'I was living in a fools' paradise, thinking I could win over anyone with my good intentions.'
Jayanta Roy Chowdhury reports on how the West Bengal elections are being fought by the BJP and Trinalool Congress amid COVID challenges, 'Bangaliana', and campaigns based on religion, region, and caste.
Bharatiya Janata Party MP Parvesh Verma, who is accused of making hate speeches, on Saturday said he would give his one-month salary each to the families of the policeman and Intelligence Bureau employee who were killed in the communal violence in northeast Delhi.
"I don't want Z category security. I want to be an A-category citizen, at par with you all. Why was UAPA not invoked against those who fired at me? ...I want to live, to speak. My life will be safe when the poor are safe. I will not get scared of those who shot at my car," he said in Parliament.
What was shocking was the execution of the killings -- calculated, gory and intended to send a chill down the spine.
With the controversy over 'love and narcotic jihad' remark by Pala Bishop Joseph Kallarangatt refusing to die down, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday engaged in a fresh round of verbal sparring.
In the printed copy of his address, prepared by the state government and distributed to legislators and media, there was a reference to the alleged tendency of the central government to 'roughshod' the traditions of cooperative federalism by bypassing the state government.
Laxman Chandra Seth, believed by the vast population of the area to have been the villain of the historic anti-farmland acquisition movement in 2007, said the two built their political careers by misleading the innocent people of Nandigram. Now their lies are back to haunt them.
'The BJP's problem is what rabbit can it pull out of the conjurer's hat?'
A tribunal of the Delhi high court has confirmed the extension of a five-year ban imposed on Islamic Research Foundation, set up by fugitive Zakir Naik who is accused of inspiring Muslim youths in India and abroad to commit terror acts.
'Extravagant new promises can buy him time, but far from solving the problem, they compound the risk.' 'His main alternative is to stress not aspirations, but resentments.' 'He has already de-emphasised aspirational appeals: Nothing has been heard for over two years of the coming of achhe din,' points out James Manor.
Here is what the Congress and National Democratic Alliance parties feel about Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's anointment as Bharatiya Janata Party's campaign committee chairman for 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
The LDF was also leading in 10 out of the 14 district panchayats and 108 block panchayats of the total of 152, according to the State Election Commission figures.
'Since the party is at a stage when things are very bad, this is the best time to experiment.'
'Rahul Gandhi wants a group under the name 'new generation'. But look at the people who surround him.'
Any adverse electoral fallout in Thrikkakara by-poll may have an impact on Rahul Gandhi because this falls in the state he represents as a member of Parliament and KC Venugopal because it is his home state, reports Shine Jacob.
He also hoped that Priyanka Gandhi will campaign outside party bastions of Amethi and Rae Bareli.
The Bharatiya Janata Party faces an uphill task of repeating its performance of the last assembly election of winning 53 out of 58 constituencies in western Uttar Pradesh where polling will be held in the first phase on February 10.
As their parties are locked in a fierce battle for Bengal, Tathagata and Saugata Roy, siblings who belong to the BJP and the TMC respectively, answer the same questions put to them about the assembly election.
Attacking the Samajwadi Party, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said it supported rioters and the mafia, and fielded criminals in western Uttar Pradesh for the assembly elections.
The poll panel has asked him to respond to the notice before 5 pm on Friday.
Abdullah termed the gag order as an attempt by the EC to please the BJP.
She faced off against former disciple-turned-defector Suvendu Adhikari in a very different contest. It's not land acquisition, but an ego clash that has acquired, tragically, communal overtones, explains Kanika Datta.
The RAF was deployed during the communal violence that broke out in northeast Delhi in February, killing 53 people and injuring about 200.
The Sangh Parivar is convinced that by agreeing to Rahul Gandhi's demand for a Parliament debate on communal riots would expose the Congress vice president's lack of homework on the issue.
Stepping up its campaign against Narendra Modi, the Congress on Tuesday released video clips of alleged "hate speeches" of several Bharatiya Janata Party, Sangh Parivar and Shiv Sena leaders and demanded their arrest for "trading in the politics of poison" by committing the "sin" of "stoking communal fire".
Prithviraj Sukumaran WILL play Variankunnathu Kunjahammed Haji, a leader of the 1921 Malabar rebellion.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee campaigning in tribal Paschim Medinipur district on Thursday for the coming state election asked "Marxist friends" not to vote for either the CPI-M or Congress, who are "cohorts of the communal BJP".
'Although Narendra Modi had no direct participation in the Ayodhya agitation, he would not have been in the dominant position he is now had it not been for the Ram Janambhoomi agitation.'
It stated that by a 'sustained and well-oiled' campaign, they created an acute sense of fear and insecurity in the minds of the minority community.
'They are trying to stoke emotions to build fear.' 'They have done nothing and that is why they are trying to divert attention.'
Gogoi says BJP will suffer the same fate as Bihar in Assam if secular forces unite.
With their high-decibel campaigns so far, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Samajwadi Party may appear to be locked in a direct fight in Uttar Pradesh.
Unemployment, delivery of justice in desecration cases, illegal sand mining and drug menace are likely to be key issues in the Punjab assembly elections.
At its Jaipur meeting, the BJP will focus on this year's assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh while the Congress's Chintan Shivir in Udaipur will discuss how it can resurrect itself.
The setback promises to have far-reaching ramifications within and outside the party as it is likely to fuel voices that have challenged the Gandhi family's leadership and also those who have been a votary of a non-Congress front to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party.
'Look at the aggressive way in which a campaign against Friday namaz is going on in North Indian cities.' 'Even the Union home minister is part of this vicious campaign.'
Bharti also targeted Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, saying by choosing to contest elections from Amethi and Wayanad, he has accepted defeat.
She also accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at the Centre of "murdering the democracy" in the name of polls.
