The following is the chronology of events related to the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute in which, after the Supreme Court verdict, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday conducted the 'Bhoomi Pujan' or ground breaking ceremony and laid the foundation stone for the temple's construction.
Unidentified miscreants hurled a stone at the Chief Minister on Saturday night near Vivekananda School Centre in Vijayawada's Singh Nagar, which injured his left temple when he was canvassing for polls.
The temple town is likely to witness a major jump in tourist inflow once flagship projects are commissioned. In the first six months of 2022, more than 20 million tourists visited Ayodhya.
Over 60 per cent voter turnout was recorded on Monday in 49 constituencies in six states and two Union territories in the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections, with Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir recording its highest-ever voting percentage.
Our focus should rather be on strengthening security measures to prevent Kollam-like tragedies, says Sanjeev Nayyar.
With many of his close associates leaving his side, it is virtually a lone battle for Congress stalwart Kamal Nath to help his parliamentarian son Nakul Nath win from Chhindwara for a second time amid the Bharatiya Janata Party's aggressive push to wrest the seat.
There was no report of devotees facing any inconvenience even as shops and eateries downed their shutters and vehicles remained off roads.
There is no use of the BJP targeting the likes of Mamata Banerjee and M K Stalin, directly by the party's political bosses, both in Delhi and the respective state capitals, or even using the Raj Bhavans to fire those salvos from. Successive elections have proved that it's counter-productive, if anything. But the BJP is yet to understand it, acknowledge it, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Since the onset of the monsoon on June 24, 217 persons have died in rain-related incidents in Himachal Pradesh.
The big surprise is that Narendra Modi, the greatest conjurer in our national politics, has not yet presented a theme to this election, observes Shekhar Gupta.
'We humans may not have not created natural disasters, but we have definitely amplified their impact.'
Rangeela's presence in the fray could have been trifle uncomfortable for Modi. He may not have posed an electoral challenge to the prime minister, but Rangeela's public meetings could have seen people flocking, if only to hear him mimic Modi. In a completely Modi-centric election, the presence of a 'rival' -- if only for a smattering of audience at his meetings -- would not have been particularly appreciated by Modi, asserts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author of Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times.
'You can attack and conspire to weaken us, but you cannot destroy the Congress permanently.'
'It's a nice feeling to hear 'Ram Siya Ram' in the background'
In a relief to the Hindu side, the Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay the Allahabad high court order allowing the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to conduct a scientific survey at the Gyanvapi mosque complex to determine if the 17th-century structure was built upon a pre-existing temple.
'Commentators have said that dealing with allies as equals will make Modi more sensitive.' 'Remember that the people Modi is dealing with are equally autocratic in their own lairs.' 'Further, Modi always has handy the threat of dissolving Parliament and calling for fresh polls.' 'Most of his own party, and certainly his allies and opponents having blown their budgets of efforts and resources in the just concluded elections, have no stomach for this.' 'They are all greatly looking forward to the loaves and fishes of office on offer.' 'That gives Modi an unbeatable advantage in any push-comes-to-shove situation,' explains Shreekant Sambrani.
This election will be remembered for being the first election where the Election Commission failed to take action on gross violations involving the ruling party that repeatedly used religion, communal slurs, lies and undocumented allegations, observes Ramesh Menon.
'Another term for the government under the prime minister would likely be a step forward on the path to Hindu Rashtra.' 'No question of going back or any slowing down.'
A purported video of three monks being attacked by a mob in West Bengal's Purulia over suspicion that they were 'kidnappers in disguise' has triggered a political row, with opposition Bharatiya Janata Party alleging collapse of law and order in the state.
Clashes broke out between two groups during a Ram Navami procession in West Bengal's Hooghly district on Sunday evening, police said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a pitch for electing a strong and stable government in an uncertain world beset by geopolitical tensions as the Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday released its manifesto, prioritising development and welfare while shunning populist measures and contentious issues like the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
It was a triangular session, with the judge hearing the case from Nagercoil, petitioner's counsel V Raghavachari at one place and advocate-general R Shanmugasundaram, at another place, in the city.
'Are we supposed to look the other way as Islamists go on a rampage against Hindus and the Hasina government pay lip service to secularism?' A revealing excerpt from Avishek Biswas and Deep Halder's book, Being Hindu In Bangladesh: The Untold Story.
odi said the country has rejected negativity and asserted that the winter session was a golden opportunity for the opposition.
We need not spend much time going over what this government has done and is doing to the Opposition, by misusing the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI. There is a daily update on that, notes Aakar Patel.
On the prime minister's charge that the Congress was creating hurdles in the court's process, the Sena said, "Modi has to stop levelling allegations against the Gandhi family and the Congress. You were not given power to keep cribbing about such problems. The Congress and the Samajwadi Party were ousted because of their hurdles in the construction of Ram Temple. So, stop blaming the Congress now".
The carving work by artisans had been carried out uninterrupted since 1990 when Mulayam Singh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party was Uttar Pradesh chief minister.
The Hindu-right group carried out its demonstration despite the imposition of CrPC Section 144 in the city.
The Maharashtra chief minister on Wednesday performed the 'mahapooja' of Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur on Ashadhi Ekadashi.
The temples are concerned about the religious sentiments of the devotees who donate gold ornaments in the name of the deities
Justice Chandrachud also dealt with questions about criticism by eminent lawyers on the allocation of cases to particular judges and 'bench hunting', and said the allocation of cases is not "lawyer-driven" and vowed to maintain the credibility of the institution of the Supreme Court.
'They were as late as June 2023 and they did not follow it up with concrete measures immediately in terms of a secretariat or common minimum programme, working group or seat sharing etc.' 'They continued to have periodic meetings after a gap of weeks where they had tasty dinner and coffee, but beside that they did nothing else.'
In the five years in politics Priyanka Gandhi has undeniably emerged as a thorn in the BJP flesh, notes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay. It is time that this thorn is twisted a wee bit more when the elections have become far more uncertain than what it was when the Election Commission announced the poll schedule.
'How come the BJP won even in the Muslim belt? I am 100% sure that the BJP would not win in the Muslim belt.'
It is thanks to the policy of liberalisation conceived by Manmohan Singh and enforced by P V Narasimha that the Indian economy has now become the world's 5th largest economy by nominal GDP, asserts Dr Sudhir Bisht.
Mobs killed a cleric in a late night attack on a mosque, torched an eatery and vandalised shops as communal violence that began in Haryana's Nuh spilled over into Gurugram, taking the death toll to five, the police said on Tuesday.
'Whosoever mischievous elements, who have the support of ISI, and are trying to disturb peace in Punjab, their designs will not be allowed to succeed'
Two Ram Navami processions were organised in the Rishra police station area, and the second one came under attack near Wellington Jute Mill More on GT Road around 6.15 pm on Sunday, police said.
The sengol must revert to where it belongs -- behind a glass case and not figure in ceremonies concerning India's democracy, argues Shyam G Menon.
Citing the example of last year, he said many pilgrims who came for the yatra from rural areas of Uttar Pradesh had to return from Rishikesh and Haridwar as they had not registered in advance for it.
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