'Vajpayee was the last of the national leaders. They do not make leaders of that calibre any longer. Maybe astute sociologists will undertake a study of the inverse link between a growing economy and a depleting leadership pool.'
'Somewhere down the line, Omar lost the plot, and in some ways, his troubles have stemmed from a lack of political maturity which has been evident in his decisions.'
'Not even a single rupee from the electoral bonds should be allowed to be used in the election.' 'If it is used in the election, it will taint India's electoral process itself.'
Move over, national political stalwarts. The battle for the hustings in this tribal-dominated state is virtually centered around BJP chief minister Raman Singh and Congress leader and former chief minister Ajit Jogi. A look at BJP posters, advertisements and other campaign material leaves little doubt that the saffron party is trying to retain Chhattisgarh by showcasing the achievements and positive image of Singh.
'BJP loses a democratic election, then buys MLAs from the ruling party's flock and rides to power in these states.' 'Do you think Atalji would have tolerated this?'
Arvind Kejriwal warned the media that "very big forces" would try and break the INDIA alliance by showing that there was a lot of acrimony among them.
The Uttar Pradesh government, which had made budgetary allocation of crores of rupees for installation of statues of Chief Minister Mayawati and her mentor Kanshi Ram in the state, has said it is a wrong notion that only statues of dead persons can be installed.
Firing a fresh salvo at senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani, expelled BJP leader Jaswant Singh has claimed that the former home minister stopped former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee from taking action against Gujarat CM Narendra Modi over the 2002 riots on the ground that it could trigger uproar in the party.
Senior leaders of Bhartiya Janata Party L K Advani and Sushma Swaraj on Friday termed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's talks with his Pakistani counterpart Gilani as a complete surrender of the national interests.
Running a state was a lot more treacherous than building roads.
Kumar made the remark while replying to questions in Patna, from journalists, about the BJP's decision taken at its two-day state executive meeting that concluded in Darbhanga on the previous day.
Days after he vented his frustration over the selection of a new team of Bharatiya Janata Party office bearers, Shatrughan Sinha on Tuesday said that there is a vacuum at the top, in the absence of veteran leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee.In an informal interaction with reporters, Sinha said the BJP leadership had weakened after the retirement of Vajpayee from active politics. He said there were also certain other factors but declined to elaborate.
Former finance minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government and a senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yashwant Sinha has denied that he is joining the Congress party. Sinha spoke to rediff.com from Hazaribagh in Jharkhand, where he was holding series of meetings in his constitutency, after resigning from all party posts on Saturday.
The NSA noted that India has offered to put in a dedicated national facility all the fuel that the US will supply as also the fuel New Delhi will get from other countries.
Senior BJP leader L K Advani was on Sunday elected unopposed the working chairman of the National Democratic Alliance till incumbent Atal Bihari Vajpayee recovers from ill-health while acting NDA convenor Sharad Yadav has been elected as the convenor.
Shekhawat was accompanied by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and other NDA leaders.
L K Advani will play a role well beyond the specially-created position of chairman of BJP parliamentary party, according to the new party President Nitin Gadkari who made it clear that the 82-year-old veteran will be a 'permanent guide and philosopher' for the whole party.
Naveenbabu turned 75 last October and there have been rumours of ill health, which he denied last Friday.
Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate L K Advani on Monday said that the National Democratic Alliance lost the 2004 general elections due to 'over confidence' and use of wrong slogans like 'India Shining'."The impression even among the opponents and foreign analysts was that we will win....but we lost...one, due to over-confidence and secondly, using some wrong slogans like India Shining," he said. Advani was then the deputy prime minister.
The controversy over a derogatory statement, made against former prime minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee by a Congress member during the debate over the Liberhan Commission's report in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, is not likely to die down soon with the party threatening to stall Parliament till he apologises for his remarks. "I am today both sad and angry," said deputy Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj.
Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said he respected veteran BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee as a senior politician and did not know whether the Liberhan Commission has done the right thing or not by naming him in its report on the Babri demolition.
The Congress on Monday gave a clean chit to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and spiritual preacher Deoraha Baba, whose names figure in the list of those found culpable by the Liberhan Commission, for the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992. "Vajpayee's name was not in the conspiracy (to demolish Babri mosque). His name was only in one of the lists," Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said.
Congress Member of Parliament Jagdambika Pal, who served as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh for three days in 1998, had to face an awkward moment on Monday during the debate on the Liberhan Commission's report in the House, when the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party pointed out that the report listed him as a karsevak.Pal was the first Congress leader to speak during the Lok Sabha debate on the report, which indicts top BJP leaders L K Advani and Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Wednesday told mediapersons that his party was in alliance talks with the Bharatiya Janata Party.The alliance will be possible only if the BJP agreed to SP's conditions, Mulayam said, though he did not elaborate the conditions. He added that he had met BJP's prime ministerial candidate L K Advani and senior leader and former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to discuss the matter.
Singhvi was speaking at the Annual General Meeting of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry where the American ambassdor David Mulford, was presenting a more realistic picture of Indo-US relations.
Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who is being treated in AIIMS for chest infection, is making a steady progress, doctors attending on him said today.
"The pneumonia is under control with the prognosis being good. Gradually his oxygenation (amount of oxygen in blood purified by the lungs) level has shown improvement and there is no spread of pneumonia," Head of AIIMS Cardiac Thoracic Vascular Sciences Department Sampath Kumar said. The 84-year-old leader was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday last with complaints of fever and chest congestion. Doctors later found that he was suffering from pneumonia.
The condition of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who is admitted at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences with chest infection, is stable and he is responding to the treatment, doctors attending him said on Sunday.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee was involved in the Ram Janma Bhoomi movement which led to the Babri Mosque demolition in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, VHP chief Ashok Singhal said on Friday.
Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee continued to be on ventilation on Saturday with his respiratory track infection remaining a cause of concern, doctors attending on him at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences said. "Vajpayee's condition is stable. His heart is stable but his lungs require support and that is why we are putting him on ventilation," Dr Sampath Kumar, head of Cardiac Thoracic Vascular Sciences of AIIMS, said.
The government on Tuesday introduced a constitutional amendment bill reserving 33 per cent seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, reviving a proposal pending for years and blending history, politics and societal imperatives on the first day in the new Parliament building.
The condition of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences following respiratory infection and fever, was stable on Wednesday. The 84-year-old Bharatiya Janata Party leader was admitted to AIIMS on Tuesday night. He is being given appropriate treatment to deal with complaints of fever and respiratory infection, Dr Sharma said. Vajpayee is also suffering from hypertension and diabetes, he added.
On Monday, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress clashed over the findings of the Liberhan Commission, which is believed to have indicted senior BJP leaders Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L K Advani and M M Joshi, among others, for the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992.
'We are convinced a section of the bureaucracy believes we should follow the Western model of economic development including the dictates of the WTO,' says RSS Spokesman Ram Madhav.
Moreover, there have also been speculations that while entering into an alliance in August last year, a "deal" was struck whereby Nitish Kumar would give up his chair for his deputy who in turn would back him for the top job in national politics.
'Bihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Bengal can be the game changers of 2024.'
Modi, who was accompanied by BJP president Amit Shah, also met the family members of the former prime minister, who completed 92 years on Sunday and is ailing for a few years now.
They adopted a resolution moved by NDA convenor George Fernandes where the parties vowed to dislodge 'the anti-poor, anti-kisan, corrupt, non-performing and an internally paralysed UPA government' and secure a decisive mandate for the NDA in the next elections, senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj said.
Expelled Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jaswant Singh on Saturday said he had sought removal of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi after the post-Godhra communal riots and even opposed L K Advani's 'Ram Rathyatra'.
'The priority at the moment should be to strengthen our internal security arrangements and improve coordination among the intelligence agencies, state governments and military authorities,' says Naresh Chandra, India's former ambassador to Washington.
