There are also over 10 million voters in the 18-29 age bracket. Winning them over could be Nitish Kumar's biggest challenge, reports Aditi Phadnis.
Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh continues to be the rising star in Rahul Gandhi's Congress. With the Congress war room at Gurdwara Rakabganj Road being re-designated as the Congress Coordination Centre, Ramesh has been appointed as the convenor of a small group which would look after the co-ordination work for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
She noted that the democracy was at peril under the Modi government and alleged that it was misusing and abusing its mandate in the "most dangerous" fashion, the sources said.
Barely a week before Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to launch the Bharatiya Janata Party's election campaign in Jammu and Kashmir, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Monday sought to downplay the Sangh Parivar's long-standing demand repealing Article 370 of the Constitution.
Mevani, after his meeting with the Gandhi scion, said he would ask his community members to defeat the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in the Gujarat polls.
The Aam Aadmi Party government's first 100 days in power in Delhi have been a mixed bag
The RJD leader, who is the Mahagathbandhan's chief ministerial face, said that if voted to power, providing jobs to unemployed youth would be his topmost priority.
In a pre-budget meeting with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, the experts suggested timely implementation of the BJP's election manifesto promises to fix higher support prices. They also favoured a Kissan TV channel, an efficient procurement policy, priority for farm mechanisation and the linking of rivers.
'It is sad that Kerala had so many Covid patients which is primarily due to the mismanagement of the Left government.' 'The technical committee was full of CPI-M leaders who happen to have medical degrees with no experience in public health.' 'They were advising the CM and we are paying for those mistakes.'
The death of George Floyd -- a 46-year-old Black man -- on May 25 in Minneapolis, United States as he was being detained by four police officers sparked fury across the United States, but has also proven to be the catalyst for anti-racism movements around the world. The killing has spurred millions of people into taking action, with protesters filling the streets and taking to social media. Agora, a photography app company that compiles photographs submitted by its users -- both amateur and professional -- and that runs photography awards to showcase the best submissions has released a series of images taken during the Black Lives Matter movement as part of the company's own #StopRacism campaign.
Some of the key proposals of the agenda relate to transforming the banking sector, addressing agrarian distress, countering hate crimes and discrimination, and spurring employment generation.
Citing the complaint, the Bharatiya Janata Party said in New Delhi asked Gandhi to come clean on the matter.
The bill was passed with 165 voting in favour and 7 against it.
Congress Vice-president Rahul Gandhi, in an interview to a leading daily, has stated that he is "ready to take charge".
Fulfilling the promises made in the manifesto, a resurgent Opposition in the state assembly, impending local body polls... Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa may have made history by winning two assembly elections in a row, but the real test begins now, says N Sathiyamoorthy.
In more than a dozen assembly constituencies, the Muslim community, locally known as 'Pangal' or 'Meitei Pangal', can swing results.
We asked you to tell us your reason for choosing not to vote. This is what our readers shared.
The BJP-led government may not permit foreign retailers to open mega stores in the country as such a move may adversely impact small traders and farmers, new Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman indicated.
Instead of failing young Indians, the government should now focus laser-like on education, skilling, healthcare, and the environment, says Mihir S Sharma.
'We first need to acknowledge the truth.' 'We are trying to diminish the problem and say, everything is okay and green shoots are emerging.' 'Imagine you are a doctor and not getting accurate medical reports, how do you diagnose and treat the illness?' 'We are not dealing with a terminal illness here, we are dealing with BP and cholesterol, which are imminently curable.'
Congress campaign seeking to paint the ruling party as anti-poor and anti-farmer seems to have unnerved the BJP, feels T N Ninan.
Deepak Parekh says AAP victory is a vote for change.
'In this season of inspired mean-spirited campaigning, it still seemed remarkable that we are more likely to learn civics lessons from school children than our leaders,' says Rahul Jacob.
'During Amit Shah's recent visit to Kerala, the strategy of concentrating the attacks on the CM on false charges was clear enough.'
At least nine such NGOs that had 'gau' or 'cow' in their names are on the list.
Given Nitish's track record as an accomplished trapeze artist who can dump the BJP overnight and embrace the RJD, he can leave the saffron party stranded should he fail to get the chief ministerial crown for the fourth time, notes Virendra Kapoor.
The Congress has conceded the plum Finance portfolio to its junior partner, resolving a thorny issue, after its president Rahul Gandhi intervened and spoke to Kumaraswamy.
In a blistering attack on Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi on Monday dubbed the Gujarat model propagated by Modi as a 'toffee model', saying it has only benefited one industrialist in the state, ignoring the interests of farmers and the poor.
Mounting an attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party, United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Sunday said the Opposition party "talks big" and believes in the "politics of hate."
Job creation was mentioned 13 times in the BJP's 2014 election manifesto, yoga only twice. Has yoga taken precedence over jobs for the Modi Sarkar, asks Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
With India lagging behind on several human development indices including healthcare and education, the Union government's decision to up the spending on these sectors is a step in the right direction. However, much more needs to be done in the way of increasing accountability and arresting corruption if headway is to be made on these fronts, says Devanik Saha.
With the Aam Aadmi Party's deadline of passing Jan Lokpal Bill nearing, the Delhi government on Tuesday said its draft was being finalised and it would be cleared in a cabinet meeting on Friday.
'Look at the number of billionaires, the number of new billionaires in India.' 'Adani and Ambani are not the only ones.' 'What's wrong with people making money as long as it benefits us?'
'EVMs are absolutely credible, they are robust.' 'It's only a calculator with certain instructions. And the sim card inside an EVM is burnt and cannot be reprogrammed.' 'Besides, the machines are circulated among various states. No machine is allowed to remain in one state after an election.' 'By far, it is one of the finest innovations India should be proud of.'
The Bihar CM will have make good on his poll promises of a clean administration, providing piped water, toilets, pucca roads and unemployment allowance
Hooted by Bharatiya Janata Party workers in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi early this week, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Sunday hit back asking people to avenge the "insult" meted out to the state through the ballot in upcoming assembly polls.
'Just as the monkey god needed a Jambavan to prod him into realising his superpowers, so did the poll panel need a poke from the Supreme Court into remembering it had an armoury of powers at its disposal to stop the infractions,' notes Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
In a veiled reference to Narendra Modi, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Monday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party's only goal is to grab the Prime Minister's chair for which it was "misleading people" and shedding crocodile tears.
'... The girl's parents would probably react in the same manner as the parents of the Hindu girl who marries a Muslim boy.' Minority Affairs Najma Heptulla, in an exclusive interview.
Modi said the newly-sworn in government took four major decisions related to farmers' and traders welfare in the first meeting of the Union Cabinet.
