On a day the Supreme Court gave transgenders third gender status, Rediff.com presents Bharathi Kannamma, who is contesting the Lok Sabha election from Madurai.
Shah said that the people of the country will decide about the principal opposition party to BJP in the 2024 polls and they have not given this label to any party.
The Bharatiya Janata Party is considering fielding Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath from Ayodhya in the upcoming assembly elections, sources in the party said on Wednesday as senior leaders met to finalise candidates.
The general elections are round the corner and there is a great deal of activity where the fielding of candidates is concerned. What we have noticed in the past few elections that there is a great deal of debate regarding the background of a candidate. The Association for Democratic Reforms has managed to create an awareness among the voters regarding the candidates that they have been voting for.
In the face of pressure from the world community, Mohamed Waheed has stepped down as president of the Maldives on the eve of the second round of the country's controversy-ridden presidential polls.
'Akhilesh did politics like Rabi and Kharif crop which come once a year. Politics is not seasonal, you have to harvest your field all through the year and only then you get a good crop' Political analyst lists 12 reasons why Akhilesh Yadav lost the UP elections.
'The Covid situation is like demonetisation.' 'People were upset with the government initially, but eventually they voted for the BJP again.'
Banerjee, also the TMC supremo, said in a sarcastic way that personnel of security forces such as the CRPF, BSF, CISF and the Army are present at convoys of every BJP leader visiting West Bengal.
He said Parliament in the past decades has debated a number of government decisions, which had caused tensions and social conflict, but it was now deadlocked by rival parties over a 'constructive decision' like demonetisation.
How did Arvind Kejriwal, a one-time votary of secularism, turn into a bargain-basement version of Narendra Modi, wonders Vir Sanghvi.
In 2014 Lok Sabha polls, where it was introduced for the first time in any parliamentary election, around 60 lakh voters had opted for the NOTA option -- equalling about 1.1 per cent of the total votes polled during those elections across 543 seats.
Is anyone in the BJP listening -- to what Nitin Gadkari had to say, but possibly left unsaid? asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
While Modi had a party and an organisation that supported him, all Mulayam, a self-made man with no inheritance in politics, had was a set of (fairly flexible) beliefs.
Tharoor's appeal came in support of his party colleague and former MP Sandeep Dikshit's remarks that the the biggest challenge the party faces is the 'leadership question'.
If the BJP is set to return to power in UP, Uttarakhand, Manipur and even Goa, it is not because of the party's performance or the quality of governance. No. It is essentially Modi's popularity, observes Virendra Kapoor.
Two people, one legally assisting the affected people because of their exclusion from the National Register of Citizens (NRC), and another whose relative has been declared a 'foreigner' by the quasi-judicial Foreigners' Tribunal (FT), talk to Rediff.com about the issues on the ground that people excluded from the NRC are facing and how it can turn into a long-drawn legal process.
It all started to go from bad to worse when controversial former All India Football Federation (AIFF) president Praful Patel, whose third term in office ended in December 2020, stayed in office citing a pending Supreme Court case.
'Basic Covid protocols were not followed, which is why so many teachers lost their lives.'
'We need to see more Indian Americans and people of colour hold elected office and serve in executive roles.'
He said the answer to the Congress' current challenges lies in a combination of effective leadership and organisational reforms.
Hopes of NRIs to cast votes in the ongoing general elections through Internet were dashed on Friday with the Supreme Court saying that any interim relief at this stage may open a pandora's box.
The interim stay on demolition, granted by the Delhi high court earlier, was ending on Monday.
Ahmedabad is home to the strangest of cuisines and is a city of contrasts, if you look beyond the tourist places.
Even with the best methodology there is a limitation to what opinion poll/exit polls can achieve. When done correctly, the polls should give the broad story, points out Rajeeva Karandikar, director, Chennai Mathematical Institute.
Crores of first-time voters will vote against the Congress -- and tens of crores of existing voters shall do the same. The challenges the Congress shall face after the general election of 2014 may be the most severe that the party has ever tackled, says T V R Shenoy.
In spite of his trying hard he is unable to connect not only with ordinary voters but with most party colleagues as well, observes Virendra Kapoor.
According to the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, citizens from priority groups in the city who have not yet registered themselves with health workers carrying out house- to-house survey or at urban health centres (UHCs) can get themselves registered on www.ahmedabadcity.gov.in.
The poll panel on Friday took note of alleged breach of 'ethical and dignified behaviour' and revoked the 'star campaigner' status of the Congress leader. While the political party pays for the expenditure of a star campaigner, the candidate pays for the expenditure of other campaigners.
O Panneerselvam should not be surprised if the current controversy that he has kicked off is used to rid him of the party coordinator's post, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Less than half the ministers in Team Yogi are not long-term BJP members. Many old-timers have been dropped.
Shrug off the yoke of the imperialism of Delhi. That is why the DMK manifesto offers what it offers: The promise that Tamil Nadu will, one day, become an independent republic, notes Aditi Phadnis.
Reaching out to politically crucial Kurmi caste population of the Purulia district, Shah promised jobs for their every family and education in their language.
There is nothing to suggest that the DMK stands to gain from the AIADMK split nor is there anything indicative of an extraordinary advantage for the BJP, independently or in the company of the AIADMK, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
The BJP-led NDA government's decision to facilitate resumption of stalled work at 2000 MW Lower Subansiri Hydro Power Project being constructed by the National Hydro-Power Corporation at Gerukamukh along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh boundary has not gone down well with many anti-dam organisations in Assam. They fear a catastrophic downstream impact by the mega dam project.
Only a leader with sufficient moral authority with voters can pull off such experiments, notes T N Ninan.
Abdulla Yameen, half-brother of former autocratic ruler Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, on Saturday clinched an unexpected victory in the presidential run-off elections by defeating former President Mohamed Nasheed, who had led in two recent aborted polls.
BJP strategists need to remember even at this late hour that 'negativism' sells when you are in the Opposition as the Indian voter has mostly voted anti-incumbency, and not when you are in power. You still needed to highlight your achievements and promises, and let the voter draw his conclusions, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Association of Democratic Reforms said Goa has set a unique record, which is "unparalleled" in the history of Indian democracy.
RCA deputy president Mehmood Abdi has alleged that N Srinivasan committed contempt of court.
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