The base camps of Pamba and Nilackal witnessed intensified protests as the Lord Ayyappa temple opens for the five-day monthly pooja on Wednesday evening, for the first time after the landmark top court verdict.
The saffron party's IT cell had realised the power of WhatsApp early in the day and wielded it to devastating effect in the Bengal elections.
Breaking her silence on the series of allegations levelled by her former ally, the BJP, Mehbooba said it was sad to see the saffron party disown its own initiative and label it a "soft approach".
The Hindu Yuva Vahini, floated by its firebrand leader and Lok Sabha member Yogi Adityanath, has fielded candidates against the saffron party in six assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh.
While the assembly elections are being seen as largely a contest between the NDA and the Grand Alliance, the state has been witness to mushrooming of "morchas" (fronts) which may queer the pitch for the lead players in a tight contest.
The fifth-term Lok Sabha member is the mascot of the party's Hindutva-wrapped agenda of development as the BJP makes a final push in its bid to capture power in the state
Asserting that the Bharatiya Janata Party's stand on Article 370 is "very clear", Union Minister Jitendra Singh said the saffron party is going to polls in Jammu and Kashmir to get rid of "misgovernance and corruption" from the state.
Bypolls to 28 assembly constituencies in the state will be held on November 3. In order to return to power in the state, the Congress has to win all 28 seats, while the ruling BJP only needs nine seats to reach the majority mark of 116 in the 230-member House.
Flanked by the Trinamool Congress chief, Naidu attacked the National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre alleging that institutions like the Central Bureau of Investigation, Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax department, Reserve Bank of India and Comptroller Auditor General are under "severe pressure".
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."
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.
Claiming that that the law is a rejection of secularism, the Kerala CM said his govt will question its validity on all platforms.
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.
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.
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.
BJP chief Amit Shah had set a target of winning 22 Lok Sabha seats out of 42 seats in West Bengal.
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.
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.
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 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.'
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.
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.
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.
YSR Congress chief Jagan Mohan Reddy has written to leaders of various parties seeking their support for the motion.
'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.
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.
"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.
'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
Kumar was speaking to media persons at Patna airport on his arrival from New Delhi.
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.
As the Odisha CM prepares to face the BJP onslaught, the BJP hopes to rope in some BJD heavyweights.
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.
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.
'This is the first time since Independence that we are facing such a despairing situation.'
