Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Monday came in for flak from non-Bharatiya Janata Party parties for his suggestion that all Hindustanis are Hindus with many leaders wondering if he has read the Constitution and really believes in it.
Bhagwat said a sense of idealism is good and described himself not as 'anti-modern', but as 'pro-future'.
Terming as wrong perception that Sangh is ideological founthead of BJP, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday said the essence of its activities is to build a strong India with Hindutva at its core.
'Bhagwat, aware of the advantages of keeping the BJP in power, is wary about the RSS taking steps that would undermine the popular standing of either the PM or the party.'
"If the defence minister thinks that by examination and change in currency (demonetisation), the storm, which has erupted here, will die down, then he has a misconception. This storm will not die down. Whatever they do, this storm is there and after exams, they will see that the storm will rise once again."
The Congress, which has seen over the years a gradual appropriation of some of its stalwarts by the BJP, launched a counter-drive and projected the saffron party as an unworthy champion of the ideals of the father of the nation.
The young RJD leader is yet to earn the trust of the crowd and many senior party members believe he is no patch on his father.
Leading the charge, Congress president Rahul Gandhi tweeted that Bhagwat's remark insulted the Indian tricolour.
Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad took a potshot at Narendra Modi on Monday calling him a Dhritarashtra who is not only "blind" but also "deaf and dumb" and a "coward", as the chorus of criticism against the prime minister's "silence" on Dadri lynching grew louder.
Shortly after former President Pranab Mukherjee passed away, leaders, including President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, paid tributes to him.
Minority conference organised by the JD-U turned out to be a poor show with few from the Muslim community attending it, exposing the falling credibility of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as a secular leader, says M I Khan.
'Indian secularism doesn't deserve a tombstone. It needs a new shrine,' argues Shekhar Gupta.
Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati has warned the people against the "communal designs" of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Bharatiya Janata Party and urged them not to lose their cool in the run-up to the 2017 Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh.
At a time when a section of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Maharashtra has hit the streets expressing displeasure over the party's proximity with the Nationalist Congress Party, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has swung into action to bring together estranged partners BJP and Shiv Sena.
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Congress on Monday approached the Election Commission against Prime Minister Narendra Modi as it accused him of "misusing state machinery" and "abusing authority" over the broadcast of his 'Mann ki Baat' address on All India Radio ahead of Assembly polls later this month.
'The BJP has shown signs lately of returning to its trader mindset.' 'Several strong emotions get meshed in this: Nationalism, protectionism, mercantilism, and arrogance,' points out Shekhar Gupta.
Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptulla has stoked a controversy by reportedly calling all Indians "Hindus". However, she sought to clarify her comments on Friday, saying she had called all Indians Hindi, the Arabic term for people living in India and what she said was "not in relation to the religion but in relation to identity as nationality". She did not call them Hindus, she said.
'Only on two occasions has the RSS thrown itself completely on the side of the BJP.' 'In 1977 in the wake of the Emergency. And in 2014 with Modi.' 'Now, I've been told that this is not going to happen in 2019.'
Bharatiya Janata Party stalwart L K Advani turned 88 on Sunday and was greeted by a host of leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
The division bench said the order needs to consider afresh the 36 intelligence inputs submitted by the state government before the single bench.
Modi said Vajpayee would remain an inspiration and said the outpouring of emotions following his death despite his being away from public life for over a decade due to illness, shows his greatness.
Thousands of mourners jostled and some clambered on trees to capture the moment on their phones as former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's cortege left the Bharatiya Janata Party's headquarters for Rashtriya Smriti Sthal.
'The BJP has been tinkering with the Indian Constitution every now and then.' 'Instead of celebrating November 26 as Constitution Day, the BJP was more interested in (the VHP's) Dharam Sabha which was called that day.' 'This shows they believe more in the Ram mandir than in the Constitution.'
Priyanka is one of the star campaigners of Congress for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections and has also played an important role in forging an alliance between Congress and the Samajwadi Party.
The Uttar Pradesh State Minority Commission on Sunday described the mass conversion of Muslims in Agra as 'an act of fraud and a dubious exercise which has no connection with the serious business of change of faith'.
Rumblings within the Bharatiya Janata Party came to the fore on Wednesday night as the party decided to field L K Advani from Gandhinagar for Lok Sabha polls, angering the patriarch who wanted to shift to Bhopal in a reflection of his tensions with Narendra Modi.
'The saffron party is under pressure from RSS and other Hindutva quarters to move swiftly on construction of Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya.'
A man with a grandfatherly moustache, another in saintly robes and reportage on the saffron face of terror that went unnoticed, says Bharat Bhushan.
Gandhi, who is on a whirlwind two-day tour of Kerala as part of Lok Sabha poll campaign and is contesting from Wayanad besides his family bastion Amethi, took time off his hectic schedule to pay obeisance at the famed Thirunelli temple near the stream.
'Lord Ram's history has reached Indonesia, but not Owaisi's home.'
The RJD chief said, "Bihar mandate is a big slap on the Narendra Modi government. PM Modi wanted to fool people of Bihar but they understood his nefarious designs."
The New York-based Sikhs For Justice has sought a court order directing US Secretary of State John Kerry to designate the RSS a 'Foreign Terrorist Organisation,' which Preet Bharara says the US government intends to move to dismiss.
A leader of Shiv Sena, a constituent of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance at the Centre, on Monday accused the Narendra Modi government of "compromising" on Hindutva issues and termed BJP's coalition with Peoples Democratic Party in Kashmir as "treason".
'Unity in diversity is a dated notion as India, today, is more unified and cohesive and yet more pronouncedly diverse than ever in its history,' argues Shekhar Gupta.
Firing yet another salvo at Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi on Monday claimed that the PM is scripting his own "downfall", as he has "failed" to fulfil promises made to the people.
The constitution of the Missionaries of Charity that declares, 'We shall not impose our Catholic faith on anyone, but have profound respect for all religions.'
The Special Protection Group, the National Security Guard, the Central Reserve Police Force, the Central Industrial Security Force and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police are ensuring a watertight VIP security cover everyday to politicians campaigning across the country.
Long queues outside grocery stores, inflated prices, difficulty in getting important items -- these were some of the problems encountered by people in the National Capital Region (NCR).
Is there a likeness between the characters from Ved Vyas's timeless epic and those prancing about on the political proscenium? Saisuresh Sivaswamy finds out.
'He gets scared when he faces someone who says I will not back off, he backs off,' Rahul said about Modi.
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