When Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi's name was floated as Venkaiah Naidu's successor as vice president, the RSS instead suggested Jagdeep Dhankar, indicating that he was also Mohan Bhagwat's choice, states Prakash Bhandari.
What happened in India in the week gone by? Here's the top stories that captured India's attention in the week gone by.
While a group led by Binay Tamang wants to end the shutdown, the mainstream GJM, led by its supremo Bimal Gurung, wants the status quo to continue, reports Avishek Rakshit.
'A master politician who excelled in the politics of intrigue, Subash Ghisingh kept winning election after election, sending a clear message to the state and central governments that he remained the undisputed king of the Darjeeling hills.'
In a shot in the arm for the Bharatiya Janata Party, two senior leaders of the Asom Gana Parishad on Monday joined the party and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha pledged support to BJP candidates in West Bengal, including the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat.
It was the state government which has violated human rights and slapped false cases against the GJM, he claimed.
The defence minister made the remarks after performing 'Shastra Puja' -- the customary worship of weapons -- at the Sukna-based headquarters of the Indian Army's 33 Corps in Darjeeling district of West Bengal on the occasion of Dussehra.
Sukanya Verma leaves you spoilt for choice on OTT this week.
'Huma is one of those actors who makes acting seem effortless.' 'But that happens because she has put in a certain amount of preparation.' 'She has a certain confidence that allows her to let go.'
Mithya fumbles to make headway towards truth or dare, observes Sukanya Verma.
Banerjee while briefing the media on the meeting said, "We will play an aggressive role in Parliament. We are ready to go to jail but will not bow our heads."
'Parties which supported me were all threatened. This could hardly have been called a fair election.' 'This is Modi's India.'
Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha chief Bimal Gurung on Wednesday threatened to launch a militant agitation in the Darjeeling hills to press for the original demand for a Gorkhaland state, a day after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee firmly ruled out any division of the state.
"Enough is enough. I have tolerated for eight days. I am very rough and tough. I am giving 72 hours to withdraw the bandh. Do not force me to take strong action," Banerjee told a press conference at the state secretariat.
Rough estimates from plantation companies have pegged production loss in excess of 100 million kg (mkg) across India which is valued at around Rs 2000 crore. Usually, plantation companies in Assam and West Bengal produce around 15 per cent of the total tea during March-April.
Over one crore voters in West Bengal will decide the political fate of 342 candidates on Saturday, when 45 assembly constituencies go to polls in the fifth phase, amid a raging second wave of COVID-19.
With the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha renewing the demand for Gorkhaland in Darjeeling following United Progressive Alliance unanimously endorsing creation of a separate Telangana state, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday ruled out division of West Bengal and blamed the Congress for the agitation in the hills.
Addressing a press conference in Siliguri as part of the BJP's 'Shahid Samman Yatra', Union minister John Barla said he would discuss the issue at the appropriate level to bring to fruition for creating a separate state.
For the last eight months, the toy train service between New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling is partially suspended, following a landslide and the authorities are unsure of when the narrow gauge route would be revived.
Nicol Tamang, main accused in the murder of All India Gorkha League president Madan Tamang, escaped from CID custody in West Bengal's Darjeeling district, police said. Tamang was arrested on August 16 and kept in CID custody at Pintal village near Siliguri after he was produced in Darjeeling district court the next day.
The accident happened near Sonada when the third vehicle in the Presidential convoy slipped off the road and fell down.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took stock of the damage caused by the earthquake in eastern India and has spoken to the chief ministers of Bihar, Assam and Sikkim, government sources said.
'Manmohan Singh's fond hope of avoiding conflict over territory by 'making borders irrelevant' is increasingly difficult to realise in a world where institutional restraints on aggression are weakening and the new game in town is unalloyed power play,' notes T N Ninan.
Central Bureau of Investigation is investigating the Saradha ponzi scam.
Rediff readers shared their best photographs of India.
In a blunt message to the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha demand, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday ruled any division of West Bengal.
'When I look at the faces of people around me, they have a certain energy, as if unemployment, food scarcity and infrastructural breakdown are small sacrifices for our agitation for Gorkhaland,' a Gorkha based in Delhi tells Geetanjali Krishna.
The state government has its own security forces like the Eastern Frontier Rifles and was not deploying them, the MHA said.
The protesters marched from Rajghat to Jantar Mantar carrying the flag, depicting 110 years of their struggle for separate state.
Hours ahead of the second-phase strike, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) president Bimal Gurung on Monday sought intervention of the Centre for resolving the crisis in the Darjeeling Hills of West Bengal.
Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said in Darjeeling on Friday night that he would visit Pune, which was rocked by serial blasts on August 1, on Saturday.
Meghalaya does not have a rail link at present but around 125 years ago people from this quaint hill-station made memorable journeys on one of the most romantic mountain railways of the world the Cherra Companyganj State Railways (CCSR).
Over 75 per cent of the bank's Rs 175 crore NPA arises from Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
A fearless competitor who used brain and brawn in equal measure, Subhas Bhowmick was one of the most fascinating characters in Indian football through the 1970s with his muscular built and equally expressive carefree opinions.
Rediff readers share their special moments with their mother.
Around 2,000 Gorkha Muslims staged a protest march supporting the Gorkha Jamukti Morcha cause.
The footballer, who contested elections twice as a Trinamool Congress candidate and lost both times, took to social media to announce his decision.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will sharpen Bharatiya Janata Party's campaign for the high-octane assembly elections in West Bengal with a mega rally at the Brigade Parade Grounds in Kolkata on Sunday.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said she will never agree to a division of the state even as the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha insisted that it has not given up its demand for separate Gorkhaland.
Most of the coded signals and communications were in Nepali and Tibetan languages.
