Giving up its adamant stand, the Bharatiya Janata Party tendered an unconditional apology on Thursday for its member Ananth Kumar's remarks in the Lok Sabha against Rashtriya Janata Dal Chief Lalu Prasad during the Census 2011 debate.
A six-time member of Parliament, Kumar had climbed the political ladder steadily from being an Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh worker to be the Union minister in his thirties.
Narendra Singh Tomar has been given the additional charge of the ministry of parliamentary affairs and D V Sadananda Gowda that of the ministry of chemicals and fertilisers.
It is not clear whether Kumar would continue in the Union Cabinet or resign to take up party work.
The Congress sought to turn tables on the Bharatiya Janata Party on the corruption issue demanding removal of its general secretary Ananth Kumar for his alleged links with corporate lobbyist Niira Radia.
It is almost official: Unique Identification Authority of India chairman and former Infosys CEO Nandan Nilekani will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from South Bangalore, the IT hub, against Bharatiya Janata Party veteran Ananth Kumar.
The Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka has claimed that all differences between them have been sorted out. The BJP leadership in New Delhi made it clear to the warring factions -- former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa's camp and the rival group led by BJP national general secretary H N Ananthkumar and former minister Jagadish Shettar -- that there is no need approach the high command and to make truce in Bengaluru itself.
Chants of "Amar rahe, amar rahe, Ananth Kumar amar rahe" and "Bharat mata ki jai" rent the air as leaders paid homage and the mortal remains were consigned to flames.
Fighting Nandan Nilekani to extend his record winning streak in Lok Sabha polls here, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ananth Kumar says the former Infosys chief has committed "hara-kiri" by fighting on a Congress ticket as the party on Sunday symbolises "corruption and scams".
The state Congress has written to Sitharaman, asking her to protect the interests of the state by retaining the exhibition in Bengaluru as she was a Rajya Sabha member from the state.
The Karnataka BJP core committee had proposed only Tejaswini's name for the Lok Sabha seat, but Tejaswi Surya emerged the dark horse.
The Infosys co-founder has filed a complaint with the Election Commission against his opponent in Bangalore South
A five-time Member of Parliament from Uttara Kannada Lok Sabha constituency is now the Minister of State in the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
While being the all important member of the BJP's parliamentary board, Kumar is often regarded as the "Delhi face" of the Karnataka BJP and also for the state government who could be counted upon for taking issues concerning Karnataka.
Former India stars Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath, Sunil Joshi and Vijay Bharadwaj have been drafted into the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) formed by the KSCA to improve the standard of the game across the state.
The Union home ministry is expected to forward the proposal to the Registrar General & Census Commissioner for a detailed examination and suggestions, a ministry official said.
One of the many contrasts that Kumar versus Nilekani highlights is that of a traditional career politician as against a highly successful professional entering politics for the first time. Rupa Subramanya reports
B S Yeddyurappa, who resigned as Karnataka's chief minister on Sunday, said in Bengaluru that one would have to wait for two days more to find out who the next CM would be.
Joginder Tuteja looks at the month's releases in theatres.
Former external affairs minister Yashwant Sinha has been made a vice-president.
It was meant to be a healthy debate ahead of the Lok Sabha elections but had to be called off due to a major verbal duel.
The 75-year-old Eshwarappa, had remained steadfast in his decision to contest, spurning efforts by party leaders to pacify him. He had even filed his nomination as an independent candidate.
Nandan Nilekani's wife Rohini and Ananth Kumar's wife Tejaswini add a new dimension to the tough race for South Bangalore. Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa joins the two on the campaign trail.
He may be only 28, but the now-chosen candidate for Bengaluru South has handled the party's IT cell and campaigned for several party candidates during the state polls last year.
Ananth Kumar, the BJP election in-charge of Bihar, on Tuesday announced that the party will not declare the name of its chief ministerial candidate.
However, he claimed that this was a fight to save the party and its ideology and to make Narendra Modi Prime Minister once again.
Talk that Anil Kumble, the former Indian captain, will contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha election from Karnataka has been making the rounds. Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa finds out if Kumble will indeed spin a political googly.
'See how much they lie, father is a Muslim, mother a Christian, son is Brahmin. How did it come?'
Infosys co-founder and Congress candidate from Bangalore South Nandan Nilekani has conceded defeat to his formidable rival BJP's Ananth Kumar even as the counting of votes progressed.
While the Modi government had jump-started its second innings taking one major decision after another, there is a deep sense of loss in the party over the demise of Swaraj and Jaitley.
The Karnataka verdict was something that even the Bharatiya Janata Party did not expect. Through the campaign when the leaders in the BJP were asked what they expected in Karnataka they said, "for the public we say 18, but realistically we are expecting anything between 10 and 12."
Modi and Shah have finalised names for the Rashtrapati's post, which the BJP boss has discussed with the RSS chief.
The Budget Session will be held from January 29 to April 6.
Union minister Ananth Kumar alleged that the Congress was increasingly becoming intolerant of people's mandate for the Modi government.
The process to induct former Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa back into the Bharatiya Janata Party is expected to take another month. The first stumbling block for the BJP in Delhi was BJP MP Ananth Kumar and the other is BJP patriarch L K Advani.
The Karnataka state executive meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party held on Friday in Bangalore spent a considerable amount of time discussing the election strategy, and more importantly, the return of Karnataka Janata Paksha chief B S Yeddyurappa into the party.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ananth Kumar on Friday said that his party will contest the 2014 Lok Sabha elections along with its alliance partner the Janata Dal-United in Bihar.
The Bharatiya Janata Party versus Election Commission row escalated on Thursday with party workers protesting outside the Benaras Hindu University in Varanasi.
Anger against peoples' representatives was in full display at the Ramlila Maidan on Friday when Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Gopinath Munde and Ananth Kumar had to abruptly leave the ground after being greeted with cries of chor chor from the crowd.
Ending speculation about his foray into politics, billionaire Infosys co-founder and head of Aadhar programme Nandan Nilekani on Friday said he would join the Congress and was ready to contest the Lok Sabha polls.
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