Bhartiya Janata Party leaders are trying to sort out the differences between the party's prime ministerial candidate L K Advani and former vice president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, which cropped up after the latter declared his intentions of returning to active politics."As far as the BJP is concerned, L K Advani is our candidate for the post of the prime minister," party president Rajnath Singh said."I am contesting the Lok Sabha elections," the former VP had stated.
The best source of information could be gathered from local police stations across the country, said Home Minister P Chidambaram, speaking at the chief ministers' conference on Tuesday.
There are wide spread speculations in corridors of power in the Capital that Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia may take over as the next finance minister of India.
The National Investigative Agency Bill and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill on Tuesday became a law as President Pratibha Patil gave her assent to those legislations which were passed in the last session of Parliament."NIA will be established to investigate terrorist offences. As and when any case is assigned to the NIA, it will take up investigation," he said. Home Minister P Chidambaram told reporters that the presidential assent has been received today.
Jammu and Kashmir National Panther's Party chief Bhim Singh, who is undergoing treatment in Jammu hospital, has called the pact between National Conference and the Congress to form new government in the state as a complete sell out.
One of the first tasks that he undertook was to visit Saifuddin Soz and express his gratitude. "I must say that Soz Sahib has been a great source of strength,"he said. Abdullah clarified that he looked upon Soz as his political mentor.
The Congress high command held long discussions with former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and state congress chief Saifuddin Soz, but no decision was taken during the meeting whether to support the National Conference to form new government headed by Omar Abdullah.
Raman Mattoo was the sole member in the previous House.
People's Conference chairman Sajjad Lone has conceded that the high voter turn-out for the Jammu and Kashmir elections not only surprised him but other separatist leaders in the Valley as well.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has called upon the Centre to take tough stand against Pakistan for using its territory to launch attack on India and urged the United States and other countries to put pressure on Pakistan to hand over terrorists to India.
Amid rising tension between India and Pakistan after the deadly terrorist attacks in Mumbai, three services chiefs met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday to brief him on latest security situation.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader S S Ahluwalia in a coversation with rediff.com has ridiculed Pakistani claims that it has arrested a resident of Kolkata for his alleged role in the Lahore car bomb blast .
The Antulay controversy refused to die down on Wednesday with the Bharatiya Janata Party continuing its demand for sacking of the minister for his remarks on the circumstances leading to the death of Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare. "The BJP demands that A R Antulay be sacked and the Congress apologise to the nation for this. If Manmohan Singh cannot firmly deal with an erring cabinet minister, to what extent can he be expected to deal firmly against terror,"it said
Asserting India's stand that Pakistan must dismantle terror infrastructure in its territory, Dr Singh urged the international community to use its power to persuade Pakistan to end terrorism.
Talking to media persons in New Delhi, Antulay denied having ever raised doubts on who killed Karkare. The Union minister added that he will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi in this regard.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday indicated in Rajya Sabha that he might make a statement on Union Minorities Minister Abdul Rahman Antulay's remarks on Tuesday, the last day of the current Parliament session. The statement came after Bharatiya Janata Party members forced several adjournments.
Heavy fog in New Delhi and surrounding areas disrupted the schedules of several flights in the capital on Sunday. Some flights were cancelled and several delayed due to almost zero visibility, caused by foggy conditions.A similar situation had been witnessed last year, when dense fog had disrupted flight schedules and caused chaos in Delhi, Srinagar and Chandigarh airports. The government had then assured that the situation will not be repeated in 2008.
"We would like to know if the Congress will dismiss Minority Affairs minister A R Antulay," asked BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad on Saturday.
Union Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal dismissed Bharatiya Janata Party General Secretary Arun Jaitley's view that the new anti-terror law is likely to be misused against the minorities. "This is not true," Sibal said.
Speaker Somnath Chatterjee rejected the Bharatiya Janata Party's demand for a joint parliamentary probe into the Spectrum deal which according to BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar is "the mother of all scams" and has favoured a few individuals to the tune of several thousand crores by resorting to underwriting the amount involved in the deal.
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