Nistula Hebbar

2 weeks ago | thehindu.com | Nistula Hebbar

All NDA allies voted with the BJP in favour of the Waqf amendments, just nine months after forcing its referral to a JPC; after a slew of BJP victories in States, and weakened allies in Bihar and Andhra, have helped restore BJP authority. The comprehensive electoral victories posted by the BJP in Maharashtra, Haryana, and then Delhi have contributed a lot to the restoration of the hegemonic political position that the BJP has occupied for the last decade or so.

2 weeks ago | thehindu.com | Nistula Hebbar

Top sources have confirmed that Union Home Minister Amit Shah is set to visit Chennai next week. This comes amid the recent political developments in Tamil Nadu, including speculations of an alliance between the BJP and the AIADMK and BJP State president K. Annamalai ruling himself out of the race for the party chief post. According to the sources, Mr. Shah would be in Chennai between the late evening of April 10 and April 11, and is scheduled to meet S. Gurumurthy, editor of Thuglak.

2 weeks ago | thehindu.com | Nistula Hebbar

On these numbers hangs a tale, of changing loyalties and the apparent restoration of the BJP’s political hegemony: the Waqf Amendment Bill, 2025, cleared the Lok Sabha with 288 MPs in favour, and 232 against, and passed the Rajya Sabha with 128 votes in favour and 95 against. Parsing the figures, it is clear that the BJP’s allies in the ruling NDA are firmly back at its side.

3 weeks ago | thehindu.com | Nistula Hebbar

Noting that U.S. President Donald Trump’s new tariffs are tantamount to a total disregard of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the Sangh Parivar’s economic wing said on Thursday (April 2, 2025) that India should follow suit, and also “dump” the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). TRIPS is the WTO’s comprehensive multilateral agreement on intellectual property, not always weighted in favour of developing nations.

3 weeks ago | thehindu.com | Nistula Hebbar

The second-in-command of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Dattatreya Hosabale, in comments to Kannada magazine Vikrama, a mouthpiece of the Sangh, has said that the organisation would have no objections if its members participated in efforts concerning the Krishna Janmabhoomi issue in Mathura, and the Gyanvapi mosque dispute in Varanasi. “At that time [1984], the VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad), saints, and seers spoke of three temples.