Subramanian Swamy lashes out against threats to Deepika Padukone, Sanjay Leela Bhansali

BJP leader Subramanian Swamy has come out strongly against right wing activists making violent threats against artists involved with the film Padmavati, saying that he could approach the courts if such threats continue. “In a democracy, everyone has the right to protest, but making threats against someone is against the law and cannot be tolerated,” […]

Katju says SP will defeat BJP in UP Elections; Demonetization, Akhilesh to aid

Former Supreme Court judge and a keen observer of Indian politics, Markandey Katju has predicted a win for the Samajwadi Party led by Akhilesh Yadav in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. BJP, which is seen as a strong contender by many, would be negatively impacted due to the impact of demonetization and the clean […]

Mayawati warns Muslims: Akhilesh vs Mulayalam will bring BJP to power

Bahujan Samaj Party leader Kumari Mayawati has warned Muslim voters in Uttar Pradesh against continuing to vote for Samajwadi Party, claiming that the current fight between SP leader Mulayam Singh and his son Akhilesh would split their votes in two. “I urge you not to let your vote get divided between Akhilesh and Mulayalam groups. […]

Smriti Irani overtakes Katrina Kaif, Deepika Padukone in search volumes

It’s perhaps not something that Smriti Irani expected when she was working as a television artist, but the Union Human Resource Development minister has overtaken top Bollywood heroines as far as online search interest is concerned, a day after her emotional speech in Parliament. On Thursday, a day after she answered her detractors and critics […]

BJP to triple Kerala vote share as Hindus leave Congress in droves – prepoll survey

A survey conducted by Asianet News and C-FORE polling agency ahead of upcoming assembly elections has revealed a dramatic shift of Hindu votes away from the Congress-led United Democratic Front towards the Bharatiya Janata Party. The BJP is set to triple its vote share to 18% from 6% five years earlier, the survey found. The […]

‘Hindu unity’ not working, BJP goes after Christians in Kerala

The Bharatiya Janata Party, which has been struggling to break into the two-front political scenario in Kerala for over a decade seems to have decided to move away from ‘Hindu unity’ plank and on to ‘development politics’ after the Left Front put up a stronger-than-expected fight in recent local elections. Before the local elections held […]

Chandy imbroglio offers Sonia Gandhi a chance to set communal equations right, counter BJP

With a vigilance court directing the filing of a First Information Report against Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Congress President Sonia Gandhi may move to address some of the nagging concerns about ‘communal imbalance’ in the state government. Almost ever since the Chandy-led government took over, the Bharatiya Janata Party has tried to fuel its […]

The hotspot of communal violence in India is not where you think it is

Incidents of communal violence increased this year compared to 2014, according to numbers from the Home Ministry. Adjusted for population, Karnataka saw the highest level of such incidents, while Madhya Pradesh showed the highest growth over 2014. Total number of such incidents are on track for a 15-20% jump in 2015 compared to last year, […]

Pramod Mutalik calls “urgent press conference” on Love Jihad

Love Jihad may not bring the rosiest memories for the Bharatiya Janata Party, but some of its supporters are definitely in no mood ‘abandon’ the cause. Pramod Mutalik, chief of Sri Ramasene — the organisation that became famous for attacking women in a beer parlour in Mangalore — will address an “urgent press conference” on […]

Catholic Church attacks Kerala Muslim League in letter to Sonia

The Catholic Church has written to Sonia Gandhi alleging that certain communities have “hijacked” the education sector in Kerala in what is seen as a direct attack on the Muslim League, a Congress partner that is in charge of the education department. The education sector in Kerala has traditionally been dominated by Christians, who run […]

Is Narendra Modi the new OBC Messiah?

It must be one of the great ironies of Indian politics that it was a party known for its staunchly upper caste base that finally brought OBC wave to national politics. While many political observers have praised the BJP for “destroying the caste politics” of backward leader Mulayam Singh Yadav and dalit leader Kumari Mayawati, […]

General Elections 2014: Minority consolidation to help Congress retain Kerala seats

The vote share of the Congress Party-led United Democratic Front will fall by 3% in the upcoming general elections 2014 in Kerala, while that of the Left Democratic Front will remain the same compared to 2009 – according to an opinion poll by Asianet News network and research firm C Fore. The Bhartiya Janata Party […]