'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.
Rajya Sabha member Raut questioned why Gandhi was raking up issues which touch the people's emotional chord and giving the Bharatiya Janata Party a chance on a platter to divert attention.
Thackeray said people should be aware of how religious issues are raked up to distract their attention from core issues.
'Many resignation dramas are played out to make others realise one's importance, but Sharad Pawar would not play such petty games.'
There are many provinces in Pakistan such as Pashtunistan, Balochistan, Sindh and others which want to break away from it due to its social, political and economic conditions, Kumar said.
Malegaon blasts were not the only terror strike Joshi orchestrated. He, says the charge-sheet by NIA, was involved in the planning and execution of blasts in Malegaon, Ajmer and Mecca Masjid.
'If you allow Walmart to operate in India, our manufacturing will finish completely.' 'What will happen to Narendra D Modi's dream then? There will be no Make in India.'
August 15, 2023 became for me, an extraordinary Independence Day. I will remember it as the day the country's largest political party -- one that struts around like a colossus and tutors us in apt behaviour -- suddenly looked bankrupt in terms of ideas and had to take out a personal guarantee from the prime minister to underscore its capacity to deliver our future, observes Shyam G Menon.
Eleven people died during a havan at Beleshwar Mahadev Jhulelal temple in Madhya Pradesh's Indore after they fell into a well as its cover caved-in under the weight of a huge crowd, while three others got fatally electrocuted during a Ram Navami procession in Rajasthan's Kota.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's action against its two members for their controversial comments against Prophet Mohammed cap a series of statements from its top brass and also Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat that sought to distance their organisations from shrill and combative religious rhetoric, even as it has brought to fore the conflict within their wide sphere of support.
If Kerala wants to sustain its room for independent thinking and talk back to Delhi when needed, it should put its finances in order. Or - if one takes the North East example - Kerala's political posturing may end up commensurate with its financial dependence on others, suggests Shyam G Menon.
Sunday's yatra proved that it needs both the maturity of locals as well as the police doing their duty, to ensure that a religious procession doesn't turn ugly.
Nine ministers also take oath. Satpal Maharaj, Harak Singh Rawat, Madan Kaushik, Arvind Pandey, Subodh Uniyal,Yashpal Arya and Prakash Pant have been made Cabinet ministers.
Organiser, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's organ, has alleged that prestigious institutes like Indian Institute of Technology were being turned into places for "anti-India and anti-Hindu" activities.
If the Opposition has any chance at the prime minister's job, it can happen only if they all stop dropping names and work at the grassroots-level, state-wise, suggests N Sathiya Moorthy.
'The idea of aligning with different political parties -- parties that are relevant at a particular period -- is opportunistic and unacceptable.'
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government of being 'undemocratic', and said people will have to strongly fight against its 'dictatorship' to save democracy.
DMK Parliamentary Party leader T R Baalu told reporters in New Delhi that Tamil Nadu Law Minister S Regupathy, who led a delegation, handed over to the President what state Chief Minister M K Stalin has 'written', but repeatedly insisted the content of the communication was only known to the CM.
With two years to go before West Bengal elects its next government, the BJP's internal objective is to scale down the Trinamool Congress tally from 211 to 45 seats. This amounts to an annihilation of the TMC while enabling the BJP to win a record 250 seats in the 295-member legislature, reports Radhika Ramaseshan
'On the other side, we have an ideology of hatred and violence, a disrespectful ideology that attacks people because of their ideas. And you must have noticed one thing that this is in the nature of BJP and the RSS'
Bharatiya Janata Party MP Kirodi Lal Meena moved for leave to introduce the bill to provide for the constitution of the national inspection and investigation committee for preparation of a Uniform Civil Code and its implementation throughout India and for matters connected therewith during the private member's business.
The Centre has imposed a ban on the Popular Front of India (PFI) and several of its associates for their alleged terror activities.
'The government is scared of this Congress yatra, that is why various orders and letters are being issued'
Gandhi said he has respect for BSP patriarch Kanshi Ram for articulating the Dalit voice of Uttar Pradesh, even though the Congress had suffered during that phase.
Leading the Opposition attack over the Adani-Hindenburg issue in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday linked Gautam Adani's meteoric rise to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's coming to power and said "magic" happened after 2014 that propelled the businessman from the 609th to the second spot on the global rich list.
The Union government on Monday barred the telecast of Malayalam news channel MediaOne citing "security reasons", but the Kerala high court stayed the implementation of the order for two days.
Regional films may have prevailed over the country, but regional leaders still have far mountains to climb to reach Delhi, asserts Shreekant Sambrani.
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party of weakening the country by spreading fear and hatred, and said only the Congress can unite the country and take it to the path of progress.
Modi's gestures have fuelled speculations that the BJP wants to bring Yediyurappa into the centre-stage of its campaign plank leveraging his mass appeal for the Assembly elections, due by May.
RSS to interact with Muslim professionals ahead of Ayodhya verdict.
If somebody wants to do an instant noodle study on contemporary Indian politics, Shobhaji's book, Battlefield India - 25 years of Politricks and Economix, is the one to look into, applauds M R Venkatesh, the well-known economic and political commentator.
The Congress sought her intervention in helping bring normalcy in violence-hit Manipur, and called for the constitution of a high-level inquiry commission headed by a serving or retired Supreme Court judge to probe the incident.
'Someone who has lost a dear one to Covid; that person is not going to forget and will not vote for the BJP.'
It was not a one-way ride up though for the man who now could potentially become the BJP's national president over time.
Officials said PFI has been under the radar of security agencies for its alleged role in violent protests in different parts of the country.
'Where you change the law and then say, we are following the law.' 'The fact is, the law is not meeting any international standards.' 'How can you call UAPA or PMLA a law when you are guilty until proven innocent?'
"He was an icon of the Indian history and will remain so. There can be a difference of opinion about him, but to look down on him as inferior is not appropriate and justifiable. He was a freedom fighter and a staunch nationalist, but people who follow the Marxist and Leninist ideology are the ones who accuse Savarkar of being a fascist...," Singh said, adding that the hatred towards Savarkar is illogical and unplaced.
I watched from my balcony and found that during the next eight hours up to 5.30 pm, not one prospective voter was seen to go to the Congress table, notes Rashme Sehgal. The rush was all around the BJP table.
The Congress's loss in the three states in the North-East, a region it had dominated for decades, shows there is a lot left to do to reclaim its political turf despite the Bharat Jodo Yatra which it had touted as a successful experiment in mass public outreach.
Following the killing of an SDPI state secretary late Saturday night, a BJP leader was hacked to death less than 12 hours later on Sunday morning and later, prohibitory order under Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) Section 144 was imposed in the entire Alappuzha district, additional police force was deployed there and senior officers camped there to monitor the law and order situation.
