Chef par excellence Satish Arora recalls his days working as a chef to prime ministers to Chandrima Pal.
'We are very close to become a theocratic State where Hinduism is the official religion of the government.'
The coming assembly and Lok Sabha elections -- the choice of candidates, the campaign strategies and the negotiations with other Opposition parties --0 represent the real test for Mallikarjun Kharge.
The environment for investment and business in many parts of India is far from satisfactory
Modi wants the BJP to gets an additional 10% of the vote share from what it won in 2019. Plans are afoot to get new faces to replace MPs with poor chances of winning. Sources say more than 100 MPs are like to be axed, notes Modi biographer Ramesh Menon.
Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar on Wednesday claimed the Bharatiya Janata Party's 1990 rath yatra was for seeking "satta (power)", but the Congress's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' is for "satya (truth)".
The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined a plea by sacked IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt seeking the recusal of Justice M R Shah from hearing his petition to submit additional evidence to support his appeal in the Gujarat High Court against his conviction in a 1990 custodial death case.
"We have prepared a broad platform where we have assessed the top 50 judges of the country who would be considered for appointment to the Supreme Court of India. We have data on judgments and the quality of judgments. The idea is to make the process of appointment in the Supreme Court more transparent," the CJI said.
Ajit Pawar asked in his speech at his faction's meeting when would Sharad Pawar, who is 82 years old, "going to stop".
'Bihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Bengal can be the game changers of 2024.'
Most politicians and even non-politicians have been honoured because of what they were purported to be electorally worth for the ruling party of their time, argues N Sathiya Moorthy.
What the INDIA alliance needs is neither a counter to Modi's tall personality and undiminished charisma nor a counter-narrative to his Hindutva agenda, now centred on the Ayodhya temple consecration on January 22, argues N Sathiya Moorthy.
Sacked Gujarat-cadre IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt on Wednesday withdrew his plea in the Supreme Court seeking suspension of his life sentence in a 30-year-old custodial death case.
What should be made out of the Madras high court order involving non-Hindus' entry into Hindu temples, when many non-Hindus are among the hundreds of thousands that have been worshipping at these temples for generations, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
Modi was severe in his criticism of the opposition amid the continuing logjam in Parliament and also sounded confident of the ruling dispensation retaining power at the Centre for a third term after the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
In switching over, Nitish has sent out a message that if he could not now become the NDA's PM, then he would need to stay on as CM at the very least, which a third term for Modi would not let him have, N Sathiya Moorthy points out.
At a time when the BJP's stars are at the top on the eve of the Lok Sabha polls, the Puri-Joshimath Sankaracharyas may have kick-started a row whose efforts might be to divide Hindus, not in the name of castes, but on what passes for greater belief, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The opposition's anger with the government's conduct has been widely shared by the media. The opposition's minimum demand for allowing the House to function normally was that the law minister should resign, and the railway minister be sacked.
The CBI court had on September 30, 2020 acquitted the accused including former deputy prime minister L K Advani in the case after which two Ayodhya residents -- Haji Mahboob and Syed Akhlaq -- moved a revision petition before the Allahabad high court.
At this poignant historic moment one can only wish that institutions are not built by bricks and mortars, but also by the rich Parliamentary traditions which have stood the test of time which needs to be strengthened by all stakeholders, notes Rup Narayan Das, a former joint secretary of the Lok Sabha Secretariat.
Arvind Kejriwal warned the media that "very big forces" would try and break the INDIA alliance by showing that there was a lot of acrimony among them.
The five-state assembly elections are seen as a now-or-never, no-holds battle for the Congress, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
The transmogrification of Prime Minister Modi to Saint Modi began with the ground-breaking ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. By identifying himself with Lord Ram, Modi raised himself in popular imagination to a saintly person.
Can Asia, or for that matter, the rest of the world, rest in peace if ideologies of religious extremism, exclusivism and global domination -- and these ideologies neither respect democracy nor tolerate secularism and plurality -- are allowed to grow in our midst?
The PM is seen as slipping up in confidence levels as aired by his 'exposure' of the BRS on a crucial issue as alliance negotiations, which is not done under normal circumstances, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Salem had said his sentence could not exceed 25 years as per a solemn assurance given by India to Portugal for his extradition in 2002.
At much personal cost, Advani is wise enough now to understand that BJP is not capable of winning 272 seats in the Lok Sabha on its own. He knows that most top leaders in the party as well as regional satraps are uneasy about an uncompromising, dictatorial leader like Modi dousing their future aspirations. He feels he still may be a compromise candidate acceptable to most allies, says Poornima Joshi
The over half-an-hour meeting between the opposition parties and the government, however, remained inconclusive.
As many as 35 of 53 Nationalist Congress Party MLAs were present at the party meeting convened by Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar in Mumbai on Wednesday, party sources said.
"NDA is a beautiful rainbow of regional aspirations... So nation's development through the development of states... At a time when we are working for a developed India, NDA is taking the lead in showing the spirit of sabka prayas," he said.
Five years ago, Bharatiya Janata Party veteran L K Advani spoke to Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com on the Emergency. On the 40th anniversary of Indian democracy's darkest hour, we reproduce the interview.
A rotating chief ministership as a way to appease factions can work only if there is a credible guarantor, explains Aditi Phadnis.
It is not much of an issue just now, but it could become one if the idea of caste census captures socio-political imagination, going beyond electoral tags and identities, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'I told President Obama, "Mr President, do you realise that the person who is likely to become the prime minister of India in two weeks, does not have a visa, and you are talking about having great relations between India and the USA, how are you going to do it?".'' 'His answer was that this is not right and that he'll have somebody from the White House and the State Department reach out to me.'
Politicians bid farewell to Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu as India's vice-president at the G M C Balayogi auditorium in the Parliament house complex on Monday, August 8, 2022, evening.
It sent shock waves in the party -- a political greenhorn had taken on Modi in his home turf of Gujarat. Smriti had clearly tried to choose sides, in this case Vajpayee's camp. Many felt that this would end Irani's career. A revealing excerpt from Nidhi Sharma's new book She, The Leader: Women in Indian Politics.
'As long as Amul was coming in with products it was not a problem because it was something value added and with a shelf life.' 'When it gets into the local market by procuring locally, it cuts into the market-share of local cooperatives.'
In an election where every seat will matter, micro-strategising is going to be the order of the day. And in such a situation, party infighting - in all parties --could lead to unpredictable results.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Wednesday said he aspired to become the CM of the state and also took a jibe at his 83-year-old uncle asking when will the Maratha strongman retire from active politics, as he appeared to be ahead in the numbers game for control of the Nationalist Congress Party after its vertical split.
He underlined the need for patience in political life and said those seeking a change of guard should go back to the people to achieve it.
