'Shiv Sena’s reprehensible attack on Observer Research Foundation’s Sudheendra Kulkarni yesterday (October 12), for organising former Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri’s book launch in Mumbai, is another step back for a party desperately trying to remain relevant both to its voting constituency as well as in the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition government in Maharashtra. Last week, it threatened to violently disrupt noted ghazal singer Ghulam Ali’s concert in Mumbai, scaring the organiser into cancelling the event.
'The senior Supreme Court lawyer, who was in Patna to lend his support to veterans fighting for OROP, said the BJP did nothing to bring back black money, and had it done so, it would have been able to meet the demands of ex-servicemen.
'RSS ideologue and former BJP general secretary KN Govindacharya has hit out at the Narendra Modi government for shielding ministers who are facing allegations of corruption and impropriety. Speaking to The Hindu, Govindacharya said the central government’s support to such ministers “speaks of the political dishonesty of the establishment”. He slammed the NDA government led by Modi by calling it “power-centric”. It is a “a power-centric, not people-centric government in which issues and values have been given a goodbye”, Govindacharya told the national daily in an interview.
'An RSS-affiliated organisation today staged a protest here against the "anti-farmer" and "anti-poor" land acquisition bill in a move that could embarrass the NDA government which also faced protests by Left-backed farmers' outfits and some opposition parties. The protests by Swadeshi Jagaran Manch(SJM) came at a time when opposition parties have united against the contentious Land Bill even as the organisation said it plans to spread public awareness against the NDA regime if its demands are not considered.
'The BJP government has come under attack from an RSS affiliated workers' body which charged it with being on the "wrong track" on the economic and labour front by "unduly favouring corporate sector and indulging in criminal neglect of social sector". In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) said that in a few months itself his government has "disappointed" the social sector including workers, common man, lower middle class, peasants, villagers and tribals.
"In politics, as the saying goes, perception is reality and the truth is negotiable. However true the charges against Home Minister Rajnath Singh and his son Pankaj Singh, spread by anonymous BJP leaders, are, it is now clear that Rajnath's image has been tarred by these unproven claims despite the PMO's clarification...
"There is a lesser known story about the alleged bugging incident at Nitin Gadkari’s residence that needs to be told. Some days before the news became public, the Union road transport and highways minister had a meeting with the top brass of the RSS in New Delhi. The former BJP president, known for his proximity to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, expressed apprehensions that top leaders in the party, including himself, were being snooped upon.
'The Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) and the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch (SJM), two Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-inspired organisations, on Saturday criticised the Union environment ministry’s approval to field trials of 15 varieties of genetically modified (GM) crops, including rice, brinjal, chickpea, mustard and cotton.
"Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Thursday batted for “human rights” of gays and said it was the government’s job to protect their rights. “Everybody, including gays, has human rights. It is the job of the government to protect their rights,” he said on the sidelines of an event. He, however, declined to make further comments when asked to explain his position as his party, BJP, had supported the Supreme Court judgment which had upheld the validity of Section 377 of IPC, criminalising sex among homosexuals.
'Once again, attempts are being made to polarise communities in the Jat-dominated districts of western Uttar Pradesh. Yet this time around it seems they are being met with greater skepticism. One section of the Jat community has called it the “gimmickry” of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the ruling party at the Centre; they allege that this is a BJP ploy to divert the attention of Jat farmers from its bid to amend the Land Acquisition Act.
