'We are a national party that wants to remind people about Bharatiya sanskruti, which, at the moment, is being remote-controlled by an Italian lady and her agents,' says former Union minister O Rajagopal, the BJP candidate from Thiruvananthapuram who will challenge Shashi Tharoor.
"Modi ji! Is this our Indian culture? Is this what has been taught in Vedas, Mahabharat, Ramayana and Bhagavad Gita? I am asking BJP national president Nadda ji. Is it our culture?" he asked, referring to Sarma's comments.
Pictures from the temple visit emerged on social media this week as Khan described the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in north London's Neasden as one of his favourites.
'Even if the government does not implement an all-India NRC before 2024, it will be part of the party's long-term project.'
As the controversy over Bishop Joseph Kallarangatt's remarks refused to die down, the chief minister said the Kerala society as a whole has not agreed with the Bishop's statement and expressed hope that he would "respond", sensing the stand of the public on the issue.
'It was more than ego.' 'It carried with it a sincere belief that he was the quintessence of the country, that the country's destiny was irrevocably intertwined with his destiny.' An excerpt from T J S George's The Dismantling of India: In 35 Portraits.
'... while leaving the dirty work he orders to his subordinates.'
The former union home and finance minister also alleged that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government would not have taken the bold decision had Jammu and Kashmir been a "Hindu-dominated" state.
According to police sources, the arrested included Khasif (aged 30) and Syed Nadim (20), who are residents of Shivamogga, about 250 kms from Bengaluru.
The synod of Syro-Malabar Church has alleged that scores of women from Christian community from Kerala were being lured into the trap of Islamic State and used in terror activities. The VHP welcomed the Church statement.
'Many times when Khalistan slogans are raised, it is from those who feel alienated, not because they want a separate state.'
The ISYF is supported by Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI.
'If the Ram Mandir is made, it is because of the collective strength of our country.'
'In Yogi's Raj, Hindu festivals are State festivals.' 'He celebrates them, so does his police force, as he boasted in the assembly on Tuesday.' 'Eid, Christmas -- these can be observed, but expect nothing from the State to facilitate these celebrations,' says Jyoti Punwani.
'Getting Brijbhushan to rake up Thackeray's anti-north Indian stand is the BJP's way of cutting Raj Thackeray to size.' 'Could just one MP have stopped Raj Thackeray's Ayodhya tour?'
More than 25 years after the Babri Masjid was destroyed, another generation proclaims its commitment to building a Ram temple.
'There appears to be no end to the errors that our leaders are willing to commit and no risk they are unwilling to run,' notes Mihir S Sharma.
'With the Citizenship Amendment Bill, Hindus from Pakistan can come to India. They have got a way,' says Gurumukh Jagwani who came to India on his honeymoon, loved the country so much that he stayed back and got Indian citizenship.
'The test of true secularism in India is when a girl in your family decides to marry someone from another religion. If you accept her decision happily, then you are truly secular. If you don't, it means your secularism is fake,' argues Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
'Both Modi and Yogi are contesting this election together.' 'Both bring their individual strengths to BJP in UP.'
'We have taught our children about every religion. But we have never told them that they belong to any particular religion. I always believed that these differences would slowly fade away'
Investors are pouring money in the tycoon's companies hoping he will benefit if BJP comes to power.
'Rishi is brought up with Indian values -- Indian qualities like respect our parents, respect our uncles -- but he is more British.'
Some important simple truths about the issue may be more helpful than high sounding debates, asserts Mohammad Sajjad.
Opposing Tipu birth anniversary celebrations, Bharatiya Janata Party and pro-Hindu organisations had called for a bandh on Tuesday even as the district administration had made arrangements for the celebration.
The police also claimed that the opposition BJP and the political opponents of Thackeray were trying to create an atmosphere to project him as anti-Hindu and not sponsoring the cause of Hinduism, and that in the present regime it was difficult for Hindus to practise their religion freely and thus the feeling of hate would increase against the Muslim religion causing a rift.
'Are moving towards a political culture that provides more space for violence and a paranoid political rhetoric,' asks Nitin Desai.
Congress leader Anand Sharma on Wednesday attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party, saying that the Citizenship Amendment Bill is an "assault" on the foundations of the Constitution and fails the morality test while asserting that it was wrong to blame his party for the Partition.
The affidavit, filed by B C Joshi, Director in the Ministry of Home Affairs, said the CAA does not confer any arbitrary and unguided powers on the executive as the citizenship to the persecuted minorities of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh would be granted in a manner as specified under the law governing grant of citizenship.
The party had supported CAB in Lok Sabha. Sena MP said the govt did not give satisfactory answers to the concerns raised by the party.
The Karnataka high court on February 8 will hear the petitions filed by five girls studying in a Government Pre-University College in Udupi, questioning hijab restriction in college.
Acharya Satendra Das, the chief priest of the makeshift temple at the dispute site in Ayodhya, alleged that VHP's yatra from here was politically motivated and not religious and that saints were being used for "vested interests".
Have we been allowed to forget Partition? Isn't Partition the reason many Hindus cannot bring themselves to trust Muslims? So many Muslims born after 1947 have told me with anguish: "How long will we be blamed for Partition?" notes Jyoti Punwani.
Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Praveen Togadia on Wednesday said the Nehru-Liaquat Ali pact in regard to protecting religious places should be implemented in both Pakistan and India.
Likening India's progress to that of a vehicle that only has accelerator and no brakes, the RSS chief said those trying to stop it will either step aside or be eliminated.
The Trinamool Congress supremo said at an election meeting at Bhabanipur where she is contesting by-polls to be held on September 30, that she had been invited to Rome in the first week of October to attend a global peace meeting in which the Pope, other religious heads, dignitaries from various countries are slated to attend, where she would have been the only Indian and 'only Hindu lady'.
Invitations are being extended to several people who have been part of this temple movement including BJP leaders L K Advani, Murali Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti, Mishra said. Kameshwar Chaupal, another trustee of the temple, said top leaders of the RSS including its chief Mohan Bhagwat and general secretary Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi are also being invited for the event along with VHP's working president Alok Kumar.
The Tamil Nadu chief minister may have opened a Pandora's Box on the religion front with the appointment of qualified non-Brahmin temple priests, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Hours after the macabre crime, a man wearing the blue robes of the Sikhs' Nihang order appeared before the media, claiming that he had 'punished' the victim for 'desecrating' a holy book.
If Modi's political retreat -- he has tried to avoid a pre-1984 type of situation in Punjab -- helps soothe Sikh sentiments, nobody should complain Modi, asserts Sheela Bhatt.
