Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati on Thursday said Narendra Modi could change the secular credentials of the Constitution on the pretext of reviewing it and give it "Hindutva colour", if he came to power.
Ruling out himself as his party's prime ministerial candidate, Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari on Sunday favoured Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for the top job and promised to back his candidature as party chief.
Amid a debate on the Bharatiya Janata Party projecting Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate, senior leader M Venkaiah Naidu on Friday said the party would only take a call on the issue before the 2014 general elections.
A controversy erupted on Tuesday after the opposition parties tagged a video of DMK leader A Raja purportedly showing him making remarks that India has never been a nation, but a subcontinent with diverse practices and cultures, prompting strong response from the BJP which described the comments as a call for 'balkanisation' of the the country and demanded for his arrest.
A day after Bharatiya Janata Party released a video attacking Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav defended Vadra and accused the BJP of blowing the issue of the land deals out of proportion. He also slammed the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, saying Narendra Modi's name meant model of diving India.
The Congress on Tuesday dismissed as 'day dreams' the projection of the likes of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and senior leader Sushma Swaraj as the party's prime ministerial candidates, and said Delhi is 'still distant' for the opposition party.
Former Union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras, who quit after his Lok Janshakti Party faction was not given any seat by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance in Bihar for the Lok Sabha elections, on Saturday announced his party's support to the ruling alliance, ending speculation over his next course of action.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who is being projected by some in BJP as its Prime Ministerial face for 2014 elections, on Sunday asked his party cadres to work hard to present an alternative to the UPA government.
The June 23 meeting of opposition parties, called by Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar, will see anti-BJP players chalk out a strategy for the Lok Sabha polls.
Congress masterstroke foiled by Vajpayee niece's failure. Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has weakened the Bharatiya Janata Party's plank of protesting at Congress president Sonia Gandhi Figuring in all central government advertisements at the exchequer's cost.
The Congress on Tuesday attempted to drag Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani and the saffron party into the Malegaon blast case controversy, accusing the BJP's prime ministerial candidate and the party of making the 'first political interference' in the terror case. "The internal security of the country is today threatened by two As -- Advani and Abhinav Bharat," senior party leader M Veerappa Moily told reporters.
Meeting for the first time after the spectacular win in Narendra Modi-led Gujarat and after wresting Himachal Pradesh away from the Congress, Singh praised the success of the party's ideological commitment and its ability in the field of development. "I fully believe the string of successes would further lead us to victory in the Lok Sabha elections," he said.
The ruling Congress is seeking to retain power in Chhattisgarh by banking on the welfare schemes of the Bhupesh Baghel government, while the Bharatiya Janata Party is hoping to corner it on the issues of alleged corruption, religious conversions and unfulfilled poll promises.
According to a senior Congress leader, the constituents of the opposition alliance intend to move forward with the theme "Main Nahin, Hum (We, Not Me)" at the meeting.
The Shiv Sena on Saturday said that Narendra Modi's "toilets first, temples later" remark show that the Bharatiya Janata Party is not in touch with the views of its prime ministerial candidate.
Signalling both change and continuity, India's new government, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a third consecutive term, got into work gear on Tuesday with cabinet ministers and ministers of state filing into their respective offices to assume charge.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh top brass on Tuesday held a meeting, lasting over five hours, to discuss issues of mutual concern but the prime ministerial candidate and the Ram temple at Ayodhya issues did not come up during the parleys.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former finance minister Yashwant Sinha has asked newly-appointed party president Rajnath Singh to name Gujarat Chief Minister Narendre Modi as the party's official prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
The JD-U also accused the ruling BJP of having "authoritarian" tendencies and destabilising non-BJP governments in several states, including Delhi and Jharkhand besides Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra earlier.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday cautioned partymen against speaking out of turn on its prime ministerial nominee, with its president Rajnath Singh saying some leaders have been announcing names on a daily basis and creating unnecessary controversy. The party emphasised on the need for discipline and improving its image at a meeting of its office-bearers in Delhi to discuss the strategy and issues ahead of polls in six states and the Lok Sabha elections.
Altogether 160 MLAs voted in favour of the confidence motion while no vote was cast against the same.
The Bharatiya Janata Party appears to have come under pressure from Sangh Parivar on the choice of Narendra Modi as its next prime ministerial candidate, with Vishwa Hindu Parishad demanding announcement of the Gujarat chief minister's name.
The development can change the power dynamics within the ruling alliance, even if it manages to retain power in the state and Kumar continues to be chief minister.
From politics to fashion, the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance remains intact. Prasanna D Zore reports
The Bharatiya Janata Party and its Parliamentary Board members were on Thursday directed by the Delhi high court to respond to former Rajya Sabha member Ram Jethmalani's plea challenging his expulsion by the Board in May this year.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushil Kumar Modi on Wednesday claimed he did not rule out Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar joining hands with the saffron party again.
Consensus emerged on the appointment of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge as the chairperson of the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), while Janata Dal-United chief Nitish Kumar's name was proposed for the convener's post, pending approval of parties absent at the alliance meeting on Saturday, according to sources.
The RJD leader said the coming to power of the Mahagathbandhan government with the JD-U, the RJD, the Congress and other parties uniting "augurs well for opposition unity".
The entry of Kohli, a local businessman, into the BJP came a day after the prime minister rejected perceptions of a 'Modi wave' in the country. Lok Sabha elections in Punjab are due in one phase on April 30.
Attacking Narendra Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani's close associate Sudheendhra Kulkarni on asked as to how a leader who has "polarised" the society and even his party can run a stable and effective government at the centre.
With the reality of coalition politics staring the BJP in its face, this was inevitable, points out Ramesh Menon.
The decision comes from BJP President Nitin Gadkari, so as to shut down the tussle going on between Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley that spilled into open.
BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi said there is a groundswell of "hatred and dislike" against the UPA government and common people are eagerly awaiting to exercise their mandate to vote the government out of power.
The Bharatiya Janata Party is likely to announce on Friday that Narendra Modi will be its candidate for prime minister, according to sources, despite strong opposition from party patriarch LK Advani.
Making a strong attack against Narendra Modi, whom he termed a "megalomaniac psychopath liar", Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh on Sunday stoked a fresh controversy saying why can the Bharatiya Janata Party not field a "better leader" like Sushma Swaraj as its prime ministerial candidate.
Modi's record has so impressed L K Advani, the prime ministerial candidate of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, that, of late, he misses no chance to praise him, be it at the election rallies or public functions. Advani, writing in his blog recently, showered praises on Modi for getting Rs 12 lakh crore (Rs 12 trillion) investment into the state in times of economic slowdown at the January 13 investors' summit in Ahmedabad.
Samridh Bharat, Surakhshit Bharat (prosperous India, safer India) is the theme slogan of the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party's multi-crore media campaign for the coming Lok Sabha elections that is scheduled to be finalised by the party's prime ministerial candidate, L K Advani, by the month-end.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was today quoted as having said that Bharatiya Janata Party should declare its prime ministerial candidate in advance of next year's Lok Sabha polls, but he later denied having said so.
The recent war of words between the Bharatiya Janata Party and its alliance partner Janata Dal-United seems to have come to an end after the former assured its allies it would decide on the prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 general elections after consulting them