'Jairam Mahto's new party dented the NDA because he pulled a lot of the OBC vote.'
Accusing the Congress of also abusing the dominant Lingayat community in poll-bound Karnataka, the prime minister further said the grand old party had even abused Babasaheb Ambedkar and were engaged in abusing Veer Savarkar.
The Centre has directed the Pune police to apprise it of the marital status of the parents of controversial IAS probationer Puja Khedkar amid allegations that she fraudulently availed of the OBC non-creamy layer benefit in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exam by claiming that they were separated, an official said.
A new kind of history has been created in Maharashtra. Accept it. We need to give credit where it's due. Modi led this change... from the setback of June 4 to November 23, notes Sheela Bhatt.
The Delhi assembly results have underscored that a section of Arvind Kejriwal's committed supporters abandoned him because they were let down by his refusal to take a stand on crucial issues that impinge on the security and Constitutionally enshrined rights of the people, notes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said the ruling Mahayuti in Maharashtra will retain power with full majority and a decision on who will be the chief minister will be taken by the alliance partners after the state polls.
In a complaint to the Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer, the Congress mentioned about a video uploaded on social media platform 'X' by the official account of Karnataka State Bharatiya Janata Party @bjp4karnataka which is operated by Amit Malviya, the head of IT cell on instructions of J P Nadda, BJP national president, B Y Vijayendra, BJP state president and social media in charge- Karnataka BJP on May 4 at 5.34 pm.
BIf you know this BJP, it will now go forward to Jharkhand and Maharashtra as if June 2024 never happened, notes Shekhar Gupta.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday asserted that Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, will not be restored even if Congress stalwart and late PM Indira Gandhi comes down from heaven.
Like all politicians, Bharatiya Janata Party's Ramveer Singh dreamt of ending the losing streak of his party, but little did he know his victory would be so stylised, featuring a rout by 1.44 lakh votes of his nearest rival.
The accused allegedly thrashed the three boys, aged 12-14 years, shaved their heads, blackened their faces, wrote 'thief' on their forearms, and paraded them around the village with their hands tied, according to the police.
Inaugurating the Grameen Bharat Mahotsav, the Prime Minister exuded confidence that villages will play a key role in pushing forward the dream of Viksit Bharat by 2047.
Khedkar, a 2023 batch Indian Administrative Service officer, was accused of misusing power and privileges during her training in Pune recently.
Months before the Haryana assembly polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party replaced its strongman Manohar Lal Khattar as chief minister with low-profile OBC leader Nayab Singh Saini, a decision that surprised many.
...'hum decide karenge kaun banega mukhyamantri. This decision is not to be taken in Mumbai.'
Mumbai Bharatiya Janata Party chief Ashish Shelar attacked the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi ahead of his upcoming visit to Maharashtra and sought an apology for his remarks on 'reservation ' and 'Veer Savarkar'.
While other backward classes had a share of 9 per cent, there were no scheduled tribe billionaires.
Modi said that those who call themselves the biggest sympathisers of the backward communities are in reality their biggest enemies.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday underlined the necessity of any reservation standing legal scrutiny as he listed key measures undertaken by the state government for the Maratha community.
He also termed the draft notification issued by the state government providing Kunbi certificates to all Marathas as a mere 'eyewash', and said caste is determined by birth and not affidavits.
'Rahul Gandhi is raising the issue of a caste census though his party has been doing injustice on this front from the 1950s.'
The row over Bharatiya Janata Party MP Anurag Thakur's remarks in Lok Sabha escalated on Wednesday with the Congress submitting a notice to move a privilege motion against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for posting on 'X' a video that allegedly also contained expunged portions of Thakur's speech.
Top leaders of the two parties are campaigning in Jharkhand and Maharashtra for the ongoing assembly polls in the two states.
'The BJP's target could be the Kolis, Thakors and other numerically strong OBC communities to negate the shift of the Patel vote bank.'
'They were very vocal on the defence of the Constitution, reservation, SC/ST Act and democratic rights.'
Jarange is a strident critic of the senior BJP leader and has routinely accused him of being the main obstacle in the Maratha community's quest for reservations.
Saini's elevation as Haryana chief minister fits in with a pattern that has gathered pace in the BJP after the Congress and its allies like the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh and the Rashtriya Janata Dal in Bihar began making an aggressive bid to woo the largest group of communities and politically most significant, especially in Hindi-speaking states, by pushing for a caste census.
The 102nd Constitution Amendment Act of 2018 inserted articles 338B, which deals with the structure, duties and powers of the National Commission for Backward Classes, and 342A that deals with the powers of the president to notify a particular caste as an SEBC and the power of Parliament to change the list. Article 366 (26C) defines SEBCs.
Ajit Pawar's NCP, a constituent of Mahayuti, was winning or leading in 41 of the 59 seats it contested as per the latest figures released by the Election Commission.
Instead of harvesting the wrath against the BJP and using it to their advantage by opting for a collective form of leadership, the Congress decided once again to bestow their trust in the Hooda family who were given a free hand in the distribution of tickets. This turned out to be the biggest blunder and this faulty selection was the single over riding factor in the Congress defeat, explains Rashme Sehgal.
Akhilesh's fielding candidates from a broad spectrum of castes, not just Yadavs, and with the BJP losing in several seats in Purvanchal, suggests that smaller OBC communities shifted from the BJP to the SP in the region.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, which pulled off a hat-trick of wins in Haryana by bucking anti-incumbency, managed to make significant inroads into the Dalit seats and Jat strongholds.
Bihar MP Pappu Yadav said he could 'finish off within 24 hours' the network of Lawrence Bishnoi who is suspected to be behind the assassination of former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddiqui.
'The BJP, already falling short of a strong OBC leader from Maharashtra, will be more than happy to welcome Chhagan Bhujbal in its fold.'
Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange on Saturday launched a fresh indefinite hunger strike in Maharashtra's Jalna district, demanding implementation of the draft notification that recognises Kunbis as blood relatives of the Maratha community members.
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.
Modi accused the JMM, Congress and RJD of using Bangladeshi infiltrators for "vote bank politics," facilitating their settlement in Jharkhand, which is a threat to the state's social structure.
He asserted that it was time to "throw such forces out" to protect "mati, beti, roti" (land, daughter, bread).
Hours before the ceremony, Saini visited the Valmiki Bhawan and offered prayers at a gurdwara and the Mansa Devi temple in Panchkula.
Questioning the Congress's stand on caste census, the BJP leader made certain remarks on Gandhi's caste that triggered the uproar and had Congress members trooping into the well of the Lok Sabha. "Anurag Thakur insulted me and I don't want any apology from him. Abuse or insult me as hard as you can but don't forget we will pass the caste census in this Parliament for sure," the Leader of the Opposition said.
