The stir in Gujarat by the Patel (Patidar) community over their inclusion in the Other Backward Classes has once again raised the issue of the importance of reservations in India.
With an eye on upcoming assembly elections after the drubbing in Lok Sabha polls, Maharashtra's Congress-Nationalist Congress Party government will take a decision next week on the Rane committee's recommendation for 20 per cent quota for Marathas in government jobs and educational institutions.
Patel told Congress to clear their stand on Patidar quota by November 3.
Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com offers his unique perspective on the Patel agitation and the reservation issue.
'Where should shudra-OBCs go because of whom the nation is surviving?'
The controversial decision of the United Progressive Alliance-II government ahead of general elections to include Jats in Other Backward Classes category came under judicial scrutiny with the Supreme Court on Tuesday seeking explanation from the Centre for allegedly ignoring the advice of a statutory body to keep the community away from reservation benefits.
Such is the force of his oratory that many Muslims, even those who don't vote for him, have come to believe that Asaduddin Owaisi is the first and only politician who speaks up for Muslims since Independence, observes Jyoti Punwani
Mahesh Londhe, son of a Pune bhel vendor cleared CA in first attempt. Londhe, who was sponsored by Thermax CEO MS Unnikrishnan, now wants to take up a corporate job in a manufacturing firm
Taking a swipe at the prime minister, he said there was no dearth of skills in the country and those from the backward classes are endowed with skills but not given an opportunity to move forward.
The state government had on June 24 directed district adminstration to issue SC certificates to 17 OBCs -- Kashyap, Rajbhar, Dhivar, Bind, Kumhar, Kahar, Kewat, Nishad, Bhar, Mallah, Prajapati, Dhimar, Batham, Turha, Godia, Manjhi and Machua.
'The Congress has indeed become overly dependent on the RJD.' 'A few Congress leaders have successfully convinced the national leadership about the benefits of maintaining ties with the RJD.'
Fadnavis also reiterated that the three-party MVA dispensation will collapse under its own weight, and asserted that once that happens, his party would provide an alternative government in the state.
A summary of Saturday's action in the Premier League.
Influential Patel community leader Parshottam Rupala, minister in the first Narendra Modi government Mansukh Mandaviya and three-time MP Darshana Jardosh, all from Gujarat, were among those inducted in the Union cabinet on Wednesday.
The Patel community, a decisive vote bank in Gujarat, has two main sects -- Leuva and Kadva. Maa Umiya is the reigning deity of Kadva Patel community.
'Tamil Nadu's youth bulge will soon be 70 per cent of the population, many of them smartphone-toting millennials looking for gains more tangible than what screen gods can give,' says Sunil Sethi.
The Rajya Sabha on Monday saw high drama and embarrassment for the government as a Constitution amendment bill on backward classes was changed after some amendments moved by the Opposition were passed by the House.
Security has been beefed up in the East Godavari district, in view of Kapu leader Mudragada Padmanabham's planned indefinite fast at Kirlampudi from Friday for inclusion of the community in the Backward Class category.
The logic behind the BJP targeting Mayawati's votes.
She has been losing her party's core voters since the 2007 assembly polls, whereas the Samajwadi Party has managed to keep its flock together. The BJP believes she is a soft target.
With several political stalwarts of Uttar Pradesh no longer on the scene, it will be keenly watched how their children lead at the hustings this time without their formidable presence.
Aam Aadmi Party founder member and former MP Ilyas Azmi on Monday quit the party citing "lack of inner democracy" in the organisation.
The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance released its manifesto for the February 20 Punjab polls on Saturday, promising a slew of sops for various sections, including 75 per cent reservation in all government jobs for youngsters from the state, an unemployment allowance, 35 per cent reservation for women in government jobs and massive infrastructure development.
The big question is: Will her release be a threat to Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami? The answer is, while it may give him moments of nervousness, he will not be replaced, say political experts. T E Narasimhan reports.
A group of artists held a protest in Mumbai on Saturday against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act by creating paintings around the theme of 'Save Constitution'. The protest was organised by the Secular Movement and the Secular Artist Movement at the Azad Maidan in south Mumnbai. Some 90 artists from across the state, including Prakash Bhise, Sudharak Olwe, Prabhakar Kamble and Nandkumar Jogdand, created several canvas paintings against CAA.
Zala, a close associate of Thakor, was the MLA from Bayad in Sabarkantha district.
'Otherwise, the minorities would not have acknowledged his leadership quality. I am happy the BJP is working towards achieving a secular image,' Vellappally Natesan, the OBC leader in Kerala who has created a controversy by supporting Narendra Modi, tells Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier.
Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi dispels doubts about him and his policies in a conversation with Urdu weekly Nai Duniya's Chief Editor Shahid Siddiqui.
More than 750 constituencies spread across four states and one union territory will go to the polls on Tuesday
In the course of his various tenures, Yediyurappa made many adversaries. Bommai, by contrast, knows the Opposition well and has many friends, cutting across parties -- he is, after all, only a 2008 BJP entrant.
Click on the map to see the quantum of reservation across all our states.
The move is aimed at reflecting the diversity of India and highlighting the contribution of prominent personalities.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday made a scathing attack on Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad on his home turf, calling him a "tantrik" (occultist) and his party "Rashtriya Jadu Tona Party" as he reached out to the youth and weaker sections, promising a six-point programme for the state's development.
The Bharatiya Janata Party faces an uphill task of repeating its performance of the last assembly election of winning 53 out of 58 constituencies in western Uttar Pradesh where polling will be held in the first phase on February 10.
In Gujarat's political circles, the appeal was seen as an indirect call to vote against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
The Bihar government on Wednesday announced reservations in government jobs for eunuchs and transgenders, whom it had recognised as the third gender last year.
'Why do the English-speaking class feel they are the only ones who are efficient in work?' 'My own mother was from a village and she was more efficient than me. She used to handle crises better than me.' 'We will have to come out of our elite perception of governance.'
The two parties have fielded 33 candidates each belonging to the Jat community for the December 7 polls.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra which completes two years in power on November 27 has survived against all odds amid the coronavirus pandemic.
'Look at the aggressive way in which a campaign against Friday namaz is going on in North Indian cities.' 'Even the Union home minister is part of this vicious campaign.'
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