For the time being, digital lending remains a grey area, notes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Despite the towering image of BRS supremo and Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, along with the party's extensive grassroots network and welfare programmes, the perceived inaccessibility of its leaders contributed to the growing anti-incumbency sentiments.
What is the lure of a government job? The answer is India's worst kept secret: Job security. And among the many government jobs desperately sought after is in the armed forces. Which is why the riots by aspiring armed forces job seekers against the government's Agnipath scheme should not really be surprising, points out Harishchandra.
In the past five years, UP's Opposition remained passive and defensive against the BJP, a trend that does not augur well for the impending battle.
Pawar said a rift is being created between communities and an attempt is being made to divert the attention from real issues like inflation and unemployment.
The best-case scenario is that the BJP will top out at around 50 seats in UP -- a drop of 12 from the 62 it had won in 2019. Taken in tandem with Maharashtra and Karnataka, this is what is likely to put paid to the BJP's ambitions of a third term for Modi, argues Prem Panicker.
According to Congress, the five schemes are 200 units of free power to all households (Gruha Jyoti), Rs 2,000 monthly assistance to the woman head of every family (Gruha Lakshmi), 10 kg of rice free to every member of a BPL household (Anna Bhagya), Rs 3,000 every month for unemployed graduate youth and Rs 1,500 for unemployed diploma holders (both in the age group of 18-25) for two years (YuvaNidhi), and free travel for women in public transport buses (Shakti).
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Sunday declared her nephew Akash Anand as her 'uttaradhikari (heir)', a party office-bearer said.
He also sought to know if Modi, during his recent meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, asked the latter about the 2017 Doklam standoff.
'There was a strong undercurrent of deprivation, and also frustration against misuse of power and authority.' 'This election was an opportunity for the manifestation of this discontentment.'
The indefinite economic blockade by United Naga Council since November 1, 2016 in Manipur against the state government's decision for creation of seven new districts has severely hit supply of essential commodities, including fuel.
Factors such as anti-incumbency, voter fatigue, and dissatisfaction among the youth contributed mainly to the poor showing of Bharat Rashtra Samithi in the Telangana legislative assembly election on Sunday.
The tribal vote in Madhya Pradesh is crucial in any election. The BJP's loss in the 2018 assembly election has prompted it to take remedial action.
Besides law and order, the long standing demand for junking Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, economic woes of the land-locked state which has hardly any industries, are expected to figure high on the agenda of the unfolding electoral battle between the two main parties with smaller local parties such as National People's Party and the Naga People's Front chipping in with their own demands.
Trains were set afire and blocked, and public vehicles attacked as protests over 'Agnipath' swept across several places in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Jammu on Thursday amid partisan political voices in favour and against the new recruitment scheme for the defence forces that has set off a firestorm.
It's just not a date. It's just not about selecting a candidate. It's not about helping some candidate win. It's about expressing emotion, after ten years, that could reach out in India and beyond it, notes Sheela Bhatt.
Gandhi said the 5 'guarantees' promised by the party will be implemented within a few hours after the first Cabinet meeting.
The minister was asked about the steps taken to prevent damage to Railway property due to CAA related protests.
'Akhilesh Yadav made voters think why is the BJP asking for 400 paar.' 'They understood his words and believed the BJP wanted 400 paar only to demolish the Constitution and end reservations.'
'It is the first-time voters and the agnostics who are often influenced by political advertising.' 'These swing voters tend to make a huge difference in the outcome of any election.'
Religion and economic barriers continue to define love in modern India, discovers Preshth Bhardwaj.
The Congress will begin the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from the violence-hit Manipur on Sunday, in what is being seen as the party's bid to set the narrative in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls and put the spotlight on issues such as unemployment, price rise and social justice.
Cyber criminals are using apps and young women to trap people through mobile phone calls and video chats.
The new timing will remain in force till July 15 and result in an estimated saving of Rs 40-42 crore during the two-and-a-half month period, said Mann who, along with his staff, arrived at the Civil Secretariat in Chandigarh at 7.28 am.
'Modigate is snowballing into a huge thing with the electorate. The BJP is in for huge punishment by the electorate.'
The first Karnataka legislative assembly session, after the formation of the new government will be held on starting Monday next week in Bengaluru.
'If you transform your talent into determination to perform, no one can stop India from becoming a superpower,' Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh tells youngsters at the closing ceremony of the 19th National Youth Festival in Guwahati.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress remain the most dominant political forces in Chhattisgarh, though the state has several regional outfits that have pockets of influence, while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is making a determined bid to challenge its well entrenched rivals and make a mark in polls to the 90-member House.
In his maiden foray in the state election, Yadav won from the Karhal assembly seat by a margin of 67,504 votes.
'What should surprise BJP supporters is Modi's call for 'stability' at the manifesto launch, a theme that he and his team members had not touched ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in 2014 and 2019.' 'The last time the party called for 'stability at the Centre' was in 1998 and 1999,' recalls N Sathiya Moorthy.
'The 2024 election results will lead to much intense targeting of Modi, more intense debates, many more breakdowns in Parliament and many more movements on the streets.' 'The results have hit Modi's standing, and the politics of the Opposition parties will be sharply focused to ensure that Modi doesn't get back his charisma of being 'invincible' with help of State power.' Sheela Bhatt looks at the political situation through the prism of 2024 Lok Sabha election results.
Former Union minister RCP Singh on Thursday rued the "witch hunt" in the Janata Dal-United which he felt had resulted in many of his loyalists being sacked after the impression grew that he has ceased to be in the good books of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
In a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday said when the elections are over, people will only remember him as the PM who indulged in 'divisive and communal speeches filled with lies' to avoid an inevitable defeat.
Promising Central Bureau of Investigation probe into mining, chit fund and other scams in Odisha, Congress on Friday said it would review all MoUs signed by BJD government in the state in last 10 years, provide pucca houses to landless and allowance to unemployed youths if voted to power.
'The Constitution of India defeated the BJP.'
It is in power on its own only in three states -- Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh and Telangana -- with a big question mark on whether it can even stake claim to be head of the INDIA bloc.
'He has always loved to help people. He has donated his blood three times'
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said he does not get 'intimidated' and fights for truth even if the world stands against it, remarks that come amid repeated confrontations between his party and the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led Bharatiya Janata Party government in Assam during the 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra'.
After registering a case of alleged violation of Information Technology Act, the CBI carried out searches at five locations in Delhi, Mumbai and Noida and Kannauj in Uttar Pradesh, officials said.
'Karnataka's finances are much healthier than the Union government's, which is indebted to nearly twice the extent of the state.'
