The longest-serving chief minister of any Hindi- speaking state, Nitish Kumar seems to have acquired an aura of indispensability when it comes to the highest seat of power in Bihar.
Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, under attack from within his own party, has found an ally in Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray.
"The guidance and leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani has always been there and would continue," the BJP vice-president told reporters.
Bharatiya Jaanta Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi has challenged UPA leaders to submit a performance report on nine-years of rule and hoped that the 2014 general elections, like in 1977, would reflect the voice of the people of India.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge used poetry and humour to take swipes at the government on Monday, saying nothing will be accomplished by changing names, and went on to recall how first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru's 'inclusive' approach of involving opposition parties had led to the laying of a strong foundation for the Constitution.
Even with the elevation of Nirmala Sitharaman to the post of defence minister, the party still needs to redress the gender imbalance and fill the 33 per cent quota in posts.
Out of the 26 seats where Modi addressed election rallies, the BJP won only 10.
A day after resigning from the Bharatiya Janata Party, former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's niece Karuna Shukla alleged that she had been "mentally tortured" by the party in Chhattisgarh.
A day after saying that there would have been no partition if Muhammad Ali Jinnah was made the first prime minister of the country, Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief Om Prakash Rajbhar blamed the RSS on Thursday for the historic event.
Trinamool Congress vice-president Yashwant Sinha on Sunday demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah following the outcome of West Bengal assembly poll.pti
'My role will be to take her message across the country.'
Speculation is rife that Bihar's ruling Janata Dal-United is likely to support the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance's choice for the upcoming Presidential poll. This ties in with Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar's refusal to attend the meeting of non-BJP parties called by Congress president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on May 26. The meeting will discuss the presidential polls and the way ahead for the opposition to tackle the BJP.
Vajpayee has also asked for the abolition of the NAC.
Asom Gana Parishad President and former Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta on Wednesday kept open his party's option of joining hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party for Lok Sabha polls, saying a decision will be taken soon.
Congress on Thursday attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party over sending an invitation to Pakistan premier Nawaz Sharif for the swearing-in ceremony of prime minister designate Narendra Modi, reminding the party of its earlier remarks that terror and talks cannot go hand in hand.
'This is a negative campaign, of slurs and fears.' 'The BJP has no desire to fight a positive campaign as it did in 2014, on the issue of governance and achche din.' 'Where the BJP can use these tactics, it will,' says Aakar Patel.
Union minister RCP Singh, who was recently denied another term in the Rajya Sabha by the Janata Dal-United he formerly headed, should "heed the message" and resign from the cabinet, a key political aide of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has said.
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Wednesday asked Bharatiya Janata Party workers to strive hard to achieve a victory in the forthcoming assembly elections in five states and in the parliamentary election in 2004.
Jaswant Singh said that Advani was the natural choice for prime ministership as the former deputy prime minister has worked alongside Vajpayee for over five decades.
From the point of view of qualification, Murmu is probably educationally the least qualified among India's recent Presidents. But then, with the BJP in command, she will be required to do little but sign on the dotted line.
"By such pronouncements, the BJP leader was undermining the very reconciliation process pioneered by the then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and carried forward by Dr Manmohan Singh," Mufti said while addressing party workers in Jammu.
BJP leader L K Advani wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last week recommending that the award be given to Vajpayee. The demand was followed by similar requests from several other political parties, who also pitched in with names of their leaders. Apparently in a fix after these developments, the BJP has lately refrained from talking about the issue.
This is for the second time in the last three months that Sinha has come out with praising words for Rahul Gandhi and his 'Bharat Jodo Yatra'.
Adityanath has earned a new sobriquet "bulldozer baba" due to raging of properties of criminals and mafias built through illegal means.
Modi will take oath for a second term on Thursday at 7 pm.
Bharatiya Janata Party looks set to emerge as the single largest party in the Lok Sabha polls but National Democratic Alliance will fall short of the magic figure to form government, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar said, in remarks that may not go down well with the ruling UPA.
Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh on Sunday termed the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government as the most corrupt in independent India and pledged to send corrupt ministers of the outgoing administration to jail once his party is voted to power.
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav today claimed that several BJP leaders have "contacted" him to prevent Narendra Modi from becoming the prime minister.
Former Chief Minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Thursday asserted that Article 370 of the Constitution cannot be scrapped and the special status accorded to Jammu and Kashmir cannot be eroded further.
'Vajpayee was predictable in his ways.' 'Modi is a schemer, possessed of a shrewdness that can be rewarding in the chaotic world of politics.' 'His political journey gives reason to believe that 2019 will be another milestone in his private project,' notes Vikram Johri.
The filmmaker, to put it bluntly, has absolutely nothing going for him to justify his nomination as a BJP candidate from Hyderabad, feels Vicky Nanjappa
All talks regarding an alliance between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Telugu Desam Party came to an abrupt end on Saturday with the Telangana unit of the BJP putting its foot down against a tie-up.
It also said Guha had made similar statements in an article.
A prayer meeting was held at Sadaiv Atal -- the memorial to Vajpayee -- to mark the birth anniversary of the former prime minister.
'He never used the party's cars and always was chauffeured in a private car.' On May 17, a day after his historic victory, Narendra Modi returned triumphantly to his old home at Ashoka Road where he lived as the party general secretary in the late 1990s. A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com meets folks who worked with him in the capital at that time. A rare glimpse of our next prime minister.
There are two major takeaways from the by-election results. One, a majority or Indians and Hindus have reasserted their secular credentials. The second, equally momentous, is the sure-footedness and quick response time of the Indian electorate, says Subir Roy.
'Who sent Masood Azhar back to Pakistan? Who bowed down to terror and released him? Not the Congress, but it was the BJP government'
"Even when Vajpayee is ill in hospital, I was the first one to visit him, since the Congress believes he has contributed to the country," he said.
