Hours before Bharatiya Janata Party's Parliamentary Board meeting in New Delhi, senior party leader Murli Manohar Joshi had called Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as "chokh maal" (best product).
As the debate on potential prime ministerial contenders for the 2014 elections picks up in India, a United States Congressional report says it might just turn out to be a direct contest between controversial Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
The Congress president also hit out at the PM for raking up the issue of Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin, saying she was "more Indian" than many Indians.
Sonia Gandhi's prime ministerial ambition for her son has been a major factor in the Congress's internal politics since 2004, points out Amulya Ganguli.
In this event, it is the IAF that showed true professionalism, telling the boss they weren't going to fly in that weather. You can see what professionalism and moral courage it takes to say no to your prime minister. Only things like that can keep him safe, observes Shekhar Gupta.
Many old tweets by various Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, including its then prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, have been re-posted by users, to highlight the difference between what they had said in the days of the UPA government in a similar situation, and what is happening now.
Senior Congress leader Rashid Alvi on Monday joined the party men who have offered to contest against Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi from Varanasi Lok Sabha seat.
Realising, that there was a ground swell of anger against several lower level TMC leaders who were often accused of petty corruption in execution of public welfare schemes, Kishor designed the 'Didi Ke Bolo' (Tell Didi) campaign under which citizens could directly approach Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee with their grievances.
'The Congress is unsure of emerging as the single largest party or group on May 16. In such a scenario, they do not wish to accord a loser tag to the young Gandhi... The Congress feels Rahul's projection as a prime ministerial nominee in 2014 would come in the way of the formation of an alternative, non-BJP government...' Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt explains how the transition of power within the Congress is making the party vulnerable.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has charged its party workers Rs 5 per head for attending a mass meeting organised by the party to be held in Bhopal on September 25, which will be addressed by its prime ministerial candidate, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
Yoga guru and anti-graft crusader Ramdev, who met Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in Gandhinagar on Wednesday evening, said that a strong and stable leadership is required for a corruption-free India.
'I don't think there is a wave in favour of the Samajwadi Party, or against the BJP.' 'This election is largely about which party is able to build a larger social and political coalition.'
Accepting the people's verdict with "humility", the top leadership of the Congress on Sunday pledged to transform the party ahead of 2014 Lok Sabha polls for which it would announce its prime ministerial candidate "at the opportune time".
Veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani, who shares a warm relation with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar notwithstanding the severing of ties with the Janata Dal-United, will skip the party's October 27 rally.
Former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi on Monday claimed that Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi was the "target" of the serial blasts carried out by Indian Mujahideen modules in Patna.
"She is a Korean who thinks Korea is her fatherland and India is her motherland." With these words the attention of the press party was diverted from Basel III, trade imbalances and such to a riveting half-hour of wonderful dance
If the government of the day would like to set in place a smooth and well-planned changeover and facilitate the incoming chief to chalk out his action plan well in advance, the announcement of a successor needs to be done early, observes Colonel K Thammayya Udupa (retd).
With the Tamil Nadu electorate having given him an unprecedented mandate that had eluded his father the late M Karunanidhi, Stalin has to prove his worth, ensuring at the same time that the Dravidian drag on the AIADMK's side does not open up space for the BJP to make inroads in the state, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Paswan also asserted that he has been working on his 'Bihar first, Bihari first' agenda for a long time and had informed the BJP leadership about his differences with the Kumar-led government well in advance.
Thousands of people turned up at the domestic airport in Mumbai to greet Narendra Modi.
Kharge was part of a three-member panel headed by Modi that had selected Verma last year to head the CBI.
With Manmohan Singh all set to retain the country's top job, the prime ministerial ambitions of several leaders, including BJP heavyweight L K Advani and BSP supremo Mayawati, lay shattered on Saturday.
There was near unanimity among the guests at the Sibal dinner that the country is ready for a change, that the ruling party has lost popularity. However in the same breath speaker after speaker lamented that without Opposition unity Modi could as well win a third successive term, reveals Virendra Kapoor.
'Without doubt, India's success story will come up for close scrutiny when Modi's prime ministerial legacy is summed up in history.' 'A failure is simply unthinkable.' 'And the success will largely depend on national unity,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
During his two-day visit to Mumbai, Congress Vice-president Rahul Gandhi had some rather 'fishy' business to attend to.
In the unlikely event of the BJP-NDA losing all five states going to the polls in February-March, the Presidential electoral college numbers could be significantly altered, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Rahul Gandhi is the future leader of the Congress but the question of their prime ministerial candidate will be decided at an appropriate time, party General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi said on Tuesday amid talk that the Congress vice president would be named as the face of their Lok Sabha poll campaign at the All India Congress Committee meeting next month.
Announcing the news on social media, Symonds, 32, said the baby was named after the UK Prime Minister's grandfather Wilfred and her grandfather Lawrie, with Nicholas a nod to the National Health Service doctors - Dr Nick Price and Dr Nick Hart.
The fear that Mamata might snatch the mantle of Opposition leadership which the Gandhis firmly believe to be theirs by birthright seems to have persuaded Sonia and Rahul to give up their hoity-toity ways, observes Virendra Kapoor.
Gujarat Chief Minister and the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi has been repeatedly denied a visa by the United States authorities for his suspected role in the 2002 post-Godhra riots.
By presenting the battle in Bengal as one between Mamata on one side and Modi-Shah on the other, the saffron camp has projected the former as a larger-than-life figure, a portrayal which has the potential of turning her into Modi's main competitor in 2024, predicts Amulya Ganguli.
Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Thursday filed his nomination papers from Varanasi Lok Sabha seat, saying he had been called by "mother Ganga" to contest from this holy city.
'There are large cohorts of students who cannot recognise the alphabet or numbers.' 'We are suggesting schools 'start early and end late'.'
In a reply to a question on whether he will be United Progressive Alliance's prime ministerial candidate in the coming Lok Sabha elections, Gandhi said, "I have answered this question many times in the past. Dr Manmohan Singh is the Prime Minister from the Congress and UPA."
Seeking a consensus on Narendra Modi's projection as the prime ministerial candidate, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has held confabulations with top Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, including L K Advani, who is said to have reservations on the issue.
Former vice president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat on Thursday sought to end speculation that he is an aspirant for the National Democratic Alliance's prime ministerial candidate. There have been reports for the past two days that Shekhawat might contest Lal Kishanchand Advani as the prime ministerial candidate.
In a veiled retaliatory attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi for his 'khooni panja' (killer paw) remarks, Congress leader Beni Prasad Verma today said the country has to be saved from a 'khooni insaan' (murderous person).
'Under the more strident Modi version of Hindutva, Nehru has almost become a contemporary political figure.' 'The ruling party knows that without total erasure and distortion of Nehru, their fantasies will always be wobbly.'
The owner of a sugar factory in Bihar has alleged that Bharatiya Janata Party MP Rama Devi demanded Rs 5 lakh from him for BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's Hunkar rally in Patna on October 27.
Attacking the PM Modi over alleged ignorance of local leaders, Tharoor said, "It seems that under the BJP even God must serve a political purpose and members of other parties must not be allowed to worship in the prime ministerial presence."
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