'The BJP's constitution promises allegiance to India's secularism and socialism.' 'This is the oath that it makes all its members sign,' observes Aakar Patel.
'What is at stake is not one mosque or temple, it is the question of the principle of secularism which is part of the basic structure of the Constitution as declared even by the Supreme Court of India.'
Government formation in Jammu and Kashmir remains a puzzle with the Bharatiya Janata Party looking for a partner among the state's mainstream parties but the National Conference has virtually ruled out a tie up with the saffron party.
With the latest expansion of the Union Council of Ministers, the total number of crorepatis there has risen to 72, while the number of those with declared criminal cases is up at 24, a study said.
'Which leader in the world follows people who make rape threat to their rivals?' 'Which prime minister in the world follows people who give death threats routinely?' 'It is shocking. There is no other world leader who does it.'
The Modi PMO is like none other: It is staffed by people who are so low profile that the only dominant personality is the Prime Minister's.
'He loved me so much...I will miss him so much.'
The real brilliance of this RSS campaign, therefore, lies in building a dominant power base with, and for, a mostly non-RSS leadership. That is why the rise of the BJP in Assam is their stand-out victory, says Shekhar Gupta.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi who inducted 19 new ministers into his Cabinet on Tuesday has carried out major changes in the portfolios of his top ministers.
Somaiya, an old BJP hand and one of its leading speakers on economic issues in Parliament, had been a trenchant critic of the Sena.
'Potent nationalism doesn't just distract from the economic task at hand; it actively undermines it.'
'We are a plural society that for centuries, not for 70 years, has lived in a certain ambience of acceptance.' 'It is under threat,' outgoing Vice President Hamid Ansari tells Karan Thapar.
'There is an effort of painting the entire problem as religious one.' 'That Jammu and Kashmir is the way it is because the valley has radicalised.' 'I would be the first person to accept that there is a greater element of radicalism today than it was 25 years ago, but to suggest the entire valley of Kashmir is radicalised and everything you see on the ground is because radical Islam has suddenly taken over is not true.' Omar Abdullah, former J&K chief minister, explains why 'the situation in J&K is very worrisome.'
At 35 years, April 1981 born Anupriya Patel, who comes from electorally crucial Uttar Pradesh, is the youngest face to be inducted in the Modi government.
Apart from Smriti, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Ananth Kumar took over as law and parliamentary affairs ministers respectively.
As nominations for Rajya Sabha biennial polls closed on Tuesday, a contest is on the cards in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana even as Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram are among those set to be elected to the Upper House.
'It is very much a danger.' 'With Tibet following the India tradition of ahimsa and the global visibility of the Dalai Lama who embodies these values, he should be supported by India as a diplomat.' 'It would be in India's self-interest and instead of being embarrassed about his presence, India should recognise this (role).' 'By appeasing China, India does not get anything in return; they (the Chinese have not stopped) claiming Arunachal, part of Kashmir, etc.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's success at courting Indians abroad have been as much a result of his old contacts as efforts by a dedicated arm of the BJP abroad. Archis Mohan reports
Full list of the rejigged Union Council of Ministers
As the dust finally settles on the outcome of the Lok Sabha elections 2019 and Bharatiya Janata Party along with its NDA allies emerges as the clear winner, here is a list of who won in each of the 7 phases of elections.
The Citizenship Amendment Bill would possibly be the first piece of legislation that is perniciously discriminatory on the basis of religion/faith, says Mohammad Sajjad.
'It is perhaps a sense of intellectual inadequacy, of an ingrained inferiority complex born of the years when the BJP languished in the margins of Indian politics and society that, when faced with the soaring ideas about Indian pluralism, the Hindutva camp turns its face so resolutely against Nehru,' says Amulya Ganguli.
The people who know Tibet will continue to fight the good fight. Long, hard, less than hopeful, but always peaceful.
Communist leader Vidya Devi Bhandari was on Wednesday elected as Nepal's first woman President by the parliament, weeks after it adopted a new landmark Constitution that declared the country a secular state.
'If the blatant criminal act of destroying a place of worship is to be rewarded by giving the whole land to those who committed that act, then it raises lots of questions.'
'India could become the newest Asian tiger under Modi's dynamic leadership. Modi could become the Nehru of the 21st century, and re-establish a new Tryst with Destiny, by stating once and for all that Mera Bharat Mahaan is and will always be a truly secular and inclusive democracy in the best spirit of Bharatiya-tva,' says Ram Kelkar, offering an NRI view of the Modi triumph.
'Those who foment trouble in the valley have been told to lie low till a new elected government takes shape in the state.'
Rediff.com gives you a look at newbies in the Council of Ministers
'The CAA should be kept in abeyance, without making it a prestige issue.'
'Laying down a clear policy on the future of illegal migrants will dispel anxieties and help in implementing the CAA, NPR and also the NCR,' suggests former Union home secretary Dr Madhav Godbole.
Political stalwarts Murli Manohar Joshi, Sharad Pawar and former Lok Sabha speaker P A Sangma, cricketer Virat Kohli and Carnatic musician K J Yesudas were among the 89 people who were selected for this year's Padma awards.
BJP-led govt will need regional parties' support in Upper House to get legislation cleared. Archis Mohan reports
Though the Cabinet reshuffle on July 5 has a clear stamp of the Prime Minister's Office, the changes have also increased the coherence between the Bharatiya Janata Party, the government and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
'Bhagwat, aware of the advantages of keeping the BJP in power, is wary about the RSS taking steps that would undermine the popular standing of either the PM or the party.'
BJP claimed close to 116 lawmakers from rival parties appeared to have voted for Kovind.
The deadline for withdrawal of nominations ended on Friday afternoon.
Opposition parties on Monday staged a walkout in the Rajya Sabha after their demand for a resolution on Gaza was not accepted.
In embarking on building the world's tallest statue, Modi is hoping his stature will also rise - if not across India then at least in Gujarat, says Bharat Bhushan.
'It is difficult to imagine the BJP becoming the legatee of Ambedkar. Whichever way one looks at it, Ambedkar's thought and Hindu nationalism are not easy to reconcile.'
'A friend of mine was going through a midlife crisis with me, so we sat down and talked it out.' 'He said, you know, we are going through a midlife crisis. I asked him for how long it would last. He didn't know, so we tried to Google it but nobody had an answer.' Saurabh Shukla fields questions in his signature witty way.
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