'When India opened its doors to the world, moving away from an agrarian to a market economy, everything, whether life or love, was commodified.'
According to the Election Commission data, 30 out of the state's 40 Lok Sabha seats went to the BJP-led coalition in the latest elections, a sharp drop compared with 39 in 2019 and lower than the tallies of 2014 (31) and 2009 (32).
BJP and RSS leaders are once again pushing to remove the words 'secular' and 'socialist' from the Constitution's Preamble, showing a deeper effort to change India's identity from a diverse, multi-religious republic to a Hindu-first nation, even though they don't have the numbers in Parliament to officially change the Constitution, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
During Operation Kagar, 350 Naxalites have been killed so far, including some of the movement's top leaders.
'According to JP, Indira Gandhi was not much of a danger to democracy. He said, it was Sanjay Gandhi and his gang.'
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday said the Centre's decision to include caste enumeration in the next census has exposed the difference between the Modi government's 'true intentions' and the 'empty sloganeering' of the Congress.
'He may be chief minister, but sooner or later he will face the music.'
Several petitions were filed in the apex court challenging the Act, contending that it was discriminatory towards the Muslim community and violated their fundamental rights.
'People in politics have lost the value of being connected to their own people.' 'Now it's all about vote share, vote bank, how many parties can you break and make them join you.'
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar engaged in a heated exchange with Leader of the Opposition Rabri Devi in the Legislative Council, dismissing her as "inconsequential" without her husband, RJD president Lalu Prasad. The spat stemmed from RJD MLCs wearing badges promoting quota hikes passed during Tejashwi Yadav's tenure as Deputy CM, which Nitish Kumar perceived as an attempt to claim credit for the populist move. Kumar also remarked that Rabri Devi was only propped up by her husband when he was in trouble, referring to her becoming Chief Minister in 1997 while Lalu Prasad faced corruption charges. The war of words between the two rivals has intensified, with the RJD accusing Kumar of losing his mental balance and being unfit to rule.
The BJP hopes to deepen its support among backward castes, especially the Extremely Backward Classes, in Bihar following the announcement of Bharat Ratna for former chief minister Karpoori Thakur, a leader who enjoys admiration from backward satraps of various hues.
The JD-U, may be the BJP's partner for now. But it is a party at all only because of Nitish Kumar. The day Nitish Kumar exits, the JD-U will split into hundreds of pieces. Obviously, Prashant Kishor is setting himself up as the vessel that will collect all the pieces and put them together in some sort of political instrument, explains Aditi Phadnis.
'There were deep discussions within the Sangh Parivar before this decision was made.' 'They were convinced, and only then did the Modi government proceed with the caste census.'
Modi earned his spurs as a doughty leader of the Opposition in the assembly, a post he held till 2004 when he got elected to the Lok Sabha from Bhagalpur.
'The southern states will have no voice.' 'Political parties in future need to focus only on one region, the northern region, to win the general election.'
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Sunday that indigenously developed BrahMos missiles destroyed Pakistani air bases while its air defence system, borrowed from China, remained unused, during Operation Sindoor, which exposed its lies on terrorism to the world.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar asserted that the NDA government, led by him, put an end to frequent Hindu-Muslim clashes in the state by taking measures such as fencing graveyards and bringing to justice those involved in communal riots. He also criticized the opposition, particularly Tejashwi Yadav, accusing them of lacking understanding and experience. Kumar's claims were met with anger and walkout by the opposition members.
Lok Janshakti Party MP Mehboob Ali Kaiser, the lone Muslim to have been elected to the Lok Sabha from the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance in Bihar, joined the Rashtriya Janata Dal on Sunday, in a shot in the arm for the opposition party amid the elections.
Several opposition MPs have made a similar demand to the government in the wake of the dastardly attack in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed last week, leaving the nation grief-stricken and outraged.
Census exercise with caste enumeration will be carried out with the reference date of October 1, 2026, in snow-bound areas like Ladakh and of March 1, 2027, in the rest of the country, the Home Ministry announced on Wednesday.
'We used to discuss how image-conscious Nitish Kumar was and his sophisticated conduct in public life. All this has become a thing of the past.'
"I am now a free citizen of India like you. I am no longer the DGP. So, no service rules apply to me anymore. Thousands of people are coming from Buxar, Begusarai, Jehanabad, Aurangabad and other districts. I will take a decision after talking to them. Contesting elections is not illegal," he told journalists.
'JD-U wants to emerge as the single largest party in Bihar after the next assembly polls by contesting more seats than the BJP.'
'For 40 years, India valued only technical skills. IITs, coding -- that became everything.' 'Soft skills were sidelined. But those are the skills that will keep you employable now, not technical skills.'
The police claim businessman Ashok Sao paid Umesh Yadav Rs 400,000 to kill Gopal Khemka last Friday.
'Voters from the forward castes voted for JD-U because they feared Laloo Yadav's return, but since that fear is no longer there they may not see the need to vote for Nitish Kumar anymore.'
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar launched a scathing attack on his predecessor Rabri Devi, calling her appointment as Chief Minister "suspension-induced" during a heated debate in the state legislative council. The verbal sparring, marked by accusations and counter-accusations on law and order, saw Kumar accusing the RJD of being unable to handle Hindu-Muslim tensions and engaging in "mischief." Rabri Devi, in response, asserted her right to speak about her achievements during her tenure as Chief Minister. Kumar, however, retorted with a sharp, local phrase, dismissing Rabri Devi's claims. The exchange, which saw both sides engage in mudslinging, ended with the Chairman admonishing the opposition for their unruly behavior.
They said the agency is also taking steps to bring under its ambit cases registered in various states by the police.
There are challenges galore before him, and it is not going to be easy. In the next four years, he has to conjure a system that changes the optics about him and the BJP both nationally and internationally so that he can ride back on his own, claim the top slot, and not have to lean on a coalition, asserts Ramesh Menon as Modi 3.0 completes a year in power.
The minority front of the Uttar Pradesh BJP will distribute 'Saugat-e-Modi' kit to 32 lakh poor Muslims on the occasion of Eid this year.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a fresh case in connection with alleged impersonation by four National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG), 2024 candidates in Bihar's Purnea, officials said on Wednesday.
Tejashwi accused the Nitish Kumar-led government of meting out "step-motherly" treatment to migrant labourers.
'What social justice is Tejashwi talking about?' 'Muslims in Bihar are asking we are 18%, and you are giving us 2 seats.'
'Lalu understands that his words can be used by rivals to consolidate Hindu votes which may damage the prospects of his party's social support base.'
District education officer Ajay Kumar Singh said teacher Harendra Rajak's conduct was brought to his notice by family members of several students of the government secondary school at Amrakh in Kurhani block.
'For the first time in this country, perhaps the first time anywhere, we are going to use backwardness index.' 'It is a fundamental shift in the discourse in the country's social justice.'
Sources said Paswan's party may contest on five of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar.
'They want to keep the pot boiling all the time.' 'The BJP wants to set a political narrative that the Gandhis are doing wrong things.'
The BJP will enter this election, as it does every election, as if it is fighting to prevent a 2004-style defeat. This is a party that wins big because it always behaves as if its back is to the wall, predicts Mihir S Sharma.
'Gyanendra back on the throne would be bad news for the Nepali people. He may not have learnt from his experience, but we have.'
