Known to be close and loyal to Bharatiya Janata Party veteran and former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, senior BJP leader and four time MP Lal Muni Choubey on Monday announced that he would contest as an independent from Buxar.
As reports of political parties swiftly switching loyalties -- to quench their thirst for power -- swirl over Maharashtra, Rediff.com speaks to different players involved in the game of thrones.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has accused BJP of practicing "politics of blood" by pitting one religion against another and one caste against another to come to power at any cost, escalating the Congress attack against the opposition party.
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.
Two members of a famous family are fighting against each other for the Jamnagar seat in Gujarat. Bharatiya Janata Party's young candidate, Poonam Madam, the sitting MLA from Khambhaliya, is pitted against her uncle and Congress Member of Parliament, Vikram Madam, who has been an MP since the last two terms.
"I feel very sad. I have no control. They are all adults," Dr Singh said while replying to queries on the sidelines of the Padma awards function in New Delhi.
Kicking off his two-day Haryana roadshow in Faridabad, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday slammed the Congress and BJP, saying gas prices will "increase manifold" if the two parties come to power.
The Gujarat Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday announced that Chief Minister Narendra Modi will contest elections from one seat in the state, without ruling out the possibility that he may fight on a second seat from Uttar Pradesh.
"The BJP has four Bs -- 'Badhta Bharat' and 'Banta Bharat'. Those who are forming an alliance have four Bs -- 'bua' (aunt), 'bhatija' (nephew), 'bhai' (brother) and 'behen' (sister)," Shah said, accusing the opposition parties of dynastic politics.
The Madhya Pradesh unit of Congress has demanded a ban on 'Shivraj App' and 'Modi Run' applications for promoting the Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and the BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.
The resignation of Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party vice-president Aamir Raza Husain over Narendra Modi's "puppy" remarks gave Congress a fresh handle to attack the opposition party as it wondered what stand will the other Muslim leaders in the BJP take.
Eyeing for return to power in Delhi after a gap of 15 years, the Bharatiya Janata Party will kick off its election campaign at a rally in New Delhi on Tuesday, coinciding with the birthday of its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.
'For the Hindutva lobby, there is cause for worry.'
'No more than 43 per cent of the people who were asked by Sushma Swaraj to say whom they supported stood by the trolls.' 'As many as 57 per cent do not approve of the minister's traducers,' says Amulya Ganguli.
This is the first meeting between Gandhi and Kumar since the latter walked out of the National Democratic Alliance in Bihar and formed a 'Mahagathbandhan' government with the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Congress and outside support of the Left.
In Jhalawar, which her only child Dushyant Singh represents in the Lok Sabha, Vasundhara Raje, the BJP's chief ministerial candidate, told reporters, 'I thought we would win 120, 125 seats, but it is going to be more than that.' Shahnawaz Akthar reports.
The alliance would announce a coordination committee, which could be of 11 members from principal opposition parties.
BJP prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi is likely to give a miss to campaigning in Vadodara constituency from where he is contesting Lok Sabha election.
Observing that Hindu-Muslims ties are under "severe test" lately, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday appeared to target Narendra Modi as he asked the countrymen to be vigilant of those who work against India's secular thought by attempting to "redefine secularism".
Prominent Muslim cleric Maulana Kalbe Sadiq has said BJP's prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi's past can be ignored if he changes himself.
Former Karnataka Chief Minister and Karnataka Janata Paksha President B S Yeddyurappa on Tuesday scotched speculation about joining the Bharatiya Janata Party, saying he would retain the identity of his party.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley said there should be no controversy over the issue of the party's prime ministerial candidate as that would be akin to committing a "hit-wicket" and turn out to be the only possible reason for the main opposition losing the upcoming general elections.
Kumar banged his table at Patna's Indian Coffee House as he announced this to an audience that was discussing alleged corruption in Bihar in 1977, writes Sankarshan Thakur in his biography of Kumar -- The Brothers Bihari.
Where do Vijay and his TVK expect to get their votes from? Vijay has a huge fan following among women, but will they automatically become his voters like they had done for MGR's AIADMK, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
Pakistan on Wednesday said it was "encouraged" after BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's remarks regarding ties with foreign countries and asserted that it was looking forward to a stable government here to engage "quickly, comprehensively and meaningfully".
Top Bharatiya Janata Party leaders have been engaged in consultations with each other over the post-poll situation in the wake of exit polls projections that the party-led National Democratic Alliance may form the government.
A special NIA court on Wednesday convicted 10 persons in connection with the serial blasts that took place in 2013 at the venue in Patna of a political rally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was then the chief minister of Gujarat.
BJP president Rajnath Singh talks on issues like Modi as PM, ties with JD-U and Congress's tainted secular creditials.
Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party President Vijay Goel, who had projected himself as a chief ministerial contender, on Tuesday said he was "happy" with party's decision to nominate Harsh Vardhan for the post and will continue to work hard to ensure BJP's victory in the assembly polls.
The BJP is now inventing new angles to keep its campaign relevant -- even if it's old wine in an old bottle, which is what the allegation on 'Katchatheevu' is, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The poll strategist was the main force behind Kumar's campaign strategy in Bihar.
"... the wind is blowing in favour of BJP, even stronger than 2014. That's why opposition parties are clutching each other's hands to save themselves from being blown away."
The Assam unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday decided against teaming up another political party to contest the 14 Lok Sabha seats in the state, informed BJP general secretary Santanu Bharali.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Monday charged BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi with having balked at appointing a RTI Commissioner and Lokayukta in Gujarat for fear of being booked for alleged irregularities in providing benefits to his favourite industrial group.
Notably, Yadav, the younger son of Rashtriya Janata Dal's founding president Lalu Prasad, had steered the 'Mahagathbandhan', which then did not have the chief minister on its side, to an impressive electoral performance in 2020 assembly polls in which the National Democratic Alliance could barely scrape through.
Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Sushma Swaraj, Ananth Kumar and Balbir Punj on Saturday met a sulking L K Advani to discuss the elevation of Narendra Modi as prime ministerial candidate, a move the party patriarch is opposed to.
Commotion broke out today at the venue of a rally at Gaya in Bihar shortly before Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi was to address it prompting police to resort to a mild lathicharge.
The Aam Aadmi Party on Friday defended its leader Arvind Kejriwal over his controversial comments on sending media personnel to jail, saying he was referring to a section of the media which was running an "agenda" of the Bharatiya Janata Party and its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.
The Bharatiya Janata Party was on Thursday poised for a landslide victory in Gujarat to retain power for a record seventh straight term but was behind the Congress in Himachal Pradesh which could go with the trend of alternative governments in the hill state.
Bommarabettu Laxmijanardhana Santhosh is the only south Indian and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's representative in the BJP's senior decision-making hierarchy.
Mounting attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Communist Party of India-Marxist, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said while the Left is not going to play any major role in Indian politics after the elections, the saffron party was trying to divide society by stoking anger.
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