After two successive Lok Sabha election defeats, the Bharatiya Janata Party was in an introspective mood on Wednesday with its president Nitin Gadkari making a blunt speech attacking unnamed leaders for the party's plight, while senior leader L K Advani asked partymen to work for cohesion.
Raking up the Ayodhya issue ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Bharatiya Janata Party chief Rajnath Singh on Saturday declared that nobody could shake the party's faith in Lord Ram, for whom a magnificent temple will be built at Ayodhya. "Jahan tak Ram Janambhoomi ka sawal hai, koi ma ka lal Bhagwan Ram me hamari aastha aur nishta ko diga nahi sakta (No one can shake BJP's faith and reverence to Lord Ram)," he said in his inaugural speech at the two-day National Council meet.
In Srinagar, wearing black bands, scores of PDP leaders and activists, led by party president Mehbooba Mufti, took out a protest march from the party's head office near the Sher-e-Kashmir Park.
Shinde dismissed his predecessor Uddhav Thackeray's call for mid-term elections.
Suman, who held the SC and ST welfare portfolio, is the national president of HAM founded by his father Jitan Ram Manjhi, a former chief minister.
Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister and former state BJP president Keshav Prasad Maurya had also dropped a hint in a recent tweet, saying Yaduvanshi (Yadavs), Ravidasiyo (Jatavs) and Pasmanda Muslims will be brought closer to the BJP so that the lotus 'blossoms' in every booth in UP.
'Our commitment to Ram temple in Ayodhya is intact and unwavering,' he said in his presidential address.
The Bharatiya Janata Party is considering fielding Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath from Ayodhya as its senior leaders meet to finalise candidates for the assembly polls starting from February 10.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday alleged that Congress president Sonia Gandhi was the "driving force" behind the "conspiracy" to implicate then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 riots case in the state.
What the INDIA alliance needs is neither a counter to Modi's tall personality and undiminished charisma nor a counter-narrative to his Hindutva agenda, now centred on the Ayodhya temple consecration on January 22, argues N Sathiya Moorthy.
'If the BJP doesn't want to accept the will of the people, then we will show them what a majority means.'
'The prime minister has not yet expressed anything regarding Manipur. Is Manipur a part of India or not? If it is, why hasn't the Prime Minister of India spoken about it'
"All this flurry of activity is only aimed at trying to install Advani before people in the BJP and the NDA allies start changing their mind," All India Congress Committee spokesman Abhishek Singhvi told media persons.
Ahead of the second phase of polls in the state, Banerjee's letter, which was released by the Trinamool Congress on Wednesday, seeks to drum up support from opposition leaders by stating how non-BJP states have suffered due to the saffron party led Centre's actions.
Aijaz Hussain won the Khonmoh-II District Development Council seat in Srinagar, while Aijaz Ahmad Khan gave the party more reason to cheer by winning the Tulail seat in Bandipora district.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today alleged that Mumbai terror attacks could not have been possible without "local support" and accused the government of shying away from taking action due to votebank politics.
Winning an election may be a breeze for the BJP but the aftermath of victory isn't always painless.
Syed Firdaus Ashraf lists 10 instances when the BJP didn't pull its punches.
The consultations during his visit revolved around the upcoming polls for Rajya Sabha and Legislative Council.
They met to finalise the resolution to be adopted at the conclave and decide on a new team.
New BJP chief Nitin Gadkari is planning to induct several fresh faces which is expected to bring forth a younger leadership in the party.
Although the credit for acquiring the technological skill must be given to India's outstanding nuclear scientists, the decision to go nuclear was a political one that entailed clarity of vision, courage and resolve, points out Rup Narayan Das.
B Y Vijayendra said power and position itself are not the ultimate objectives in politics.
Sudhakar Badgujar, the leader in question, denied the allegations while speaking at a news conference in Nashik.
The notice to Gandhi to vacate the 12, Tughlaq Lane bungalow was served by the Housing Committee of the Lok Sabha and follows the disqualification notice issued last week.
The BJP continuing to look at the Dravidian polity through the religious prism has not worked in Tamil Nadu whereas it has yielded political and electoral results across much of the rest of the country, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Any narrative against the Dravidian model may impact the BJP's prospects in Tamil Nadu. This may explain why the BJP in Tamil Nadu is placing more emphasis on corruption allegations against the DMK, even as the party focuses nationally on the Sanatana controversy.
Addressing his party workers in Nagpur, the home turf of Fadnavis, Thackeray on Monday said the BJP leader, his former ally, was a taint on the city as he had aligned with a section of the Nationalist Congress Party despite asserting that he would never do so.
'Is the application the Press Council's voice or the government's? 'It has been reported that other members of the PCI were taken aback at the Press Council's application. 'These members need to publicly question the chairman to redeem their own positions,' says Jyoti Punwani.
Mukesh Sahni's move to contest 55 seats in the UP assembly polls antagonised top BJP leaders.
'A one-party State is not possible in a diverse country like India.'
BJP's ideological mentor, the RSS, has asked the party to revive its flagging Hindutva plank if wanted to stage a resurgence
The Hindutva social media continues to present the DMK especially as anti-god, anti-Hindu and anti-Brahmin. The strategy did not work in the past, it has not worked in the present, and would not work in the future, as a massive vote-getter, asserts N Sathiya Moorthy.
Pakistan on Sunday rejected Prime Minister Narendra Modi's assertion that it was exporting terror, saying the remarks were part of a "well thought out vilification campaign" to distract attention from Kashmir.
The saffron organisation is jubilant over the 'massive' response to its drive but the extent of its success will be determined after the details of its new members are verified.
Among the new entrants in the council headed by the Prime Minister, which will now have 147 members, are Ambika Soni, Dayanidhi Maran and Salman Khursheed have made their entry as Union Ministers while BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley have come in as Leaders of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha respectively.
Reaching a consensus might also get tougher, as already seen with issues like inclusion of natural gas in GST and imposition of a sugar cess, both central proposals being resisted.
During the day-long debate, the lines between science and religion often got blurred with many invoking religious texts and the contribution of 'rishi munis' to highlight India's tryst with the extra-terrestrial world.
Nadda said the saffron party will hold presidential elections in December.
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