A day after the Prime Minister's Office sought to counter the perception that Manmohan Singh has been "weak" in his tenure, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley on Saturday took potshots at him.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah handed over urns containing the ashes of the late leader to the party's state unit chiefs.
In politics, if your objective is only winning elections, just Chanakya neeti might do. For governance you need both, Chanakya neeti and Ram Rajya. You can neither beat up the farmers into submission, nor dismiss them as 'Khalistanis', asserts Shekhar Gupta.
'Why did government not include a provision in the bills which categorically stated that no crop will be sold below the MSP in the open market?'
EC officials said the counting of votes for the Lok Sabha elections will begin at 8 am on Thursday and results are expected only by late evening.
By late evening, a large group of them had reached the road toll plaza at Panipat, about 100 km from Delhi. Bhartiya Kisan Union (Haryana) leader Gurnam Singh said the protesters planned to spend the night there and will resume the march the next morning.
After taking charge at the state Congress headquarters, the cricketer-turned-politician said there was no difference between an ordinary worker of the party and its state unit chief.
Modi said the wave in favour of the BJP was stronger this time than in 2014.
On Election 2014: 'So far it looks like a one horse race. The difference between the first and the second challenger is so large that if the first one looks back in the last round, he'll probably not see the second one anywhere.' On the AAP prospects: 'They should be happy if they're able to open their account.' On Rahul Gandhi: 'He has a confused message. His campaign is in the abstract. And his campaign has nothing to offer.' Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley in a free and frank conversation with Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt.
'...Take him in the sense that I will defeat him. This is just our military term... If there's anybody today who's anti this government, it is the youth of Punjab. All of them are being coerced, there are no jobs being created, all of them are taking to drugs because of frustration... There is no Narendra Modi factor, there is no national anti-incumbency. In Punjab there in only anti-Akali incumbency.' Former Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, once the Maharaja of Patiala, pulls no punches when taking about his rivals, especially his BJP opponent from Amritsar Arun Jaitley and the Badals, in this no-holds-barred interview with Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com
"The SAD and BJP are united and there are no differences between us whatsoever and as far as the appointment of deputy chief ministership we would sort out the matter in a mutual consultations and not through the media," he said.
What our netas did a day before Delhi went to the polls
Cricketer-turned-politician and Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Lok Sabha from Amritsar Navjot Singh Sidhu hit out at the Union government and Haryana Chief Minister Bhupender Singh Hooda for their inability to provide immediate relief to thousands of people in Ambala, Kurukshetra, Sirsa and three other districts of Haryana, who have been affected by the recent flash floods caused by breaches in Satluj Yamuna link cannal and Ghaghar river.
Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said Saturday's incident along the LoC was an outcome of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "flip-flops and somersaults" on Pakistan.
From the Aadhaar verdict to #MeToo's arrival in the country to the entry into the Sabarimala temple -- India had a newsworthy 2018. As we step into 2019, these are the top moments from the year gone by.
'A prime minister's responsibility is the entire nation.' 'The nation looks to you for protection, for security...' 'Politics has become larger than the nation's interests.'
The remarks reflect the "arrogance" of the Congress, he said addressing a poll rally on the last day of campaigning for the sixth phase in Haryana's Rohtak.
With the counting for the high-stakes assembly elections is on in five states - Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa, here's a look at some of the big names and where they stand.
'Indian secularism doesn't deserve a tombstone. It needs a new shrine,' argues Shekhar Gupta.
As the dust finally settles on the outcome of the Lok Sabha elections 2019 and Bharatiya Janata Party along with its NDA allies emerges as the clear winner, here is a list of who won in each of the 7 phases of elections.
'Let the Congress high command decide who will replace Captain Amarinder because they are far wiser than I am.'
As government-issued guidelines in many places banned large congregations and setting up of fairs or food stalls, the torching of effigies was restricted to very few venues than usual. The Ramleela Maidan at the iconic Red Fort where every year the Dussehra festivities are attended by dignitaries including the prime minister and the President apart from hundreds of common people, was deserted this time as the annual celebrations were cancelled.
In the four-paragraph letter, Jaitley said he had orally informed Modi about his desire not to be a part of the new BJP government to enable him to concentrate on treatment and health.
Take a look at the famous faces who exercised their democratic right.
BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is predicted to win both seats -- Varanasi and Vadodara. Kejriwal is places at number 2 in Varanasi, says the ABP News-Nielsen exit poll. Senior BJP leader L K Advani is likely to win the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha for the sixth time.
Although assembly election are 16 months away, it makes sense to let his party know he's very much in the running for the job he's currently holding.
Addressing AAP's first rally in the state, Kejriwal said BJP and Congress were like "husband and wife" and alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Ahmed Patel work "in unison".
A consensus builder, Jaitley was regarded by some as Modi's original 'Chanakya'.
'His past as a cricketer makes it difficult for the BJP to question his nationalism.' 'He gets away by ridiculing Modi while something similar from most Congress leaders does not resonate as much.'
"Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is an efficient man. There is a need for a strong political will to bring the two states (Punjab and Gujarat) on par," Sidhu, a BJP MP from Amritsar, said.
Barring a minor scuffle between the polling agents of SAD and the Congress at Lambi and in Sector 71 of Mohali, the polling was peaceful, official sources said.
Five people, including a minor girl, died and as many injured in separate incidents during heavy rains in Kullu, Kangra and Chamba districts of Himachal Pradesh.
After spending two nights in jail, cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, convicted and sentenced for three years imprisonment in a road rage case, was released on Saturday on bail granted by the Supreme Court.
Arun Jaitley and Amrinder Singh, locked in an intense battle for Amritsar Lok Sabha seat, were on Monday engaged in a fresh war of words, this time on the 1984 riots, with the BJP questioning the "clean chit" to Congress leader Jagdish Tytler.
In a major fillip to the Congress in poll-bound Punjab, former Bharatiya Janata Party MP Navjot Singh Sidhu's wife Navjot Kaur on Monday joined the party along with former Akali MLA Pargat Singh.
Enraged over the heinous crime, the victim's family blocked the Etah-Farrukhabad road, while opposition parties slammed the Yogi Adityanath government for the 'sudden spurt' in rape cases.
The final phase saw voting in all 13 seats of Punjab and an equal number of seats in Uttar Pradesh, nine in West Bengal, eight seats each in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, four in Himachal Pradesh, three in Jharkhand and the lone seat Chandigarh.
As many as 48 ministers of National Democratic Allaince government were in the fray in the general elections.
The Central Board of Film Certification, however, submitted that all the 13 changes including deletion of Punjab in the film title suggested by its Revising Committee were justified and proper.
'Their brave resistance keep our hopes alive that this youth upsurge is strengthening India's democracy and pluralism,' states Mohammad Sajjad.
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