'Ours is a diverse culture and we ought to respect each other's customs. People must not be coerced into exhibiting their patriotism in one particular way'
Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said whenever BJP came to power, prices of essential commodities saw a fall.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah asserted that with pro-people measures and infrastructure development, Modi has not only prepared a blueprint for making a strong 'new India' but also a self-reliant one for the country's 'golden future', while party president J P Nadda declared that the period will be known for taking tough and big decisions and turning challenges into opportunities.
Thackeray said the BJP's perception of being a "world winner" had been shattered with the results of the just-held state assembly polls.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal with 19 seats, Congress on 9, Rashtriya Lok Samta Party on 5, Hindustani Awam Morcha and Vikassheel Insan Party -- in phases three to seven of the general elections.
Mystery still surrounded the claim by Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani that Narendra Modi had sent two emissaries to him carrying a message with a Lok Janshakti Party leader whose named surfaced maintaining today he met him but not as an emissary.
Among other things, the e-commerce players will have to display the total 'price' of goods and services offered for sale, mention the 'expiry date' of goods and the 'country of origin' of goods and services.
The formula of Lok Sabha polls this year wherein JD-U and BJP had both fought 17 seats each, leaving six for Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party, which joined the National Democratic Alliance in 2014, a year after Kumar's exit, could not serve as the basis for the assembly polls, said the poll strategist.
Addressing a press conference, Paswan said he was happy that the BJP had emerged "much bigger and stronger" in Bihar, and ruled out any possibility of a truck with the opposition Grand Alliance, comprising RJD, Congress and three Left parties, citing "ideological differences".
"People in his birth place, Mangalore, and also those in Bengaluru have been requesting to bury part of his remains in the two cities."
Almost all prominent leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party, as well as members of the National Democratic Alliance and North-East Democratic Alliance accompanied Modi.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi, former Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and H D Devegowda, Union Ministers Smriti Irani, Najma Heptullah and Ram Vilas Paswan are among over 300 MPs who are on the utility bill defaulters list of the New Delhi Municipal Council.
Sarbananda Sonowal was on Tuesday sworn in as the 14th chief minister of Assam in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah and other dignitaries at a huge public function at Khanapara field.
Photographer G Venket Ram brought celebrated artist Raja Ravi Varma's paintings to life for his 2020 calendar.
The SC refused to entertain a plea of a Delhi Police head constable seeking compensation for his "wrong" portrayal in a video that went viral on social media.
Modi deplored "the thinking of many political leaders" that projects like roads were not meant for the poor.
Modi praised Kumar for his "commitment" to state's development.
Senior Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar on Sunday said he had parted ways with Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad 20 years ago due to differences on certain issues but this time he will stick together to keep "resurgent" BJP away from power in Bihar.
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India eats 1.2 million tonnes of onions a month and the current stock will last till the end of August.
Under fire for the Badaun gangrape and murder of 2 sisters, Uttar Pradesh government on Monday shifted Principal Secretary (Home) Anil Kumar Gupta.
'...there are people in the NDA, who don't wish to see Narendra Modi as the prime minister. They are the ones circulating misleading news,' he claimed.
Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi on Sunday called on party patriarch L K Advani after holding consultation with a number of party leaders including his key aide Amit Shah in New Delhi ahead of the formation of the next government headed by him.
Interestingly, PM Modi had thanked his UAE counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum for offering the support to the rain-battered state on August 18.
Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, PM Modi, Rajnath, Advani, Sushma, Shah and several other leaders visited the AIIMS to enquire about the ex-PM's health.
'I am in the NDA as of now,' Kushwaha said.
Varma sought 'ideological clarity' from Nitish over extending alliance with the BJP beyond Bihar despite having expressed apprehensions 'in private' about the BJP-RSS leading the nation into a 'dangerous space'.
M I Khan in Patna Nearly twelve years after he left the National Democratic Alliance and resigned from the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government after the Gujarat riots in 2002, Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan will share the dais with Gujarat Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi at his 'hunkar' rally in Bihar's Muzaffarpur town on Monday. Paswan, who joined the NDA last week to contest the Lok Sabha polls and took a U-turn on Modi, will appear in public with the BJP's top brass including Modi at the rally. Paswan's son Chirag will also be present at the function. Upendra Kushwaha is another new face that will be at the event. Kushwaha is the chief of the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) that joined hands with the BJP last week. Both Paswan and Kushwaha are known as their own caste. Paswan is said to enjoy overwhelming support of his caste -- locally known as Dusadh, the only Dalit caste in Bihar after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar categorised 21 other Dalit castes as 'Mahadalit' -- poorest of the poor. Kushwaha has been trying hard for last few years to emerge as a leader of his caste -- Koeri, an agrarian backward caste spread across the state. A senior BJP leader said that presence of Paswan and Kushwaha will send a strong political massage among respective castes in Bihar. "It will strengthen the BJP's social support base in Bihar," he said. In Bihar, the BJP is widely seen as an upper caste party. The much-hyped rally is seen as a bid to mobilise support and strengthen the support base in the state. The state in the Hindi heartland that sends 40 Lok Sabha members to Parliament is politically very important. In the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, the party had won 12 seats, while the Janata Dal-United won 20 seats, when they had contested as a combined force. It is expected that Modi will target Kumar, who has openly opposed him by repeatedly saying that the prime ministerial candidate should be of nsecular credentials.
Breaking a long tradition, the PMO has ensured that specific divisions in each ministry are allocated to junior ministers.
A statement issued by his party said'NDA will achieve spectacular success in Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha polls in Bihar if these are fought projecting Kushwaha as the leader of the coalition.'
These decisions are aimed at helping mills in clearing part of over Rs 22,000-crore arrears to cane farmers.
With the Modi government close to completing its two years in office, a new survey on Saturday said nearly half of the respondents (49 per cent) feel "no change" in their living standards while another 15 per cent feel the situation has actually worsened.
While Rahul loyalists were keen that he be given the post, a leader known to be close to him said, "If he does not become the leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, then he should quit politics."
'Indian secularism doesn't deserve a tombstone. It needs a new shrine,' argues Shekhar Gupta.
The PM appealed to politicians, members of the film fraternity, sportspersons, businessmen, spiritual leaders and members of the media to encourage increased voter participation and urged them to inspire more people to come out and vote during the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
The National Democratic Alliance on Monday finalised its seat sharing for Bihar polls with the Bharatiya Janata Party contesting 160 out of the 243 assembly constituencies while allies Lok Janshkati Party and Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha being allotted 40 and 20 seats respectively.
"Today, we stand united in solidarity with our security forces in fighting terrorism and in defending the unity and integrity of India."
However, Nishant has made it clear several times that he has no interest in politics like the children of other prominent politicians of the state.
'Nitish has no future in state politics.' 'Nitish harassed the Yadav community no end in his earlier tenure as chief minister. So who will the Yadav community vote for in the coming state elections?'
The ruling party seems in far better shape than the Congress, which is yet to finalise seat-sharing agreements in several states.
Meraj Khalid Noor, who is popularly known as Bihar's Osama bin Laden for his uncanny resemblance with slain most-wanted Al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden, has said that he will contest the Lok Sabha polls against the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi from Varanasi.
