While Rajasthan BJP president Satish Poonia accused the Congress of being behind the demolition, state Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra asserted that it was the decision of the city's municipality headed by the saffron party.
Whatever the outcome from the assembly elections, what's evident is that West Bengal has entered an era of identity politics, reports Ishita Ayan Dutt.
'This time, even the professedly secular parties have maintained a conscious distance from being identified with Muslims.' 'This could be interpreted as a success of the BJP campaign of what it has been calling 'minority appeasement', says Mohammad Sajjad.
With the opposition accusing BJP of working toward polarising voters in Uttar Pradesh by broaching the issues like alleged migration of Hindus and 'triple talaq', party president Amit Shah has rejected the charges, claiming that questioning politics of appeasement and casteism being practised in the state cannot be called polarisation.
The development set off a slugfest, with the RSS' official twitter handle alleging that it was done to "appease jihadi elements
The party believes that Mamata's poor handling of the pandemic and the devastation brought on by Cyclone Amphan will provide it the political fillip it needs.
Modi knows how to turn Gujarati pride into an emotive issue at election time and a Gujarati President would have its own electoral resonance and significance, note Sunil Gatade and Venkatesh Kesari.
In the video, Nath is purportedly heard saying that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the BJP have only one message for the voters -- a vote for Narendra Modi means a vote for Hindus -- and "agar Musalman ko vote deni hai, to Congress ko vote do (vote for the Congress if you want to vote for Muslims)."
'The BJP will take time to come to power in Andhra.'
Distorting facts in relation to politics and religion and appeasing extremist ideology has grave long term implications for India's security, feels C Uday Bhaskar.
Chauhan, a former Madhya Pradesh chief minister, said political parties governed by dynasty, family and caste politics were defeated everywhere including Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in the general elections.
In the letter dated June 10, Pratap Sarnaik said even though the alliance with the BJP has broken, personal and harmonious relations between leaders of the 'yuti' (Shiv Sena-BJP) remain.
If the BJP wins Bengal, would Kishor's indiscretions have played a significant role in that victory? Victory for the TMC would be another badge of honour in his CV, but defeat would raise an unsavoury question: Which party was Kishor actually working for? asks Payal Singh Mohanka.
Noting that Lok Sabha elections are around the corner and only one session of Parliament remains, he asked the government to bring an ordinance.
Stunned by the sudden saffron surge, daggers seems to have been drawn in the Trinamool Congress camp with local leaders blaming those holding top party posts for their "lack of foresightedness" and "arrogant approach" as primary reasons behind the poor poll show.
Will appeasement, rising unemployment and her dictatorial style become major obstacles in her path? asks Payal Singh Mohanka.
Siddiqui, a Muslim cleric who launched the ISF last month, addressed a mega rally at the Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata on Sunday, expressing gratitude to the Left for keeping 30 seats for his party to contest as part of the alliance.
'For the first time one single party is getting 49% which is a record of its own.'
"Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, its implementation got delayed. But as the situation is slowly improving, the work has started. The rules are now being framed and CAA will be implemented very soon. Under this act all the eligible people will definitely get Indian citizenship," Nadda told the social groups, who included Dalits, Gorkhas, Rajbanshis and other tribes.
The political resolution passed at the party's national executive claimed that the Modi government has created a new "history" in the direction of the poor's welfare with its bold initiatives.
The Ministry of Home Affairs on Monday said the Missionaries of Charity's application for renewal of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) registration was refused on December 25 for not meeting eligibility conditions as some adverse inputs were received.
The government has neither the mental model nor the political courage to effect real change, point out Ashoka Mody & Michael Walton.
Alleging that India was offering its services to the US to "pressurise" China, Pakistan Prime Minister's Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said India has been trying to downplay the Kashmir issue for a very long time.
Hindutva preacher Swami Aseemanand and four others were acquitted in the Mecca Masjid blast with the judge saying that the prosecution failed to prove "even a single allegation" against them.
If the AAP wins 20 to 40 Lok Sabha seats, which is conceivable unless it botches up on governance in Delhi, it will become a significant bloc comparable in influence to or even bigger than several major regional parties, feels Praful Bidwai.
The Bharatiya Janata Party decided to put on hold Shah's proposed rally and the Rath Yatra, saying it will wait for the final order from the high court, which will now hear an appeal by the saffron party on Friday morning.
'Whether the Hindu voter will vote for us or not, we can't say, can we?'
He also accused her of nepotism by choosing to play the limited role of "bua" (aunt) to her "bhatija" (nephew) instead of becoming "Didi" (elder sister) to the people.
'If questioning and dethroning hierarchies is your primary motive, why not put an end to the practice of announcing your shining star, your box office draw, in big flaming letters and mentioning everyone else's name in small font at the bottom of the screen?' asks Sreehari Nair.
As their parties are locked in a fierce battle for Bengal, Tathagata and Saugata Roy, siblings who belong to the BJP and the TMC respectively, answer the same questions put to them about the assembly election.
Yadav, a general secretary in the SP, also said once there is a change at the Centre, investigations will be conducted into the incident and claimed that prominent people will come under the scanner.
'At this moment, the Trinamool has an edge.'
'I will not say that the AIMIM is a 'B' team of the BJP. But due to the AIMIM, the BJP benefits for sure'
All that India must aim for is to match China's military prowess adjusted to equal Beijing's India-specific military capability, argues Vivek Gumaste.
'Magnanimity and appeasement have no place in the world of realpolitik as India has learned the hard way,' notes Vivek Gumaste in the first of a two-part column.
The gang had brutally gangraped a woman and her 13-year-old daughter at gunpoint on Friday night last week after dragging them out of a car in Bulandshahr on NH-91.
The results are a ringing endorsement of Modi's popularity, his government's achievements in the last five years and his campaign, which centred around national security, nationalism and Hindutva.
'Some of his decisions were not so good, but his intentions were always guided by a deep national interest.'
'I do not agree that the intent was to send a political message to China that the US treats friends and foes alike.' 'In any case, such acts do not ruffle a feather in China,' observes Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
