AFSPA confers special powers on the armed forces in areas deemed as disturbed.
The ULFA chairman also criticised the government of Assam and the government in New Delhi for overlooking Nagaland's bid to encroach upon Assam territory.
The leaders of the saffron party also posted their wishes and religious prayers for Modi on Twitter, using the hashtag "LongLivePMModi".
The BJP which stormed into Mamata Banerjee's fortress earlier this year by bagging 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats faced immense flak when the final NRC in Assam left out Bengali Hindus in large numbers.
It is clear to any observer that the BJP risks its demolition drive boomeranging on itself. Except for one unpredictable factor in the works -- Rahul Gandhi himself, observes Shyam G Menon.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused urgent hearing on a plea seeking Army protection for minority Kuki tribals amid ethnic violence in Manipur.
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Tuesday the fresh plea of former Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Nupur Sharma seeking revival of her withdrawn petition seeking clubbing of first information reports (FIRs) lodged in several states over her remarks on Prophet Muhammad in a TV debate show.
The former Union minister said the population debate is 'utterly misplaced' and half a century out-of-date as a large majority of Indian states have achieved replacement levels of fertility.
'Mamata wanted the Congress in alliance with the BJP in Bengal against the Left Front government.' 'Pranab Mukherjee opposed it, stating it would amount to compromising on secularism.' 'In 2021, Mamata defeats the BJP and becomes a champion of secularism.'
Every political party loves to use the bait of loan waiver to woo the electorate. If their hearts bleed for the poor, they can always use the party funds to pay off the lenders, suggests Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
What some of our leaders were up to on Thursday and Thursday.
As the new year arrives, the Bharatiya Janata Party's finds itself on the cusp of the most consequential cycle of state polls since the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as the results will tell if the road ahead in its bid for a third straight term at the Centre is getting any bumpier or a strong opposition challenge remains elusive.
Indian elections are won and lost on 'negative' imageries and campaigns - but not certainly on 'negativity' as a political trait and electoral creed, asserts N Sathiya Moorthy.
The BJP may have to wait a little longer in Tamil Nadu to tie up with the superstar because, despite early and intermittent signals to the contrary, Rajinikanth has been going slow on his political project. Instead, he has been busy with two films on hand. One is acclaimed film-maker Shankar's 2.0. He has also quickly signed up for another movie produced by Sun Pictures of Kaalanidhi Maran, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Had the BJP gone along with the NPP, that would have eased the task of the Congress of winning more seats.' 'That was a great strategy of the BJP.' 'It helped the NPP get more seats than perhaps if it had gone as a pre-alliance partner with the BJP.'
China has long coveted Arunachal Pradesh, which it calls Southern Tibet. But, as Venkataraghavan Subha Srinivasan explains, in 1947, the present state of Arunachal Pradesh constituted the North East Frontier Tract of Assam. When India adopted its Constitution on 26 January 1950, NEFT became 'a separate politico-administrative entity' although it was constitutionally still a part of Assam. Its administration was brought directly under the President of India with the Governor of Assam acting as his agent. A revealing excerpt from his book The Origin Story of India's States.
Ahead of the 2022 assembly elections, Churchill Alemao 'merged' the NCP with the TMC. The 'merger' took place when Mamata Banerjee was in Mumbai talking to NCP supreme leader Sharad Pawar on how to forge Opposition unity!
Assembly elections to five crucial states will take place in a few months and the results will be decisive for the BJP, which is eyeing a third successive term at the Centre, in the forthcoming the Lok Sabha polls in 2024.
It is wrong to say the Congress doesn't matter. Certainly one set of people who do not believe that for a minute is the BJP. That's why even in his speech in Parliament on Constitution Day, Mr Modi called dynastic politics a threat to democracy, observes Shekhar Gupta.
No proof, no document, no biometric will be needed under it as NPR will be conducted through self-certification, said the minister.
The Congress has been reduced to a C player in national politics thanks to its inability to read the pulse of the people, says Rashme Sehgal.
Women voters have been outnumbering male voters in Mizoram for the past few years, but paradoxically there are no women representatives in the state legislature for years together.
Voting will be held on Thursday for the first phase of Gujarat Assembly elections in 89 seats spread across 19 districts in Saurashtra-Kutch and southern parts of the state where 788 candidates are in the fray.
Claiming that at least 14 Bharatiya Janata Party workers were killed and nearly one lakh people fled their homes in post-poll violence in West Bengal, party president J P Nadda on Wednesday alleged that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's silence speaks of her involvement.
Let us see the problem for what it actually is: Illegal Immigration plain and simple, confined to the northeast with a definite communal slant that poses a national security risk and one that needs to be dealt with firmly and promptly by stringent identification (and deportation), says Vivek Gumaste.
'The people of India have not only challenged the ruling dispensation with the constitution, they have also opened the eyes of the leadership that sits in the Opposition.'
The measures include an information search prompt with the Election Commission of India (@ECISVEEP) and State Election Commissions to provide reliable information around the elections, a custom emoji to encourage participation, a series of pre-bunks and debunks to tackle election-related misinformation, and a youth discussion series titled #DemocracyAdda aimed at voter literacy and civic participation among young Indians for the upcoming elections.
Officials said PFI has been under the radar of security agencies for its alleged role in violent protests in different parts of the country.
Aditi Phadnis predicts frequent stand-offs between the Centre and states in the future.
Trinamool Congress on Wednesday wrote a letter to the Election Commission asking how BJP leader Narendra Modi and Congress President Sonia Gandhi could use Pawan Hans helicopters for public meetings contrary to its instructions, even as party chief Mamata Banerjee had to cancel a trip to Assam for lack of one.
The fulcrum of victory or defeat of parties attempting to form a government is held by smaller players and those willing to defect.
The publishing of the NRC will not rid India from illegal immigrants who are already here. But even if it manages to withhold their political and voting rights, it will be a significant achievement, says Anand Kumar.
Six non-Congress parties and an independent MLA constitute the MDA government.
The Centre's decision to constitute a one-member panel headed by former Union Home Secretary G K Pillai to consider the demand for a separate Bodoland state has triggered fresh unrest in the Bodoland Territorial Autonomous District Council areas of Assam.
The Opposition had been opposing provisions of the two bills in Rajya Sabha where the government lacks numbers.
'We may be weak now, but the importance of the Congress cannot be denied.'
They just wanted their angst noticed, and as a symbol of recognition, Jallikattu, restored without the annual ritual of court cases and adjournments, explains N Sathya Moorthy.
The woman also filed the case against Assam MP for allegedly sharing the post in his social media page.
Setalvad said working on a deeply polarising issue among the public is not an easy one and added that the impact of social media on polarization is also overwhelming.
