The Jats are a political force in Rajasthan and the community's presence in 85 assembly constituencies may tilt the balance in electoral politics.
'Only then will we withdraw the agitation.'
The rising goods and services tax (GST) and personal income-tax collections may bolster the Narendra Modi government's ability to announce new schemes or enhance existing ones.
Six decades and more later, we are now captives of our identities. Every poll is based on elaborate calculations of electability of candidates on the basis of their castes and other narrow definers. That, along with voter promiscuity, is what defines our political culture, which remains stubbornly resistant to any change, asserts Shreekant Sambrani.
Here are the key highlights of the BJP's 'Sankalp Patra' for the 2024 parliamentary polls.
A day before the eighth round of talks, the government and the farmer unions stuck to their respective positions on Thursday -- the agitating farmers took out tractor rallies to press their demand for rollback of new agri laws and the Centre asserted it is ready to consider any proposal other than their repeal.
The groups, including those associated with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's parent organisation the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, have also threatened a big nationwide agitation if growth of illegal GM crops isn't checked.
The magnificent Jat community has taken his tears to its heart, observes Sudhir Bisht. In Tikait, they see their late leader's son, the son of their doughty farm leader Mahendra Singh Tikait, says Dr Sudhir Bisht.
Hundreds of farmers, chiefly from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, continue to encamp Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur border points of Delhi despite "a few" of them being removed after testing positive for COVID-19 and some symptomatic protesters undergoing medication.
Despite heavy security deployment, groups of farmers from Punjab managed to reach near two Delhi border points on Friday morning after breaking police barricades in Haryana.
They are marching towards Delhi as part of the Bharatiya Kisan Union's protest call over demands ranging from farm loan waiver to cut in fuel prices
A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde said it would set up the committee which may include experts like P Sainath and representatives of the government and farmers' bodies to look for the resolution of the deadlock over the statutes.
The Haryana Police closed the Ambala-Patiala highway after protesters gathered at the Shambhu border point with adjoining Punjab. The ruling Congress also held protests in Punjab, with the state unit chief Sunil Jakhar participating in one near the Shambhu border.
Farmer outfits on Friday started mobilising more batches of peasants from Haryana and Punjab to head towards Delhi's borders to join the ongoing agitation against agri laws, even as political parties such as the Shiromani Akali Dal and the Indian National Lok Dal threw their weight behind them.
Where do the four members of the Supreme Court appointed panel to interface with farmers stand on the Modi government's farm laws?
Clash of the two richest titans, a celebrity and a 'royal', is on the cards in Himachal Pradesh's Mandi Lok Sabha constituency, known for electing erstwhile 'royals' maximum number of times.
Some taxi and cab unions, including those associated with app-based aggregators, have decided to join the strike called by farmers organisations demanding repeal of three new farm sector laws.
'If these new farm laws are allowed to be implemented, there are very high chances of big increase in income of the farmers and in many states, it may even double'
Prime Minister Modi has certainly pulled back, and his political capital -- dependent as it is on an image that he knows best and never retreats -- may have taken a bit of a beating. But, equally, it is hard to say that the protesters have 'won', argues Mihir S Sharma.
At many places, where the voters had entered booths before 6 pm and were standing in queues, they were allowed to cast their votes.
'Why should the government keep these laws on hold for 1.5 years when they are so disastrous for the interests and well-being of farmers?'
'Have you seen a situation like this anywhere before, globally or in India, where a government says, okay, we are withdrawing a law because you don't want it?'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi should for once express grief in Parliament over the death of around 750 farmers during the months-long anti-farm law protests at Delhi's borders, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait said on Saturday.
'Unlike in the sporting arena, where sports federations moved from partisan to impartial referees, in Indian democracy's biggest festival, it appears we are moving backward from unbiased and objective to one-sided and partisan,' observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
The Congress on Tuesday suffered a major upset in Himachal Pradesh at the hands of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Rajya Sabha elections which were marred by cross-voting in all the three states though it won three seats in Karnataka while the saffron party pocketed an extra seat in Uttar Pradesh.
Going firm on their demand for repeal of the new agri laws, hundreds of farmers spent another night in the cold and withstood an early morning drizzle on Thursday on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border at their heavily-secured protest site at Ghazipur.
'The protesters took out a march carrying black flags. They burnt Prime Minister Narendra Modi's effigy while raising slogans against the three farm laws'
Social activist Yogendra Yadav has resigned from the Samyukta Kisan Morcha coordination committee but said he will remain a 'soldier' of the farmers' collective.
As many as 38 flights, including 23 domestic and nine international, were diverted from the Delhi airport to nearby cities between 6-8.45 pm.
Prominent international celebrities and activists on Wednesday joined American pop star Rihanna to extend support to the farmers' protests here and garner international attention on the protracted stir but their remarks were slammed by India as 'neither accurate nor responsible'.
While the police have kept the Haryana-Delhi border at Singhu and Tikri closed for traffic, the protest at Ghazipur, the city's border with Uttar Pradesh, has also intensified.
Farmer leaders said the government sought more time for internal consultations to present a final proposal in the next meeting to resolve the issue.
The Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Lok Dal and some smaller parties will contest the 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly polls together, and an announcement in this regard would be made soon, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said on Tuesday.
Protesting farmers owing allegiance to different farmers' bodies blocked state and national highways at several places on Saturday, causing inconvenience to commuters.
'Now that the home minister met us to discuss our demands a hope has definitely been kindled that farmers's demands will be met by this government.'
The Centre may pass any law undermining the Constitution and on the back of its majority, but once the common man and farmers rise, they will not keep quiet until the new farm acts and the ruling party are destroyed, Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar said on Monday.
To prevent rise in air pollution levels, oil marketing companies and thermal power units were planning to procure stubble from farmers to make bioethanol and promote the central government's 'Agricultural Mechanization' for crop residue management. But both have seen minimal success.
'I have serious doubts about the longevity of the NDA government and the longevity of the 18th Lok Sabha itself.'
Police personnel in adequate strength were deployed across the state to maintain law and order, officials said.
The interim Budget proposals that will be presented on February 1 in the backdrop of the general elections scheduled in April/May 2024 are likely to have a hint of populism, believe analysts, but are unlikely to derail the government from its path of fiscal prudence.
