The prime minister, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, Union ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh, and BJP president J P Nadda also visited Advani's residence to greet him.
The monk-turned politician will take the reins of the most populous state for a second time in a row after completing his full five-year term.
Appealing with "folded hands" for an end to the three-month-long cycle of violence in Manipur, Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday urged the warring Kuki and Meitei communities to hold talks, even as the Lok Sabha adopted a resolution calling for the restoration of peace in the northeastern state.
Congress leaders alleged the BJP has made and failed in its every attempt to defame Rahul Gandhi and derail the yatra somehow as people from across the country including Delhi are overwhelmingly extending their support.
'There was trust, but perhaps there was also this apprehension that given the supreme post of prime minister, Sonia Gandhi felt her authority may be a challenged.'
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.
'The BJP knows only one language, intimidation!'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said he had a "very warm meeting" with Pope Francis and discussed a wide range of issues, including the Covid-19 pandemic and the challenge posed by climate change, with the head of the Roman Catholic church and also invited the Pontiff to visit India at an early date.
According to sources, several opposition leaders are also considering boycotting the inaugural function on Sunday, alleging that the government has insulted the President.
The change of heart in the US and India was propelled by the increased threat of China to both countries, explains Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Offering his condolences to Vajpayee's family and admirers, Rahul Gandhi said the former prime minister was loved and respected by millions.
Panthic politics came easily to Parkash Singh Badal. But he was quick to abandon it when it became a problem, points out Aditi Phadnis.
It was only a matter of hours before I would be declared persona non grata; all my work would turn to ashes, and I would be revealed as a typical untrustworthy Indian. I steeled myself for the axe to fall.
Former Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma on Tuesday drew comparisons between Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, saying that the BJP strongman is a good administrator but lacks secular credentials unlike the erstwhile Prime Minister.
The JD-U leader's outbursts against his former ally came in response to queries from journalists about Shah's speech earlier in the day at Sitab Diara.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday exhorted farmers to adopt natural farming saying it will help not only save water but also produce better crops, and invited them to join a mega programme on it on December 16 as it would prove beneficial for them.
During the day-long debate, the lines between science and religion often got blurred with many invoking religious texts and the contribution of 'rishi munis' to highlight India's tryst with the extra-terrestrial world.
Sparks flew on the first day of the debate on the no-trust motion moved by the Congress with the Opposition on Tuesday asserting that it was forced to do so to break Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'maun vrat' (vow of silence) on Manipur and the treasury benches hitting back saying it was a no-trust vote against a 'poor person's son' who has worked for the welfare of the people.
Our focus is not on substance, but communicating how we did not shake hands and how we made angry faces. This is what India's foreign policy has become, notes Aakar Patel.
However, the AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the SC committee has limited terms of reference and 'cannot bring out the deep nexus between' the prime minister and the billionaire businessman.
Happily, it does not require the world to hold a mirror up for us. We can look at ourselves and understand easily if we choose to be honest about where we find ourselves three quarters of a century after Independence, asserts Aakar Patel.
Former India players Sunil Gavaskar and Sanjay Manjrekar on Tuesday escaped unhurt after one of the glass doors of the commentary box at the newly-built Ekana Stadium shattered into pieces just as the duo were entering the enclosure.
The idea of weaponization got a fillip from an unexpected quarter. In the last week of October 1985, Rajiv met US President Ronald Reagan. Reagan told Rajiv, 'Pakistan has already made a bomb.' When Rajiv started talking about disarmament, the US president cut him short, 'Don't talk theory, think of your own protection.'
For the BJP, the RSS' organisational heft is a prized asset, considering the slew of elections it faces this year, ahead of the Lok Sabha election in 2024.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday again took a digital tablet wrapped in a traditional 'bahi-khata' style pouch as she headed for Parliament to present Union Budget 2023-24 in a paperless format just like the previous two years. She posed for the traditional 'briefcase' picture outside her office along with her team of officials before heading to meet the President. She, however, was holding a tablet instead of a briefcase to present the Budget in a digital format.
'She showed courage at every turn in her political career.'
BJP veterans whom K Annamalai has reportedly sidelined are upset over his 'immature' way of handling allies, reveals N Sathiya Moorthy.
Apparently seeking to pacify an angry BJP, Joint Parliamentary Committee chief P C Chacko on Tuesday dismissed reports that the panel has named former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in its draft report in the 2G scam.
In an interview with CNN-IBN's National Editor Bhupendra Choubey, former National Security Advisor and principal secretary to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpyee, Brajesh Mishra talks about the recent crisis in National Democratic Alliance surrounding Gujarat Chuef Minister Narendra Modi and his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar.
It sent shock waves in the party -- a political greenhorn had taken on Modi in his home turf of Gujarat. Smriti had clearly tried to choose sides, in this case Vajpayee's camp. Many felt that this would end Irani's career. A revealing excerpt from Nidhi Sharma's new book She, The Leader: Women in Indian Politics.
Soon after his return from foreign tour, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday visited former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's house here and greeted him on his 91st birthday.
'Although perhaps not with a greater majority, and maybe even a slightly reduced majority in the Lok Sabha.'
The Congress sought her intervention in helping bring normalcy in violence-hit Manipur, and called for the constitution of a high-level inquiry commission headed by a serving or retired Supreme Court judge to probe the incident.
The Centre has issued directions for blocking multiple YouTube videos and Twitter posts sharing links to the BBC documentary 'India: The Modi Question', sources said.
'We know these are mind games Ajit dada is playing, but he (Sharad Pawar) doesn't get swayed by such gestures.'
A video of the qawwal (qawwali singer), identified as Nawaz Sharif, briefly speaking about India, Modi, Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath during a performance at Mangawa town in Rewa district on March 28 has gone viral on social media.
Vajpayee's ashes will be immersed in rivers in all the districts in Uttar Pradesh -- his karmabhoomi.
This is for the second time in the last three months that Sinha has come out with praising words for Rahul Gandhi and his 'Bharat Jodo Yatra'.
The Congress on Thursday objected to Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar deleting some portions of Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge's speech from official records, saying he used no unparliamentary words and some of the expressions he employed were earlier used even by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
After his failed misadventure in Kargil, Musharraf deposed the then Prime Minister Sharif in a bloodless coup in 1999 and ruled Pakistan from 1999 to 2008 in various positions.
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