A new book reveals that Atal Bihari Vajpayee rejected an offer to become President of India, a move that would have made Lal Krishna Advani Prime Minister. Vajpayee believed that a sitting PM becoming President would set a bad precedent for Indian democracy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Nitin Nabin on his election as the BJP national president and declared that the young leader will be his boss in matters related to the party.
Nitin Nabin, a five-time Bihar MLA, has been elected unopposed as the BJP national president, becoming the youngest person to hold the position. His appointment signals a generational shift in the party's leadership as it prepares for key state elections.
Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Saturday lauded the organisational power of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-Bharatiya Janata Party as he shared Narendra Modi's old picture and said how a grassroots worker went on to become the chief minister and prime minister by sitting at the feet of their leaders.
'The move to appoint a person with a profile, markedly lower than the leader Nitin Nabin will replace, has the potential to put the brakes on the careers of several others in the party and government in the positions they currently hold,' points out Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
'I disagree with much of Modi's politics, but it cannot be denied that in these years in office, he has carved more than a niche for himself in history,' points out Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author, Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times.
The 96-year-old former deputy prime minister was brought to the hospital about two days ago.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah introduced bills in Lok Sabha addressing the removal of arrested PMs, CMs, and ministers, sparking opposition protests. Shah emphasized the need for public decision on whether leaders should govern from jail, criticizing the Congress party's stance on the matter.
Let there be no doubt that Modi in these 24 years so far has reshaped politics and governance considerably, if not completely, asserts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author, Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times.
"Advani was admitted for old age-related issues and has been discharged," the AIIMS official said.
The 2003 BSF operation that eliminated terrorist Gazi Baba in Jammu and Kashmir, the subject of an upcoming action film, "Ground Zero," crippled the Jaish-e-Mohammed. The mission, which earned the BSF a dozen gallantry awards, is being portrayed in the film releasing on April 25. The operation, described in the BSF's 50th anniversary book, involved a daring raid on a house in Srinagar where Gazi Baba was hiding. The BSF faced heavy gunfire and grenades, with officers sustaining injuries and one constable, Balbir Singh, being killed while protecting his superior officer, Narendra Nath Dhar Dubey. Dubey, who led the operation, received the Kirti Chakra, India's third highest peacetime gallantry award.
The 96-year-old leader, the longest serving president of the BJP, said ever since he joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as its volunteer at the age of 14 years he has sought reward in only one thing "in dedicated and selfless service of my beloved country in whatever task life assigned to me".
The prolonged delay over electing J P Nadda's successor possibly stems from the RSS leadership wanting a person who is at least equidistant from the Sangh as well as the Modi/BJP edifice, observes BJP-RSS watcher Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
'During Eid Muslims get Eidi, but Opposition parties never gave that to them.' 'When PM Modi is giving Eidi to Muslims Opposition leaders are getting upset.'
'While suppression of information is acceptable for the government, the Opposition's efforts at pinning the government and its leaders is labeled anti-national,' points out Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Thursday confirmed reports of an invitation to Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi for the Ayodhya Ram Mandir consecration ceremony, adding that she was 'very positive on this matter'.
Both Advani and Joshi said that they will make "every effort" to join the ceremony to be held on January 22, Kumar said in a statement.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sought to send out the message that the ruling BJP, unlike its predecessors at the helm, is not guided by parochial politics in recognising contributions in the public life, as the party looks to break new ground during the polls.
Atal (Bihari Vajpayee), Advani and Joshi have contributed a lot for the BJP to reach where it is now, he said.
The Bharat Ratna for him comes nine years after the honour was bestowed on former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The two leaders together spearheaded the journey of the Jana Sangh and then the BJP for over five decades.
The last Bharat Ratna award was conferred upon Pranab Mukherjee in 2019 and was posthumously awarded to Bhupendra Kumar Hazarika and Nanaji Deshmukh. The award was not given to anyone between 2020 and 2023.
Gandhi said the party will defeat the saffron party and Narendra Modi in Gujarat just the way it was defeated in Ayodhya.
Alok Kumar said that all the required medical facilities and other arrangements will be provided to Advani during his visit to the Pran Pratistha ceremony in Ayodhya.
Had it not been for Pankaj Tripathi, who must have worked hard to get those Vajpayee intonations and mannerisms so perfectly well, Ravi Jadhav's flattering portrait of Vajpayee would have been more vacuous than what we get to see, observes Prasanna Zore.
Kharge claimed that though the BJP says the corrupt must be put in jails, when leaders facing corruption charges join the saffron party, they are "put on the lap" and sent to Rajya Sabha or assembly.
Modi spoke to the BJP's longest serving president, who is credited with crafting the party's rise through the 90s when it came to power for the first time as the head of coalition governments under Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and congratulated him.
"The Congress did not behave properly with my grandfather. I campaigned for the BJP during the Madan Lal Khurrana days in Delhi. My grandfather wanted me to join the BJP. He had introduced me to late Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani," he said.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday declared that he will not realign with the Bharatiya Janata Party till he is alive, accusing the former ally of using investigating agencies for targeting political opponents like Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad.
'Met him this morning and sought his blessings'
As the old Parliament building hosted a session one last time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday bid a poignant farewell recalling the country's first PM Jawaharlal Nehru's iconic 'tryst with destiny' speech for continuing to inspire everyone and another predecessor Atal Bihari Vajpayee's 'governments may come and go' remark.
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.
Rahul Gandhi is marching with a positive thought, it is a positive yatra. There is no violence, no hatred. If you are not showing this yatra, you are not fulfilling your dut
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'.
Our funny take on External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid.
The differences between the two leaders underscore a major transition point in the political evolution of the saffron party
The Congress on Monday avoided commenting on Bharatiya Janata Party veteran Lal Krishna Advani's decision to quit from three key posts in the saffron outfit, and reiterated that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's promotion, as head of the 2014 poll panel will have its own repercussions.
A recent survey of 100 chief executives conducted by Nielsen for The Economic Times said 80 per cent want Modi to become prime minister.
Bharatiya Janata Party veteran Lal Krishna Advani on Friday said the only way to end the present situation of uncertainty in the country and tackle the economic crisis effectively is to hold Lok Sabha elections in 2013.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has cleared the first list of 45 candidates for the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections. Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, five of his ten ministers and 15 sitting Members of Legislative Assembly figure in the list cleared by the Central Election Committee, chaired by party president Nitin Gadkari and attended among others by patriarch Lal Krishna Advani.
Bhartiya Janata Party patriarch Lal Krishna Advani took a dig at the prime minister's 48-year old communication advisor Pankaj Pachauri in his latest blog for his "stupidity" of trying to fix a Washington Post journalist who wrote Dr Manmohan Singh as "a tragic figure and a dithering, ineffectual bureaucrat presiding over a deeply corrupt government."
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