"The ruling party's student wing -- ABVP -- has been emboldened to intervene violently in any attempt by students to have open discussions about matters that the Sangh Parivar deems to be inappropriate. This is thuggish censorship. We stand against it," the statement reads.
'Although Narendra Modi had no direct participation in the Ayodhya agitation, he would not have been in the dominant position he is now had it not been for the Ram Janambhoomi agitation.'
'According to the survey, ideological issues like Article 370 and Ayodhya received only 14 and 12 per cent voter-backing, respectively.' 'It could well imply that hardline Hindutva issues have only that much voter-purchase, compared to Modi's overall popularity of 52 per cent -- putting the man way above the mission,' points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
70-plus years after Independence, 'Hindu India, metamorphosised as 'Hindutva India', is proving the British right -- and for all the wrong reasons. Mohan Bhagwat should have answers for the why of it, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Strategy is to divide and polarise electorate on communal lines.'
Opposition leaders asked all secular forces to field a joint candidate for presidential elections and have common minimum programme to challenge the Bharatiya Janata Party, reports Archis Mohan.
'Actually, the RSS is deeply ambivalent and uncomfortable with Gandhi as well as also Ambedkar, but it is not politically wise to oppose these two.' 'So Nehru is the main and only target.'
The former Bihar chief minister, who is serving a jail term after conviction in the multi-crore fodder scam cases, said Rahul's resignation will "amount to falling into the Bharatiya Janata Party's trap."
Former Union minister C K Jaffer Shareif, in a letter to Mukherjee, expressed surprise over the move and said he like other secular people was 'stunned' to hear about his attending the RSS function.
'As of now, this one move seems to have precariously altered the balance of forces on the volatile ground, between separatists and the mainstream. 'The landscape today presents a fearsome picture of the future of mainstream politics in Kashmir. 'Conversely, the separatist ideology looks to have got an unearned boost,' points out Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the veteran commentator on Kashmir affairs
A new Congress leader may make an electoral impact by his very presence. Congress voters who had moved away from the party, after being influenced by the BJP's 'family rule' campaign, can now return with a certain moral satisfaction, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
If not now, when, asks Virendra Kapoor.
'They want to establish the silence of the graveyard in university campuses across India.' 'They cannot bear any questioning or dissent. They want subordination and obedience.' 'And that is not going to happen,' says Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Brinda Karat.
There is disquiet and discomfort in the citizenry that can be touched and felt. No one is talking, but then, the Indian voter has not talked much -- with the conviction that all that goes up has to come down, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Whether it took the corona crisis to bring about the transformation, or otherwise, the change ought to be welcome, notes Virendra Kapoor.
'She was the only prime minister who won a decisive military victory.' 'She won a real war; she didn't play video games on prime time TV over surgical strikes!' 'She understood power better than any other politician, saw it as her birthright and used it with inborn expertise.' 'Every politician today who tries to be a "supremo" through populism and absolute control over his or her party is referring to the Indira Gandhi playbook!'
'He spoke about 20 jawans in Ladakh, but he couldn't even name China.' 'He said the world had seen what had been achieved, even though we Indians don't know because Modi has himself said that nothing had happened and nobody had come,' points out Aakar Patel.
'Consider Mrs Gandhi's view of her opponents: Traitors, anti-nationals, rumour-mongers.' Does the spirit of the Emergency-era Indira Gandhi still rule India? asks Vir Sanghvi.
'When those who took oath in the name of the Indian Constitution are not acceptable, where do the other Kashmiris stand?'
'When economic policies were attacked by people on his own side, he went ahead despite all the criticisms in the coalition, within the party and the Sangh Parivar.'
'His prowess in Aikido -- a Japanese martial art that focuses on harmony with the opponent to peacefully resolve conflicts -- gives Rahul Gandhi an advantage that fanatical adversaries lack,' says Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
'Mr Kejriwal is almost exactly the package that Mr Modi offers: Personal aggrandisement, the building of a personality cult through full-page newspaper ads day after day, populist schemes involving subsidies (whether affordable or required), abandonment of secular principles, exaggerated claims and no checks on leadership,' points out T N Ninan.
With his strong views on Bharatiya economics, his appointment to the RBI board may well presage interesting times, says Archis Mohan.
'The only reason why it has taken him in is to rile the Congress and also to show, yet again, how fleet-footed the saffron camp is when it comes to raiding the pastures of its rivals,' notes Amulya Ganguli.
'Does a secular nation not believe in its ancestry? The Constitution has a photo of Ram also.'
The Sangh Parivar forgets that not only is there no scriptural prohibition, venerable authorities in India held beef as both a desirable and an essential food, says Sunanda K Datta-Ray
Sharad Yadav, President of the Janata Dal (United), is one of the architects of the proposed merger of six political parties who trace their roots to the erstwhile Janata Dal. Yadav tells Archis Mohan how the grand alliance with Left parties and even the Congress is the need of the hour.
'Amit Shah's trajectory seems unstoppable; no wonder some say the day is not far off when he could be pitching for the top job, and that this is only the first step,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Will Malik's worldview, shaped by his years with the socialists, Charan Singh, the Congress and V P Singh, help him govern the troubled state? Or would his rule have the imprint of the party he joined in the latter years of his chequered political career?
Indian law makes it clear that Sonia and Rahul are not related to Robert Vadra, nor is Sonia a relative of Pandit Nehru.
'Since the general election is only two years away, the BJP will need a surefire plan of action -- and it cannot be either the Ram temple or ultra-nationalism,' says Amulya Ganguli.
'Muslims are depressed and disillusioned.' 'The safety valve is that we still have a multicultural mosaic in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala.'
Although conventional political wisdom would decree that the construction of a 'magnificent' Ram temple at his 'birth-place' would bring the BJP a big yield of votes in the prospective elections, its leaders know by now that the mandir must not exist in isolation in its game plan, reports Radhika Ramaseshan.
The HC said it was 'very unhappy' with CBI after contradictions appeared in what was orally submitted and what it has indicated in its status report.
'Modi's finest political legacy ought to be a border settlement with Beijing,' asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
While PM Narendra Modi-Amit Shah dominated the national executive, senior chief ministers and 'margdarshaks' LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi were ignored
In embarking on building the world's tallest statue, Modi is hoping his stature will also rise - if not across India then at least in Gujarat, says Bharat Bhushan.
'This country is not of one culture. We must live together and we must respect each other.'
