As defence minister, Singh's most crucial challenge will be to speed up the long-delayed modernisation of the three services besides ensuring overall coherence in their combat readiness.
"Photographs (Nirav Modi Davos photo) mean nothing. Even you people are sitting with me and we being photographed and if somebody does anything will I be linked?" he told reporters.
Bundelkhand is thought to be an area where Mayawati has some influence. Both Amit Shah and Shivraj Chouhan believe every weapon in the arsenal must be used to ensure victory.
A galaxy of top leaders, including Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari and leaders of BJP's allies such as Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, Shiromani Akali Dal supremo Parkash Singh Badal and Lok Janshakti Party founder Ram Vilas Paswan were present with Shah.
Biren Singh relinquished the post on February 9 last year amid rumblings within the state BJP seeking a change of leadership in strife-torn Manipur.
'You cannot run Parliament with 800 MPs as nobody will get time (to speak in Parliament). And Parliament sits for barely 60 days in a year.' 'Look at the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. They have 650 MPs and they sit for 150 days on an average in a year.'
BJP's National Council will meet at Delhi on August 9 to ratify the appointment of Amit Shah as the party president.
Home Minister Amit Shah and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav engaged in a humorous exchange during a Lok Sabha debate on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, with Shah taking jabs at Yadav's attempts to highlight internal party dynamics. Yadav, in turn, poked fun at the BJP's leadership selection process and hinted at potential internal divisions within the party.
Though largely seen as an official visit, with less than a year for elections, Shah during this trip is likely to meet senior party leaders including Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, veteran leader B S Yediyurappa among others
Shah said the Congress was not rooted in any ideology or principles and was sort of a "special purpose vehicle" to secure freedom.
The poll is witnessing a direct contest between ruling NDA nominee C P Radhakrishnan and joint opposition candidate B Sudershan Reddy, with the BJP-led alliance having a clear edge in the poll necessitated due to the sudden resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar.
Political parties in Kerala are increasingly using AI-generated content to influence voters in the upcoming elections, raising concerns about the blurring lines between reality and fiction in political messaging.
'The Modi Sultanate -- like the Congress Sultanate -- does not understand local aspirations and politics. It will repeat the same mistakes whenever it takes on powerful regional leaders.'
When Home Minister Amit Shah, who was in Gujarat to cast his vote in the urban body polls, learnt of the poor voter, instead of heading home he went to the Motera stadium, organised a control room, and was on the phone with practically everybody assigned duty on the ground: MPs, MLAs and BJP office-bearers. His single commandment was to check the voter list and phone or personally get people to the booths, reports Radhika Ramaseshan.
Describing the Uri terror strike a transit destination in the "war" forced on India by Pakistan, BJP President Amit Shah on Sunday said the attack was an outcome of frustration after security forces foiled 17 infiltration attempts and that the final victory will belong to India.
'In Gujarat, for 22 years when the BJP was in power, they sold only dreams, but the delivery was zero.'
The Gujarat government has announced a significant investment in sports infrastructure, with the goal of transforming the state into a sports hub and positioning Ahmedabad as a potential host city for the 2036 Olympic Games.
Jairam Ramesh, architect of the UPA's 2011 land acquisition bill, reacts to Amit Shah's interview to Rediff.com in which he defended the NDA government's land bill ordinance.
Chandrapuram Ponnusamy Radhakrishnan, with strong roots in the RSS and BJP, has been elected as the 15th Vice President of India. His rich political and administrative experience will be valuable as the Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha.
What some of our leaders were up to over the weekend...
'I want to ask the entire nation and the opposition. Can a Chief Minister, Prime Minister, or any leader run the country from jail?'
Speculation intensifies regarding a potential political shake-up in Jharkhand's ruling coalition, fueled by strained relations between JMM, RJD, and Congress, and Chief Minister Hemant Soren's Delhi visits. Both JMM and Congress have denied the claims.
'It would have polarised the Marathi-non Marathi divide further. 'Fadnavis had a very clear strategy: Let all Marathi people campaign for us (the BJP), and whatever results we get will be delivered by Marathi people only.'
The BJP chief also sought to know whether the Congress wanted to protect the "illegal Bangldeshis".
In the backdrop of the release of separatist leader Masarat Alam, Bharatiya Janata Party general secretary Ram Madhav met Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and called for a better coordination between the alliance partners
He also held another meeting with a delegation of civil society organisations as part of his outreach and they expressed their commitment to peace and assured that they would work for restoring normalcy in Manipur.
'Without our support Nitish Kumar wouldn't have become chief minister.' 'After the government was formed we became ministers, but our agenda remained the same: Amit Shah had promised reservation for Nishads.' 'He wouldn't listen, so we went to UP and contested 52 seats in the 2022 elections. He didn't like the idea of rebellion.' 'He saw that this man, coming from Bombay, is very sharp. He's made four MLAs now, tomorrow he'll make 40. A time will come when they will make it 125.' 'They bought our MLAs and ousted us from the government.'
'The jail staff told me Kasab was served only jail food and not biryani.' 'They told me that Kasab was beaten regularly after court proceedings.' 'And they filled Kasab's bottle with urine so that whenever he felt thirsty he used to drink urine.'
The BJP keeps taking dips till it appears good on the camera, he said.
'The frequency of 'vikas' being used in speeches and slogans has reduced noticeably. Why is the 'BJP's Chanakya' so aggressive and combative?' asks Utkarsh Mishra.
'All these people who came from the Congress -- all outsiders -- have been given complete control of the party.' 'Today, we get no response or protection from the central leadership.' 'You can't run a party thinking only your people matter and nobody else should remain.'
Tamil Nadu will elect a new government on April 23.
Will the DMK retain power? Can the AIADMK spring a surprise? And what about Vijay's TVK? A Ganesh Nadar surveys the election landscape a day after the Election Commission announced the poll schedule.
The Supreme Court's verdict on the Rafale deal spurred a war of words between the BJP and the Congress.
Senior BJP leaders, including Amit Shah and J P Nadda, met with party leaders and allies to discuss the upcoming Bihar polls. Seat-sharing arrangements with NDA partners are expected to be announced soon.
Thousands of people gathered along the entire route of the funeral procession to give a poignant send-off to the late BJP leader at his hometown, where his mortal remains were flown from Ahmedabad four days after the tragedy.
For the 2019 polls, the BJP chief deployed over 7,000 leaders to oversee the work of polling committees on the over 400 seats the BJP contested. These committees were asked to focus on 120 seats the party had lost in 2014, but believed it could win in 2019.
The Narendra Modi government is here to stay for 10-20 years, Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah asserted on Friday, claiming that the new dispensation has ended the "reign of scams" and policy paralysis while changing the political culture in the country.
While the DMK depends on a 'silver sieve' of welfare schemes to stay in power, its support is slowly draining away under the weight of poor governance, corruption, and voters who are no longer satisfied with benefits alone and now want basic administration to work, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis expressed grief over the death of Deputy CM Ajit Pawar in a plane crash, declaring a government holiday and state mourning. Other state leaders also mourned Pawar's passing, highlighting his contributions to Maharashtra's development and politics.
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