UP CM said 'it does not matter who built it and for what reason; it was built by blood and sweat of Indian labourers'.
The BJP too described the Muslim rule in India as 'barbaric'.
'This is what Hindu Rashtra looks like, which has been enabled by conditions of democracy.'
Vidya Charan Shukla, a former union minister and Congress veteran from Chhattisgarh, died on Tuesday in a Gurgaon hospital after battling injuries sustained in a deadly naxal attack on a convoy of party leaders a fortnight ago.
Mayawati also sought the dismissal of a plea, which alleged that pubic funds were misused in the construction of memorials and statues.
Union Rural Development Secretary L C Goyal is tipped to take over the post
'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.'
'Has the time come to devise Version 2 of ad hoc T-bills?' 'In return, the government must agree to privatise all but five or six banks.' 'If something like this is not done, we will have governments going on the rampage, with increasing frequency,' says T C A Srinivasa Raghavan.
'NSCN-IM leader Muivah warns that the NSCN-IM has come very close to an honourable solution to the peace process with the Government of India, but if it does not materialise, then the Nagas will go away so far that it would be difficult to bring them back to the negotiating table easily,' note Sandeep Pandey and Meera Sanghamitra.
'One good thing that has come out of all this is that it shown people that online ordering is the way forward.'
Modi said India and Pakistan were together before 1947 and he was confident that the two neighbours can discuss their problems and solve them.
'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.
'There is a compulsion to look hard, decisive, and risk-taking; start something; and then conclude it in a way you can claim victory.' 'That is not such an easy option against China,' notes Shekhar Gupta.
During the Congress regime, India did witnessa slew of reforms which are now taken up by the Modi government too.
While the BJP has taken a beating, its leader still stands tall, points out T N Ninan.
Ambassador Natarajan Krishnan and Ambassador Shankar Bajpai helped shape Indian foreign policy at a glorious, but difficult, time in history, recalls Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Did Xi deliver a message to Modi at Mamallapuram, which though couched in a velvet glove was time-bound? What was that message? It is clear Indian/Israeli/US spy satellites would not have missed detecting Chinese troop movements towards the Ladakh-Tibet frontier. Then why did some important functionaries in the Government of India choose to only ask the Russians about this in April 2020? Was Russian reassurance of Chinese troop movements being part of a routine exercise the reason that the Leh-based XIV Corps did not mobilise itself for its annual summer exercises near the LAC? A fascinating excerpt from Iqbal Chand Malhotra's new book Red Fear: The China Threat.
'Should the Congress take Jyotiraditya's departure as good riddance?', asks Mohammad Sajjad.
'And the same trust was evident in the Karnataka election.'
On the proposed Grand Alliance of the Congress and other parties in the state, Shah said the Telugu people had not forgotten how the Congress had treated their leaders like former (undivided) Andhra Pradesh chief minister Anjaiah and former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao.
"Very shortly we will come out with a concrete plan," Rao told reporters after meeting the Trinamool Congress president.
Syed Firdaus Ashraf traces the trajectory of Lal Kishan Advani from the highs of the 1990s to the present, when he may have to watch the elections from the sidelines.
'Vajpayee would not have approved either of the way the BJP now functions or of the thoughts that it entertains in its mind,' says T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan.
Several Congress leaders interpreted it as a dig at Prime Minister Modi who is yet to address a single press conference in his 54-month tenure.
'Vajpayee was predictable in his ways.' 'Modi is a schemer, possessed of a shrewdness that can be rewarding in the chaotic world of politics.' 'His political journey gives reason to believe that 2019 will be another milestone in his private project,' notes Vikram Johri.
"We realised that we don't have the required numbers to form the government and we don't want to indulge in horse-trading," Fadnavis told reporters after announcing his decision.
'Chandra Shekhar used to say that some people may oppose such a decision from their mouth, but all will accept it from their heart as the best solution to the dispute.'
'Like General Patton, possibly the greatest exponent of the art of war, Vajpayee had the ability to be always on the offensive,' assesses Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'The unprecedented bitterness and rancour that marked this election campaign need not spill over into government and governance,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
'He failed to foresee that the campaign of hatred need not be continuous; a sporadic, scattered campaign is enough.' 'What was important is to keep the pot boiling, not let it overflow like happened during the masjid-mandir days,' notes Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
In 2017, the former Union minister called Modi "neech aadmi" following which he was suspended from the Congress party.
'There will be an instant and positive change in the way Rahul Gandhi is perceived by millions if he says he is not a candidate for PM,' suggests Aakar Patel.
The Income Tax department has issued notice to a firm owned by Robert Vadra as part of its probe to understand the "financial structure" of the company and real estate projects undertaken by it.
'If the NSCN-IM is cold shoulderd, the chances are that it will slip back into insurgency,' caution Sandeep Pandey, Meera Sanghamitra and Babloo Loitongbam.
Singh made these comments at the launch of Mukherjee's book -- The coalition years.
The saffron party is assured of victory in eight of the ten seats in UP going by its dominant numbers in the state assembly.
'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.'
Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram said he was "disappointed and profoundly saddened" by Rajan's decision against a second term, but was not surprised by the development
Chiefs of Army Staff in India have not been tactful about politicians. But they have stayed clear of politics, reports Aditi Phadnis.
Trying to guess Subramanian Swamy's motives or next step has been a rather difficult exercise for decades, says Archis Mohan
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances