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.
Concealed beneath the feat, which testifies to his political acumen and survival instincts, is the fact that the 72-year-old leader could never remain at peace with his allies which also made him change partners frequently.
Modi also said the grand old party was being run not by its leaders but by some "behind the curtain" elements who are in nexus with anti-national forces.
Among the eight secretaries are Bansuri Swaraj, former Delhi chief minister Madan Lal Khurana's son Harish Khurana and Imprit Singh Bakshi.
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.
'How come the BJP won even in the Muslim belt? I am 100% sure that the BJP would not win in the Muslim belt.'
The MPs suspended on Tuesday include National Conference's Farooq Abdullah and Congress leaders Shashi Tharoor and Manish Tewari.
Either this affidavit was prepared a long time back, or, Ambedkar has not been following the Commission's hearings.
Anger cannot be an end in itself to Rahul Gandhi's politics -- it must instead catalyse a new political strategy, argues Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
The Aam Aadmi Party on Friday named former TV anchor and journalist Isudan Gadhvi as its chief ministerial candidate for next month's assembly elections in Gujarat.
Fasting quota activist Manoj Jarange on Monday sought reservation for the Maratha community in entire Maharashtra and not in specific regions and warned the ongoing agitation will be ratcheted up if the demand was not fulfilled by the state government.
Setting the tone for his 2024 re-election bid, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday called for waging a war against the 'three evils' of corruption, appeasement and dynastic politics, stepped up the OBC outreach with a mega scheme and exuded confidence he would return to address the nation from the Red Fort next year.
The Lok Sabha contest in Thiruvananthapuram is shaping up to be a significant battle involving key candidates like Shashi Tharoor, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, and Panniyan Ravindran. This three-cornered fight highlights the political dynamics in Kerala's capital city, with each candidate bringing their own vision and promises for the region's development, notes Rajeev Srinivasan.
'He only promotes those leaders who will never show any resistance to him in future.'
A Dalit man has alleged a man from another caste smeared his face and body with human excreta after he accidentally touched the latter with grease in Madhya Pradesh's Chhatarpur district.
The BJP has played the social engineering card in Rajasthan with an eye on the Lok Sabha election where the party will try and retain all the 25 seats that it had won in the 2014 and 2019 elections.
Modi launched a scathing attack on the Congress alleging that the opposition party has become outdated and has always been against any kind of reservation.
Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar, who took oath as the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, on Sunday said his party decided to become part of the Eknath Shinde government for the development of the country, and praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership.
He also criticised the government over an advertisement published in some prominent newspapers listing the steps taken for the welfare of the Maratha community.
How does it matter for people whether the Aligarh Muslim University is a minority institution or not when it has continued to be an institute of national importance without the minority tag, the Supreme Court said on Thursday as it underlined that the intent of Article 30 of the Constitution is not to "ghettoise the minority".
The stringent National Security Act (NSA) has been invoked against two people lodged in jail for allegedly burning photocopies of extracts from the Ramcharitmanas, officials said on Monday.
'...for success like the BJP.' 'The BJP's work for the next election begins the day one election ends.'
The Bharatiya Janata Party announced a major organisational reshuffle in the party, appointing Hindu hardliner Keshav Maurya and former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa as state party presidents in Uttar Pradesh and Karntaka respectively.
The decision to grant 10 per cent EWS quota in admissions will not impact the availability of seats for the general and reserved categories as 2,13,766 additional seats will be added to those already existing in higher educational institutions, the Centre Tuesday told the Supreme Court while defending the 103rd constitution amendment.
State Congress president and former chief minister Kamal Nath has been fielded from his home-turf Chhindwara, from where he is currently the legislator.
'This is what happens when you get consumed by absolute power and the arrogance that accompanies it.'
Activist Manoj Jarange on Wednesday asked the Maharashtra government to make it clear whether it is ready to provide reservation to the entire Maratha community and why it needs more time in granting quota to it.
He was administered the oath of office by Governor Rajendra Arlekar at the Raj Bhavan in Patna.
Why did Modi single out the Congress and its leaders for the most pugnacious verbal assault while sparing other regional adversaries? If he is trying to get some parties to break the Opposition ranks, it means that the BJP's present bravado is for effect. Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author of Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times, begins a new column for Rediff.com.
Experts foresee possible scenarios: A BRS government with less majority, a BRS government with BJP and AIMIM support, or a Congress government.
Economic criteria to ensure that the benefits of government policies reach the target group is not "proscribed" and a "recognised" basis of classification, the Supreme Court orally observed Wednesday while hearing pleas challenging the Centre's decision to grant a 10 per cent quota for the EWS category in admissions and jobs.
'The Maratha versus OBC friction will increase. A huge chunk of the Shiv Sena's social base consists of OBCs.' Dhaval Kulkarni reports.
Reacting to the development, BJP IT department head Amit Malviya said in a tweet, "Rahul Gandhi may have survived this one but for how long?"
The Centre's decision to grant 10 per cent quota for the EWS category in admissions and jobs violates the basic structure of the Constitution on multiple counts including that it breaches the 50 per cent cap on reservation, the Supreme Court was told on Tuesday.
'We are not here to hold brief for Adani. But Gandhi has sought to mislead the people to link his disqualification with Adani. He has been disqualified because of conviction in a case that relates to defamatory remarks he made in 2019'
The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a plea filed by the Maharashtra government seeking a direction to the Centre and other authorities to disclose to the state the Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011 raw caste data of the Other Backward Classes.
Delhi Police's Special Cell Tuesday morning conducted raids at 30 premises connected with online portal NewsClick as well as its journalists' houses, triggering outrage against the action among scribes.
