Taking a dig at BJP chief Amit Shah over his claim that his party will rule for the next 50 years, he said, "Forget 50 years, people will give their verdict in 50 weeks."
In the letter to the BJP, the West Bengal government said, "The areas proposed to be covered by the yatra are, because of publicity and propaganda, gradually turning into communally sensitive pockets. Intelligence reports indicate that public perception is that the religious overtones of the yatra will be turned into communal propaganda."
Claiming that that the law is a rejection of secularism, the Kerala CM said his govt will question its validity on all platforms.
Congress Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor on Monday said he accepts the party's decision to remove him as party spokesperson for praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but regretted that he did not get an opportunity to respond to the charges levelled against him by the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee.
Ahead of the 2019 elections, the race for consolidating the Dalit vote-bank has intensified among all the political parties, more so in Uttar Pradesh, where the community comprises almost 21 per cent of the population.
If Advani's ideological leadership galvanised the party's cadres and core support, Vajpayee's soaring oratory, common touch, easy charm and convivial manners won over the masses and brought new allies on board.
Interestingly, the choice of August 5 as the day of the bhoomi pujan coincides with the abolition of Kashmir's special status on the same day a year ago. Perhaps the RSS-BJP wants August 5 to be remembered as the date on which the foundation stone of their cherished Hindu rashtra was laid, notes Amulya Ganguli.
BJP chief Amit Shah had set a target of winning 22 Lok Sabha seats out of 42 seats in West Bengal.
With Modi's elevation, BJP on the path of DESTRUCTION: NitisBihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday took a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party over naming Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate, saying the party was on a path of destruction and claimed the Janata Dal - United's decision of severing ties with it three months ago has been vindicated.
Striking a conciliatory political tone, he also reached out to his rivals, urging everyone to put the rancour of the bitter and often nasty campaign behind them.
The VHP has felicitated parents who have more than half a dozen children.
Amidst protests by some Hindu groups in parts of Karnataka, American evangelist Benny Hinn has cancelled his visit to Bangalore on Wednesday.
'The setback for Trump carries a message not only for him, but for the far right in general.'
'The BJP has not moved on since its 2014 victory. There is nothing new to offer. There is far too much negativity about the other side and far too little about what has been achieved by its government.' 'That may have worked when the BJP was in the Opposition but if they believe that the people of India will continue to hold them to such a low standard of expectations, they are really taking the voter for granted or misreading his pulse.'
He is now the first non-Congress chief minister to win a second term in office in the state, seen as a Congress bastion until just five years ago.
Terming the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD as 'B' team of Congress, opposition BJP slammed the chief minister who recently said he was not "comfortable" with the idea of Narendra Modi as the prime minister.
'The story of how Modi won a re-election in the face of severe agrarian crisis, mounting unemployment, looming economic crisis, is the story of how the power of the message can be put to devastating effect in the hands of a strong leader,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Stoking yet another controversy, the Bharatiya Janata Party in Kerala on Friday described social reformer and Dalit icon Sree Narayana Guru, who belonged to the backward Ezhava caste, as the greatest "Hindu sanyasi" the state has ever seen.
YSR Congress chief Jagan Mohan Reddy has written to leaders of various parties seeking their support for the motion.
"When the people of BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) talk of Article 370, they talk of technical integration. We have to make them understand that we also want that Jammu and Kashmir should fully integrate with India emotionally," she said.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Friday said its stance on Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir has not changed, even as it termed as "teething problems" the friction between BJP and PDP in the state stressing that the "novel experiment" should be given time to succeed.
'If anyone is able to understand the importance of Modi's endeavours to revive the economy -- even against opposition from sections of his own saffron brotherhood -- it is the former prime minister,' says Amulya Ganguli.
Days after facing party action for praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Saturday led a cleanliness campaign at Vizhinjam near Thiruvananthapuram and said no political meaning should be read into it.
'The innate fascism of the RSS is overshadowing Modi's development programme,' says Amulya Ganguli.
Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh will be over before any action would be taken against BJP president Amit Shah and MP Yogi Adityanath for their alleged hate speeches, says Sharat Pradhan
The BJP president came down heavily on the Opposition saying a shocking change has happened in the country's politics with those against the prime minister resorting to lies and speaking it loudly all the time.
Kumar was speaking to media persons at Patna airport on his arrival from New Delhi.
As the Odisha CM prepares to face the BJP onslaught, the BJP hopes to rope in some BJD heavyweights.
In the wake of claims by former Home Secretary R K Singh, BJP on Tuesday said Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde should be sacked if it is proved in an inquiry that he tried to prevent Delhi Police from taking action against an associate of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.
'If there is one thing our politicians, especially those with their ear to the ground, understand, it is the reality that their voters want three things from their children's schooling: English, English, English', notes Shekhar Gupta.
'This is the first time since Independence that we are facing such a despairing situation.'
The ruling AAP is going into the Delhi election with the hope to repeat its stellar performance of the last assembly polls, while the BJP, which bagged all seven seats here in the Lok Sabha election, will be aiming at expanding its vote share in the
The Kashmir-based PDP's linkage with the BJP could even be a turning point, provided it is safeguarded against real possibility of miscarriage. So-called fringe elements on either side, more so in the Saffron parivar, can easily upset Modi-Mufti applecart. They have only to drag contentious issues into limelight to do that, says Mohammad Sayeed Malik.
'Whenever Yogiji said something which was against the party line, we distanced ourselves from that.' 'He will not speak his personal opinion now.'
Govil has already expressed his wish to work for a political party, which follows the agenda of harmonious development.
Smartly blending its development agenda with Hindutva politics, the BJP has not lost assembly elections in the state since 1995.
Incensed by his praise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee decided to seek suitable action by high command against party MP Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday.
Continuing its winning streak in Maharashtra, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday won Latur and Chandrapur municipal corporations, out of three civic bodies that went to polls on April 19.
Strident Hindutva has not been the Shivraj Singh Chouhan's hallmark in his long tenure as chief minister. What has changed?
'Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti acted single-mindedly right from day one of the three month-long crisis.' 'She pursued her chosen administrative course, unmindful of the menacing jingoistic drum beating in the coalition backyard.' 'At one point, I asked her if she was willing to pay the price for taking her line of action to its logical conclusion.' '"Yes," was her spontaneous response,' reveals Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir.
