'Muslims know they cannot defeat the BJP, why then come in its firing range?' 'And they know, ultimately it is the BJP MLA who is going to get elected and only he or she can do their work.' 'The BJP may do a different kind of politics for Muslims, but when they sit in the chair they work for Muslims too.'
'In politics, not everything is spoken and there are a lot of messaging done very discreetly.'
Initially facing two years jail, the actor was hit with a stricter legal provision following a public outcry, reports Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
An RTI plea reveals that Rashtrapati Bhavan employs 545 people, and incurs a monthly wage bill of Rs 1,34,68,927.
'George Fernandes will always be remembered in history as the man who successfully called the railway strike.'
''I had no idea that my life would turn into a horror show.' 'I was stuck as the Russians kept bombing Kyiv non-stop.'
Cities, roads, stations rechristened in the time of Modi.
'Dr Shashi Tharoor by far is a much better choice.'
'India's treatment to a member of parliament of Afghanistan was not good and I am very upset about this action.'
'... as has been happening in the last three weeks, then the foreign exchange reserves will not be comfortable to ensure that the rupee does not fall drastically.'
On his first visit to Srinagar post the abrogation of Article 370, Home Minister Amit Shah claimed that incidents of terrorism have declined and stone-throwing incidents too have ended in Jammu-Kashmir.
'This is against the Constitution and we will oppose it tooth and nail.'
'We want Muslims to go about their work and business unhindered.' 'They should not get victimised and that will only come through the process of reconciliation.'
Syed Firdaus Ashraf unravels the chronology of controversy in the Aryan Khan drug bust case.
'Our movement was not about putting any flag on the Red Fort, but it is to secure our livelihood.'
'On January 22, when the last round of talks took place, the farmer leaders were told by Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar that the government is also prepared.' 'And they did this.'
'It was disappointing on two counts. One is on the leadership issue and second is how the Congress must win elections.'
Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com on Priyanka Chopra's appointment as a brand ambassador for India, despite her frankness on intolerant India.
'One cannot avoid speculating whether there was something else at play that led to the uncovering of this saga.'
'The culture of the BJP has changed and the party too has changed with this new culture. 'The BJP is having bad political management, bad man management, personal management and inter-personal relationships.' 'Therefore, people like me are not in the BJP.'
'Kejriwal tries to project that his party is not Hindu virodhi.'
'The cases have not reduced because the prosecution has found some other way to stop people from using their right to free speech.'
The new government order to review the service record of employees who have completed 30 years in the job to identify inefficient or corrupt staff and retire them prematurely has invited the ire of labour unions, who believe that this is a step towards privatisation.
'Every Indian knows why the BJP is targeting Hamid Ansari.'
'Piyush Goyal is the chief and it is always the chief who is considered to be responsible.'
The Janata Dal-United, an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party, opposed the government's move on Article 370 through a fresh Presidential Order ending special status to Jammu and Kashmir. On Monday, opposing the Narendra Modi-led government's decision, they walked out of the Rajya Sabha where the bill to split the state into two Union Territories was passed. Similarly, on Tuesday, the JD-U walked out of Lok Sabha while the bill was being discussed. In Patna, JD-U national spokesperson K C Tyagi said: "We completely differ with the Central government's move on Jammu and Kashmir. There was a need for wider consultations on it, but no consultation was done even within the NDA. We own the legacy of socialist leaders Ram Manohar Lohia and Jai Prakash Narayan, who had opposed attempts to tamper with Article 370 during Congress (government in the past)." Speaking to Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com on the same, the JD-U leader said that 'walking out of Parliament won't affect their ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party'.
'You haven't heard a peep out of Kashmir so what is going to erupt? What repercussion will be (there) in long term, you will have to (wait) and see'
'Transparency is us watching the government and not the government watching us'
'If the Congress party wants to take on the BJP it cannot do it in this fuddy-duddy, grand old party, style.'
'If it is not possible for the Indian Railways to have separate non-vegetarian and vegetarian compartments, then what is the harm in railways serving only vegetarian food?'
'They just want to show that the Congress is in disarray.'
'South movies have the perfect script, the perfect action and the perfect romance.' 'That's why these films are running in theatres.'
'Most senior Congress leaders in Assam have a secret understanding with the BJP.' 'They are hobnobbing with the chief minister for their self-interest.'
'The police wasted nine years of his precious life. Who will compensate him now?' a relative of Abdul Wahid Shaikh, the only person acquitted in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts case, ask Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com
'Government intervention in agricultural trade is a problem for farmers.'
'After the NRC in Assam, things have changed for Muslims in India.'
'We are moving away from the path of democracy and towards Hindu religious dictatorship,' scientist P M Bhargava, who announced his decision to return the Padma Bhushan, tells Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com
Amitabh Bachchan was preparing to pack up his bags and return to Allahabad if Zanjeer failed.
'The PM of India was 20 km away from the Pakistan border and he is one of the persons under extreme threat from that country and they put his life in danger.'
'We need to have a prosperous J-K, where all communities must prosper including Dogras, Gujjars, Sikhs, Muslims and Pandits.' 'Prosperity is the first signal of peace.'