'When our daughters, wrestlers Sakshi Malik and Vignesh Phogat, were protesting at the Jantar Mantar, the police kicked them with their shoes.'
South Africa's premier left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj is confident that slow bowlers will play a vital role on flat decks expected to be on offer during the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup in the Americas in June.
The push to develop Ayodhya as a tourism centre, accompanied by large-scale infrastructure projects, comes on the back of years of limited income growth and tourist inflows.
"Bapu, I am here today not as a Prime Minister, but as a Hindu," said Sunak, opening his address at the gathering.
"By attending, the Prime Minister has not only laid the foundation of a Mandir, but also the foundation of a Hindu Rashtra," Owaisi told reporters in Hyderabad.
No one wants to curb the enthusiasm being seen among the people, but at the same time officials feel nothing should be left to chance, as the flood of humanity thronging the temple area poses problems for security personnel.
'Now that the Ram mandir is done, we need to move on. And grapple with COVID-19, a sputtering economy, a belligerent China...' 'The temple may win a few more elections for the BJP, but by itself it won't solve the nation's growing problems of economic and social distress,' notes Virendra Kapoor.
Participating in the eighth edition of Deepotsav in Ayodhya - the first since the consecration of Ram temple on January 22, Adityanath said, "This is a historic first as after 500 years, Lord Ram is now in his abode in Ayodhya for Diwali."
Ahead of the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, Keshav Prasad Maurya, Deputy Chief Minister announced that roads would be constructed in the state after the name of 'kar sevaks' who died in 1990 during Ram Mandir movement in Ayodhya.
As BJP leaders went all out to project the event as a moment of national pride, some leaders were directly critical of the ceremony with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, belonging to the Communist Party of India-Marxist, slamming the state's role in the Ram Temple consecration, saying the line that demarcates religion and state seems to be 'getting thinner and thinner'.
'If we want real democracy, the economy itself will need to be democratised.'
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.
Invitees to the 'pran pratishtha' consecration ceremony at the Ram temple started arriving Sunday in Ayodhya -- once a sleepy town now resplendent with new infrastructure and gripped by heightened religious fervour on the eve of a seminal event in India's political and religious history.
After being sworn in as the 47th president of the United States, Trump started his inaugural address with a sentence that echoed Modi's coinage some years ago, notes Modi biographer Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
The PM urged all citizens to light diyas in their houses on January 22 so that the whole country basks in glory.
Rediff readers tell us how they celebrated the festival.
'Why were they silent when over 128 temples and shrines including Shivlings were broken down at the time of the construction of the Kashi Vishwanath corridor?' a Varanasi resident asks Rashme Sehgal.
The Vishwaguru who addressed the maximum rallies and boasted of being blessed with divine energy, who promised guarantees in his own name, turned out finally not invincible, points out Jyoti Punwani.
'It is entirely possible that there are many treasures of our history and our faith buried deep underground,' points out Rajeev Srinivasan.
'Undeniably, Modi's position has stabilised and he has staged a comeback of sorts from the weeks after the Lok Sabha results.' 'Coalition partners are likely to be more tolerant of Modi... The forthcoming elections in Delhi and Bihar will determine whether this continues or not.' 'To win Delhi and Bihar, Modi will have to work in conjunction with the RSS.' 'However, because of the 'truce' that has been worked out within the Sangh Parivar, Modi will have to be more consultative than he has been in the past ten years,' reveals Modi biographer Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
'The greatness of India can be experienced by meeting Indians on the frontiers of India.' 'Every citizen on the border is a soldier'
The main road that leads from Sitapur Road side to the airport has been decked up with several posters carrying images of Prime Minister Modi, and a welcome message.
Electoral setbacks and thwarted ambition can have an unpredictable effect on leaders,, observes Aditi Phadnis.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has criticized the Centre over the landing of US planes carrying illegal Indian immigrants at Amritsar airport, calling it a "deport centre." He stated that the holy city is known for its religious sites and should not be used for deportations. Mann has also questioned the choice of Amritsar as the landing site, suggesting that other airports in the country could have been used instead. The second US flight carrying 119 illegal Indian immigrants is slated to land in Amritsar on Saturday night. The Punjab government has made arrangements to take the residents of Punjab from among the second batch of deportees to their hometowns.
The temple was totally destroyed by the Pakistani Army's operation codenamed 'Operation Searchlight' in 1971, targeting the resistance movement in the country.
'His way of communication is different than the first yatra.' 'Maybe his anger and frustration stems from the fact that no one is asking hard questions to the government and he is trying to do that.'
Asked if he is joining the BJP, Nath said, "If there would be any such thing, I would inform you first."
Mayur Munde said the temple was his tribute to the PM who "built Ram temple at Ayodhya".
Banners terming Kejriwal "anti-Hindu" and showing him wearing a skull cap surfaced in Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Surat, and Vadodara cities on Saturday.
The BJP had registered a one-sided victory on all the 17 SC-reserved seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. But in 2019, out of these 17 seats, it lost Nagina and Lalganj seats to the Bahujan Samaj Party.
The Congress leader said he believes that democracy is derailed and "we are becoming too authoritarian". "It's all about one-man show," he said.
Bhagwat presented Sangh's views on a number of contentious issue while answering wide-ranging written questions on the last day of the three-day conclave, including on matters like inter-caste marriages, education policy, crimes against women, cow vigilantism.
The Ram Mandir issue continues to be on Bharatiya Janata Party's "core agenda", the party said in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Ms Sanon flew to Nashik to pray at the Sita Gufa Mandir there.
'Sonia did not visit this place once since she won. Who's to say they won't lose this one, too?'
'How come the BJP won even in the Muslim belt? I am 100% sure that the BJP would not win in the Muslim belt.'
'He has emerged as a formidable leader who cannot be ignored anymore, who cannot be mocked.'
By all yardsticks 2024 isn't expected to be like 2014 or 2019. But with the mandir expected to be ready in time for the next Lok Sabha polls, Modi will have a new ally in Ram to see him through, observes Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Stepping up pressure for the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad has said the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre cannot afford to fail its electors on the "core issue" and must deliver on it.
The Bharatiya Janata Party hit out at the Congress over Patil's remarks and accused it of playing vote bank politics.
