutva doctrine, asserting that it is a political doctrine, not a religious one.
Government on Tuesday made it clear that it differs with the UPA regime's stand on Section 66A of the IT Act.
Senior Congress spokesperson Ghulam Nabi Azad said the claim made by the prime minister on Tuesday of Rs three lakh crore getting into the banking system post-demonetisation, is in clear contrast to what the RBI has said.
'The Congress has no moral right to throw mud at others. The Gandhis talking of corruption sounds worse than the devil quoting scripture.'
The BJP has 165 first-time MPs. Are we to expect such utterances from all 165 of them? Or only those from a rural background? Because that is the explanation given by the PM, says Jyoti Punwani.
The politicisation of ethnic sentiments in the state has coincided with the ascent of the BJP and increased activities of far right Hindu outfits, which organised rallies and other events on religious occasions such as Ram Navami a festival not very popular in West Bengal- unlike states in north India.
The humility with which the BJP deals with these 10 lessons will determine the outcome of 2019, says Shekhar Gupta.
Several American lawmakers have slammed India for failing to condemn Russia's aggression in Ukraine, Russian rebels' downing of flight MH17 and the annexation of Crimea. The leaders also raised the issue of repeated abuse and violence against minorities and women in India. Aziz Haniffa reports.
Chidambaram, 74, was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation on August 21 and is lodged in Tihar jail under judicial custody in the corruption case.
India "routinely" uses vaguely-worded laws like sedition and criminal defamation as "political tools" to "stifle" dissent, a leading rights group said.
'None other but the invincible chariot led by Modi and Shah could have taken up the challenge and won,' says Tarun Vijay.
The people of Indian descent account for a vast majority (about 70 per cent) of Mauritius population.
Several students organisation, civil society groups and parties cutting across political lines took out rallies in various parts of Kolkata and the state to protest against the violence that rocked JNU.
The Congress president questioned the government over unfulfilled promises and questioned the Rafale deal.
In her complaint to the DCW, the student has said she has received 'rape' threats on social media allegedly from members of the ABVP after she condemned 'violence in name of nationalism' in the backdrop of Ramjas incident.
A major controversy erupted on Sunday over Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif purportedly calling his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh a "village woman" with Narendra Modi terming it as the "biggest insult" of the prime minister.
Leading television anchor Rajdeep Sardesai was roughed up by pro-Modi supporters outside the Madison Square Garden in New York, shortly before the prime minister's address.
'Then all the usual troubles will break out.'
"A Meryl Streep or Jimmy Kimmel can speak their mind, and stay assured that they won't be harmed. That does not happen in India," say Manavi Kapur & Ranjita Ganesan.
