The miscreants sprayed red and black paint on the statue at the Salem Tabri area in Ludhiana, police said, adding that they carried out the act in full public glare and blamed Rajiv Gandhi for the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
The move came a day after Parliament approved two agriculture sector-reform bills which have been bitterly opposed by the opposition parties like Congress and TMC.
Here's an analysis of the style and strategy of the man who did the magic for Narendra Modi and then Nitish Kumar and whom the Congress has now hired.
The RJD leader, who is the Mahagathbandhan's chief ministerial face, said that if voted to power, providing jobs to unemployed youth would be his topmost priority.
'...a dazzling flash, and then, fizzle,' argues Shekhar Gupta.
The BJP would want that by March 2022, when UP votes, the economy starts looking up and it heads into the polls with no other issue distracting from its main poll plank of the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
Modi also said that presently a 'new trend' is being seen in the country where protests are based on creating doubts through misinformation while union ministers urged farmers not to have any misconceptions about the three agriculture reform legislations.
Sidhu, while addressing a rally, had warned Muslims not to split their votes and instead defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party by voting against it unitedly.
Riding on its recent success in Punjab, where it created history by returning to power for a second consecutive term, National Democratic Alliance ally Shiromani Akali Dal on Saturday favoured early Lok Sabha polls, saying the country had come to a standstill under Congress rule and people were fed up. Badal also said the NDA was currently the best alternative to the Congress at the Centre in case the country went in for early general elections
About 45 per cent of the voters on Wednesday exercised their franchise in the first six hours of polling in seven states and two union territories during the seventh phase of Lok Sabha elections that will decide the fate of political heavyweights like Narendra Modi, Sonia Gandhi, L K Advani, Rajnath Singh and Murli Manohar Joshi. Barring skirmishes in Punjab that left 10 persons injured, voting was by and large peaceful.
Rahul Gandhi replied on Twitter, saying, 'Thank you for your greetings @narendramodi ji. I appreciate them.'
The overall voting percentage in the bypolls to 51 assembly seats was nearly 56.84 per cent, the Election Commission said while releasing data available till 7 pm, adding that the polling passed off peacefully.
Political analysts say that with 32 per cent vote share, the BJP would still be ahead of what BSP had polled in 2007 or SP in 2012.
Rediff Labs analysed the 2012 Uttrakhand assembly election results merged with 2014 Lok sabha election result are to develop a Sentiment Meter for the 2017 electoral battle.
Rediff Labs analysed the 2012 Manipur assembly election results and merged it with the 2014 Lok sabha election result to develop a Sentiment Meter for the 2017 electoral battle.
Governments in most of the world saw their approval ratings dip as they struggled to contain the raging virus, which hit economy hard everywhere, but Indian politics followed a different script, with the outgoing year marking further shrinking of a rudderless Congress while the ruling BJP soared riding on Modi's enduring appeal.
Around 10 people were injured Saturday as police allegedly lathi-charged a group of farmers disrupting traffic movement on a highway while heading towards Karnal to protest against a BJP meeting.
The entry of Kohli, a local businessman, into the BJP came a day after the prime minister rejected perceptions of a 'Modi wave' in the country. Lok Sabha elections in Punjab are due in one phase on April 30.
Despite a massive decline in crude oil prices since 2012 -- Modi has been prime minister in six of these eight years -- petrol in Delhi has become 10 per cent costlier and diesel 97 per cent, as of July 2.
'Rahul is misguided by a handful of family retainers who don't want him to show unrestrained initiative in forming allies.' says Sudhir Bisht.
'Temperamentally, they are quite alike.' 'Ahmed Patel avoided the limelight and was not a power seeker.' 'The Gandhis too are not power wielders, but trustees of power.'
The Budget session of Parliament was the least productive since the year 2000.
Speaking about his mission in the party, Sidhu said, "This isn't my personal battle, but the fight for Punjab's well-being and it's existence, and I am only the medium."
With his swearing-in, the five-decade-long practice of retired bureaucrats being appointed to the post has ended.
Many leaders who appealed to Gandhi to stay argued that their political futures depended on his presence in the party and hence he must stay.
In the years to come, Dushyant may need to compete for the leadership of the Jat community with Hooda's son Deepender, and other Jat leaders, reports Archis Mohan.
The term of the 224-member Karnataka assembly ends on May 28 this year.
'There is no animosity among us. We are one family.'
"Rahul Gandhi is de facto Congress chief but he should become de jure" and make the party battle ready without waiting for anti-incumbency to build up against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, senior party leader Jairam Ramesh said.
Rediff Labs analysed the 2012 Goa assembly election results and merged it with 2014 Lok sabha election results to develop a Sentiment Meter for the 2017 electoral battle.
Union Minister Manish Tewari, who has been hospitalised due to a heart ailment, is unlikely to contest the Lok Sabha polls, sources said on Sunday.
Among the other names tipped to make it to the Cabinet are Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sarbananda Sonowal, Baijayant Panda.
'Parties like ours and others like the Lok Janshatki Party will ensure that the BJP remains on the straight and narrow path,' says Shiromani Akali Dal leader Naresh Gujral
It would be far more sensible for AAP to build on what they have achieved than to destroy what credibility they have by floating wild conspiracy theories, says Sankrant Sanu.
While the term of 288-member Maharashtra assembly ends on November 9, that of the 90-member Haryana assembly expires on November 2.
Indicating that regional parties will play a major role after the elections, the NCP leader said, "My own thinking and assessment is that ultimately it will be a state-wise position. There might be states like Tamil Nadu, where the number one party will be Dravida Munnetra Kazagham and other non-BJP parties will have to accept it."
Opposition parties now recognise that the king on one side of the chessboard, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is ensconced, and unlikely to be shaken, although on his side there are no identifiable kings, queens, rooks, bishops or knights.
