Sharpening his attack on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Narendra Modi, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused them of trying to usurp the legacy of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and recalled the Congress stalwart's description of the RSS as "a venomous organisation" which could "finish" the country.
'If Rahul Gandhi's authority was absolute, he could have picked his man.' 'Compare this with the ease with which outsiders like Adityanath, Khattar and Fadnavis were picked.'
A key demand is to reduce the dividend distribution tax on listed firms.
Former Director General and CEO of IATA, Giovanni Bisignani, says Jet Airways chief Naresh Goyal developed his airline's business class mock-ups in utter secrecy inside the garage of his London home.
'One hopes that in his second term, Modi spends more time reading serious material even if it bores him or is against his nature,' says Aakar Patel.
The Congress vice-president's office and staff have been revamped after the party's electoral defeat in 2014
'I got to know the men accused of the blasts regularly meeting them in court and jail. Some of them, like Dutt, are back in jail. Others, like Mohammed Jindran, a quiet and well spoken middle class man, were killed. And now of course Yakub is ready to be hanged. The first in the case to do so,' says Aakar Patel.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar claimed career-best figures of five for 19 to help Sunrisers Hyderabad register a narrow five-run victory against Kings XI Punjab in Hyderabad, on Monday.
'Chinese troops are not geared to fight Indian troops who are battle hardened and acclimatised and are far more hardy.'
'Differences will almost certainly arise over how the minorities are to be viewed and how educational institutions are to be treated.'
'These issues would be non-negotiable for Mr Modi's BJP.' 'So he may well refuse to lead a government in which his freedom of action is constrained by others in the coalition,' feels T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan.
Mallya understood, astutely, that the Dhingras were very keen to acquire Berger Paints. He upped his asking price. The figure Vijay asked for was found to be much more than what Kuldip and Gurbachan had anticipated. A fascinating excerpt from Sonu Bhasin's Unstoppable: Kuldip Singh Dhingra And The Rise Of Berger Paints.
The celebrities offer their condolences.
The committee also picked 19 sportspersons for the Arjuna Award, including the likes of cricketers Ravindra Jadeja and Poonam Yadav, track and field stars Tejinder Pal Singh Toor, Mohammed Anas and Swapna Barman.
India's stand-in skipper Virat Kohli on Sunday credited his bowlers for the series clinching six-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the third ODI, and said the home team's bowling unit dished out a 'brilliant performance' to restrict the visitors to 242 in Hyderabad.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Monday targeted the Bharatiya Janata Party and Narendra Modi alleging that they brand migrants from other states as "outsiders" as part of their divisive politics and were taking credit for achievements made by Congress over the years.
'Except for the Akali Dal and Shiv Sena, the BJP has not found any permanent friends.' 'This is because most parties are genuinely concerned about what Hindutva politics does to Indian society,' argues Aakar Patel.
Back to their winning ways after sucessive victories, a rejuvenated Sunrisers Hyderabad will look to continue their good run when they take on laggards Kings XI Punjab in an IPL T20 clash at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium on Saturday.
This will be his second term at the helm in the Indian cricket board, more than a decade after his first term ended.
'Like in cricket, M S Dhoni was the captain and Virat Kohli played under him.' 'Then Dhoni played under Kohli.' 'Now imagine, having a second switch.' 'That is the analogy here, and I find no other example in Indian politics, or even world politics.'
Opposition members tried to corner the government in both the Houses over the Supreme Court decision that states are not bound to provide reserved seats for the SCs, STs and OBCs in appointments and promotions.
The BJP is contesting 437 seats this election, the Congress 423.
The next hearing to assess the progress in the case will be held at Westminster Magistrates' Court on September 14.
'It does not appear to me that the campaign of 2019 will be positive. By that I mean it is unlikely that there will be an 'achche din' style slogan either from the government or the opposition.'
Lalit Modi, former Indian Premiere League chief, on Tuesday night made explosive claims that Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje had supported in writing his immigration plea in Britain
Mayawati also sought the dismissal of a plea, which alleged that pubic funds were misused in the construction of memorials and statues.
'What happens in case the party joins a post-poll alliance with another party whose ideology the legislator is opposed to?' 'Should s/he let down her/his voters merely because her/his party leadership has taken a decision in that direction?' asks Aakar Patel.
He also took a dig at Arvind Kejriwal for his remarks that the Modi government does not have 'enough courage' to arrest Sonia Gandhi, saying the Delhi chief minister was feeling left out because he did not get any media publicity for the last 10 ten days when the focus was on the VVIP chopper scam.
It's seen as a signal that he wants to engage with India Inc at a time when the economy has started looking up.
The government on Monday countered the Congress charges of snooping on Rahul Gandhi saying it was making a "mountain out of what is not even a molehill" as information collection was part of a transparent security profiling used on 526 VIPs, including Sonia Gandhi and former prime ministers.
Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu, actor Pawan Kalyan and I will come together to get 111 seats in Andhra Pradesh, says Narendra Modi in Hyderabad. Vicky Nanjappa report
Barred by the Supreme Court from contesting the Board of Control for Cricket in India's elections, president-in-exile Narayanswami Srinivasan has called some of the affiliated units for an informal meeting in Chennai on Thursday to decide his future course of action.
Take a look at star arrivals.
Government on Thursday claimed that it had Congress "cornered" on the penultimate day of the Monsoon Session of the Parliament.
In yet another jolt to the Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in Madhya Pradesh, the party member of Legislative Assembly from Maihar seat in Satna district has joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.
'It is mind-boggling that a party can be in rigor mortis even after numerous electoral defeats,' observes Ramesh Menon.
20 years ago this day, May 11, 1998, India conducted its second nuclear test at Pokharan in Rajasthan. In a fascinating interview on Rediff.com, K Subrahmanyam revealed how Indian PMs reacted to nuclear ambitions.
'On corruption the Yadavs of UP and Bihar will find it very tough to give an answer to the accusations of the BJP and its supporters,' says Aakar Patel.
The battle for Maihar in the upcoming bypolls is crucial for the Congress as well as the BJP.
'How do we explain that on the economic, internal security and strategic fronts, India's unstable coalitions have acted more decisively and boldly than all our full-majority governments yet?' asks Shekhar Gupta.
Taking exception to Health Minister Harsh Vardhan not mentioning the death of healthcare workers due to Covid-19 in his statement in Parliament, the Indian Medical Association has published a list of 382 doctors who died due to the viral disease and demanded that they be treated as "martyrs".
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