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Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to attend the three-day meeting of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and its affiliates in which top Bharatiya Janata Party leaders and ministers will also participate.
Several BJP leaders in the past have raised a demand for changing the name of the country from "India" to "Bharat".
The TMC alleged that the BJP-RSS wanted only one major programme to be held in Chicago on that occasion.
Modi and Shah have finalised names for the Rashtrapati's post, which the BJP boss has discussed with the RSS chief.
Wouldn't it be better to join the celebrations with the vast Hindu majority while at the same time criticising Mr Modi/BJP/RSS for politicising it? notes Shekhar Gupta.
"Despite a pro-Hindutva government, the ghar wapsi of Kashmiri Pandits hasn't taken place," said the Sena, which is a constituent of the National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre and an ally of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Maharashtra.
Elanthottil Manoj, the latest victim of this violence, was hacked to death by goons who barged into his house. Manoj was the district leader of the Sharirik Shikshan, affiliated to the RSS. The incident occurred in Kizhakke Kadirur near Thalassery, the epicentre of political violence in Kannur district.
In an address that was telecast live on national broadcaster Doordarshan, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Friday patted the Narendra Modi government for initiatives on national security, economy and international relations in a short period of four months.
The Sena leader further said the RSS's agenda behind inviting Mukherjee as the chief guest to one of its event, held in Nagpur on June 7, would only be clear after the 2019 general elections.
The meet will discuss the organisation's strategy to galvanise and energise the cadre
Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan waded into the controversy surrounding Assam Governor P B Acharya's comments, saying Muslims would prefer 'kabristan' than Pakistan and suggested that he can go to Nepal, if he has any problem in staying with the minority community.
The time capsule, enlisting the history and facts related to the Ram Janmabhoomi, will be placed thousands of feet below the construction site. It will be done in order to ensure that there are no disputes in the future. A grand Ram Temple will be built here and all arrangements are in place for Bhoomi Pujan.
Addressing the annual Dussehra rally at the iconic Shivaji Park ground in Mumbai, Thackeray lashed out at Shinde, whose rebellion in June this year brought down the Thackeray-led Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government in the state.
"In India, we derive our strength from tolerance, and respect our pluralism. We celebrate our diversity," he said.
The Shiv Sena on Monday said that there was nothing wrong with reverse conversions and flayed "those who kept mum when Hindus were converted to Muslims."
Union Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday rode into a controversy when he was caught on camera entering RSS headquarters in Nagpur on his scooter without wearing a helmet in violation of traffic rules.
Gogoi says BJP will suffer the same fate as Bihar in Assam if secular forces unite.
Thackeray said people should be aware of how religious issues are raked up to distract their attention from core issues.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Monday demanded that all roads and monuments named after Mughal emperors be re-christened, claiming that the country should not drag on with "signs of slavery".
A man with a grandfatherly moustache, another in saintly robes and reportage on the saffron face of terror that went unnoticed, says Bharat Bhushan.
Rediff.com lists a few instances when BJP leaders and ministers shot their mouth off.
Dwivedi, son of BJP's district unit president of Allahabad Ramraksha Dwivedi, had reportedly announced a reward of Rs 1 crore for chopping off the tongue of Owaisi and called the AIMIM chief a 'traitor' who has no right to live in India.
Shiv Sena has said it would recommend eminent agriculture scientist M S Swaminathan's name for the highest post.
Modi's presence at the evnt would open wounds, the Hyderabad MP said.
Narendra Modi, Vilasrao Deshmukh, Pratibha Patil, Uddhav and Raj Thackeray, Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle took blessings of him.
Wipro Group chairman Azim Premji, who attended an event organised by an Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh body near Delhi on Sunday, said his presence did not mean that he endorsed the view of the forum.
BJP MP Sadhvi Prachi advised youngsters not to idolise actors like Aamir Khan, Salman Khan and Shahrukh Khan who spread a culture of violence.
'The 2024 election results will lead to much intense targeting of Modi, more intense debates, many more breakdowns in Parliament and many more movements on the streets.' 'The results have hit Modi's standing, and the politics of the Opposition parties will be sharply focused to ensure that Modi doesn't get back his charisma of being 'invincible' with help of State power.' Sheela Bhatt looks at the political situation through the prism of 2024 Lok Sabha election results.
Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and his deputy Minister of State for Home RPN Singh on Wednesday rejected the allegation levelled by 2007 Ajmer blast accused Bhavesh Patel that they had pressured him to implicate top Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh functionaries in the case, saying they do not know him.
The BJP ignored the principle of the Cabinet's joint responsibility and the adage of the buck stopping at the top, observes Amulya Ganguli.
For the first time in his political career, he failed to carry his party to even a working majority -- and again, for the first time in his career, he finds himself in a situation where he cannot rule by dictatorial fiat, points out Prem Panicker.
'We are very close to become a theocratic State where Hinduism is the official religion of the government.'
Taking a swipe at the prime minister, he said there was no dearth of skills in the country and those from the backward classes are endowed with skills but not given an opportunity to move forward.
'Any kind of political activity is not on our agenda.'
Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Sarbananda Sonowal, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Narayan Rane, all of whom are being seen as probables for induction as ministers in the Modi government, arrived in the national capital on Tuesday amid indications that the Union Council of Ministers is likely to be expanded on Wednesday.
Amid huge cheers from supporters, Chakraborty, borrowing a dialogue from one of his films, said, "Ami joldhorao noi, bele borao noi... ami ekta cobra, ek chobol-ei chobi (Don't mistake me for a harmless snake, I am a cobra, can kill people in one bite)," he said.
If Rahul's yatra makes a political statement from the other side of the aisle and Shah Rukh's success underlines a more relaxed popular mood, Mr Modi and Mr Bhagwat's cues to their followers are coming from another place, observes Shekhar Gupta.
Modi hasn't raised or encouraged the raising of slogans such as 'Jai Sri Ram' at public meetings
Terror groups are keeping security agencies on their toes in the run-up to Independence Day.
The gau rakshak stated that the famine-stricken people were suffering because of their past karma and nothing could be done for them. The reply apparently infuriated Vivekananda, who told the gau rakshak bluntly that he had no sympathy to spare for societies which would not lift a finger to help human beings but wasted piles of food on birds and beasts. A fascinating excerpt from Govind Krishnan V's book, Vivekananda The Philosopher of Freedom.
