The module was also planning to carry out targeted killings in India and was in the advanced stage of procuring arms, including automatic rifles and pistols, ammunition and explosives to carry out the attacks, he said.
"I am now a free citizen of India like you. I am no longer the DGP. So, no service rules apply to me anymore. Thousands of people are coming from Buxar, Begusarai, Jehanabad, Aurangabad and other districts. I will take a decision after talking to them. Contesting elections is not illegal," he told journalists.
In the run-up to the polls, a survey has revealed that better employment opportunities is the single most important issue for citizens and that the government has fared below average in this aspect.
Flurry of economic reform suggests Modi realises his muscular nationalism script is getting jaded. Chances are he'll try for economic recovery but stick to what's worked so far, observes Shekhar Gupta.
'Modi is still immensely popular and, therefore, he can sustain any number of policy failures.' 'Modi himself has worn multiple faces so it would be naive to think that the Modi of 2021 will be the same Modi that will be campaigning for re-election in 2024.'
The government has "suffocated" the institutions where argument, debate and dissent were nurtured, the letter stated.
Take a look at the famous faces who exercised their democratic right.
'A dangerous and false binary is now surfacing in Indian political discourse, which must be firmly rejected.' 'It is that we have to choose between freedom and development.' 'For us freedom is neither merely an instrument for development nor to be subordinated to development.' 'It is, as our founding fathers proclaimed early in our freedom struggle, 'our birthright' on which we shall never compromise.' 'Growth, wealth and development are fruits of democracy, not substitutes.' Dr Manmohan Singh's thoughts on democracy: A Must Read!
'I am as Bengali as they come in my cultural and personal orientation and I think probably all the BJP candidates who are contesting are pretty non-vegetarian in their food and as Bengali in their cultural orientation.'
'India's nationalism has always been an exceptional and great experiment.' 'We said you don't have to give up your language, your lifestyle or your religion in order to be an Indian national.' 'Nowhere in the world could you find on such a large scale such a democratic experiment of nation building based on diversity.' 'That is the greatness of India's nationalism and we are on the verge of losing that greatness.'
Many exit polls predicted that SP-BSP alliance in Uttar Pradesh is likely to trump the BJP in the country's politically most crucial state.
The CBSE had announced that it had rationalised the syllabus for Classes 9 to 12 for the 2020-21 session by up to 30 per cent to make up for the academic loss caused due to COVID-19. However, it was the decision to drop topics related to Social Sciences which drew sharp reaction from opposition parties like the Congress, Left, Trinamool Congress, Nationalist Congress Party and Shiv Sena.
Pragmatism and flexibility is a virtue. An untethered and short-term approach to policymaking is a flaw, argues Mihir S Sharma.
Rahul described the Rafale deal as a 'systematic robbery' from the Indian defence forces.
Indonesia, Turkey and Afghanistan also see important polls in the seven short weeks between end-March and mid-May, says Shankar Acharya
Donald Trump, known for his unpredictable leadership style, divisive rhetoric targeting both allies and opponents, and the only US president to be impeached twice, left the White House on Wednesday with a tainted legacy never seen before in American political history.
The Congress leader said democracy allows dissent and debate and not monologues in an apparent barb at Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
'I am more worried about the BJP as I see lot of marginalisation of top leaders in the BJP.' 'I am really worried about the terminal decline of the Congress. And the greatest tragedy is that there are so many good people in the Congress.' 'It will take a couple of years, but this is the most appropriate time for a new political party and leadership to emerge.'
The Wayanad MP, who is on two-day visit to his constituency in poll-bound Kerala, also took on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on MGNREGA.
'India is so poor that political parties will not be able to wipe out poverty from our country in another 100 years. I am of the opinion that development can come only through corporates.' 'Tomorrow, if Tata or Birla or Reliance takes up another 500 panchayats, it will boost the Indian economy also.' Sabu M Jacob, managing director of the Kitex group whose NGO Twenty20 has just won a panchayat election in Kerala, speaks to Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com
Hoping to make its mark in Kerala, the BJP sewed up an alliance with the BDJS, the new party formed by SNDP, a powerful organisation of the backward Ezhava community.
"The era of 'lalten' is gone. In the last six years consumption of electricity has increased 3 fold in Bihar," PM Modi said. "Voters of Bihar have taken a resolve that they won't let those who have a history of making the state 'Bimaru' come near them," he added.
The prime minister highlighted the gains made during his last four years vis-a-vis the previous governments to suggest that he has lived up to the promise of hope he had offered to the electorate in 2014.
Home ministry officials told the parliamentary panel that those detained under the PSA can challenge their detention in a designated tribunal.
Leaders of the United States, India, Australia and Japan did discuss the 'challenge' posed by China during the first meeting of the Quad, and they made clear that none of them have any 'illusions' about Beijing, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has said.
By the looks of it, the Congress cannot hope to return to power even in election 2024. What it can do is to start from the bottom, hold organisational elections, which are honest, and co-opt those elected to form teams of office-bearers at all levels, right up to the working committee. By the very nature of the elections that they are going to lose, the party should use the interim to shore up youth power, or whatever remains, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The party's steady flow of money from industrialists has all but dried up, leaving a cash crunch so serious that it's been forced to crowd-fund for a candidate.
'He was always opposed to a form of nationalism that was narrow, selfish and arrogant.' 'He will always remain a beacon of inspiration for freedom-loving people across the world and for movements of resistance against oppressive State power.'
With most political parties failing to articulate the concerns of Muslims, who account for 15 per cent of the population and can swing the electoral outcome in 21 constituencies, the AIMIM hopes to make a mark in the ongoing assembly elections, says Shafeeq Rahman.
'The continuing crisis in agriculture, the inability of successive governments to provide secure jobs to millions of youths having varying degrees of skills, and fragmentation of politics have created a sense of despondency.'
'China's latest defence White Paper has been issued against the backdrop of the upgraded Sino-Pakistan strategic relationship which has impinged on India's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and Beijing's continuing intransigence on tackling the issue of the disputed border or intrusion by PLA troops,' says Jayadeva Ranade.
'Bangladeshi Muslims want to increase their population in India.' 'They have made colonies in India.' 'Rohingyas are doing the same.' 'This has to stop.'
The Congress had won over 400 seats in the 1984 Lok Sabha election after which Rajiv Gandhi became the prime minister.
A total of 13 motions were moved in support of Birla.
Prominent international celebrities and activists on Wednesday joined American pop star Rihanna to extend support to the farmers' protests here and garner international attention on the protracted stir but their remarks were slammed by India as 'neither accurate nor responsible'.
India needs to examine some way in which, assuming that there is either no vaccine or a delay in administering it to everyone, voting can be made safer, notes Aakar Patel.
Mukherjee's family and relatives paid their last respects clad in PPE kits while conforming to COVID-19 safeguards.
We asked you to tell us your reason for choosing not to vote. This is what our readers shared.
While Health minister K K Shylaja would lead the chain at Kasargod, senior CPM leader Brinda Karat would be the last person at the end of the chain in Thiruvananthapuram.
'If Article 35A is scrapped, then Jammu's identity will be over.'
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