According to insiders, their lack of enthusiasm is showing on the ground. There is nothing to suggest that their enthusiasm will return in the final four phases of polling, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravishankar, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Mohan Bhagwat and thousands of supporters in Indian and overseas appealed to yoga guru Ramdev to end his fast against black money corruption due to his falling health.
'It is a crisis of BJP's own doing. This is an in-house fire.'
Evils like caste discrimination and untouchability have to be done away within society, he said.
A simulated security scare situation was created wherein four "terrorists" entered the RSS building, the official said late night.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP of rigging the Maharashtra assembly elections and expressed concerns about similar tactics being used in the upcoming Bihar polls. He alleged that the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bihar is an attempt to manipulate the election process.
'We can't afford to fight each other.' 'We have to win the 2026 election.'
The Bharat Mata controversy in Kerala shows how political and symbolic fights between the state and the Centre have taken attention away from education, throwing the state's oldest university into confusion and disorder, observes Shyam G Menon.
Much drama is likely to continue in the coming year, within the Sangh Parivar as well as involving the Opposition parties and, of course the BJP's allies, predicts Modi biographer Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Like his father Karunanidhi and AIADMK rivals MGR and Jayalalithaa, Stalin would like to confine his real political work to Tamil Nadu, and not want to take after the late Congress leader K Kamaraj and take up a national role, even if to create greater political space for son Udhayanidhi, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has accused the BJP of rigging the Maharashtra assembly elections and called for a return to ballot paper voting. He also criticized the Modi government for selling off public assets, undermining democratic institutions, and promoting communal polarization. Kharge's remarks come as the Congress prepares for its AICC session in Ahmedabad, where it will present its political and economic views.
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat is expected to deliver a keynote address at a meeting aimed at 'clearing misconceptions about the organisation'.
He won two terms in office, which was a stunning feat for a leader who used his silence as the most vocal weapon to change the economy and the lives of a billion people, asserts Tarun Vijay, former BJP MP and former Chief Editor, Panchjanya, the RSS weekly.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday criticized the Waqf (Amendment) Act, calling it anti-constitutional and an attack on freedom of religion. He warned that the BJP-RSS will soon target the rights of other minorities, such as Christians and Sikhs. Gandhi also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of succumbing to pressure from US President Donald Trump on the imposition of tariffs, citing a recent meeting between the two leaders. He also questioned PM Modi's recent meeting with Bangladeshi leader Mohammad Yunus, who has been critical of India's policies. Gandhi further advocated for a caste census in India, stating that Congress aims to break the barrier of 50% reservation.
The RSS chief also noted that those who eat non-vegetarian food in India follow rules and desist from eating it during the Hindu month of Shravan and on Thursdays.
The BJP had no option but to get Jagdeep Dhankhar out of its way for the sake of the Modi government's stability, reveals Sheela Bhatt, the legendary political journalist.
The Congress party has accused Union Minister Nitin Gadkari of conflict of interest, alleging his sons' companies have benefited from the government's ethanol blending policy. The BJP has rejected the allegations.
RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale met with the leadership of the UP BJP, including Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Deputy Chief Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak, state BJP President Bhupendra Chaudhary and state BJP General Secretary (Organisation) Dharmapal.
'It is our right to not go there and pay a visit. It is the prerogative of every party on whether to visit a particular place or not'
'Is it right and proper for the US authorities to allow people like Subrahmanya Swamy [sic] go round the country preaching murder, violence, overthrow of the duly elected Government of India?' A fascinating excerpt from Sugata Srinivasaraju's The Conscience Network: A Chronicle of Resistance to a Dictatorship.
The unrest in the Sandeshkhali region of West Bengal ballooned into a major political row on Thursday as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee blamed the saffron camp of fomenting trouble in the area, while the Bharatiya Janata Party and the National Commission for Women (NCW) accused her party Trinamool Congress and the state government of being complicit in crimes against women in the area.
'In my 26 years at Raj Bhavan, working with more than ten governors, I can tell you C P Radhakrishnan Sir stands out.'
While acknowledging that they needed strong allies for a chance in the assembly polls, AIADMK cadres seemingly prefer actor-politician Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam to the BJP, owing to the latter's 'communal agenda' and consequent hardline Hindutva image, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh plans to take the help of the internet to connect with hundreds of thousands of tech-savvy people, particularly youths, who have no time to attend its shakhas (branches).
The arrest of two Catholic nuns from Kerala in Chhattisgarh on charges of human trafficking and forced religious conversion has ignited a political controversy, with opposition parties criticizing the arrest and the Chief Minister defending the police action.
Owaisi criticized the court-ordered survey of a Mughal-era mosque in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, saying it weakens India and distracts from real issues like inflation and unemployment.
Vaidya, who had recovered from coronavirus infection, died at a private hospital in Nagpur, his grandson Vishnu Vaidya said. The last rites will be held on Sunday.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray chief Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of trying to scuttle the possibility of his party's alliance with the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena led by his estranged cousin Raj Thackeray ahead of civic polls.
Gandhi's remarks at a press conference during the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Nagaland's Chiephobozoucame days after the Congress top brass declined the invitation to the event at the Ram temple in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh.
One leader cannot face all the challenges before this country and a single organisation or party cannot bring about change, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat said in Nagpur on Tuesday.
Opposition parties, including the Congress, have criticised the government for issuing the order to control communal tension in Dhubri town.
The BJP accused Rahul of insulting the armed forces with his "surrender" barb at Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Centre on Wednesday accorded Z plus -- the highest category of armed VIP security cover -- to Pawar, official sources had said.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday asserted that Marathi is the language of Mumbai and Maharashtra and anyone who lives here should learn and speak it. Fadnavis was speaking in the state assembly after Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Bhaskar Jadhav said the government should clarify its stand on senior Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi's comments that a person coming to Mumbai may not necessarily learn Marathi.
A delegation of Congress leaders met EC officials and raised several issues, including the use of pictures and large cut-outs of the prime minister in government buildings and colleges and demanded that those be removed to maintain a level-playing field in the upcoming parliamentary election.
Pingle, who hailed from Nagpur, had worked closely with RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar.
Thousands of people gathered along the entire route of the funeral procession to give a poignant send-off to the late BJP leader at his hometown, where his mortal remains were flown from Ahmedabad four days after the tragedy.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday defended Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat's remark that ''rapes occur frequently in India not in Bharat'', saying the present controversy is totally uncalled for and unnecessary.
'Maharashtrians are facing a dual battle -- numerical battle with North Indians and financial battle with Gujaratis and Marwaris.' 'This has created anxiety about survival and ownership over Mumbai and Maharashtra.'
Now it's all jibes about his chameleon-like politics and fading grip on the administration. But there was a time Nitish had the BJP trembling in the state, points out Aditi Phadnis.
