The government on Thursday approved inclusion of more castes in the central list of OBCs for various states, a move it hopes will especially help it reach out to people in Naxal affected states.
In the event of a triangular contest the winning party will need about 40 per cent of the votes polled. And it is here that the votes of the numerically smaller communities will come into play.
Opposition members tried to corner the government in both the Houses over the Supreme Court decision that states are not bound to provide reserved seats for the SCs, STs and OBCs in appointments and promotions.
'It did not start as a Hindutva slogan.' 'It started to tease the TMC and slowly it got internalised and the BJP started countering with Jai Shri Ram slogans because Mamata was getting provoked.'
The Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti leader said that reservation formula given by the Congress for his community will be over and above the 50 per cent quota for the Schedule Tribes, Schedule Castes and Other Backward Class.
The Andhra Pradesh government received a major boost with the Supreme Court, in an interim order, upholding the validity of four percent reservation provided to backward members of Muslim community in the state on Thursday.
Several Muslim organisations have disfavoured the women's reservation bill in its present form and demanded that the government take up the measure only if it provides for a quota within quota to women belonging to Muslim, Dalit and Other Backward Class communities.
The state government is worried that the agitation may pose a serious threat to it, reports Sanjay Jog.
From Sri Lanka's most popular political family to its most despised -- going by the voices on the streets calling for the Rajapaksas' ouster -- what went wrong for the clan? Veteran Sri Lanka watcher N Sathiya Moorthy offers an insight.
There are many such young men in Maharashtra, mainly in the industrially backward Marathwada region, who had once fallen victim to ISIS's propaganda but are now leading a normal life with the help of the employment training programme.
The Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal on Monday said they would oppose the Women's Reservation Bill in its present form at an all-party meeting convened by the government and stick to their demand for separate quotas for women from the minority community, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward classes. the meeting has been convened by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is Leader of Lok Sabha, to find a way out of the impasse on the bill.
Geetanjali Krishna looks at how one organisation's unique idea is helping marginalised communities to gain legal access.
Reservation is an albatross whose continuation under the current system risks creating deep fissures in our society, warns Vikram Johri.
The move comes a day a day after Patel community members living in the US announced a "boycott" of Modi's upcoming visit there.
The Supreme Court has held that a person belonging to the Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe or Backward Class category can contest elections in posts reserved for the general category and there cannot be a restriction on their vying for the post.
'Among Dalits, the Valmikis were the biggest voters of the BJP.' 'They now feel Yogiji has failed them in Hathras.'
Reaching out to Dalits and backward classes, the administration of the Lord Venkateswara temple at Tirupati has launched several initiatives for the community including training them in performing temple rituals.
The Gujjar community will be given five per cent reservation as a special category under an agreement reached with Rajasthan government, bringing to an end the nearly month-long agitation for Scheduled Tribe status. Addressing a joint press conference with Gujjar leader Kirori Singh Bainsla in Jaipur, Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje announced five per cent quota for Gujjars as also Rebaris and Banjaras.
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