The 61-year-old saffron clad BJP leader is the 19th accused to depose before the court in the over 27-year-old case. 13 other alleged accused, including former deputy prime minister LK Advani and senior BJP leaders MM Joshi and Kalyan Singh are yet to be examined at this stage.
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Friday said though as chief minister he had offered 17 acre land for Ram temple, the Bharatiya Janata Party did not accept it as it wanted to keep the issue alive.
A United States court in New York has set a pre-trial hearing in April in the lawsuit filed by a Sikh rights group asking that Indian right wing organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh be designated as a "foreign terrorist organisation" for alleged violent acts against religious minorities in India.
"Bring an ordinance on Ram temple and fulfil at least one promise made to Hindus," said the party.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal have announced that they will mark the day as Shaurya Diwas and Vijay Diwas (day of victory) and have asked the people to light earthen lamps as on Diwali.
When the temple issue predominated BJP's discourse, its victory margins have been narrow.
Adityanath spent hours reviewing the arrangements for the ceremony at the Ram Janmabhoomi, where the temple will be constructed following the go-ahead last year by the Supreme Court.
In sarcastic comments Samajwadi party leader Azam Khan on Friday took on outfits demanding construction of a temple dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse,saying such temple should be constructed in every state.
Uneasy calm prevailed in Ayodhya, which on Saturday looked like a fortress, with deployment of more than 10,000 cops on the 22nd anniversary of the demolition of the Babri Mosque.
The statement comes in wake of the new testimony of student leader Kanhaiya Kumar, in which he said that he was beaten up, pushed to the ground and injured by men in lawyers' robes before the police, when he was brought to the Patiala House court premises on February 17.
On the eve of Babri mosque demolition anniversary, Uttar Pradesh government on Friday enhanced the security of Hashim Ansari, the oldest litigant in the case, by providing him a Y category security cover.
In the late 1990s, the construction cost of the Ram temple, according to unofficial estimates, was pegged at Rs 120 crore. Adjusting for inflation to the current financial year, the edifice would entail an investment of nearly Rs 450 crore, excluding the land cost.
With the general election round the corner, the BJP believes its show of intent for building the temple could consolidate its core supporters.
Modi's plain-talk on zero tolerance against religious discrimination applies to those who convert tribal and poor Hindus "by deception".
'Modi has presided over an ultra-nationalism that has stunted India's growth, been unable to change the country's external situation, brought foreign intervention into Indian affairs,' explains Aakar Patel.
Launching a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party, Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal on Monday alleged that the saffron party leaders were capabale of "killing their own men to come to power".
She said she will go to Ayodhya on Wednesday and visit the makeshift temple to seek Ram Lalla's blessings.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad has too decided against observing the 27th anniversary of the demolition as "Shaurya Diwas".
'What the long term repercussions of the Ayodhya judgment are will unfold in time.' 'And I hope the consequences are not going to be as damaging to us as they were to Pakistan,' says Aakar Patel.
On the eve of 22nd anniversary of Babri mosque demolition, the temple town has turned into a fortress with nearly 10,000 security personnel deployed amid calls by Muslim outfits to mark the day by hoisting black flags even as Hindu bodies seek to commemorate it.
The Shia Waqf Board is drafting the terms and conditions of a mutual agreement.
The court granted bail to Advani, Joshi and Bharti after they appeared before it.
'What kind of insensitivity does it take to get taxpayers to cough up for an aircraft costing a few billion for your personal use, at a time when the country you head is in so much trouble?' asks Sherna Gandhy.
They said it was then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi who on February 1, 1986 got the permission for starting prayers at the disputed site and got the locks opened.
Exuding confidence that the Third Front will form the next government at the Centre, Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav on Thursday said his party would set no preconditions to join it and help form the alliance in national interest.
'Babur has been facing gross historical injustice for the last two centuries, when he had no role either in the demolition of any temple or in the construction of the so-called Babri mosque at Ayodhya.'
The rapprochement could open the door to an anti-saffron alliance for the 2019 general elections, reports Archis Mohan.
Mir Baki was not the commander who had led the invasion on Ayodhya, Mishra said leading the bench to ask him as to what he was trying to prove by referring to these historical books.
Although conventional political wisdom would decree that the construction of a 'magnificent' Ram temple at his 'birth-place' would bring the BJP a big yield of votes in the prospective elections, its leaders know by now that the mandir must not exist in isolation in its game plan, reports Radhika Ramaseshan.
The submissions were made during the eighth day hearing in the case before a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi.
'None of these three countries -- Turkey, Iran or Malaysia -- ever made a hostile move against India to support the Pakistan-based terrorist elements,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
While Ayodhya resembled a city under seige earlier during the day, the scene was no different elsewhere in the state with police and central forces keeping an eye over the security situation and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath personally monitoring it from a hi-tech control room in the state capital.
He urged the crowd attending a pro-CAA rally to give a missed call to the 8866288662, pledging their support to the legislation. Shah also sought to dispel 'rumours' of discord within the NDA in Bihar and said CM Nitish Kumar will be the alliance leader in the state.
The submission was vehemently opposed by senior advocate C S Vaidyanathan, representing deity 'Ram Lalla', who said: "This is totally unwarranted".
Aseem Chhabra lists his favourite Indian films of 2021.
Once Ram temple is built it will become a 'ghoshit (declared) Hindu Rashtra', a VHP leader told the gathering.
Pitching for the safe passage of Communal Violence Bill in the current session of Parliament, Minorities Affairs Minister K Rahman Khan on Thursday said it is not a divisive bill and efforts are on to arrive at a consensus on the issue.
Voicing concern over the Muzaffarnagar violence, Rashtriya Lok Dal leader and Union Minister Ajit Singh on Tuesday said it may spread to other states and become unmanageable" if not controlled by "strict action".
If Advani's ideological leadership galvanised the party's cadres and core support, Vajpayee soaring oratory, common touch and easy charm won over the masses.
The Baharatiya Janata Party condemned Uttar Pradesh government's crackdown against VHP yatra from Ayodhya and accused it of playing vote bank politics while Samjwadi Party said it won't let the state "become another Gujarat" or a repeat of Dec 6, 1992, when the Babri mosque was demolished.
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