A G20 dinner invitation from President Droupadi Murmu describing her position as 'President of Bharat' triggered massive debate on Tuesday, with the opposition alleging that the government is planning to drop India and stay with just Bharat as the country's name.
That AAP managed a sizeable vote share in Gujarat is creditable. The BJP can no longer ignore AAP's growing presence in its strongest bastion, explains Ramesh Menon, long-time observer of Gujarat politics.
Alleging that the NGO allows its name to be used "at the behest of some selected political interest", the Union of India told the top court that it is guilty of collecting huge funds by exploiting the agonies of riot-affected people.
The morcha claimed that the response to the bandh call was 'more widespread than before' and nearly all opposition political parties extended an unconditional support to it.
Overall, the record of the second term reveals a contradiction between the image and the reality. The image, especially on media and social media, is one of the man at the height of his power, and unstoppable. The reality on governance is someone who has found it difficult to get things implemented and unsure of what to do next, points out Aakar Patel.
Here's what leaders from different political parties had to say as results were being announced from Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry.
Congress MP from Sultanpur Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh Sanjoy Singh is one of the Congress candidates who have filed nominations for the February 7 election to the three Rajya Sabha seats from Assam.
When elected on July 18 -- which is almost a certainty, given the NDA's numbers in the electoral college -- Droupadi Murmu will be the first President born after Independence.
By comparing I.N.D.IA. with banned terror outfits, Modi has exhibited the kind of nervousness never ever associated with him even at the height of the Gujarat riots, and certainly since his prime ministerial days, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
With the Rajya Sabha term of Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi ending, the BJP will have no Muslim MP among its 395 members of Parliament.
The youth leadership taking the reigns of the states was a rare event in the last century as very few broke the glass ceilings.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday said miscreants, who are spreading rumours that have led to the exodus of people belonging to north-east from Bangalore, Pune and other parts of the country, should be brought to book. Making a statement after Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari suspended Question Hour to take up a discussion on the issue, Dr Singh said communal harmony, unity and integrity of the nation was at stake.
Counting of votes in all elections will be held on May 2.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will visit Chennai on November 2 and is likely to hold a meeting with her Tamil Nadu counterpart M K Stalin to discuss their strategies for the 2024 Lok Sabha poll, a senior government official said on Tuesday.
Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi has advocated for improving connectivity through road, water, rail and air between Bangladesh and northeast India to bring the people of both countries closer.
The Grand Old Party must bring widespread reforms across all levels of the organisation to show it is no longer in a state of inertia and to present itself as a viable political alternative to the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress veteran Kapil Sibal said.
Manipur's 'Iron Lady' Irom Chanu Sharmila has rejected an offer from the Aam Aadmi Party to join politics and contest this year's Lok Sabha elections.
The Trinamool Congress sought complete withdrawal of the NRC, alleging that Indian citizens have also been left out of the final draft.
Drawing on his technological expertise, Hajela, who has a BTech degree in Electronics from IIT, Delhi, introduced an innovative mechanism for collecting and collating data of the family tree of every resident of Assam.
The Assam-Mizoram violence is an outcome of BJP trying too hard to 'integrate' distinct northeastern states, explains Shekhar Gupta.
Soren also claimed that his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma indulged in "purchase" of Jharkhand MLAs.
The Congress MP from Sivaganga also slammed the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance and said the people of Tamil Nadu do not want a government which has any "stain, scent or shadow" of the BJP as its 'Hindi-Hindutva' agenda "irritates" them.
'This committee underscores the Indian State's longstanding conventional approach to leverage top-down conflict management in North East India in general and Manipur in particular.' 'Trying to 'manage' violent conflicts top-down has not worked in the past, and apparently does not seem to work this time either.'
Top organisations of the Konyak tribe in Nagaland have announced a set of regulations, including 'strict non-cooperation' with the army, saying the people will follow them until justice is served in the killing of 14 civilians by security forces in a botched up operation and its aftermath in the North-eastern state earlier this month.
The defeat in the elections has put a question mark on the five-time MP and former Union minister's political future.
AFSPA can be safely lifted from almost 90 per cent of Nagaland, argues Shekhar Gupta.
In a move that is bound to generate controversy, the election expenditure for both Parliamentary and assembly constituencies is likely to jump by one-and-a-half times before the coming Lok Sabha polls. Anita Katyal reports
The BJP needs to win maximum number of seats from northeast to strengthen Prime Minister Narendra Modi so that development of the region continues.
The death sentence of Nithari serial killings case convict Surender Koli was on Wednesday commuted to life imprisonment by the Allahabad high court which rapped the Uttar Pradesh government for the "inordinate and unexplained delay" in deciding his mercy petition.
Kejriwal charged that the BJP toppled Manipur, Bihar, Assam, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra governments.
Looks like all political parties have thrown caution to the winds where 33 per cent reservation for women is concerned. Take the examples of Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal which recently went to polls.
The present happenings in Manipur are the wages of continued neglect, and not so benign at that, of a vital region and its people. Had we lavished on the North East even a fraction of the care and resources we do on Kashmir, things would not have come to this pass, asserts Shreekant Sambrani.
'We wanted the PM to speak, and he just refused to -- now we have the opportunity, not just in the Lok Sabha, but also in the Rajya Sabha, to lay the government on the mat.'
Labelled as the semi-final before the big Lok Sabha poll, assembly elections in five states will set the tone for summer of 2019.
No untoward incident has been reported so far in the bandh called by the All Minority Organisations Coordination Committee, which includes the All Assam Minority Students Union (AAMSU) and the Jamiat-e-Ulema among others, that began at 5 am on Friday, a police officer said.
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.
Trinamool members trooped into well of the House immediately after the upper House assembled.
One political resolution is expected to be passed at the meeting where Modi will deliver the valedictory address, which is expected to shape the party's views on a variety of issues.
'He is anything but astute or charismatic. He believes the Congress can win elections without alliances in the Hindi heartland.'
The next general election is more than three years away. Yet, the Centre appears to be reluctant to take any bold move that might annoy influential sections of the electorate.
