The Congress won 77 seats or 42% of seats in the 2017 polls. How then can Gujarat be called a BJP bastion, asks Sanjeev Nayyar.
'I don't think there will be any problem for Hindus to accept Adityanath as the leader, since they have already chosen Modi.'
In Lok Sabha, the Opposition demanded action against cow vigilantes.
'A unified Hindu votebank -- the creation of the largest and most reliable votebank in Indian politics, ever,' says Mihir S Sharma.
'We can't underestimate future threats.'
'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.
Nitish Kumar has failed to curb communal forces and hoodlums across communities. And that is ominous for Bihar's present and future, warns Mohammad Sajjad.
'Mamata is campaigning hard and not giving the BJP a walkover.'
'Since 2002, we have not received any justice and we are still fighting for it.'
The longest-serving chief minister of any Hindi- speaking state, Nitish Kumar seems to have acquired an aura of indispensability when it comes to the highest seat of power in Bihar.
'Haven't you heard of the magical EVM machines? They can negate all our votes.' 'There is no hope. Modi is India's Putin.'
It also provides that no preliminary enquiry will be required for registering a criminal case and an arrest under this law would not be subject to any approval.
Claiming that the BJP's government's works in the three holy cities are only follow-ups of her government's initiatives, Mayawati went on to promise, in what is being seen as a subtle shift towards soft Hindutva ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, to complete all those work on time.
'Section 153A is not meant to protect fragile sentiments of the majority Hindu community who choose to get offended by slogans celebrating the success of the Pakistani cricket team.'
'Someone who has lost a dear one to Covid; that person is not going to forget and will not vote for the BJP.'
'If we want a stable society, then all groups must feel that they have a seat at the table of power.'
Testimony presented before the Bhima Korgaon Commission over the last two months reveals the background to the violence that broke out on January 1, 2018.
Modi will utilise the Presidential poll to show that he is the only leader who matters in India, argue Sunil Gatade and Venkatesh Kesari. So the question being asked in political circles is: 'Who will be the next Kovind?'
"Our daughters go to schools and colleges. They (Muslims) do not believe in sending their girls to schools. Our daughters, therefore, are vulnerable to filthy remarks, unwanted advances and eve-teasing. We have to fight for our izzat (honour)," said Uday Veer. One comes across different versions of the same narrative in Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur and Meerut. It cuts across caste lines and made class differences redundant.
'I don't think there is a wave in favour of the Samajwadi Party, or against the BJP.' 'This election is largely about which party is able to build a larger social and political coalition.'
'These charges of the prosecution will fall to the ground and I am 100 per cent sure of that.'
Nirahua, a Bhojpuri star and the BJP's candidate, is drawing huge crowds in his road shows and meetings after he entered the poll fray against Yadav, but voters with caste and local equations appear favourable for the senior Yadav.
'Shaheen Bagh is no longer a mere ghetto of lower middle class Muslims.' 'Now, it is a metaphor for resistance, secularism and struggle,' notes Md. Zeeshan Ahmad.
Shah assured members of minority communities that none of them will lose citizenship due to the CAA.
'The Congress has indeed become overly dependent on the RJD.' 'A few Congress leaders have successfully convinced the national leadership about the benefits of maintaining ties with the RJD.'
'The Mallahs may remain divided between the two competing coalitions in Bihar,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
Two students, who had shouted slogans during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address at a convocation function in Lucknow, on Saturday said they took the step to ensure that no Dalit student faces the same fate as HyderabadUniversity's scholar Rohith Veluma.
'When he was killed, did you ask questions of the Muslim community? When we spoke of 'aar-paar' you are asking questions.'
'Zund makes one sit up and wonder why we have allowed ourselves to be played like pawns by power mongers,' says Neeta Kolhatkar.
'He will use these five years to project himself as the next PM candidate within the Hindutva fold.'
In yet another sign that not everything is fine between Bihar's ruling partners, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar opposes the BJP's demand for a population control law -- even while seeking a caste-based census, a red flag for the BJP. M I Khan reports.
Gleaning lessons from Amit Shah's compendium of Chanakya-isms, the Samajwadi Party is keeping its operations low-key and working on an inclusive strategy.
The Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government will have a total of 30 ministers, including 18 who had resigned earlier.
The BSP supremo is looking forward to the support of Dalits and Muslims to seize the throne in Lucknow, writes Amit Shankar.
The CM assured the family of stringent action against all the accused.
I watched from my balcony and found that during the next eight hours up to 5.30 pm, not one prospective voter was seen to go to the Congress table, notes Rashme Sehgal. The rush was all around the BJP table.
CJI Lalit concurred with the minority view of Justice S Ravindra Bhat who held the EWS quota as "unconstitutional" for excluding poor among SCs, STs and OBCs.
The prime minister said he was expecting members of the House to show enthusiasm by thumping their desks as a large number of those from the Dalits, Scheduled Tribes and OBC communities as well as sons of farmers and those from economically backward and rural backgrounds have become ministers in the recent rejig.
'Even if Akhilesh Yadav opens up the entire state treasury for us we will not vote for the Samajwadi Party... ''...I don't want to return to my village, my head will be chopped off. They want me to press the button on the lotus.' Caught between an aggressive BSP cornering Dalit votes and the BJP cornering other Hindu votes, the Muslims of Muzaffarnagar have nowhere to go, no one to turn to. Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt presents the grim situation on the ground in western Uttar Pradesh.
'We are known political activists, so the police put our names in.'
