After joining the BJP, Ishrat said that she would work for women's right in the future.
'Neither Modi nor the BJP have lost control over the minds and votes of their original supporters due to their tremendous political ability to play upon baser communal instincts.' 'But this buoyant support will melt away if the economic scenario remains depressing.' 'That makes 2020 an interesting year to watch out for,' notes Sheela Bhatt.
The party believes that Mamata's poor handling of the pandemic and the devastation brought on by Cyclone Amphan will provide it the political fillip it needs.
'They take each and every election with seriousness.' 'No other political party has that kind of cadre who is strongly aligned with the reason, motto and ideology of their party.'
A number of Union ministers including Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad reached the residence of Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi in New Delhi to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr on Wednesday.
A West Indian Day celebration, Hurricane Dorian destruction, and the immersion of Lord Ganesha in Mumbai round out this week's best images.
More than 750 constituencies spread across four states and one union territory will go to the polls on Tuesday
The BJP projected the decision of TMC's Muslim MLA to join the party as a vindication of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's slogan of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas'
The Modi government's defeat on farm laws underlines the perils of governing an entire continent-sized, diverse and federal nation like the chief minister of a state, observes Shekhar Gupta.
Banerjee also alleged that the BJP is manipulating electronic voting machines to increase its vote share.
Several protests -- some peaceful, some violent -- erupted across India on Monday against the police crackdown in Jamia Millia Islamia and the controversial citizenship law as students and political leaders took to the streets, even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi called these protests "deeply distressing" and appealed for peace.
The recent Bharatiya Janata Party state in-charge appointments have sparked certain speculation over the party's strategy in the upcoming general elections, notes Renu Mittal.
Eight states and Union Territories have Muslim share of population in excess of national average of 13 per cent. Mayank Mishra report
While Cong has made sure that it will follow the central leadership's line on Citizenship Act, Sena and NCP said they will take a decision after discussing the matter.
'Communalism and communal riots happened in India only during and due to colonialism. Pre-colonial India didn't have this problem of communal conflicts and religious strife.'
Why did the West Bengal government ignore warnings about the Saradha group, long before the chit-fund scam surfaced? Indrani Roy/Rediff.com reports on how retired police officer Nazrul Islam blew the whistle on the shady dealings of the Saradha group, and how no one heeded him then.
The outcome in UP is far more significant than in the other states going to the polls next year. An unlikely setback in UP can cramp the Modi government, virtually making it a lame-duck two years ahead of the 2024 parliamentary poll, observes Virendra Kapoor.
Why are far right Hindu organisations growing in strength? Why is there a rising subscription to Neo-Wahabism, the Saudi Arabian version of contemporary Islam?
'The NIA has shared with states concerned a list of 125 suspected activists who have close links with the JMB leadership'
Modi and Shah's next focus will be South India, and the Maharashtra and Jharkhand assembly elections. Shah is unlikely to abdicate control over the party even after he joins the government. Modi and Shah both know only too well that the party makes the government, and not the other way round.
The HC was hearing three PILs challenging the restrictions on immersion of idols at the end of the five-day Durga Puja festival.
With Narendra Modi blowing hot and cold against the Trinamool Congress and its leader Mamata Banerjee during his rally in Kolkata, two senior TMC leaders on Thursday dismissed the possibility of an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party even after the Lok Sabha polls.
'Here I am, a BJP candidate, with a Muslim's blood running through my veins. This is simply magical!' P C Sorcar Junior, perhaps India's best-known magician, tells Rediff.com's Indrani Roy.
'Forming cults around Lalus, Nitishes, Mulayams, Mayawatis and Mamatas will do as much harm to the Republic as the bhakti of the Hindus for Modi will do,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist on Monday castigated West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for allegedly targeting a book by a senior Indian Police Service officer on the plight of Muslims in the state, charging it reflected her 'fascist' and 'intolerant' attitude.
We may be witnessing a slow erosion of the democratic republic and the emergence of the police State, warns Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
'The BJP is the most progressive force within Hinduism today.'
Addressing a rally in Lucknow in support of the CAA, Shah threw the challenge for the debate to Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee, Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati. He also declared that the construction of a Ram temple 'touching the skies' in Ayodhya will begin within three months.
'India serves itself poorly with its latter-day discovery of Pakistan as an instrument in domestic politics,' notes Shekhar Gupta.
'That secularism in India is at risk is alarming for someone like me. I'm born secular,' Anjolie Ela Menon, the well-known painter, tells Pavan Lall.
This was a difficult election to win, but the Modi card, the caste divide and the division in the Opposition vote bank helped overcome many challenges.
Without naming the Prime Minister or using his 'andolanjivi' phrase, Tikait said, "In Parliament, they are saying these are parjivis (parasites). Was Bhagat Singh who sacrificed his life for this nation a parjivi? What about 150 farmers who died during this agitation? Were they parjivis too? Had they gone to Delhi to agitate and die?"
'When it vanishes as a national force (meaning when it can no longer get sufficient votes to hold onto its symbol, the hand) it will not have been the first large Indian party to die,' says Aakar Patel.
Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the state governments have been asked to identify Rohingya refugees in their regions and collect their biometric details.
Mohammad Sajjad salutes the memory of Mushirul Hasan -- historian, thinker, academic, institution builder, -- who passed into the ages this week.
Pinarayi is exploring the potentials of 'socialism with Indian characteristics'. The next five years under Pinarayi's watch will be a transformative period for Kerala's development, observes M K Bhadrakumar.
Trinamool Congress spokesperson Sultan Ahmed lashes out at the Congress and gives reasons for pulling out of the UPA.
Making his debut in West Bengal in the current campaign, Bharatiya Janata Party's PM candidate Narendra Modi on Wednesday launched a blistering attack on the Left parties and the Third Front, saying they will make India a "third rate" country.
Shahi Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid Syed Ahmed Bukhari on Thursday triggered a controversy by inviting Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif among other political bigwigs but did not invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the anointment ceremony of his son on November 22.
