'The Bharat Jodo Yatra has done very well in the south, and if they are able to pull voters in the south and rely on their allies in the north like in Bihar, UP and do well in Rajasthan, then there are chances that there might be a formidable opposition or at least a force to fight the BJP.'
The street-fighter attitude is what keeps Rane going even at 69. The expectation is -- at least in the BJP camp -- that he will be itching for a battle royale with the Shiv Sena in its bastions.
'The people of Uttar Pradesh have already made up their mind to puncture the Samajwadi Party's cycle, kick away the Bahujan Samaj Party's elephant, and remove shadows of the already-vanished hand of the Congress.'
The American-born Indian scholar, sociologist and human rights activist was well known for her writing on Dalits, OBCs and Adivasis.
"That is a fact of life because we are not being able, after 75 years, to bring the SCs and STs to the same level of merit as the forward classes," Attorney General K K Venugopal told a bench headed by Justice L Nageswara Rao.
Following the killing of an SDPI state secretary late Saturday night, a BJP leader was hacked to death less than 12 hours later on Sunday morning and later, prohibitory order under Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) Section 144 was imposed in the entire Alappuzha district, additional police force was deployed there and senior officers camped there to monitor the law and order situation.
It is unusual in democratic countries two decades into the 21st century for laws to become regressive instead of progressive. But that is clearly what is happening in India today and more of this is ahead, asserts Aakar Patel.
Zala, a close associate of Thakor, was the MLA from Bayad in Sabarkantha district.
The fact that the responses from the community to Mohan Bhagwat's remarks have ranged from guarded optimism to outright disbelief tells its own story, points out Kanika Dutta.
CJI Lalit concurred with the minority view of Justice S Ravindra Bhat who held the EWS quota as "unconstitutional" for excluding poor among SCs, STs and OBCs.
'Seven hundred farmers lost their lives.' 'The protesting farmers were demonised and called names like andolanjiwi, Khalistani, anti-national.'
The Supreme Court today issued notice to the Centre on a petition challenging the 27 per cent reservation for Other Backward Classes in central educational institutions
When I first spoke about Nitish Kumar being PM material, many of you scoffed at me. Now you can see... it has happened often that I say something and it becomes a widespread sentiment later on," JD-U leader Upendra Kushwaha said.
Taking a swipe at the prime minister, he said there was no dearth of skills in the country and those from the backward classes are endowed with skills but not given an opportunity to move forward.
The future challenger to Narendra Modi would be somebody who can bring the Hindus and Muslims together again. The Hindus as Hindus, not broken caste groups, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
Bhagwat told an event in Delhi on Sunday that there should be conversation in harmonious atmosphere between those in favour of reservation and those against it.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa on Tuesday said that the Centre is likely to sign a peace accord with militant organisations from the state's Adivasi communities within September.
'As his close associate Som Pal told me, "Mandal was never V P Singh's brainchild. It was a Janata Party commitment he inherited".' 'He would have done it anyway at some point, but the specific timing of his decision was dictated entirely by political exigency -- his government was threatened.' 'It also turned out to be a game changer in Indian politics.'
Kishor held out the possibility of Jan Suraaj metamorphosing into a political party at a latter stage.
He claimed that Tej Pratap kept egging on his henchmen while Ramraj was being humiliated and that he even got the entire episode videographed.
The demand was raised during a debate on the Constitution (123rd Amendment) Bill 2017 in the Upper House, which was passed by the Lok Sabha on August 2 superseding the amendments earlier carried out by the Rajya Sabha.
Prasanna Zore/ Rediff.com talk to members of the Patel community to find out why they are dissatisfied with the state of affairs.
'It was more than ego.' 'It carried with it a sincere belief that he was the quintessence of the country, that the country's destiny was irrevocably intertwined with his destiny.' An excerpt from T J S George's The Dismantling of India: In 35 Portraits.
Nishad party president Sanjay Nishad, who had demanded deputy chief minister post but settled with his nomination as an MLC, thanked the BJP on Monday and said his party will ensure the NDA's victory in next year's Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.
A cross-gender staff deployment -- female officers where male MPs were protesting and male officers where female MPs were protesting -- was made. But this did not deter the MPs belonging to a cross-section of opposition parties -- from the Congress to the Left to the TMC and to the DMK.
'They are innovating and a new Dalit leadership could be seen at the horizon'
Prasad asserted that Article 370, which gave the erstwhile state a special status and was revoked last year, will not be restored.
Caste assertions, including from the upper castes, could have the Sangh Parivar stumble yet again in its efforts to construct a Hindu rashtra.
Opposition members led by Trinamool Congress MP Sukhendu Sekhar and Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge asked the government to clear its stand over the nationality of the minister. Without naming the minister, Sekhar said: "The prime minister has been allowed to lay a list of the ministers after the reshuffle. Go through Wikipedia, then you will find that the name of the gentleman... a minister of state for home affairs is a reportedly a Bangladeshi." Sekhar was also supported by Kharge and other opposition members.
Most of the 40 MLAs in the Shinde camp don't have enough legislative experience to conduct business in the House and so the first ministry expansion needed induction of veterans.
'The Dalits have always asserted themselves, but there has never been any gain for Dalits.' 'But now the most significant thing that has emerged, and which has got all the political parties in denial mode, is the assertion of smaller OBCs along with the Dalits.' 'I accept that the Dalits by themselves are not in a position to make a Mumbai bandh successful.' 'It was only because of the participation of the smaller OBCs that the bandh has become a success.'
'Scores of important BJP MLAs are in touch with Akhileshji, but he has very humbly said that the SP's doors are now closed to BJP MLAs and leaders.'
'Segregation suits the BJP at the moment. It will not suit them forever.'
'If the Opposition does make a dent, it could encourage the efforts of regional parties to come together for the larger battle in 2024 and mark the beginning of a new anti-BJP politics.'
Opposition members tried to corner the government in both the Houses over the Supreme Court decision that states are not bound to provide reserved seats for the SCs, STs and OBCs in appointments and promotions.
Mayawati also alleged that women in the BJP are scared of their husbands meeting the PM fearing they might 'abandon their wives like him' and that Modi deserves the abusive language used against him by the opposition.
Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, he said, 'We will not allow reservation to be done away with, no matter how much Modi Ji or Mohan Bhagwat dream of it.'
Patel quota leader Hardik Patel on Tuesday returned to Gujarat after spending six months away from his home state and launched a second round of agitation by appealing to Patels to unitedly fight against prevailing "autocracy" in the state, an oblique reference to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
The Supreme Court Tuesday said suspension from legislative assembly for one year should be linked with some purpose and there has to be an 'overpowering' reason that the member should not be allowed to even attend the next session.
'Every person has two identities in India, that of his caste and nation.' 'It is understandable in a multi-caste, multi-religious society and I don't mind this.' 'What I mind is the State has failed in doing enough to melt these two identities in such a way that everybody has access to citizenship which is more important than your caste.' 'That is why people remain in the narrow identities of his caste or religion.'
