"BJP lost as it did not protect interests of Hindus. People rejected the party for that reason," VHP leader Ashok Singhal told mediapersons in Mumbai.
At least 58 persons, most of them belonging to Christian families, embraced Hinduism at two temples in Kerala's Kottayam district under the initiative of Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Christmas day on Thursday.
Thackeray recalled former prime minister Vajpayee as saying, Ab Hindu maat nahi khayega (Hindus will not be defeated now), and added, "Hindus will not sit silent."
The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday issued notice to state minister Maya Kodnani on an application filed by the Supreme Court appointed Special Investigation Team for cancellation of her anticipatory bail in the 2002 Naroda Patia riot case.
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."
Ansari was seen on national television being beaten up with rods while tied to a pole and forced to chant "Jai Shri Ram" over alleged theft in June.
Clashes were reported from Kharagpur in West Midnapore district, Narayanpur in North 24 Parganas, and Alipurduar town in north Bengal, among others.
'If policy-makers hold the lives of animals to be more significant than the welfare of a human populace, I can't believe that they're likely to do anything progressive for India.'
He said the poojas will be held one day prior and after the visit of the Rajasthan chief minister.
Indian politics, held captive in one way or the other by Ayodhya, may now well seek its emancipation from this issue, and the pursuit of welfare, asserts Congress leader Salman Khurshid in this excerpt from his latest book, Sunrise over Ayodhya.
She said she wanted to prevent repetition of such an allegation against her party and "expose the bluff" of BJP as she was sure that the party would again try to hold her responsible for its poor performance in the UP assembly polls.
'Modi campers are aware that the Sangh may keep a Nitin Gadkari under wraps.' 'He may be pulled out of the hat if push comes to shove and if the Modi-led BJP is unable to deliver a decisive victory.' A revealing excerpt from Kingshuk Nag's new book, Mohan Bhagwat: Influencer-in-Chief.
Notwithstanding the massive crackdown by UP administration, VHP leader Ashok Singhal advised the state government to review the decision to ban 84 kosi yatra saying it could not be stopped as saints from across the country would be reaching Ayodhya soon.
The apex court, however, dismissed a PIL filed by NGO, Centre for Public Interest Litigation, seeking a court-monitored fresh probe in the Pandya murder case.
The SP leader had kicked up a row recently with his comments that "excesses by security forces had led women in some places chopping off the private parts of army men."
When Congress delegates gathered at Burari in 2011 for a two-day All India Congress Committee session, the political resolution adopted at the meeting was unusually harsh on the Bharatiya Janata Party and its ideological mentor the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, even going as far as to liken the right wing group to Nazis for its hatred of Muslims.
Sadhvi also said "there is no such thing as saffron terrorism," adding that "saffron means dedicated life for the nation and dharma."
Farmer suicides have nearly doubled in the drought-hit Marathwada region of Maharashtra.
The Bharatiya Janata Party announced a major organisational reshuffle in the party, appointing Hindu hardliner Keshav Maurya and former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa as state party presidents in Uttar Pradesh and Karntaka respectively.
Noted Kannada scholar and researcher, M M Kalburgi, who often courted controversies with his outspoken stand on various issues including idol worship, was shot dead at point-blank range by two unidentified men at his residence in Dharwad, Karnataka on Sunday.
'He couldn't hold himself from chanting 'Siyavar Ramchandra ki Jai'.'
Bharatiya Janata Party national president Rajnath Singh arrived in Amaravati in Maharashtra today from New Delhi to attend the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh 'Manthan Shibir'. Landing at Belora airport, the Bharatiya Janata Party chief drove straight to Vyankatesh Lawns, the venue for the annual national camp of the RSS and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, where he is supposed to take part in day-long 'closed-door' deliberations.
Have we been allowed to forget Partition? Isn't Partition the reason many Hindus cannot bring themselves to trust Muslims? So many Muslims born after 1947 have told me with anguish: "How long will we be blamed for Partition?" notes Jyoti Punwani.
The VHP and Shiv Sena have planned various programmes to mark the occasion.
'This is a fascinating side to Sonia Gandhi, the way she disarms her opponents.'
Mahant Ramchandra Das Paramhans is the president of the Ramjanambhoomi Nyas, which is spearheading the movement for construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya.
The arrested person, who is a local resident, is being interrogated to get more information about the incident and the persons involved in the attack and some more accused may be identified, he said.
A clerical error compounded by callousness of the higher bureaucracy has raised a storm over the already vexed Ayodhya issue.
'The BJP's constitution promises allegiance to India's secularism and socialism.' 'This is the oath that it makes all its members sign,' observes Aakar Patel.
Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan appealed to people to boycott products from China and also directed officials of his ministry not to procure any Chinese products for day-to-day office use while his ministerial colleague Ramdas Athawale said all restaurants and hotels that sell Chinese food in India should be closed down.
'When he was killed, did you ask questions of the Muslim community? When we spoke of 'aar-paar' you are asking questions.'
Tipu was a ruler of the erstwhile kingdom of Mysore and considered an implacable enemy of the British East India Company.
'By transferring the case to the NIA without the Maharashtra government's consent clearly indicates they want to play mischief.'
The events that unfolded after Advani's arrest not only benefited the BJP, whose political clout grew exponentially, but also catapulted Lalu to the forefront of the anti-saffron camp.
Adding fuel to fire in the recent conversion-row, working president of right-wing organisation Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Pravin Togadia said ancestors of Indian Muslims and Christians were Hindus.
According to him, the temple issue did 'more harm than good' to the BJP as the matter was being used by the opposition 'to terrorise minorities and polarise votes'.
'The central and Assamese governments want to get 35 lakh to 40 lakh Bangladeshis (Hindus) to come to Assam and make the Assamese people a minority.' 'They want to make Assam a Bengali state.' 'Bengalis by nature are BJP supporters whereas Assamese people don't support the BJP.'
BJP state president V Muraleedharan said that the CPM leadership had run out of ideas and was trying to suppress its political opponents by physically intimidating them. Arun Lakshman reports
