The BJP's manifesto for UP elections promised many things. But, given the state's precarious financial position, fulfilling these promises is likely to prove tricky, says Ishan Bakshi.
Behind the BJP's astounding electoral success is a small army of dedicated lieutenants marshalled by Amit Shah.
Rifleman Aurangzeb, who belonged to the 44 Rashtriya Rifles, was on way back home on June 14 to celebrate Eid when terrorists abducted him.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
Why did the district magistrate take over an hour to order retaliatory firing on the murderous SBVS mob?
In 1998, the Congress asked her mother to campaign. 'We had a family discussion. We explained to our mother that you will be used, you will be discarded once you are done with the campaign.' 'A few days later I got a call from my mother. She said, "I have decided to campaign".' 'We were stunned. Why was she doing this?' Payal Mohanka listens in.
'Sakshi Maharaj hasn't kept a single promise... and we're fed up.' 'Annu Tandon is the only one whom we can turn to in distress.'
Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani has moved 2 ranks ahead this year on the most powerful list.
A day after it was set up, the Haryana government control room has so far got information about 45 persons from the state, stranded in strife-torn Iraq. Majority of those stranded in Iraq hail from the northern parts of Haryana
More than 25 years after the Babri Masjid was destroyed, another generation proclaims its commitment to building a Ram temple.
The chief minister said certain "leads" have been found which are being pursued aggressively and assured that culprits would soon be arrested. The chief minister has also announced a reward of Rs 50 lakh for anyone providing information on those involved in the blast.
Shamar Springer's unbeaten half-century steered West Indies to a thrilling three-wicket victory against Bangladesh in the semi-finals and set up a title clash against India, in Dhaka, on Thursday.
'AAP's real value must be measured not by the number of Lok Sabha seats it wins in the election -- which may not exceed 10 or 15 -- and not even by the number of votes it takes from the BJP, but by its ability to deflate Modi's superhuman '56-inch chest' image and the charisma so assiduously manufactured around him by the corporate-controlled media.'
'If the BJP wants to build a minimally inclusive and secure society, in which vulnerable groups and religious minorities don't feel persecuted, then the Sangh Parivar, the party and its government must change their ways. Or else, they risk dividing India further -- violently and irreparably -- for narrow political ends,' argues Praful Bidwai.
'There is nothing like the Sangh agenda or the BJP agenda... we believe only in the Nation's Agenda,' says newly appointed BJP Vice-President Vinay Sahasrabuddhe.
Aseem Chhabra picks the finest Indian films in the 2010-2019 decade.
'Where they lose, you never ask why they failed there, like in Bihar and Punjab.' 'You are stuck on the UP victory, thinking they have the mandate to rule for all times to come.' 'The BJP has 282 MPs, but can I honestly say that the BJP is the party for everyone?'
'The BJP has latched on to the idea of nationalism, but the nationalism they advocate is not nationalism as we have understood it since the time of the freedom movement.' 'This is not secular nationalism, it is Hindu nationalism.' 'It is a form of nationalism that is exclusionary and it tends to conflate national interest with the government.' 'So, if you disagree with the government, for example, on surgical strikes or demonetisation, you are anti-national or holder of black money.'
'You bust one module and another one comes up.'
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
Mythological and historical shows are lapped up not just by the young, but equally by grown men and women.
'The BJP used to be a party of decent, Hindu, middle-class people. Today, it is a party of goons. At the ground level, goons beat you up and at the senior level, the intellectuals justify the beating up.' 'On May 13, one boy sent me an SMS at 2.35 am: "Mayank sir, only five seats, what will happen?" There will be a lot of these idealist kids who want that quick transformation that may not happen. We will have to mentor them. We will have to explain to them that nations cannot be changed like that.' Aam Aadmi Party leader Mayank Gandhi, on the lessons the party has learnt from Election 2014.
India assured themselves of at least another silver medal in the 17th Asian Games after the trio of Abhishek Verma, Rajat Chauhan and Sandeep Kumar entered the final of the compound men's team archery event in Incheon on Thursday.
India's squash players wrapped up a historic performance at the Asian Games, clinching an unprecedented men's team gold after the women's side settled for its first ever silver in Incheon on Saturday.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday.
India's squash players wrapped up a historic performance at the Asian Games, clinching an unprecedented men's team gold after the women's side settled for its first ever silver in Incheon on Saturday.
'Narendra Modi is single-handedly changing the formula to win elections. With money, human resources, mobile technology, the Internet, advance planning and tremendous confidence, he has spread his image more in UP villages than in urban areas.' Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt reports from Lucknow on how Team Modi is changing the rules of the election game.
A summary of the day's play in the Ranji Trophy matches.
A fit-again Irfan Pathan feels that he is close to bowling at his best and it's just a matter of time before he is again back in contention for the seam bowling all-rounder's slot in the Indian cricket team that has been up for grabs for some time.
There was no stopping the Indian juggernaut at the 12th South Asian Games with the country's swimmers, wrestlers and weightlifters continuing their dominance in the competition to fetch a bulk of the gold medals, in Guwahati, on Sunday.
Natraj Behera scored his second century of the match as Odisha rallied to earn a draw after being forced to follow on against Mumbai, on the fourth and final day of their Group A Ranji Trophy match, in Mumbai.
Why are family floater plans so very important? Anil Rego answered readers' queries in an online chat on October 7
Captain Yuvraj Singh fell cheaply in his Ranji Trophy season opener before Uday Kaul and Gurkeerat Singh led Punjab's recovery against Railways on day two of the Group A match, in New Delhi, on Friday.
'There was an overt campaign and there was a covert campaign. The overt campaign may be development, government, and all this nonsense. But the covert campaign, which Mr Amit Shah was doing, was far more important with the help of RSS cadres. This has been an RSS election. From day one I have been saying, this is not Congress versus the BJP, this is Congress versus the RSS,' says Jairam Ramesh, one of the key strategists of the Congress party.
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