Under attack for demanding the sacking of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for his mishandling of Gujarat riots, the former prime minister said it is for the first time in his life he has been targeted in this manner.
The BJP leaders were protesting against the rising inflation.
Deriving from Narendra Modi's continuing charisma, the proposed scheme, if and when implemented, can cut both ways. That is to say, if Modi can win, he can lose. Or, someone else in his place, later on, could lose as much as he could win in his time, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
In an exclusive interview to CNN-IBN, BJP patriarch L K Advani tells CNN-IBN why he thinks former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee should be awarded a Bharat Ratna
According to insiders, their lack of enthusiasm is showing on the ground. There is nothing to suggest that their enthusiasm will return in the final four phases of polling, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
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.
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has said that reforms carried out in a democratic country like India are more deeply rooted and sustainable, and democracy cannot be blamed for impeding reforms.
In comments that are likely to create a political storm over the next few days, former Research and Analysis Wing chief A S Dulat has reveled that former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had expressed his discontent over the 2002 Gujarat riots and called it "our mistake".
The BJP's strategy seem to be to wean away allies from the Congress, in Dravidian Tamil Nadu, and maybe later in UP, Bihar and elsewhere, though in slow doses, but without wooing them into a new alliance. The idea seems to be only to weaken the INDIA bloc from within -- and leaving it at that, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is "humble" like Atal Behari Vajpayee and BJP wants both Chouhan and Narendra Modi "play a major role" in securing India an important place in the world, senior party leader L K Advani said.
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".
Addressing a Ram Lila function in Delhi, he emphasised that 'noble person' Lord Rama had demonstrated how to remain firm even when faced with difficulties and attain victory in the end.
The Confederation of Indian Industries, on Friday, was all praise for the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led coalition governments in terms of being development-oriented and helpful to the industry.
Lashkar chief Hafeez Mohammed Sayeed was quoted as saying, Listen, O Vajpayee! We are about to unleash a spate of suicide attacks.
An anonymous call threatening to kill Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Bharatiya Janata Party patriarch A B Vajpayee have prompted security agencies to conduct searches in the National Capital Region to identify the caller, sources said on Wednesday.
Actors and singers such as Padmini Kolhapure, Manoj Joshi, Sudha Chandran, BJP MP Manoj Tiwari, Anup Jalota, Kumar Sanu, Deepika Chikhalia and Shabbir Kumar would be among the prominent figures who would perform during 'Atal Geet Ganga', a poetry event to celebrate Vajpayee's 91st birthday
Cutting across party lines, political leaders welcomed the government's decision to confer Bharat Ratna, the nation's highest civilian honour, on former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and freedom fighter Madan Mohan Malviya.
'Union Budgets are often used as political instruments and that was the intention of this government too.' 'But while the exercise has settled two fronts, it has left open several others and this has the potential to aggravate with time,' predicts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Former prime minister and BJP veteran leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee and freedom fighter Madan Mohan Malaviya will be conferred with the country's highest civilian award the "Bharat Ratna" after President Pranab Mukherjee gave his consent in his regard on Wednesday.
But Haramani Sarangi of Orissa won't be meeting the prime minister when he visits the state next week. She died.
On January 29, the Central government had extended the ban imposed on the SIMI for five more years.
Mishra was suffering from cancer and had been brought to New Delhi from Gwalior by Vajpayee on April 28 for specialised treatment.
Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad Yadav on Tuesday said he was in favour of extending reservation benefits to Muslims but emphasised that it should be based on social backwardness and 'not on the basis of religion'.
The decisions were taken in the state cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
All security arrangements are in place for the rally, which will be the centrepiece of Vajpayee's two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir.
It is for the first time that the 82-year-old BJP veteran will be skipping the meet.
The 17th Lok Sabha, which was dissolved on June 5, did not have a deputy speaker for its full term, and it was the second consecutive term of the lower house without an LoP.
'I don't think it is needed,' Vajpayee said in New Delhi when referred to Smriti Irani's demand.
Politely decline to be prime minister, and hand the baton to someone else in the BJP -- like Sonia did to Manmohan Singh -- advises Krishna Prasad.
'The BJP is racing against its opponents by putting a chain on their legs.'
Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, under attack from within his own party, has found an ally in Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray.
'He told senior journalists a few days after the Babri Masjid demolition, 'Jo hua theek hua. Maine isliye hone diya ki BJP ki rajniti hamesha ke liye khatam ho jaye.'
