A caste recalibration is simmering just below the surface in UP.
...a time when his legacy ledger was still positive and before the debacle against China. With every subsequent election, our leaders tend to become weaker. India should consider passing a law that no person should hold the highest office in our country for more than two terms, points out Harishchandra.
The BJP is leaning on Yogi's 'batenge to katenge' theme to weave a unifying narrative that transcends caste and communal lines.
Names of Hardik Patel, the face of the Patidar agitation ahead of the 2017 polls who quit the Congress to join the BJP, and Rivaba Jadeja, wife of cricketer Ravindra Jadeja, figure in the list.
It is unusual to see Narendra Modi highlight his OBC status -- something he has never done in his long political career. Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com examines Modi's compulsions for bringing his caste to the foreground
The BJP cannot afford to alienate the OBCs, who have explicitly voiced their opposition to the Maratha quota.
Facing protests from a section of the Rajput community over Union Minister Parshottam Rupala's remarks, the Bharatiya Janata Party in Rajasthan's Chittorgarh -- a Rajput-dominated seat -- is hoping that the 'Modi factor' and the development work undertaken by his government will help it retain the Lok Sabha constituency.
'For voters, PM Narendra Modi's name and developmental works in Rajkot are enough reasons to support the BJP'
An OBC leader, Thakor, who has good oratory skills, will have to take along all factions in the state unit while taking on the well-organised BJP which has been in power in the state from 1998.
A bench comprising Justices L Nageswara Rao and B R Gavai said it has perused the judgments submitted and was of the view that the issue does not need consideration by a larger bench.
'Where should shudra-OBCs go because of whom the nation is surviving?'
2019 was the Bharatiya Janata Party's breakout year, when it stretched the boundaries of what was thought possible and ended up with 303 seats on its own steam. Now it is forced to play defence, on a pitch queered by too many variables, asserts Prem Panicker.
'The Maratha versus OBC friction will increase. A huge chunk of the Shiv Sena's social base consists of OBCs.' Dhaval Kulkarni reports.
In the recent past, Adityanath and the RSS seem to have come closer. The warmth is more on the part of the RSS. And even now, not all requests from the RSS are accommodated by the UP government, points out Aditi Phadnis.
It had given the BJP a tough fight in 2017 winning 77 of the 182 seats at stake.
This time Modi has no emotive message to take to the stump. Muscular nationalism doesn't work against the backdrop of China's successive inroads into Indian territory. Rising prices is a sore point that cuts across class and caste barriers; unprecedented levels of unemployment has the youth in a ferment. This has reduced the BJP campaign to a laundry list of recycled grievances and thinly veiled communal appeals, neither of which are working as well as they have in the past, argues Prem Panicker.
Sacking Ajay Mishra would further antagonise Brahmins in UP already upset with Yogi's government.
Of late, crime, politics, corruption and hate have been leaking out of every streaming platform. By the time Garmi drops, fatigue has already set in, observes Deepa Gahlot.
''The Congress has forgotten how to mobilise people on political issues,' says Aakar Patel.
Zala, a close associate of Thakor, was the MLA from Bayad in Sabarkantha district.
I should not stay in a party where I am being insulted, ignored and betrayed, Alpesh said.
'In 2013, Modi said his government would be of Dalits and OBCs.' 'During his tenure, the highest number of atrocities have taken place.' 'What they want is that this Ambedkar Constitution must not be practised in India in the future.'
'Gujarat is a high turnout state and the BJP, even if it leads opinion polls, must ensure that its base comes out and votes.' 'The Congress can be confident that, even though its base is smaller, their voters will turn out because they are angry.'
Patel was administered the oath as the 18th chief minister by Governor Acharya Devvrat at a function held at the Helipad Ground near the new Secretariat.
'The common belief in political circles is that if you provide reservation to somebody, s/he will automatically come up.' 'This is a very faulty understanding.'
Caste assertions, including from the upper castes, could have the Sangh Parivar stumble yet again in its efforts to construct a Hindu rashtra.
Yogi Adityanath on Monday completed 100 days in office as Uttar Pradesh chief minister but it was a low-key anniversary with no big event to showcase the achievements of the government.
Muslims have been given tickets in 36 of the 100 seats.
Governor Acharya Devvrat administered the oath to 10 cabinet ministers and 14 ministers of state, including five ministers of state with independent charge.
Out of the 403 seats up for grabs, the BSP had prepared a final list comprising 97 Muslim candidates (12 more than 2012), 87 Dalits and 106 other backwards castes, besides earmarking 113 seats for upper castes -- Brahmins 66, Kshatriyas 36 and others 11.
The Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti leader said that reservation formula given by the Congress for his community will be over and above the 50 per cent quota for the Schedule Tribes, Schedule Castes and Other Backward Class.
'He is just a 22 year old who has no knowledge of India's laws or Constitution. How will such a man handle a discussion on reservations in an intelligent, lawful manner?' 'Let me alert everybody that he is using the 1985 formula. Back then they opposed reservations based on caste for OBCs and now they want to be included in the same category. This clearly tells us what their intention is. They don't want reservations; they want reservations to be cancelled altogether.'
Formidable challenges including funds for the farm loan-waiver, and law and order stare him at his face, with the opposition claiming the misses have outnumbered the hits.
Mevani, after his meeting with the Gandhi scion, said he would ask his community members to defeat the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in the Gujarat polls.
The Congress forget Modi has demigod status in Gujarat and there is no way he can be defeated in the state, argues Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah and chief ministers of various BJP-ruled states attended the ceremony.
The electoral bounty reaped by the Congress was nothing more than an ill-gotten gain of a casteist, divisive campaign; nothing to be proud of and certainly not a moral victory, argues Vivek Gumaste.
Political observers say that except for a strong anti-incumbency sentiment, there is little that might go against the BJP.
'Modi is the first BJP leader to try to include Dalits in its fold.' 'But the rank and file of his party is backward and want to bash up Muslims and Dalits whenever they have a chance.'
'The BJP should know that simple caste arithmetic may have ceased to follow the basic law of addition.' 'Adding up seemingly distinct vote banks can even cause overall reduction in numbers,' says Sudhir Bisht.
