A magnificent Krishna Janambhoomi temple in Mathura was a recurrent theme for the ruling BJP in the run-up to the assembly polls, reports Nitin Kumar.
"I had sought an appointment with the PM to meet him along with an all-party delegation from Bihar, including RJD's Tejashwi Yadav, to discuss the issue of a caste-based census. I thank him for giving us time next Monday at 11 am," Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar told reporters in Patna.
Kumar on Tuesday resigned from the Congress after a 46-year association, saying he can best serve national causes outside the party fold.
The Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday alleged that the Indian Army was using caste as a factor for recruitment under the Agnipath scheme, drawing a swift rebuttal from Defence Minister Rajnath Singh who rejected the charge as a "rumour".
After promising 40 per cent tickets to women in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections next year, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra announced on Thursday that all class 12 pass girls will be given a smartphone while all graduate girls will get an electric scooty if her party forms a government in the state.
The Congress will give 40 per cent of tickets to women in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections beginning next year, party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said here on Tuesday.
Economic criteria to ensure that the benefits of government policies reach the target group is not "proscribed" and a "recognised" basis of classification, the Supreme Court orally observed Wednesday while hearing pleas challenging the Centre's decision to grant a 10 per cent quota for the EWS category in admissions and jobs.
Is Salman Khan trying to jump on the desh bhakti bandwagon that Akshay Kumar is making a career of?
'Caste and religion are part of old politics. People are realising it now.'
Of the total 166 names declared so far by the Congress, 119 candidates will be making their electoral debut.
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Speaking to reporters in Mumbai, Malik said he was not fighting a battle of caste or religion, but highlighting how a government job was obtained on a 'bogus' caste certificate.
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury's 'rashtrapatni' remark snowballed into a major political row on Thursday with the Bharatiya Janata Party accusing the opposition party of insulting President Droupadi Murmu and demanding that Congress chief Sonia Gandhi should apologise to the nation.
The AAP chief lauded the voters in Delhi and tweeted his thanks.
'One quiver cannot have two different kinds of arrows.' 'The party cannot progress with two leaders.'
The BJP is not taking the AAP challenge lightly. Amit Shah has cautioned party insiders to ensure that AAP does not cross a vote share of 24%. He has always seen AAP as a much more significant challenge than the Congress, observes Ramesh Menon, author, Modi Demystified: The Making Of A Prime Minister.
Raut said the issue of passage of farm sector bills in the Parliament will have no impact on the elections in Bihar as the state votes "only on the basis of caste and religion".
Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi on Friday charged the Mayawati government with promoting the politics of caste and religion in Uttar Pradesh and said there had been no development in the state in the last 20-25 years.
A head count to identify the poor, including their caste and religion, was on Thursday approved by the government, which aims at ensuring that the benefits of the targeted subsidy programme reach them. A meeting of the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, gave its nod for conducting a census in rural and urban areas to identify those living below poverty line. The enumeration on the basis of caste and religion would be part of the census.
Following the SC rap for EC, the poll panel on Monday afternoon took action against Adityanath, Mayawati, Azam Khan and Union Minister Maneka Gandhi.
The opposition Congress on Thursday stepped up the attack on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka and demanded the arrest of party MP Tejasvi Surya and a party MLA, alleging they were behind the scam involving blocking of hospital beds meant for COVID patients in Bengaluru.
'By calling names and using unparliamentary language, they are trying to divert people's attention from the issues of electricity, water, and income.'
The curtain came down on rumbustious electioneering over the last two months when assembly polls were also held in four other states - Goa, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Manipur.
The party also promised to end the mafia raj by creating corporations for the sale of liquor and sand mining.
Despite Sharad Pawar's categorical stand, the Maharashtra government has done nothing to ease the suffering of the Bhima Koregaon 16, who have been denied their basic rights to health and to communication with their families while in jail.
People may belong to any caste and religion, they are not safe, the Congress leader alleged.
"You are seeing my face everywhere," the Congress leader added while addressing a press conference to release the party's 'youth manifesto' along with her brother and former president Rahul Gandhi.
'Social worker Shahzad Ali, gynecologist Dr Mehreen, former Aam Aadmi Party worker Tabassum Hussain along with a large number of Muslim brothers and sisters joined the Bharatiya Janata Party,' said the Delhi BJP statement.
'This is the first time in Goa politics that a communal leadership is being foisted on Goa's people.'
'Once an ad, or a brand, has taken a stance, it should have the guts to stick to it.' 'You can't put out an ad and then issue an apology.'
'The BJP is scared it may lose the Delhi municipal elections where they have been in power for the last 15 years.'
'The UP election results show that people voted not on caste and religion lines; they went above that and voted for development, honesty, pride in the country, etc.' 'If UP can show the way, the rest of the country also can follow.'
Recently, several Twitter users began migrating to the social networking platform after a protest that began with Supreme Court lawyer Sanjay Hegde's Twitter account suspension, and moved on to a larger conversation about Twitter's policies being allegedly anti-Dalit and certain castes and religion.
Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress overcame the might of the BJP and is all set to be CM for a third term.
Speaking at a function in Varanasi on the occasion of Ravidas Jayanti, she urged the audience to take the teachings of the saint to the masses. "He (Sant Ravidas) had dreamt of a society, where there is no discrimination and where every person is respected. You all should take forward his teachings to the masses, especially at a time, when there is so much violence and hatred in the society. His teachings are need of the hour," Priyanka Gandhi said.
Dharmendra Kumar Singh explains the importance of getting 28 percent of the vote in Uttar Pradesh, which is witnessing a five-cornered contest.
In line with exit poll predictions, the Bharatiya Janata Party has taken an early lead in Uttar Pradesh, after one hour of counting.
'Anyone can come and anyone can go.' 'There is no ideology or vision that differentiates one party from another.'
At the launch of his political party, actor Kamal Haasan said he was seized of a guilty conscience when he thought of what he had done for the people who showered him with their love.
In an obvious bid to cast himself in a new statesman-like mould, Gujarat Chief Minister and Bhartiya Janata Party's prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi on Saturday stressed upon the need for India to rise above politics of caste and religion and to build a nation with equal participation of both Hindus and Muslims. Sharat Pradhan reports.
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