As the 240-seater prime minister attempts to moderate his image of hardline hero, he has made room for others to elbow in and that is what is happening. And that it what will continue to happen from inside the BJP, notes Aakar Patel.
A delegation representing the Ram Temple Trust on Friday called on President Droupadi Murmu and formally invited her to attend the consecration ceremony in Ayodhya on January 22.
'Whether somebody else can take up (Narendra Modi's position) the answer to it is yes but for that (to happen) some kind of crisis must come and in that crisis Modi must lose the (trust) vote.' 'Only then another candidate from the BJP can come and most likely it could be Nitin Gadkari because he enjoys the confidence (of the RSS as well as that of BJP MPs).'
The Bharatiya Janata Party appears to have come under pressure from Sangh Parivar on the choice of Narendra Modi as its next prime ministerial candidate, with Vishwa Hindu Parishad demanding announcement of the Gujarat chief minister's name.
He served as the Union health minister in Modi's first term from November 9, 2014 to May 30, 2019.
Mahadevan said after he got the invitation to attend the RSS event as the chief guest, he received congratulatory calls from many people, a gesture which he found deeply touching.
Proving wrong his detractors' claim of being sidelined after denial of chief minister's post for fifth time last year, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan won Madhya Pradesh's Vidisha Lok Sabha seat for the sixth time by a record margin of 8.21 lakh votes.
Over 65 Union ministers are likely to take oath, going by the visual of the meeting Modi held with his likely council of ministers.
As the temple is inaugurated, unfortunately for Advani but unsurprisingly for the rest of us, the architect of the party's rise will not lead the ceremony and claim credit for his achievement, notes Aakar Patel.
Gen Z may not know who these ladies are, but Uma Bharti and Sadhvi Rithambara played important roles in the Ram Mandir movement for the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allied organisations in the early 1990s.
'Must every believing Hindu automatically be assumed to subscribe to the Hindutva project?' asks Shashi Tharoor.
On Monday, April 29, 2024, Aditya Thackeray, the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) MLA, embarked on a roadshow for Rajan Vichare, the sitting MP and party candidate for the Thane Lok Sabha seat.
Hosabale said RSS leaders are meeting Muslim intellectuals and their spiritual leaders on their invitation only.
They then vandalised the premises, breaking CCTV cameras and locking the main gate before leaving, he said.
The gau rakshak stated that the famine-stricken people were suffering because of their past karma and nothing could be done for them. The reply apparently infuriated Vivekananda, who told the gau rakshak bluntly that he had no sympathy to spare for societies which would not lift a finger to help human beings but wasted piles of food on birds and beasts. A fascinating excerpt from Govind Krishnan V's book, Vivekananda The Philosopher of Freedom.
Addressing an event in Jaipur, the RSS leader said, "The term 'Hindu' has already entered our Constitution and country. It is a fact of history. Hindu is an identity and a culture to which people belong."
While there are some new faces in the cabinet, leaders such as BJP president JP Nadda and Jual Oram have returned as ministers.
Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com tried to buy a house on his recent visit to Srinagar.
Led by Muslim Rashtriya Manch, a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-backed Muslim organisation, the group started their journey from Lucknow on January 25, Shahid Saeed, media in-charge of MRM, said on Wednesday.
Modi earned his spurs as a doughty leader of the Opposition in the assembly, a post he held till 2004 when he got elected to the Lok Sabha from Bhagalpur.
A Muslim boy from humble background, Sarfaraz Hussain, has topped Class X exams from a school backed by Sangh Parivar in Betkuchi near Guwahati in Assam.
Accusing the minister of trying to whip up communal passions in the state, he said the BJP would organise protests across the state on the issue.
Gandhi, who is seeking a second-straight term from Wayanad in Kerala, in a video appeal said this election is to save democracy and the Constitution.
If Indira Gandhi hadn't targeted the RSS, Narendra Modi wouldn't be sitting pretty with his second majority and looking at a third, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
Modi can abandon the path of Hindutva only at risk to his position within his own fraternity. But if he pursues a hard line, he faces the risk of being hauled up by his coalition-partners. For the first time in a decade, Modi is not in enviable situation, observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
The Congress in Kerala on Friday approached the Election Commission of India (ECI) against the decision of Doordarshan to telecast the controversial movie The Kerala Story, saying it was a 'tacit effort' to divide society on religious grounds to further the electoral prospects of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
'The Congress backstabbed us and the BJP frontstabbed us.' 'This is the only difference between the two parties.'
Ramesh asked the PM why river Ganga is "dirtier than before" even after spending Rs 20,000 crore on the Namami Gange project.
"Which foreign powers may be interested in taking advantage of unrest and instability in Manipur? Does the geopolitics of south east Asia also have a role in these events," he asked.
A Jawaharlal Nehru University student alleged that she was sexually harassed on campus by four people, including two former students, prompting the university administration to order an inquiry, an official said on Monday.
Vedic rituals for the pran pratistha will begin in Ayodhya on January 16, a week before the main ceremony. A priest from Varanasi, Lakshmi Kant Dixit, will perform the main rituals of the consecration ceremony on January 22.
The 96-year-old leader, the longest serving president of the BJP, said ever since he joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as its volunteer at the age of 14 years he has sought reward in only one thing "in dedicated and selfless service of my beloved country in whatever task life assigned to me".
If the party's members aren't sure what it stands for, see no path to wealth or power, and endure control by a dynasty, which, almighty as it is within the party, cannot get them the votes, they are likely to explore options, notes Shekhar Gupta.
The interim Budget has attempted to tick all the boxes that could help the Modi government return to power, reports Archis Mohan.
BJP leader Vinay Katiyar alleged that the issue was being delayed 'under pressure' from the Congress, which denied the charge.
In the morning, he offered prayers at the Dashashwamedh Ghat and the Kaal Bhairav temple in Varanasi.
Centre's counsel Lala Ram Gupta told the Liberhan Commission that there is no evidence to suggest a conspiracy.
Neglect of older dedicated workers who worked without the urge for recognition by the new age social media-aided selfie powered activists was also evident in the poll results, it said.
Amit Shah wants to increase the party's nationwide vote share by at least 10 per cent from the 37.7 per cent it secured five years ago and ensure above 50 per cent vote share in the states where it came close to that benchmark, but couldn't cross it.
