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
The AIADMK's staying power is not in question, but it has to regain the winning streak. That will require its leaders and leadership to re-wire themselves, to be able to re-think situations in ways different from what they had been accustomed to, suggests Sathiya Moorthy.
The Uttar Pradesh government told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that "shocking findings" have emerged in the investigation so far in the case in which Kerala-based scribe Sidhique Kappan was arrested on his way to Hathras, where a young Dalit woman had died after allegedly being gang-raped, in October.
'Removing Biplab Deb and replacing him with Manik Saha is a fruitless exercise that the BJP national leadership has indulged in.' 'It is foolish to think that people will forget what these two have done to the state and its people in the last four years.'
'It is very hard to get the police to file a report against someone from an upper caste.' 'Things are so bad that sometimes we have to sit on a dharna with the body of a Dalit victim to get the police to file a complaint.'
Savarkar believed Swarajya is more than the mere geographical independence of a stretch of earth called India. There was no point in fighting and sacrificing one's life for a Swarajya (mere territorial independence) at the cost of our Svatva (self-existence) or Hindutva itself! A revealing excerpt from Uday Mahurkar and Chirayu Pandit's Veer Savarkar: The Man Who Could Have Prevented Partition.
India's demographic dividend may not automatically give rise to tangible economic gains -- at least not with immediate effect -- but it is likely to have a big impact on the coming Lok Sabha elections, Mayank Mishra
No Service Chief to date has had the guts to streamline the procedure in conjunction with the Election Commission and ensure every soldier votes in his/her place of posting, observes Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
'I always feel that to shake up human beings, you have to go a little extreme.'
'We have learnt lessons from Mamata Banerjee who overcame the BJP's canard by reciting Chandi Path and playing up her Brahmin origins in her campaign. We need to adopt strategies like asking Muslims to lie low and distributing tickets prudently so that we are not accused of favouring one community.' Radhika Ramaseshan reports.
A year marked by more lows than highs for Hindi cinema, here's a recap of the best and worst in 2021.
The by-elections are being held to fill the vacancies caused by the disqualification of 17 rebel Congress and Janata Dal-Secular MLAs, whose rebellion led to the collapse of the H D Kumaraswamy-led coalition government in July and paved the way for the BJP to come to power.
'These charges of the prosecution will fall to the ground and I am 100 per cent sure of that.'
A beautiful documentary from Delhi. A shocking satire that spares no one. A thriller about a serial killer in Iran. A Pakistan film about family secrets... Aseem Chhabra lists the best films he saw in Cannes.
Here is all you need to know about the National Population Register and worries over its links with NRC.
Rashmi Rocket suffers from overcrowding. Through its runtime of nearly two hours, it hints at too many issues without sinking its teeth into any, observes Deepti Patwardhan.
Upholding principles was a luxury when there were charismatic leaders capable of winning elections without stooping low to indulge in identity politics, observes Virendra Kapoor.
'I feel eyebrows change the expressions on a face.'
Despite possessing a global footprint and heaps of the youthful energy the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is desperate to tap into, skateboarding is late to the Olympic party following the arrival of snowboarding, skicross, BMX, beach volleyball and others.
If Irrfan could have been our finest professor of empirical philosophy, and Nawaz is our foremost poet of that space halfway between the gutter and the stars, then Jaideep Ahlawat has to be our greatest artist-scientist, asserts Sreehari Nair.
India head coach Rahul Dravid says he and skipper Rohit Sharma are pretty clear about the team for the T20 World Cup in Australia in less than eight months' time.
The election day debacle in Mumbai shows that the Election Commission's voter list data have long been suspect. Aadhaar would be a great solution for second-level authentication. Praveen Chakravarty explains
The economic muscle in the Mangalore region is generally sympathetic to the BJP, says Aditi Phadnis.
Aseem Chhabra lists his favourite films, most of them shown at international film festivals held virtually (Berlinale and Rotterdam), hybrid (Toronto) or physical (Cannes and Venice).
'Mamata is campaigning hard and not giving the BJP a walkover.'
If not for Palaniswami, it is hard to guess if the AIADMK would have been able to garner 33.3 per cent vote share as against the DMK's 37.7 per cent. AIADMK won 66 seats, its allies Pattali Makkal Katchi and Bharatiya Janata Party five and four seats respectively and proved yet again that the western region was its fortress.
'Even though the film focuses on caste discriminations in rural India, it is first of all a riveting police procedural, and one of the best made in India,' says Aseem Chhabra.
Why are the poor turning Right instead of turning toward far-Left parties, ponders Pranab Bardhan.
Around 30,000 personnel have been deputed for poll duty as the state decides its fate today.
'The distrust of traditional political parties in Punjab is an advantage for AAP.'
But she added that her government will be open to erecting memorials to honour leaders from 'other communities' and keep their religious sentiments in mind.
American celebrities turned out in force for the US presidential election -- not only to vote themselves, but also to encourage others to vote.
In the light of the efforts being made to forge electoral unity between scheduled castes and Muslims, Mohammad Sajjad examines what the architect of our Constitution, B R Ambedkar, had to say about the Muslim community.
The Jat vote is crucial in winning at least 40 assembly seats in Western UP, which has been in the grip of a widespread farmer movement, reports Nitin Kumar.
'Had Muslims been a vote bank, they wouldn't be in the condition they are now,' Asaduddin Owaisi tells Jyoti Punwani.
'At a time when the news channels are screaming louder than the worst crowd, you can't be subtle if you really want to say something important,' Anubhav Sinha tells Bedika/PTI.
With this phase, election will be over in 424 seats and polling in the remaining 118 seats will be held on May 12 and 19.
Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan is not so much a homosexual romance as it is an exuberant appeal imploring conservative Indian parents to accept and respect their children's choices, gay or straight, notes Sukanya Verma.
It is hard to escape the feeling that solving the problems of 2020 and 2021 will require something special which at the moment is not on view, observes Aakar Patel.
The Chief Election Commissioner pointed out that the exercise involved nearly 7.3 crore voters and over 1.06 lakh polling stations.
