The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis e Ittehadul Muslimeen seem to have dented the Congress's sway over the votes of minorities in Gujarat in the just concluded assembly polls, bringing down the main Opposition party's vote margin considerably in various seats across the state.
He, however, asserted that all infiltrators will be thrown out of the country.
Will Annamalai's attacks on the DMK revert the anti-BJP feeling in Tamil Nadu, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
A BJP leader said the money would be spent on welfare schemes for the poor, modernising of defence forces, and improving schools.
In Pasmanda Muslim meets, the BJP leaders are highlighting that the Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress always used Muslims as a "vote bank" and did not give them their due.
Shah said the revocation of the special status has paved the way for development in Jammu and Kashmir and it will be a "final nail in the coffin of terrorism".
Sharing the stage with foe-turned-friend Ram Vilas Paswan, Narendra Modi on Monday attacked Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, saying Bihar has become a safe haven for terrorists as he has failed to act tough in his bid to win over Muslim votes.
It is ironic that Raja Mahendra Pratap's Jat connection is being used for vote bank politics. He could not have cared less for his caste.' 'He was aware of the hold caste had on people's lives, and always rose above this kind of narrow thinking.' 'He mentions that once when he landed at Dwarka the priests asked him about his caste. He replied that he was a sweeper. The priests denied him entry. "I did not care to visit it," he writes, "when it was surrounded by people who had no regard for humanity".'
'As his close associate Som Pal told me, "Mandal was never V P Singh's brainchild. It was a Janata Party commitment he inherited".' 'He would have done it anyway at some point, but the specific timing of his decision was dictated entirely by political exigency -- his government was threatened.' 'It also turned out to be a game changer in Indian politics.'
Refusing to be dragged into the controversy over Congress leader Shakeel Ahmed's statement that Gujarat riots led to creation of Indian Mujahideen, the Home Ministry on Tuesday said the NIA charge sheet and its position on the banned terror outfit are clear.
After yoga guru Baba Ramdev was banned from conducting programmes in Himachal on Monday and booked in Maharashtra and Rajasthan under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes Atrocities Act for his honeymoon remarks targeting targeting Rahul Gandhi, the yoga guru said he would move the courts against the curbs.
Tribals constitute 7-8 per cent of the state's population, and are a deciding factor in 47 assembly seats and seven Lok Sabha constituencies spread across the Junglemahal districts of Purulia, Paschim Medinipur, Bankura and Jhargram in southern Bengal and Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar in the north.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday demanded that Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde be sacked immediately -- for asking chief ministers to ensure that no innocent Muslim is detained or questioned -- claiming that he is attempting to divide the country on communal lines.
Congress leader Janardan Dwivedi's remarks on ending caste-based reservations and seeking a quota based on economic criteria created a stir on Wednesday, with the Samajwadi Party stoutly opposing the proposal and the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiromani Akali Dam questioning its timing.
'The central and Assamese governments want to get 35 lakh to 40 lakh Bangladeshis (Hindus) to come to Assam and make the Assamese people a minority.' 'They want to make Assam a Bengali state.' 'Bengalis by nature are BJP supporters whereas Assamese people don't support the BJP.'
'The Congress is trying to cover up their anti-incumbency by highlighting the Dalit CM factor.'
If we accept that there is a challenge in Punjab today, any realistic progress can only be made if the rest of the country, especially the government and the ruling party, engage with this sense of grievance, points out Shekhar Gupta
'The BJP plans to win 10 (Lok Sabha) seats (in Tamil Nadu) and the alliance (with the AIADMK) 20 seats in 2024.'
Imam Umer Ahmed Ilyasi, chief imam of the All India Imam Organisation, who led a delegation of 30 Muslims to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 3, tells Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com how the meeting came about and what was discussed during the 75-minute convivial meet.
By filing his nomination as Congress president on Friday, Shashi Tharoor has shown he is no 'quockerwodger' -- a word he introduced into our lexicon which means someone acting on the instructions of an influential third party.
He also accused Pakistan of wanting to destabilise and weaken India through terrorism.
Voter turnout was 67.47 per cent in 2015 assembly election. The voting percentage was 57.04 till 6 pm deadline, and rose to 61.46 per cent as those in queues at polling stations were allowed to vote, poll officials said, adding it may increase further.
'The problem is not lack of evidence, but the unholy alliance between political parties and church authorities.' 'If you are raising a voice against the priest, you and your family will suffer.'
'All parties are engaging in polarisation to strengthen their political vote banks, which is very unfortunate because these are young, impressionable, students.' 'These students are our future.' 'What kind of a society are we banking upon if we are planting such poisonous seeds into their minds?'
'Definitely it is being orchestrated.' 'Political parties are indulging in it and trying to gain some points from communities and vote banks they depend upon for their political survival.'
Arrested in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, she was given a clean chit by the National Investigation Agency, but the trial court refused to discharge her from the case.
Several states that imposed prohibition in the past lifted it once revenue loss began to pinch
The AIADMK is convinced that the BJP will remain an electoral burden for a long time to come, beginning the Lok Sabha polls next year, reveals N Sathiya Moorthy.
'A party which talk about sabka saath, sabka vikas is now focussing on certain sections for power'
The BJP claimed the Congress was targeting the Modi government due to their "political malice" and vote bank politics.
According to poll observers, there are about 3.88 lakh voters in Rampur assembly constituency and of them, about 2.27 lakh, about 60 per cent, are Muslims.
Can Jitin Prasada retain the BJP's Brahmin vote in UP?
The 136-year-old baby, argues Shyam G Menon, is taking a tiny step to tackling the biggest dread of old age: Change.
Narendra Modi on Thursday hit out at Congress for 'chai-wala' barbs, saying the ruling party was mocking at the poor whom it has used only as a vote-bank without doining anything for them.
The ruling BJP is confident of bettering its 2017 performance, especially with the new UP party chief, Bhupendra Chaudhary, at the helm of affairs, reports Virendra Singh Rawat.
There is no room for Pakistan or any other foreign country to interfere in Kashmir, Rahul said.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh mouthpiece 'Organiser' has justified the action taken against a Dalit students body by IIT, Madras, and claimed educational campuses are "afflicted with red ideology."
The Bihar government has always been extremely touchy when it came to the subject of terrorism and in the past two years they have made it clear twice.
The state BJP, meanwhile, has urged the government to drop its decision to celebrate Tipu Jayanti and not to stand on 'prestige' or 'ego'.
