Nirmala Bhuria lost to former Union minister Kantilal Bhuria, who wrested the tribal-dominated seat from the BJP by a convincing margin of 88,832 votes.
Archbishop Anil Couto's instructions, though politically charged, are not unusual or unprecedented.
Bharatiya Janata Party stalwart L K Advani turned 88 on Sunday and was greeted by a host of leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Although his left hand is paralysed, Bijay Kumar Shahu dressed in stylish biking gear has cycled over 1,500 kilometres across 11 districts and 25 Vidhan Sabha constituencies to campaign for the BJP.
If Modi's political retreat -- he has tried to avoid a pre-1984 type of situation in Punjab -- helps soothe Sikh sentiments, nobody should complain Modi, asserts Sheela Bhatt.
Leaders from all political parties congratulated the saffron party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Prime Minister's Office on Wednesday rubbished media reports about "alleged misconduct" of Home Minister Rajnath Singh's son Pankaj Singh, dubbing these as "plain lies, motivated and malicious attempt" to tarnish the image of the government.
If the protests have cemented the ties between the peasantry and the traders, the political implications for the BJP might become too serious to be disregarded because its core base was made up of the urban Khatri merchants.
Adityanath spent hours reviewing the arrangements for the ceremony at the Ram Janmabhoomi, where the temple will be constructed following the go-ahead last year by the Supreme Court.
Addressing his first rally in the national capital in the run-up to the February 8 Delhi Assembly polls, he said the current environment in the country, the hatred, the violence and the attacks on women were harming India and people were not benefitting from it.
'In mocking him, Modi and Shah went horribly wrong.'
'It made Gandhi determined to fight to the finish, which now has the entire Sangh Parivar rattled,' says a Congress leader, privy to the repeated RSS outreach for a rapproachment.
The party insisted that a fair probe was not possible without removal of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and alleged that he had protected the guilty.
Gen Bipin Rawat's appointment, first as army chief superseding two other army commanders, and then as CDS, was the consequence of his close personal rapport with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. Now, with General Rawat gone and nobody named to replace him as CDS, it is evident that no other top military officer enjoys that relationship with Doval, observes Ajai Shukla.
If Manmohan Singh was hobbled by allegations of sleaze and a stagnant economy, Modi faces the twin challenges of high unemployment and an uncertain and potentially volatile situation in Kashmir, points out Amulya Ganguli.
The focus is not only on governance but also to ensure that the BJP's political considerations are taken care of.
After the denial of ticket to Jaswant Singh, a member of the Rajput community and a former Union minister, BJP cadres and members of the community across Rajasthan are incensed, says Shahnawaz Akhtar
If Jaitley is finalised for the First Citizen's post, Modi will have scored two strategic goals, reports Rajeev Sharma.
Terming the ordinance promulgated by the Union cabinet to implement the Food Security Bill as a "cruel joke" on democracy, Bharatiya Janat Party President Rajnath Singh said that his party would not oppose the passage of the bill in Parliament but seek amendments to it.
The controversy over Article 370 continued unabated on Wednesday with the rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh hitting back at Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for his remarks but he made it clear that it cannot be revoked without recalling the Constituent Assembly that is "impossible".
SAD and Paksha have written to the panel headed by S S Ahluwalia that "not an inch" of land should be acquired without the consent of farmers.
"I stand by my comments. Anybody who tweets on social media platform should be careful. But anyone with a contrary view should be allowed to speak. Gurmehar is a young girl and she should be allowed to speak her mind," he said.
Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptulla has stoked a controversy by reportedly calling all Indians "Hindus". However, she sought to clarify her comments on Friday, saying she had called all Indians Hindi, the Arabic term for people living in India and what she said was "not in relation to the religion but in relation to identity as nationality". She did not call them Hindus, she said.
The NIA has found nothing to suggest that Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and 3 others were involved in Malegaon and Samjhauta blasts accused Sunil Joshi's murder, reports Vicky Nanjappa.
Thakur's name was proposed by Suresh Bharadwaj and Mahender Singh and seconded by other members.
She lamented the fact that people were being viciously attacked for holding different beliefs in the "prevalent atmosphere of intolerance".
'You haven't heard a peep out of Kashmir so what is going to erupt? What repercussion will be (there) in long term, you will have to (wait) and see'
Last week, the RSS informed the party president Rajnath Singh and other leaders that all leaders above 75 should not be given any "pad" (position), meaning just not Cabinet position but even as chairman of the National Democratic Alliance or as Lok Sabha Speaker. That put to rest claims by old and veteran leaders like L K Advani, M M Joshi, Shanta Kumar and Karia Munda, reports Sheela Bhatt.
Hundreds of JNU students rocked the national capital on Monday, bringing several parts of the city to a halt.
Opposition parties on Sunday slammed External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and demanded her resignation for "helping" scam-tainted former Indian Premier League commissioner Lalit Modi.
The constitution of the Missionaries of Charity that declares, 'We shall not impose our Catholic faith on anyone, but have profound respect for all religions.'
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ideologue Govindacharya said that Sushma Swaraj and Vasundhara Raje should quit on moral grounds in the wake of the Lalit Modi controversy as from common man's perception they are "guilty".
He also said the whole world knew that the BJP alone knows how to run the nation.
'They are our go-to men, our trouble-shooters.' 'They draw their strength from remaining low-key and accessible only to our workers.'
'Kejriwal tries to project that his party is not Hindu virodhi.'
As per reports, nominations for the party national president will be filed between 10 am to 1 pm on Sunday. The scrutiny of nomination papers will be done on the same day.
Although conventional political wisdom would decree that the construction of a 'magnificent' Ram temple at his 'birth-place' would bring the BJP a big yield of votes in the prospective elections, its leaders know by now that the mandir must not exist in isolation in its game plan, reports Radhika Ramaseshan.
Saying the group does not have 'any entitlement' to make such a demand.
'Initially, most people willingly stood for hours in queues to withdraw cash because they believed that after 50 days, black money would come out, some big men would be punished and perhaps jailed. Again, nothing happened.' 'Now the talk is that small people have been punished while the rich and the powerful have got away.' 'The RSS is not going out of its way to counter the view. Let the BJP explain.'
The investigation in the Ajmer dargah blast case has taken several twits and turns after one of the accused Bhavesh Patel alleged that National Investigation Agency was allowed to probe him inside the Alwar central jail illegally.
The Aam Aadmi Party, which entered the fray with much fanfare, failed to make any impact at the hustings.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances