'The BJP is in power at the Centre and in many states. It can easily go for the construction of Ram temple, otherwise it would be considered a liar and get thrown out of power,' the Sena said in an editorial in party mouthpiece Saamana.
The issue combined with its alliance with anti-Congress parties in 1989 won the BJP 85 seats in Lok Sabha elections against mere two in 1984.
'Amit Shah's trajectory seems unstoppable; no wonder some say the day is not far off when he could be pitching for the top job, and that this is only the first step,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
'Why is the government in such a hurry?' 'The answer is the December assembly elections and the 2019 general election.'
Union Minister Ramvilas Paswan on Thursday criticised the decision taken by authorities at the Somnath temple in Gujarat to restrict entry of non-Hindus inside, sans permission, and stated that the Central government has never supported any discrimination on the basis of religion.
Hitting out at AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, Shiv Sena on Tuesday said that the minority leader should go to Pakistan and try his antics there.
Though he loves gambling, he cautions against undue risks and says non-professional investors like the salaried class should invest through the mutual funds route and keep aside not more than 10 per cent for self-investing.
The Shiv Sena wants madrassas in India not to use Urdu and Arabic as a medium of instruction and wants it to be replaced with English and Hindi.
Modi today needs BJP CMs and non-party regional leaders to win votes and build alliances, but he will over-rule them and treat them like dirt once they have served their electoral purpose. Make no mistake: Modi is incurably authoritarian and will brook no dissent -- so long as the RSS is on board, says Praful Bidwai.
The passing of the GST bill and the failure of India to acquire NSG membership is set to rule the agenda in Parliament.
Dismissing charges of being an opportunist and of betraying the Bharatiya Janata Party, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday said that the Janata Dal-United quit the national Democratic Alliance as the saffron party did not keep its word about putting on hold contentious issues and not projecting leaders who cannot expand the coalition.
Congress charged that there has been a rise in communal incidents in the country during the National Democratic Alliance coalition's first 100 days in power even as it questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "silence" over the matter.
Neither Modi nor Shah had held legislative or executive power in Delhi before 2014. They have no training in appealing to the diversity of India as represented in Parliament. Their prism is the provincial politics of Gujarat. An exclusive excerpt from Vinay Sitapati's fascinating new book, Jugalbandi: The BJP Before Modi.
"We direct the government to either bring in a law or an ordinance (for the construction of the Ram temple). There will be no compromise on this," Ramanandacharya Hansdevacharya, the patron of the ABSS, said in his concluding remarks at the conclave.
Interestingly, the choice of August 5 as the day of the bhoomi pujan coincides with the abolition of Kashmir's special status on the same day a year ago. Perhaps the RSS-BJP wants August 5 to be remembered as the date on which the foundation stone of their cherished Hindu rashtra was laid, notes Amulya Ganguli.
'I could have joined the BJP in 2014, the doors were open.' 'I stayed on with the TMC, a party I was involved with since its very inception.' 'But today enough is enough.'
Yechury recounted the non-violent traditions of the country citing the Maurya Empire's acceptance of the Buddhist philosophy.
Taking a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party government, Hindu religious leaders have said that they will construct the Ram temple at the "Lord's birthplace" in Ayodhya without any political assistance if the Supreme Court gives order in their favour.
'You won't find such an apathetic indecisive party in the world.'
RSS head Mohan Bhagwat will be present through the exercise in which issues like census figures and OROP are likely to come up for discussion.
Opposition leaders asked all secular forces to field a joint candidate for presidential elections and have common minimum programme to challenge the Bharatiya Janata Party, reports Archis Mohan.
The BJP, which is toying with the idea of forming the next government at the Centre feels that it does not want the headache of bifurcating a state, where a majority have expressed a negative view, says Vicky Nanjappa.
ArthaKranti wants the government to abolish income tax and 56 other taxes and replace it by a banking transaction tax.
'Certainly if Advani had agreed to Vajpayee in sacking Modi, then we would never have been talking of Modi today.'
The manner in which a large proportion of common people have mortgaged their rationality and questioning spirit to let hatred, prejudice, and bigotry take over their minds is a cause of worry, observes Mohammad Sajjad.
'The RSS doesn't intervene, interfere or try to dominate government policy-making... The responsibility of running the government is entirely in the hands of the BJP.'
'We all know that when the Babri Masjid was demolished, P V Narasimha Rao was prime minister.' 'He did not do anything to stop the demolition.'
Me: Cow slaughter? Do you know cows have not been slaughtered in Maharashtra? Vegetarian: What are you saying?!! Me: Yes, only bulls, bullocks and oxen were slaughtered, the cow has not been slaughtered in Maharashtra since 1976.
'When Sachin Tendulkar bats, no one in India cares if he is from Mumbai or if he is a Hindu or a Brahmin or whatever.' 'We just want him to win it for India.' 'The same is with Modi and the people who voted across caste and regional lines for him.' We want him to win it for India,' says Madhu A K.
Contentious issues such as the construction of a Ram Temple in Ayodhya, abrogation of Art 370 giving special status to Jammu and Kashmir and enactment of Uniform Civil Code have been included in the Bharatiya Janata Party's election manifesto with the party making promises on them.
'Potent nationalism doesn't just distract from the economic task at hand; it actively undermines it.'
A leader of Shiv Sena, a constituent of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance at the Centre, on Monday accused the Narendra Modi government of "compromising" on Hindutva issues and termed BJP's coalition with Peoples Democratic Party in Kashmir as "treason".
'This is about reviving this country as a centre of Hindutva at Ayodhya.'
By all yardsticks 2024 isn't expected to be like 2014 or 2019. But with the mandir expected to be ready in time for the next Lok Sabha polls, Modi will have a new ally in Ram to see him through, observes Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
'The Congress may not be able to dump the family entirely, but it could move to a new operating model in which the family takes a 'chairmanship' role while day-to-day affairs are handled by a new CEO.'
'If Haider petitions the court and the government for legitimate rights it is called minority appeasement, but when Hardik orchestrates violence he is lionised, romanticised and given huge media space that ends up both legitimising and oxygenating his movement, no matter how contrary it is to the Rule of Law,' argues Shehzad Poonawalla.
'How does relief in the form of citizenship to a persecuted Hindu in Bangladesh put the citizenship of an Indian Muslim in danger?', asks Dr Sudhir Bisht.
'One one hand, the BJP puts Uniform Civil Code as a goal in its manifesto, and on the other, it pushes massive discrimination against Hindus.' 'This is not sabka saath, sabka vikas. Rather it is "Haj ka saath, church ka vikas",' argues Sankrant Sanu.
'He failed to foresee that the campaign of hatred need not be continuous; a sporadic, scattered campaign is enough.' 'What was important is to keep the pot boiling, not let it overflow like happened during the masjid-mandir days,' notes Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Leader of the Opposition in the Gujarat assembly, Shankarsinh Waghela on Wednesday asked Prime Minister elect Narendra Modi to build a Ram temple at Ayodhya within the constitutional framework now that the Bharatiya Janata Party has got an absolute majority, in a speech that was blended with sarcasm and praise.
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