Muslim voters in the Old City in Lucknow know the decisive value of their votes, but are wary that their votes are divided, and that, they fear, will only help Narendra Modi. Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com speaks to Muslim voters in the land of tehzeeb and gauges their apprehensions about a Modi sarkar.
Jamiat chief Maulana Arshad Madani said they took the decision following extensive deliberations involving lawyers and experts.
The elaborate rituals, which commenced early in the morning, concluded after the three wooden chariots of Lord Jagannath, his elder brother Lord Balabhadra and sister Goddess Subhadra reached their destination at Gundicha Temple from Sri Mandir well before evening.
'How better can we depict the Mughal heritage?'
'Some of his decisions were not so good, but his intentions were always guided by a deep national interest.'
Orchha in Madhya Pradesh is among the many, many places in India where history comes alive. Lakshmi Sharath recollects her recent visit to the former princely state in Bundelkhand.
'As long as true Hinduism survives in India, we need not let the Hindutva fear factor keep us from accepting a change in Muslim personal law with a ban on triple talaq,' says Najid Hussain.
'When you meet Rahul Gandhi, you will know he is definitely the right guy to lead this country.'
BJP President Amit Shah -- arguably the second most powerful politician in the nation -- granted a rare television interview to the Network 18 group of news channels. Rediff.com's Rajesh Alva checks out what the BJP boss said in this word cloud assessment of the interview.
A hundred dancers perform the Isai Vani Natyanjali to songs sung by the legendary singer, the late M S Subbulakshmi.
At a press conference after a meeting of the party's senior leaders, K C Venugopal said the Congress will also launch a massive signature campaign in which it aims to collect two crore signatures from farmers and the poor people against farm bills.
He also dismissed as 'a mere eye wash' the house arrest of Lashkar-e-Tayyaba chief Hafiz Saeed.
Bollywood and black money go a long way.
'Other communities are also equally frustrated, but they have not been able to put up a front so far. Now a wind of change is blowing,' says Gujarat Congress leader Arjun Modhwadia.
'The sadhus and sanyasis of UP are not for any economics.' 'They only know the religious agenda and the RSS will support them.' 'Modi does not have full control of the party at the ground level like Indira Gandhi had.'
Modi was accompanied by Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation chief Mangu Singh during the ride.
Whose political stock is likely to rise and which leader is most likely to make an impact in the coming year?
While lashing out at Mamata Banerjee, the prime minister said he was going for a rally in Dum Dum later in the day but was not sure if the West Bengal Chief Minister will allow his helicopter to land.
One of the accused in the December 16 gang rape case on Wednesday told a Delhi court that he is innocent and claimed that the other five co-accused had brutally assaulted and gang-raped the 23-year-old girl in a moving bus.
As the number of cases crossed 2,56,000 with more than 7,100 fatalities, according to Union health ministry figures, and the country made a calibrated exit from the lockdown in non-containment zones, shop shutters in many malls went up for the first time since March 25 but the sprawling retail places were eerily empty.
'The country has moved beyond the likes of Yogi Adityanath and his medieval thinking. The results of the by-elections are early warning signals by impatient Indians. It's up to the BJP to learn its lesson or face the consequences,' says Ashutosh.
Congress leader Sachin Pilot, who was recently appointed the Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee chief, says people are disenchanted with the Vasundhara Raje government.
People visited their kith and kin, exchanged festive greetings and sweets while social media, including the likes of WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter, was flooded with Diwali messages as many took the virtual route to convey their wishes.
Shivakumar's lawyers Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Dayan Krishnan opposed the ED's plea for custodial interrogation saying that he had joined the probe and never absconded.
The actress, who starred in films like Bhabhi and Choti Bahen, was 75.
Two Central Reserve Police Force jawans were killed and three others injured when Maoists triggered an explosive, when they were on way to a polling station in Jamui parliamentary constituency of Bihar early morning, the police said.
Rediff.com republishes an old interview of the cartoonist on politics
A clerical error compounded by callousness of the higher bureaucracy has raised a storm over the already vexed Ayodhya issue.
'The administration failed in the coronavirus crisis so they are making it a Hindu-Muslim issue.'
'The Babri Masjid wasn't just a mosque, it was a test of our secularism,' says Jyoti Punwani.
These events would include celebrating the centenary of Mahatma Gandhi's Champaran Satyagraha in Bihar in a big way. It was Gandhi's first mass agitation in India, where he had led a protest of peasants against forcible cultivation of indigo.
What does one deduce from this silence? That the minorities in the BJP era have been muted, perhaps even coercively, asks Sajad Ahmad Dar.
'The only narrative before India is what Modi and the BJP is presenting.' 'Nationalism has been taken as a serious plank by the BJP and RSS.' 'They want to keep the nationalism thing alive to make people forget the economic reality.'
The goings-on at the three-day Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh conclave, which is being attended by 390 delegates, are shrouded in secrecy.
The BJP too described the Muslim rule in India as 'barbaric'.
From the Aadhaar verdict to #MeToo's arrival in the country to the entry into the Sabarimala temple -- India had a newsworthy 2018. As we step into 2019, these are the top moments from the year gone by.
'Modi and Shah know their politics. That is why the alarmed switch to reservations, and raising the threat from 'vote bank' politics,' says Shekhar Gupta.
Close on the heels of the much-hyped '84-kosi parikrama' on August 26 last, yet another 'fixed' match between the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Samajwadi Party was witnessed in Ayodhya on Friday when blatant posturing by the two sides ended in a damp squib.
'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.
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