Glimpses from the lives of Modi look-alikes...
Indian Mujahideen operative Hyder Ali Shaqoor is believed to have been assigned the job to assassinate BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, reports Vicky Nanjappa.
In a scathing attack on Rahul Gandhi, the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Sunday accused him of undermining authority of the prime minister and asked people to decide if the nation will be run based on the Constitution or whims of the "prince".
A broad consensus has emerged among top Bharatiya Janata Party leaders and other Mahayuti allies to drop ministers facing serious allegations of corruption in the new government, a Shiv Sena leader said on Tuesday.
Kishor, once considered a close confidant of Kumar, said the impact of the political developments in Bihar will remain limited to the state at present.
Sharing Yadav's tweet, Giriraj Singh, who has often been critical of Kumar, on Wednesday said, "The snake has entered your home."
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi on Tuesday echoed Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar saying that the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate should be a liberal person like former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee acceptable to all sections of society.
Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy on Saturday asked the Bharatiya Janata Party to declare Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate at the earliest to ensure a majority in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Leader of Opposition in Gujarat Assembly Shankersinh Vaghela today criticised the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and some religious leaders for supporting Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the prime ministerial candidate.
Like Nitish, Mamata and KCR have prime ministerial ambitions, but, unlike Nitish who has established a rapport with Sonia, both Mamata and KCR are cold towards the Congress president, points out Virendra Kapoor.
In an apparent comment on the current political situation in Maharashtra, Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday said those who were aspiring to become ministers are now sad as the field has got "crowded", and they do not know what to do with their "stitched suits".
The Union home minister recalled that the BJP had won far greater number of seats in the last assembly polls than the JD(U) but Prime Minister Narendra Modi kept up his promise to back Kumar for another term in office.
While Chouhan has emerged as a favourite to remain at the helm in MP despite the presence of some challengers, the leadership race is wide open in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, two states where the BJP has snatched power from the Congress.
Terming Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani's yatra a "political gimmick", Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Friday said the exercise was aimed to promote himself as the party's prime ministerial candidate.
L K Advani had no option but to strike now to ensure that Modi is not announced as the prime ministerial candidate under any circumstances before the general election, says Sheela Bhatt
'Just because the NDA has a majority and the BJP is the single largest party does not mean that this Modi government enjoys a majority in the Lok Sabha.' 'It is always possible that some members (of the NDA and even the BJP) may defect, some members may not want him to be the prime minister and they might vote differently (against Modi) in the confidence vote.'
Amid a buzz that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar may emerge as the opposition's prime ministerial candidate, his party Janata Dal-United said on Friday if other parties want so, then this is an option.
Those meeting Modi included BJP's Narayan Rane, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Ajay Bhatt, Bhupender Yadav, Shobha Karandlaje, Pritam Munde and Meenakshi Lekhi, Lok Janshakti Party's Pashupati Paras and Apna Dal's Anupriya Patel, sources said.
With Narendra Modi set to take over as the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, a combination of big capital and Hindutva could prove the undoing of the rule of law and Indian democracy. He must be stopped -- to start with, in Gujarat, says Praful Bidwai.
A day after the Bharatiya Janata Party scored big wins in three assembly polls, talk within the party shifted to the likely chief ministerial picks in these states, with senior leaders holding discussions on Monday.
Harping on putting up a united front, the Congress alleged that democracy is being "mercilessly murdered" and MPs who raise people's issues are suspended from the House.
The party rank and file seemed bewildered at the sudden turn of events which has taken the spotlight away from the "Har Ghar Tiranga" programme which the BJP was planning to hold with much fanfare.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader Raj Thackeray, once considered close to Narendra Modi, on Thursday said that the Gujarat chief minister should have resigned the day he was nominated BJP's prime ministerial candidate, a suggestion immediately rejected by the saffron party.
Ahead of the crucial INDIA alliance meeting in Mumbai, AAP leader Priyanka Kakkar Wednesday pitched for Arvind Kejriwal as the opposition bloc's prime ministerial candidate but party colleagues Atishi and Sanjay Singh hastened to deny that the Delhi chief minister had such aspirations.
'When he was sidelined in the INDIA bloc, it was was the turning point because it badly hurt Nitish's ambition.' 'After that, he decided to damage INDIA by changing sides.'
The Bharatiya Janata Party had not yet given a thought to who would be its prime ministerial candidate for the next general elections, it said on Saturday.
Chouhan's fate will be determined by the BJP central command's assessment of the implications of such a move ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
If the idea was to garner AIADMK votes with or without the three faction leaders after the party broke ties with the NDA, it may not work after all, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly has been offered a ticket to contest the general elections next year by the BJP but is undecided on whether to accept the offer.
Former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi on Monday claimed that Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi was the "target" of the serial blasts carried out by Indian Mujahideen modules in Patna.
'BJP's ultimate ambition is to control Bihar independently.'
Against the backdrop of Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's unrelenting attack against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday hit back at the BJP, saying the use of "bad" language against political rivals did not bring any dignity to the opposition party.
Stirring the hornet's nest in the Bharatiya Janata Party, noted lawyer Ram Jethmalani has strongly pitched for projecting Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate in the next Lok Sabha elections.
She expressed confidence that a three-way alliance is very much possible in West Bengal between her Trinamool Congress, Congress and the Left.
It was not that differences did not crop up over other issues between the two erstwhile allies, but Parkash Singh Badal always ensured that these were amicably resolved and the ties remained intact.
A day after Narendra Modi's long meeting with top Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sevak brass, BJP president Rajnath Singh on Sunday met senior Sangh leaders at the RSS office in New Delhi.
In a show of unity, Narendra Modi on Saturday asked party workers to ensure victory of Bharatiya Janata Party patriarch L K Advani by a "huge margin" from the constituency and recalled the "illustrious" political career of the party veteran.
Home Minister Amit Shah accused the Congress of twisting facts and distorting his comments on B.R. Ambedkar in the Rajya Sabha, saying the opposition party launched a malicious campaign after a parliamentary discussion "established" the Congress as being "anti-Ambedkar and anti-reservation." Shah defended his remarks, stating his address was clear and without confusion, and that his party would explore all legal options against the Congress for misrepresenting his comments. He also accused the Congress of insulting V.D. Savarkar, crushing constitutional values by imposing Emergency, and humiliating soldiers who laid down their lives.
A major controversy erupted on Wednesday with the Bharatiya Janata Party threatening a showdown with the Election Commission after Narendra Modi was denied permission for holding a rally in a crowded area in Varanasi on Thursday.
The Nagpur violence may have been prevented had the police considered the dangerous potential of the VHP/Bajrang Dal's demonstration; had they immediately stopped the burning of the chaddar and arrested the demonstrators; and had they fanned out to counter the rumours that spread among Muslims, observes Jyoti Punwani.