'We are not here to hold brief for Adani. But Gandhi has sought to mislead the people to link his disqualification with Adani. He has been disqualified because of conviction in a case that relates to defamatory remarks he made in 2019'
Other prominent candidates among the 904 in the fray are Union minister Anurag Thakur, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad's daughter Misa Bharti.
The party fielded Maneka Gandhi from Sultanpur, while Uttar Pradesh minister Jitin Prasada has replaced Varun Gandhi in Pilibhit.
What some of our leaders were up to on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Bharti accused the media of distorting her statement, attributing it to the BJP's agenda.
Saturday's voting will mark the end to the marathon polling process that began on April 19 month and has already covered 486 Lok Sabha seats in 28 states and Union territories.
The BJP could ask at least a dozen of its 92 Rajya Sabha MPs, particularly those who have served more than one term, to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The BJP's top leadership will drop its MPs found to be facing anti-incumbency, according to its internal surveys -- a pivotal tactic to ensure the party achieves its target of winning 370 seats.
The marathon polling process to elect the 18th Lok Sabha ended on Saturday with the seventh phase of elections witnessing an approximate voter turnout of 62.36 per cent, amid clashes between Trinamool Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party supporters in Sandeshkhali and some other parts of West Bengal.
'The Speaker should have asked Ramesh Bidhuri to withdraw his words and apologise.'
In a post on X, the prime minister also urged the people to make contributions to the Armed Forces Flag Day fund.
Leaders of several opposition parties on Thursday hailed the Supreme Court verdict striking down the electoral bonds scheme and termed it an important step in ensuring transparency in electoral funding.
Prasad dismissed accusations that BJP was committing "murder of democracy" by entering into an alliance with a group of NCP and referred to Shiv Sena joining hands with the Congress.
A controversy erupted on Tuesday after the opposition parties tagged a video of DMK leader A Raja purportedly showing him making remarks that India has never been a nation, but a subcontinent with diverse practices and cultures, prompting strong response from the BJP which described the comments as a call for 'balkanisation' of the the country and demanded for his arrest.
Rahul Gandhi, on Friday, was disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha, a day after a Surat court sentenced him to two years imprisonment in a defamation case filed against him over his 'Modi surname' remark.
The Congress leader's remarks had drawn a sharp response from the treasury benches, with Law Minister Kiren Rijiju asking him not to level "wild allegations" and to furnish proof of his claims.
He said social media companies are free to do business in India but they have to be accountable to the Indian Constitution and laws.
Noting that Gandhi had claimed that armed forces can restore peace in the state within days if allowed, BJP leader and former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad wondered if he wanted what his grandmother and then prime minister Indira Gandhi had done by ordering the Air Force to drop bombs in Aizawl in the 1960s.
The three ills of 'dynasticism, corruption and appeasement' politics must quit India in the best interest of the country, the Bharatiya Janata Party said on Wednesday as it commemorated the Quit India movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi on this day in 1942.
"We should not mock them but learn from their mistakes," Prasad quoted Modi as having told the gathering.
The unrest in the Sandeshkhali region of West Bengal ballooned into a major political row on Thursday as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee blamed the saffron camp of fomenting trouble in the area, while the Bharatiya Janata Party and the National Commission for Women (NCW) accused her party Trinamool Congress and the state government of being complicit in crimes against women in the area.
Speaking to PTI, Environment and Forest Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said the additional chief secretary of the forest and environment department Ravi Shankar Prasad has been directed to look after the allegation following a reply to a social activist under the Right to Information Act.
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The 'Pran Pratishtha' of the idol of Ram Lalla -- the childhood form of Lord Ram -- will be attended by people from all walks of life, including representatives of major spiritual and religious sects of the country and of various tribal communities and prominent personalities.
What he has said is shocking and shameful, former Union minister and BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said, noting that the son of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin has repeated his remarks.
Paswan, one of India's most prominent Dalit leaders and eight-time Lok Sabha MP died on Thursday at the age of 74.
Asserting that the prime minister's job will remain with BJP leader Narendra Modi even after the general elections slated for next year, Singh claimed the country is scaling new heights under PM Modi's leadership.
A day after India opened up vaccination for those over 60 years and within the age bracket of 45 to 59 years with specified co-morbidities, more politicians took the vaccine jabs on Tuesday, including Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, who, along with his wife, took the first dose of indigenously developed Covaxin at the Delhi Heart and Lung Institute.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Nishikant Dubey on Wednesday wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker to move a breach of privilege motion notice against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi a day after his speech in Lok Sabha where he made certain allegations about Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his association with industrialist Gautam Adani.
Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com finds out why Sacred Games has run into trouble.
The Cabinet on Wednesday approved public private partnership mode for the rollout of BharatNet project for broadband services in villages in 16 states with viability gap funding of Rs 19,041 crore, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said. Prasad said the decision to involve private players was taken after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on August 15, 2020 that around 6 lakh villages in the country will be connected with broadband in 1,000 days. "The Cabinet has in-principle approved implementation of BharatNet in 16 states in a public private partnership model with total expense of Rs 29,430 crore.
'Pakistan's decision is directly in contravention of international postal union norms. But Pakistan is Pakistan'
In a landmark judgment that delivered a big blow to the government, the Supreme Court on Thursday annulled the electoral bonds scheme, saying it violates the constitutional right to freedom of speech and expression as well as the right to information.
Without naming any party, Prasad said he thought cut and commission was the legacy of only one political party.
Joshi said, "(BJP leader) Nishikant Dubey issued a notice to Rahul Gandhi for making baseless allegations (against the PM). What they say has to be supported with evidence but they haven't produced any. We all are answerable to the people of this country. This time action will be taken on this notice."
'They should have offered a ticket for his constituency to Advaniji's daughter Pratibha or son Jayant. But, of course, that is too much to expect.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has rejigged his team only once, in July 2021, in his second term, unlike in his first stint, when he reshuffled and expanded his council three times.
Even as the race for the Congress president's post is hotting up, its veteran leader and Rajya Sabha member Digvijaya Singh on Friday said he is not interested in becoming the party chief.
Kiren Rijiju's exit from the coveted law ministry came in the midst of his frequent criticism of the judiciary, particularly on the system of appointment of judges to high courts and the Supreme Court.
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