'Which leader in the world follows people who make rape threat to their rivals?' 'Which prime minister in the world follows people who give death threats routinely?' 'It is shocking. There is no other world leader who does it.'
Taking a jibe at the Narendra Modi government over its 'Clean India Mission', Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday alleged that angry people are running the nation.
Maharashtra police have made extensive security arrangements to ensure that voting for the October 15 Maharashtra Assembly polls goes peacefully with the deployment of over 2 lakh state police personnel, along with the reserved police forces.
The BJP doesn't want to focus entirely on an anti-Mamata campaign.
'The Congress shall have to take some brave-tough decisions to give a new social face to the party and its leadership composition,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
'The decline in BJP seats tells us that despite the rote incantation of the development mantra, Gujarat is not immune to the economic pain the country is feeling and is telling the ruling party so,' says Shreekant Sambrani.
India witnessed religiously motivated killings, arrests, riots and coerced religious conversions and the police in some cases failed to respond effectively to communal violence, according to the US State Department report on International Religious Freedom.
Syed Firdaus Ashraf on the futility of the 'who is a Hindu?' debate.
'Other communities are also equally frustrated, but they have not been able to put up a front so far. Now a wind of change is blowing,' says Gujarat Congress leader Arjun Modhwadia.
'As demonetisation showed us, the Shah-Modi duo can take big risks.' 'Risking economic damage for political benefit, however, is one thing, stoking old fires in complicated Assam is another', warns Shekhar Gupta.
'It has done a disservice to the cause of Muslims... Modi also spoke of Muslims progressing with the Quran in one hand and a computer in the other, which I think is welcome... I wish he had spoken his mind on the issue of communal discord much earlier and shown swiftness in nipping it in the bud,' says former AAP leader Shazia Ilmi.
The Uttar Pradesh by-election will be the real test for the Modi government. By-election results are not a referendum on Modi but the time has come to analyse whether the Modi government is succeeding in assuring people that the promises it made would be fulfilled, says Dharmendra Kumar Singh.
If Modi wants to be a man of history, he must make hard choices that will pay off down the road, says T N Ninan.
The Bharatiya Janata Party claims it has over six lakh committed workers in Bihar, a team of 10 deployed for each of the 62,200 polling booths.
India's volatile political mix has a new element - 'the Secularati' - that is adept at hijacking Muslim issues and running with them even before the community itself has formulated a response, says Hasan Suroor.
'His politics is pure power politics. It's defined by the struggle that he has gone through.' 'Like Indira Gandhi, he is always suspicious about the people who surround him, he is lonely as he does not trust anyone. And he will not allow anyone to challenge his superiority, be it individual or institutions,' says Ashutosh.
Suggesting that Muslims have contributed to Narendra Modi's victory in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, SP leader Azam Khan, who had indulged in a vitriolic attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party leader, said they had proved that they were a "secular" community.
Beyond welfare politics, the BJP has assiduously worked to appropriate regional icons.
Bearing in mind how full India's pitcher is with ethnic and communal complexities, only the greatest circumspection can hold this country together in a willing union.
'The Parivar's ideology and politics was and remains the very opposite of what Dr Ambedkar stood for.'
With reports suggesting a rift between the Congress and its ally Nationalist Congress Party, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday dubbed the United Progressive Alliance as a "sinking ship" which is being deserted by its allies.
The BJP wants to win a state where it has been out of power for 15 years. The Congress wants to make its mark in a state where it has been a bit player for nearly 30 years. And the BSP wants to recapture power it lost 5 years ago.
'Haven't you heard of the magical EVM machines? They can negate all our votes.' 'There is no hope. Modi is India's Putin.'
The BJP scripted history by opening its account in the state assembly.
There is a conspiracy to get Lalu murdered, but we will give a befitting reply to the centre, said Tej Pratap.
From the economy to foreign policy issues, to addressing the serious challenge posed by communal forces which are out to viciously polarise and divide Indian society, the UPA II government has shown a certain pronounced weakness and lack of vision and commitment that could seriously harm India in the long run, notes Sanjay Kapoor.
'Compared to other social groups, managing the Muslim constituency has always been easier for the secularists.' 'Just some symbolic measures and window-dressing would keep the Muslim flock together.' 'Having been betrayed by all the supposedly 'secular' political parties, Muslims should turn into citizens without any ascriptive identity marks,'says Mohammad Sajjad.
AK Antony's statement of the Congress appearing to no longer being secular and playing minority politics just might be one of the reasons for the party's poor showing in the Lok Sabha elections. Renu Mittal reports how the Congress may be adopting a new approach.
Hours after Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yogi Adityanath defied a ban on his election meeting in Lucknow, police lodged a complaint against the controversial MP and other party leaders who participated in the rally.
Kejriwal blames Sukhbir Badal for blast, while Sukhbir, Amarinder blame the AAP chief for it.
'We live in a time when hideous anger easily flares up, particularly on identity-related issues.' 'Often advocates of harmony and compassion fall victim to the same anger and end up hating the 'haters'!' 'This changes the moment we are able to turn the slanging match into a conversation.' 'More often than not you may find that there is agreement on a fundamental truth -- respect for the life and dignity of all.'
'I want to assure the country that no country, no government can tolerate anybody taking the law into their hands, whether it is an individual or a group.'
Has Owaisi's MIM become an albatross for Imtiaz Jaleel, former journalist and the party's candidate in Aurangabad?
Shivpal loyalists have been denied tickets.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his lieutenants are reaching out across the aisle to get key legislation passed.
Two clerics from Harayana arrested last month for their suspected links to the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, and another operative, had allegedly visited the Muzaffarnagar relief camps in Uttar Pradesh and sought to recruit men to their module, a television news channel reported on Tuesday.
Modi said that the JD-S was going to finish a "poor, distant third".
The CBI on Wednesday registered a case against social activist Teesta Setalvad and her organisation for alleged violation of FCRA in recieving funds from abroad without taking prior permission from the home ministry.
'Karpoori Thakur must be remembered by people today who are tired of witnessing fractious politics where corruption, bigotry, hatred and violence seems to have become distressingly recurrent,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
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