Samajwadi Party leader Mohammed Farooq Ghosi has been suspended after stirring a controversy by requesting party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav to nominate 1993 Mumbai serial blasts convict Yakub Memon's wife as a Rajya Sabha MP.
In the 2018 assembly polls, the Congress shocked the BJP by securing 30 of the 47 ST seats, proving that this vote bank has drifted away from the ruling party over some time. Sandeep Kumar reports.
Leaders of 22 opposition parties met the Election Commission and demanded verification of VVPAT slips of randomly-selected polling stations before the counting of the votes.
The way communal politics has become the only way to decide political discourse is unfortunate and bad sign for the future of democracy, says Syed Hassan Kazim
After much delay, the controversial Communal Violence Prevention Bill was on Monday cleared by the Union Cabinet after removal of certain provisions, reducing the role of the legislation in handling of riots and making it neutral between communities.
'Is baar vote jati par nahi, kaam par milega.'
'Destabilising the Yediyurappa government is not a cakewalk.' 'If he is destabilised, then the BJP will have problems in Karnataka.'
Responding to a question, Jaishankar said while the issue of human rights was not discussed during the current meeting, it has come up in the past.
'We repent our decision today as we feel we betrayed our (Congress) party, while the DAP betrayed us'
The bandh call was given after two youths were stabbed, one fatally, near Mangaluru.
'Many times when Khalistan slogans are raised, it is from those who feel alienated, not because they want a separate state.'
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday urged the Election Commission to declare Trinamool Congress as a 'terrorist party', upping the ante against the ruling party after political clashes in Birbhum violence left three people dead.
The future challenger to Narendra Modi would be somebody who can bring the Hindus and Muslims together again. The Hindus as Hindus, not broken caste groups, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
Nothing would suit the BJP better than to let Rajinikanth be the chief minister and pretend to abide by his spiritual path while quietly consolidating its vote bank, observes Amulya Ganguli.
The BJP seems wanting to return to a 'Tamil Hindutva' agenda for elections in Tamil Nadu, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
'What she did so far and what she will do now is secondary; the most important thing is a person from the Adivasi community has reached the top-most position in the country.'
With 32 people being killed in Assam, the Centre on Sunday said it is determined to curb attacks on minorities as the violence there was aimed at starting a "full-fledged communal conflagration".
'The way discrimination against Muslims has become almost normalised is very upsetting.'
'Rather than 'consolidate' the Hindu majority votes, as the BJP-RSS combine has been known and wont to try, this time round PM Modi has himself taken the party to the next step, by seeking to create a new divide within the majority community, a la V P Singh in his time.'
A graduate by education, Santanu, the eldest son of former Trinamool Congress minister Manjul Krishna Thakur, was more into the development of the Matuas through various social services run by the Thakurbari in Thakurnagar and was never into politics.
Though largely seen as an official visit, with less than a year for elections, Shah during this trip is likely to meet senior party leaders including Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, veteran leader B S Yediyurappa among others
'Had the Congress made Sidhu its CM face, they would have won 80 out of 117 seats.'
'BJP has risen to second spot, ahead of the BSP, as the political party of choice for Muslims in UP.' 'Only the BJP government has worked tirelessly to usher in the minorities to the mainstream of society'
Shah asserted that the BJP will once again form the government in Uttar Pradesh with a comfortable majority.
Maurya made the revelation while favouring the expeditious implementation of the UCC both in the country and the state.
Besides criticising CM Arvind Kejriwal on scores of issues, Shah alleged the AAP government made only promises throughout its tenure and now in the last three months, public money was being spent on advertisements for its announcements.
'Increasingly, there is a tendency to magnify 'victimhood' of the minority for electoral gains and vote bank politics.'
'There is no doubt that there is a worldwide rise in Islamophobia. There is a tendency amongst some in India to react to this in the Indian milieu,' says Colonel Anil A Athale(retd).
Addressing a rally in Rithala in northwest Delhi, Shah said Kejriwal and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi were against the construction of Ram temple, the scrapping of provisions of Article 370 and were not bothered about the country's image and soldiers.
Mayawati's failure to contest the election as also her not organising large election rallies, as she once did, have led political pundits to conclude, rightly or wrongly, that she is 'out of the race', Sunil Gatade and Venkatesh Kesri point out.
Loss of power in Bihar has upset the Bharatiya Janata Party's calculations for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls but a section of its leaders also see a chance for the party to break the dominance of regional parties in the state, like it has in Uttar Pradesh.
'Rahul Gandhi has personally paid a heavy price for this character assassination and remorseless ridiculing and the Congress, of course, has been demolished politically.'
The BJP says an 'assassin' is very different from a terrorist.
'Caste-based power politics made him think that he can get away with murder.'
This is not an election Budget in the sense that I might target the voter in the coming elections. But if you look beyond this round of state elections, and tilt the periscope to graze at the more distant horizon, see how the Narendra Modi government wishes things looking by the summer of 2024, observes Shekhar Gupta.
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav attacked the Congress over the food security ordinance, accusing it of indulging in vote bank politics and said its intentions were not good.
'When you sow a small plant, then you keep watch on it so that wild cattle should not eat that sapling.'
'Winning this election will take us a step closer to realising our dreams'
Addressing a rally in Lucknow in support of the CAA, Shah threw the challenge for the debate to Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee, Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati. He also declared that the construction of a Ram temple 'touching the skies' in Ayodhya will begin within three months.
Five-time MLA Parshottam Solanki, who is also known as 'Bhai' among his followers, has been winning Bhavnagar-Rural with a comfortable margin.
There is a sudden realisation in party circles that prolonged court cases could damage its standing, both among the cadres and voters, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
