'They have realised that class war is not possible in India, so they are trying to bring about a caste war.'
More than two lakh paramilitary personnel, thousands of vehicles and nearly a dozen helicopters will be deployed across the country to ensure smooth and violence-free elections beginning April 7.
Police had clashed with about 3,000 followers of obscure sect Azad Bharat Vidhik Vaicharik Kranti Satyagrahi which had encroached on 260 acres government land. Twenty-four people, including a superintendent of police and a station house officer, were killed in the violence which took place when police went to evict the sect from the land.
Bereaved families of Sukma bravehearts have demanded justice and questioned the intelligence failure and government inaction.
'Not unlike politicians who gravitate towards whoever is in power, mafia dons too have a great survival streak, switching loyalty to the party in power,' observes Virendra Kapoor a week after gangster Vikas Dubey was slain in an alleged encounter.
While the Chhattisgarh police charged the well-known academic with a tribal man's murder, those who know her say it is vendetta at play.
Dr Raman Singh, who on Sunday led the Bharatiya Janata Party to a third consecutive victory in the Naxal-affected state of Chhattisgarh, has earned the reputation of being a 'silent performer'.
'Anybody and everybody who opposes this government for whatever reasons will be branded a terrorist and charged in such a manner that all human rights will be taken away.'
The year-end assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Rajasthan and Mizoram, the dates for which were announced by the Election Commission on Friday, have acquired a special significance as the results of these polls are expected to set the tone for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Gill was suffering from end-stage kidney failure and significant ischemic heart disease. He was recovering from peritonitis.
'The Elgar Parishad turned out to be the first rallying cry against the BJP and RSS in Maharashtra.' 'The speakers took a vow not to vote for the BJP.'
Giving economic aid to Kashmir is like giving TB medicine to a patient suffering from cancer and expecting it to work, says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
"Every criminal investigation is based on allegations and we have to see whether there is some material," the court said.
The United Nations has expressed concern over the killing and maiming of children who continue to be recruited and used as human shields by Maoists in India and over the threat of sexual violence against girls within Naxalite ranks.
If anything has become clear during this campaign, it is this: Mr Modi can bat on almost any wicket and hit the ball over the ropes, points out T N Ninan.
An Election Commission official said minor clashes between political workers were reported from some areas.
Bharadwaj claimed a number of human rights lawyers, activists and organisations were deliberately named to cast a stigma over them, obstruct their work and incite hatred against them.
"The Congress believes in the politics of appeasement and dynasty, whereas BJP follows politics of performance," Shah said.
Peace is only possible if the government writ runs large, said Captain Amarinder, making it clear that he did not favour negotiations in Jammu and Kashmir till the Indian Army had an upper hand.
Seeking to woo Muslims as well as upper castes, the Samajwadi Party on Wednesday promised quota in police and other government jobs for minority community, release of "innocent" youths jailed on terror charges and constitution of an upper caste commission in its manifesto brimming with sops.
The report covers 20 countries, including war-torn Syria, Afghanistan, and Yemen and also the situation in India, the Philippines and Nigeria.
Here's the full text of President Ram Nath Kovind's customary address to the joining sitting of Parliament on the first day of the budget session.
Hundreds of JNU students rocked the national capital on Monday, bringing several parts of the city to a halt.
Polling in Madhya Pradesh was marred by complaints of faulty EVMs and voter verifiable paper audit trail machines.
Political stability and a couple of big projects are pluses, but focus on medium and small industries is still missing.
'Once you set up a tweet-storm of vilification, labelling individuals anti-nationals, traitors, blasphemous, and foreign agents, you are creating enough justification for somebody with a gun to kill, or for a mob to lynch,' warns Shekhar Gupta.
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Expressing desire to bring about permanent solution to the Kashmir issue, the government on Monday said it is willing to have any dialogue under the ambit of 'insaniyat' (humanity) to address the problem and favours good relations with Pakistan.
The Election Commission on Saturday announced the dates for the Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram assembly polls.
'It is time to not merely assert that Kashmir is an internal problem, but begin to act on it,' argues Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'In Bastar, as in Delhi, being branded 'anti-national' in the eyes of the government now seems to have acquired new meaning,' says Aakar Patel.
Celebrating Independence Day the Bollywood way.
Modi said sometimes the government has to take certain decisions and hence it took some strong steps.
Two days after Naxals struck in a big way in Chhattisgarh, the government on Wednesday asserted that there will be no let up in operations to eliminate the Maoist menace and promised all support to the security forces to deal with it firmly.
'To ascribe motives to the actions of the state government at such an early stage of police investigation will be counter-productive,' says former Union home secretary Madhav Godbole.
'The protests have forced the government to announce that the NRC is not an immediate priority.' 'Even if they are trying to pursue this policy in a different guise, through the NPR, the fact that they have been forced to pause and backtrack at least temporarily shows the positive impact of the protests.' 'Moreover, various state governments have opposed the NPR which cannot be carried out without their cooperation. That is also a success of the protests.' 'The state governments would not have taken this stance against the central government if their hand had not been forced by the popular mood.'
'If, in the first 48 to 72 hours, they are just on a wild goose chase, then Gauri Lankesh's murder will not get solved.'
Maharashtra police have made extensive security arrangements to ensure that voting for the October 15 Maharashtra Assembly polls goes peacefully with the deployment of over 2 lakh state police personnel, along with the reserved police forces.
'On the one hand it will appeal to pan-Hindu sentiment and on the other opposition to it could well strengthen support for the BJP among Hindu voters.'
Barring Maharashtra, the poll percentage in rest of the states was in excess of 60 per cent while in Puducherry it was 80.47 per cent.
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We present Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's full speech as he addressed the country on the occasion of 66th Independence Day, from Red Fort, Delhi.
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