This, the Congress said in its political resolution, was necessary as there were misgivings on the 'misuse' of EVMs to 'manipulate the outcome contrary to popular verdict.' The resolution called for reverting to the old practice of paper ballot as adopted by other major democracies to help restore the credibility of the electoral process.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who faced flak for his protest in the heart of the capital, on Saturday said the Constitution does not prevent the chief minister from holding a dharna.
'For half a century, Delhi has not seen a truly powerful ruling party president.' 'The Cabinet, chief ministers, and even the heads of the most powerful departments and agencies now acknowledge where power lies, besides the prime minister's office,' says Shekhar Gupta.
Following the Supreme Court ruling against liquor being sold within 500 metres of state and national highways, the infamous Indian jugaad is in play once again. Veenu Sandhu, Nikita Puri, Ranjita Ganesan & Avishek Rakshit find out how India is coping.
It is not just about meeting performance goals, say hiring managers.
Nitish Kumar has lost his credibility. He is now only a weak ally of the BJP. And he may no longer have a shot at a national role.
The prime minister is checking in with baggage of the kind that will make history, any which way things take a turn, says Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com
'Now that there is an election in the offing, she is repeating the same old promises. Does she think the people of Bengal are fools to fall for her lies?'
Attacking the note ban move, Yechury said the PM's assertion that it will impact terror funding has not yielded any result.
Barkha talks about her journey in the world of glamour and her new show, Girls On Top.
The BJP government is no better than the Congress -- as wretched and anti-people. In addition, it is explicitly and aggressively communal, says Venkatesh B Athreya, in a hard-hitting interview to Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com.
He has the ability to instantly go to the heart of issues and deconstruct them.
In a shocking first in Maharashtra's history, a mob attacked a police station last week, assaulted two policemen, dragged one of them out, paraded him with a saffrom flag and made him chant, 'Jai Bhavani, Jai Shivaji.'
She accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of being 'anti-Dalit' and recalled the Una incident and the death of Dalit scholar Rohit Vemula to back her assertion.
The movement for reservations for Patels of Gujarat is full of contradictions and paradoxes, says Urvish Kothari.
'If not now, then when will I take risks and enjoy myself?'
'The chair is a referee in a match, whether this side is playing better or that side is playing worse is no concern of the chair.'
The Tata empire turns 150 this year. R Gopalakrishnan, former director, Tata Sons Ltd, imagines a conversation among the group's founder Jamsetji, his son Dorabji, his successor, Nowroji Saklatwala, and his successor, J R D Tata.
'We are a plural society that for centuries, not for 70 years, has lived in a certain ambience of acceptance.' 'It is under threat,' outgoing Vice President Hamid Ansari tells Karan Thapar.
'I am not the kind of girl who would try to impress Salman or anyone else. And I don't get impressed so easily too.' Know more about Bigg Boss 9's contestants!
'I remember I was doing The Hate Story and had finished shooting all the other bits with Paoli (Dam, actress), only the erotic bits were left. It was the first time I was doing lovemaking scenes and I had no clue how to do that. My wife was like, 'don't worry, just be comfortable, it's your job.' It was comforting coming from my wife.' Knowing Gulshan Devaiah better.
'There is a communication gap between the Modi government and the allies. During the last one year, the NDA has met only once and that was two hours before the land bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha.' 'When Vajpayee was prime minister if any NDA chief minister asked for time , he was given it the next day. Modi is not doing it.' 'If there is tension on the streets, if there is insecurity amongst the minorities, then Make in India will remain a pipe dream.'
Bobby Jindal's tirade against Donald Trump -- like his performance in the polls -- hardly got any traction
'It is a national shame that the only country that enacted a food security act is now better known as the land of farmer suicides. Indian farming can change only if national irrigation policy is implemented in totality,' Dr M S Swaminathan tells Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com
Shekhar Gupta has a question for Kanhaiya Kumar, but a bigger, more vital, one for the honourable judge.
MUST READ: The speech Nayantara Sahgal was not allowed to give.
'Anti-incumbency, especially in Maharashtra; the BJP's success in creating a new social coalition; and the sheer force of the party's campaign which overwhelmed its opponents,' argues Praful Bidwai, brought the BJP victory in Haryana and Maharashtra, not the Modi effect.
Historian Romila Thapar, while delivering the 3rd Nikhil Chakravartty Memorial Lecture organised by The Book Review Literary Trust in New Delhi, delved on the growing hesitation among free-thinking Indians.
'I have experimented a lot with my acting, now I want to get into the commercial heroine space.' 'I am toning myself up to live up to the hotness standards of Varun and Jacqueline.' 'I am trying to get there.'
'There has never been a problem between Hindu and Muslims in Kairana.' 'We are a people that smoke from the same hookah.' Once the seat of an influential tradition of Indian classical music, Kairana has become a metaphor for the exodus of Hindus.
Having ensured the passage of the Telangana Bill, Congress president Sonia Gandhi's main concern now is to see there is no tension in the state and that the decision is accepted amicably by the people of Seema-Andhra following reports of simmering anger in this region over the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.
'My father is the best father in the world. He is not strict; he has never shouted at us. Anybody who meets my mom will fall in love with her. Bhaiyya pampers me. But for him, I will always be a baby. The age difference between us is quite big.' Shaandaar actress Sanah Kapoor talks about her famous family.
Are you staring at a mid-career crisis? Here's help!
An A-Z of Bachchanalia, the letters expanding into unforgettable bits of his filmography.
The kind of freedom Kashmir is enjoying today is not there even in Islamic countries like Afghanistan, Syria, Turkey and Pakistanis, Mufti said.
'We are completely engaged in fighting poverty; alas, our neighbour Pakistan seems only engaged in fighting us.'
'The government that is talking all the time about national security and national interests should be concerned.' 'When national interests are jeopardised by their own project, they should pause and listen.' 'Whether it is the BJP or the Congress, they all want control over the people.' 'They don't give a damn if anything happens to the people of the country; they are only interested in what they can get out of the data.'
'How can Hindus protest efforts to ban an edition of the Gita in parts of Russia, and force a publisher to withdraw an academic critique of Hinduism, all in the same breath? It makes the Hindu community seem petty, self-serving, and hypocritical. Episodes like this allow Hinduism to be "owned" by the most conservative, intolerant, extremist voices. These people do not speak for me, and they certainly don't represent the form of Hinduism I practice and love," Princeton University's Hindu chaplain Vineet Chander tells Rediff.com's Arthur J Pais.
'Modi has entered blunderland as he does not understand the army. He has actually meddled with the army, which is much more damaging than the ignorance of Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh.' 'People had an impression that the BJP was different. Now it has been made very, very, plain that it is not.' 'Look at the contrast in the behaviour of the prime minister. When they burnt buses in Gujarat for an unjust demand, the prime minister addressed them in Gujarati while the army veterans were on relay hunger strike for the 74th day on that day, but no word on this from the PM.'
The world must hang its head in shame for being a mute spectator to the 'cultural holocaust' in Tibet, says Major General Mrinal Suman (retd).
