'We keep saying that we have a very close historical, cultural, linguistic and religious affinity with Nepal. Then why be so insensitive that we cannot find time to talk to them for more than 5-6 months'
Chiefs of Army Staff in India have not been tactful about politicians. But they have stayed clear of politics, reports Aditi Phadnis.
Joining the BJP cannot have been an easy decision for former UP Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who grew up with secular values and appears to be a victim of the party's durbar politics. Amit Agnihotri reports.
Amid the charges and counter-charges over the AgustaWestland issue, the Congress on Friday accused the Modi government of "working overtime" tapping the phones of opposition, civil servants and judges.
'If you are in Punjab, Modi is omnipresent as if he is going to be chief minister of Punjab.'
'If he is in Uttarakhand, he presents himself to be the chief minister of Uttarakhand.'
'When he is in UP, he is touted as the chief minister of UP.' 'There is a personality cult which is being built around a person... that he is the panacea of every democratic exercise in India, from panchayat to Parliament.' 'Modi at some point will pay the price for trying to build a very ambitious personality cult.'
Political parties are getting battle-ready, nominating their best candidates to contest Election 2014... Rediff.com's incomparable Sheela Bhatt begins a new column where she reveals the ground realities in the Battle for India, as only she can. Don't miss it!
Facing flak from the Congress for his "Rambo" act in flood-hit Uttarakhand, Narendra Modi on Tuesday came in for criticism by ally Shiv Sena which said his rescue efforts for Gujaratis was detrimental to his interests when he is being cheered as likely prime ministerial candidate.
'The numbers of troops on both sides are enormous.' 'They are about 50,000-60,000 soldiers facing each other in that sector -- that's about the total number of troops that both sides had in the 1962 War in all sectors.'
'India is not the India of 1962. We are not carrying that baggage of history anymore.'
As chief minister of Gujarat, he said he had offered to take the responsibility of reconstructing areas surrounding the temple when the tragedy had struck in 2013, killing thousands of people.
The win in UP is especially significant because UP assembly members carry the maximum value of votes in a Presidential election, given the fact that the state is India's most populous.
The BJP has the maximum number of such politicians.
Heart rending scenes were witnessed at the funeral of Major Bisht, who died while defusing a mine along the LoC in Naushera sector of Rajouri district in Jammu and Kashmir.
In a letter to the CM, Koshyari asked, 'Have you suddenly turned secular, the term you hated?' 'Isn't secularism a key component of the Constitution, by which you swore while taking oath as the state Governor?' Thackeray asked.
People poured their wrath on Mussoorie MLA Ganesh Joshi for showing cruelty to the animal.
Party will decide when the time was right to pass on the baton to Rahul Gandhi, says senior Congress leader Ambika Soni.
Despite a massive decline in crude oil prices since 2012 -- Modi has been prime minister in six of these eight years -- petrol in Delhi has become 10 per cent costlier and diesel 97 per cent, as of July 2.
The Congress hit out at Devendra Fadnavis being sworn-in as the Maharashtra chief minister on Saturday, saying it was a "betrayal of people's mandate" and the "illegitimate" government formation will self-destruct.
The CM recently instructed officials to prepare a roadmap for providing local jobs to about two million people, especially in the rural-based industries, such as khadi, dairy, and food processing units and MSMEs.
Victory celebrations began at the Mall Avenue residence of Mayawati, where party workers distributed sweets among themselves and to hordes of journalists present there.
Farmer leader Darshan Pal accused the Centre of dividing farmer organisations, but it will not happen.
Smriti Irani will reprise her electoral battle with Rahul Gandhi from Amethi.
Twenty-two proposals comprising 16 states and Union Territories and six ministries and departments have been shortlisted for participation in the parade after a series of five meetings.
The question is no longer whether he will win 2019; it's what he will do with the new status, says Shekhar Gupta.
Party general secretary Digvijay Singh said inflation was definitely a matter of concern for the party and sought to put the onus of bringing down prices on the state governments as well.
Around 1,000 devotees will be allowed to visit Kedarnath shrine daily when its portals are opened on May 4, Chief Minister Harish Rawat said and sought to allay safety concerns of pilgrims.
The Congress, out of power in UP for 27 years is making a big pitch to bounce back, on a cocktail of caste politics and promises of agriculture debt waiver worth Rs 49,000 crore and power rate reduction for farmers hit by high input costs and diminishing returns., reports Amit Agnihotri.
In December 2016, RBI had granted additional 60 days for repayment of certain loans
Assembly elections in three states may delay fresh clearances to the politically sensitive Special Economic Zones, though 41 of them including those promoted by Tata, Infosys and Wipro were up for notification
'ADR's success is its ability to remain non-partisan for a very long period, sheer professionalism and tenacity, and that makes it one of the good things to happen to our democracy.'
Chief campaigner Rahul Gandhi's electioneering appeared to have helped the Congress only retain its existing strength in the House. It won 22 seats against the 25 it had in the previous assembly.
Senior Congress leader Anand Sharma on Wednesday denounced the Modi government's decision to allow 100 per cent foreign direct investment in defence sector by easing norms, saying the prime minister was working under pressure from the United States and his party would oppose it in Parliament.
'I hope Prime Minister Modi will take the population bull by the horns,' says Sudhir Bisht.
The chief minister stressed on more hygiene in the areas where cows were kept and gave a direction to ensure availability of green fodder to them.
'I would say it is not going to be days and weeks. It is going to be months and years, over which we would make an assessment on the decisions taken by the Parliament at this point of time. 'We are in for a long haul is what I would say.' It was a very diverse India, which was coming together, politically, in a very cohesive, democratically-resilient way." Professor Navnita Behera examines the wisdom of the exit of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.
It seems the Congress just does not have the energy and vitality to break through even in the states where it has a ground presence and the wind of anti-incumbency on its back, says Aakar Patel.
Shah said the 'friendship' between Christian Michel, the alleged middleman in the deal, and Congress' top leadership is 'time tested and deep'.
'Just see what kind of political, social and economic impact it will have when the number of unemployed goes up four times in one year suddenly.'
Political differences blurred as Congress president Sonia Gandhi wrote a personal letter to Union minister Gopinath Munde's family condoling his death and Rahul Gandhi visited the Bharatiya Janata Party office to pay respects to the departed leader.
The first priority for the new Tibetan administration in Dharamsala should be to look at Tibetan recruitment in the PLA, suggests Claude Arpi.
