An important meeting of top Bharatiya Janata Party leadership was held on Wednesday in Delhi regarding the party's organisational elections, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday appealed to the people to ensure the Bharatiya Janata Party's victory in 35 seats out of the 42 in West Bengal in the next Lok Sabha polls, saying that the Trinamool Congress government would not survive beyond 2025 if the target is achieved.
'The move to appoint a person with a profile, markedly lower than the leader Nitin Nabin will replace, has the potential to put the brakes on the careers of several others in the party and government in the positions they currently hold,' points out Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
The Congress hit out at Devendra Fadnavis being sworn-in as the Maharashtra chief minister on Saturday, saying it was a "betrayal of people's mandate" and the "illegitimate" government formation will self-destruct.
The Supreme Court's verdict on the Rafale deal spurred a war of words between the BJP and the Congress.
The BJP chief also came down heavily on the Congress, which had seized on the report to attack him as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The MP from Thiruvananthapuram was taking a dig at the BJP president for holding the Congress responsible for India's partition on religious lines. Tharoor said, in fact, it was the Hindu Mahasabha and the Muslim League who were espousing the two-nation theory.
"The Congress believes in the politics of appeasement and dynasty, whereas BJP follows politics of performance," Shah said.
Shah pulled no punches in lambasting the RJD supremo for alleged nepotism, accusing him of making his wife the chief minister, getting his daughter elected to Parliament and "now both his sons want to become the CM".
An organisation where workers function in different directions never succeeds, BJP sources quoted Shah as telling a party gathering in Mumbai on Tuesday. Shah has also asked the Maharashtra BJP to undertake 'Ghar Chalo Abhiyan' to reach out to every household in the state and called for strengthening the party's booth-level network, a party leader said.
The complainant referred to Gandhi's comment that the BJP claims to believe in honest and clean politics but has a party president who is an "accused" in a murder case.
2,470 BJP workers from across the country would spend a year visiting polling booths, while another 1,441 workers would spend six months and 378,000 workers will spend 15 days to reach out to party cadres and ensure better polling management in areas outside their home districts.
Union Home Minister and top Bharatiya Janata Party leader Amit Shah on Thursday set a target of 200 out of the total 294 seats in the 2021 West Bengal assembly elections and to come to power in the state, party sources said.
Many changes are likely in the BJP and government in coming weeks.
The BJP chief also sought to know whether the Congress wanted to protect the "illegal Bangldeshis".
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his cabinet colleagues Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Rajnath Singh, chief ministers of Nationalist Democratic Alliance-ruled states and prominent personalities from industry and Bollywood on Thursday attended the grand swearing-in of Devendra Fadnavis as Maharashtra Chief Minister in Mumbai.
BJP president Amit Shah said on Wednesday as he attacked former PM Manmohan Singh over a string of scams that took place under his watch.
JD-U leaders came down heavily on the Begusarai MP for his snide remarks.
Former Chhattisgarh minister Nanki Ram Kanwar alleges house arrest for planning a protest against a district collector, while the government denies the claim. The opposition Congress party criticizes the government's actions.
Though largely seen as an official visit, with less than a year for elections, Shah during this trip is likely to meet senior party leaders including Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, veteran leader B S Yediyurappa among others
The BJP president came down heavily on the Opposition saying a shocking change has happened in the country's politics with those against the prime minister resorting to lies and speaking it loudly all the time.
Shah said that no one objected when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and he publicly said that Devendra Fadnavis would be the chief minister if the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance wins the assembly polls in Maharashtra.
The swearing-in ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP national president J P Nadda and several other top leaders of the NDA.
Shah said the Congress was not rooted in any ideology or principles and was sort of a "special purpose vehicle" to secure freedom.
The Bihar chief minister had a point to prove in the latest assembly elections, which were held amid speculations of a fatigue factor, if not downright anti-incumbency, made worse by rumours of his indifferent health.
BJP president Amit Shah accused the Congress of adopting "double standards", saying on one hand Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi is on "election tour of temples (mandir ka chunavi daura) in Gujarat, while on the other his party wants the hearing on Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute to be deferred.
The BJP president further said that Andhra Pradesh has always been on the agenda of national development and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has left no stone unturned to ensure its growth and prosperity.
While the DMK depends on a 'silver sieve' of welfare schemes to stay in power, its support is slowly draining away under the weight of poor governance, corruption, and voters who are no longer satisfied with benefits alone and now want basic administration to work, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Jairam Ramesh, architect of the UPA's 2011 land acquisition bill, reacts to Amit Shah's interview to Rediff.com in which he defended the NDA government's land bill ordinance.
'The Supreme Court stated that once the delimitation plan is approved by Parliament and receives assent of the President, it cannot be undone. Nor can it be modified.'
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accuses the BJP of 'vote chori' in collusion with the Election Commission, calling it an anti-national act. He raised concerns about election reforms and institutional capture.
The ruling alliance and the Opposition are set to lock horns over the two issues steeped in national security and foreign policy imperatives.
Speculation intensifies regarding a potential political shake-up in Jharkhand's ruling coalition, fueled by strained relations between JMM, RJD, and Congress, and Chief Minister Hemant Soren's Delhi visits. Both JMM and Congress have denied the claims.
A galaxy of top leaders, including Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari and leaders of BJP's allies such as Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, Shiromani Akali Dal supremo Parkash Singh Badal and Lok Janshakti Party founder Ram Vilas Paswan were present with Shah.
After big win in Bihar, the BJP is likely to push harder in Tamil Nadu, where the DMK government and the uneasy BJP-AIADMK alliance are preparing for a tense election filled with seat-sharing fights, changing alliances, and the unpredictable entry of Vijay's TVK party, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
Joining the BJP, Sandhu spoke about the growth of the India-US relationship and said development has been its focus area in a host of fields such as the semiconductor industry.
Union Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma on Saturday alleged that the rallies addressed by Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi in Uttar Pradesh were "fixed", adding that speeches of both the leaders were scripted by Amit Shah.
NDA partners engage in intense lobbying to finalize cabinet berths ahead of the swearing-in ceremony of the new Bihar government led by Nitish Kumar. The new cabinet is expected to include fresh faces from BJP and JD(U), along with representation from smaller alliance partners.
The former IPS officer had also sought impleadment of Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah, the then MoS Home in the state government and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh functionary S Gurumurthy as parties in his petition, which was also rejected.
The CRPF personnel had to tear apart steel doors of the elevator to pull out Shah and other leaders trapped inside.