The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday formally declared Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the party's prime ministerial candidate after hectic parleys by senior leaders to convince L K Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Murli Manohar Joshi to give up their opposition to him.
Amid efforts to convince L K Advani on declaring Narendra Modi as Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate ahead of 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Bihar's BJP chief Sushil Kumar Modi said the veteran leader had failed to gauge the public mood in this regard.
The announcement was made after a meeting of Parliamentary Board, BJP's highest decision-making body, which was chaired by Singh and attended by Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and other senior leaders.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani continued to sulk over the choice of Narendra Modi as the party's prime ministerial candidate even as party leaders, including Rajnath Singh and Sushma Swaraj, met him in an apparent bid to mollify him and later denied that the party patriarch is upset.
The former prime minister said he anyway does not do much work in the party now.
The cash-for-vote scam rocked both Houses of Parliament Thursday with Bharatiya Janata Party objecting to the arrest of two of its "whistleblower" former MPs and demanding suspension of Question Hour to discuss the issue.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who has been under attack from the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, on Tuesday reached out to the Bharatiya Janata Party leader in Parliament and walked with one hand on her shoulder, ostensibly to win support for the passage of crucial Bills.
"Will Advani continue to remain the leader of the opposition?" It was the first question hurled at Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Arun Jaitley at his final press conference of the day on May 16 at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi.
"I had never intended not contesting from Gandhinagar," senior BJP leader L K Advani said in Gandhinagar on Saturday as he arrived for filing his nomination from the Lok Sabha constituency.
Some have been cherry-picked to assert the BJP's supremacy over its allies or, significantly, its leaders who charted an independent course in the recent past.
There is no use of the BJP targeting the likes of Mamata Banerjee and M K Stalin, directly by the party's political bosses, both in Delhi and the respective state capitals, or even using the Raj Bhavans to fire those salvos from. Successive elections have proved that it's counter-productive, if anything. But the BJP is yet to understand it, acknowledge it, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Congress on Tuesday reacted with sarcasm and derision to the Bharatiya Janata Party's decision to drop its founder leaders L K Advani and M M Joshi from the Parliamentary Board, saying they have been put in an "old age home" and their 'Margdarshak Mandal' (guiding committee) will only be a 'mookdarshak' (mute spectator).
The veteran leader's decision came a day after the party anointed Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the campaign committee chief for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, ignoring his reservations on the matter.
Politely decline to be prime minister, and hand the baton to someone else in the BJP -- like Sonia did to Manmohan Singh -- advises Krishna Prasad.
Sniping at the BJP senior leadership has reached a new high in Karnataka. For the moment, there is a truce, but the party knows the damage it could do ahead of the polls.
The party is unhappy with newly-elected BJP president L K Advani's move to invoke Hindutva and bring back Ayodhya to the centrestage.
Narendra Modi, who steered Bharatiya Janata Party and the National Democratic Alliance to a landslide victory in the Lok Sabha elections, was on Tuesday appointed prime minister, ushering in a new era of a non-Congress government with an absolute majority on its own in 30 years.
Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari, parliamentary party chief L K Advani and Leader of Opposition of both Houses of Parliament will finalise the strategy for Presidential and Vice Presidential elections and discuss the issue with the National Democratic Alliance partners.
Terming the ordinance on convicted members of Parliament and members of Legislative Assembly as "immoral and unconstitutional", the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday said President Pranab Mukherjee is not "duty-bound" to give assent to it and suggested to him that he should send it back to the government.
The party also rejigged its Central Election Committee and included former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, Union Minister Bhupender Yadav, Om Mathur and its women wing chief Vanathi Srinivasan.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, which has declared that it has launched itself into election mode, is yet undecided about its candidate for the prime minister's post in the event of a snap poll.
Senior BJP leaders had offered the veteran politician the Lok Sabha Speaker's post after he went into a sulk over displeasure to contest from the Gandhinagar seat. However, it is yet to be known whether he has accepted the offer or not, reports Anita Katyal.
Accusing Defence Minister A K Antony of making a "false" statement on Poonch killings, Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Wednesday said he should apologise as his remarks are intended to "exonerate" Pakistan as government wants to continue talks.
Gujarat was labelled Hindutva's crucible and Modi was to become the chief 'chemist'. A revealing political saga excerpted from Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay's The Demolition, the Verdict and the Temple: The Definitive Book on the Ram Mandir Project.
'We want the prime minister to express public regrets over his attitude,' BJP Parliamentary Party spokesman Vijay Kumar Malhotra said.
After opposing Narendra Modi's anointment as Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate, a mellowed L K Advani on Monday praised him for development in Gujarat and hoped that all good tasks undertaken by party governments in states will be rolled out across the country.
Demanding immediate recall of Gujarat governor on Lokayukta appointment issue, a delegation of Bharatiya Janata Party Members of Parliament led by senior leader L K Advani on Friday met President Pratibha Patil who informed them that the matter is sub-judice.
Opposition on Tuesday claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has signalled to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to quit in the wake of DDCA row.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jaswant Singh on Sunday met party patriarch L K Advani, who is sulking after Narendar Modi was named the party's prime ministerial candidate.
The prime minister maintained that the commitment that the government had made to the people has been fulfilled.
Senior BJP leader L K Advani and Narendra Modi on Wednesday shared a public platform for the first time after the declaration of the party's prime ministerial candidate but a feeling of warmth was missing as they exchanged greetings.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's efforts to reach out to the Bharatiya Janata Party to end the parliamentary stand-off over the missing coal files issue failed on Tuesday with the BJP not giving him any assurance on the smooth running of the house on Wednesday.
According to the sources, during their floor coordination meeting this morning, leaders of the INDIA parties decided to continue their aggressive stance in Lok Sabha as well as Rajya Sabha.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, whose elevation as BJP's campaign committee chief prompted L K Advani's resignation from all key party fora, on Monday said he has urged the veteran leader to change his decision.
Ravi Shankar Prasad is set to become the new deputy leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Rajya Sabha with Parliamentary Party chief L K Advani on Thursday recommending his name for the post to the vice president.
A decision on the seats from where Narendra Modi and L K Advani will contest in Gujarat will be taken on Wednesday when the Bharatiya Janata Party's Central Election Committee considers the party's another list of candidates for Lok Sabha polls.
Many were hoping that with Vajpayee's NDA gone, there would be a return to the Congress normal. Nobody was prepared for the opposite. Sonia Gandhi was sceptical. This became the only issue over which Manmohan Singh took on his party bosses and risked his government. Politically, it was riskier than the 1991 reform, recalls Shekhar Gupta.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Monday for the first time targeted Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is considered close to him, by saying that ongoing Lok Sabha polls outcome will prove the impact of the Janata Dal-United's decision to end its alliance with the BJP.
After his revolt against elevation of Narendra Modi last month, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Thursday attended the first Parliamentary Board meeting along with the Gujarat chief minister to discuss the strategy for the next polls.
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