Sharad Yadav, President of the Janata Dal (United), is one of the architects of the proposed merger of six political parties who trace their roots to the erstwhile Janata Dal. Yadav tells Archis Mohan how the grand alliance with Left parties and even the Congress is the need of the hour.
With the BJP under attack from its parent organisations and plagued by rift within, will the BJP be able to regain its past glory?
Virtually daring the Bharatiya Janata Party to snap links with the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, former party ideologue K N Govindacharya has said the RSS can "walk straight without the crutches of the BJP".
According to sources, Jaitley, who feels let down by being kept out of action in four states going to the polls during the next one and half years was in the Sangh headquarters.
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.
Tax Information Exchange Agreements between countries are one way to prevent, or at least curb, the flow of illicit funds.
The Congress on Saturday targeted Baba Ramdev's fast, alleging it has been "remotely controlled or hijacked" by vested political interests. The party claimed that the BJP and the RSS and their several frontal organisations were trying to destabilise the government through the campaign."By conceiving, controlling and coordinating the movement like the one at Ramlila Maidan, they are destabilising not only the government but the nation," Abhishek Singhvi said.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Tuesday said the revolt by B S Yeddyurappa seeking reinstatement as Karnataka chief minister was "very serious", even as the Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari went into a huddle with Mohan Bhagwat and other top leaders of the organisation in Nagpur.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh top brass led by its general secretary Mohan Bhagwat on Monday met Bharatiya Janata Party president Lal Kishenchand Advani
Senior Congress party leader Digvijay Singh has said it took him three-four years to convince his party about terror activities allegedly done at the behest of Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Thursday described Narendra Modi as his "friend" but sidestepped queries on the possible projection of the Gujarat Chief Minister as Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate, saying he was "not a political person".
That would be three more seats than what the BJP won in 2014.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Member of Parliament Balbir Punj said here today that by making an irresponsible statement on terrorism, Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde has given Pakistan a weapon to attack India.
Mumbai attacks mastermind and Lashkar-e-Tayiba founder Hafiz Saeed on Monday sought to exploit Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde's jibe against the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Bharatiya Janata Party saying Indian "propaganda" against Pakistani organisations of spreading terror now stood "exposed".
The regret expressed by Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari's on his remark on Swami Vivekananda ahead of the party's core committee meet eased tensions among its members.
While the BJP distanced itself from the article, the TMC also rubbished allegations of "understanding with the saffron camp" but the Congress said that the "cat is now out of the bag".
The biggest challenge will be to convert his regime into a coalition of minds. But given the fact that he is instinctively an authoritarian leader and supporter of the hard Hindutva line, the survival of his government will depend on his ability to balance between his heart and mind, between instinct and pragmatism, asserts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author of Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times.
Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Tuesday hit out Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi over his allegation on Sonia Gandhi's foreign trips, saying he has been trained well by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in the 'Nazi tradition' of false propaganda and Bharatiya Janata Party's 'cheap intentions' have been proved by trying to politicise a health issue.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Monday night said it will extend its support to Bharatiya Janata Party veteran Lal Kishenchand Advani, who was projected as party's prime ministerial candidate, while National Democratic Alliance allies like Janata Dal-United and Shiv Sena reserved their comment.
Exigencies of electoral politics and individual ambitions often stoke family feuds and sibling rivalries.
The Bharatiya Janata Party is pulling in different directions on the kind of role Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi should play in the future, even before the issue has come up for discussion in the party fora. Neerja Chowdhury analyses
From someone who broke minority assertiveness in Gujarat to someone who eschews caste and creed for national pride -- this is how Narendra Modi bids to win over India, says Gyan Varma
Advani is unhappy with the manner in which the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has dominated the show behind the scene to insist on Nitin Gadkari setting a second tenure as the party president.
The NTA denied any irregularities and said the changes made in the NCERT textbooks and grace marks for losing time at the examination centres were some of the reasons behind the students scoring higher marks.
Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Saturday strongly backed P Chidambram over the latest controversy surrounding the finance ministry note on 2G scam and accused the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangha of targeting the home minister as he acted against "Sanghi" terror.
In a stepped-up attack on Anna Hazare and the Bharatiya Janata Party-Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Congress on Monday dubbed the Gandhian as an "unelected dictator" who is reading the script of forces attempting to destabilise the country".
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday extended its "full support" to Baba Ramdev's fast against corruption and accused the Congress of "double standards" on the issue, saying while ministers hold talks with him, some party leaders criticise the yoga guru's agitation."Baba Ramdev is sitting on a fast at the Ramlila ground in Delhi. Whoever fights against corruption, he and his movement has our full support," BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said.
Naidu said RSS was a committed, disciplined and dedicated organisation and BJP could not afford to lose its connection with it.
"Religious festivals seem to have become occasions to intimidate and bully others -- a far cry from when they were occasions for joy and celebration. Instead, there is intimidation and discrimination only on account of their religion, food, caste, gender or language," Gandhi said.
Eight workers of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) have been taken into custody in connection with the killing of a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh worker in Alappuzha, police said on Thursday.
The meeting assumes significance in the wake of RSS criticism of Advani over his controversial remarks about Pakistan founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah during his recent Pakistan visit.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Shourie on Monday asked the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) to take over the BJP's control and described the party's president Rajnath Singh as "Humpty Dumpty".
Ahead of the party's brainstorming session next week, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani has met Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat amidst clear indications that the Shimla meet may skip the issue of who and what exactly were the reasons behind the party's defeat in the Lok Sabha elections.
With Atishi at the helm it will not be easy for the BJP to continue using the LG's office and the bureaucracy as political instruments to hinder governance and thereby provoke the electorate's ire against the AAP, expects Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
The Manipur high court had Monday revoked his detention and ordered his immediate release.
Advani said Golwalkar, who took over the reins of the RSS after the death of its founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, firmly believed that rule on the basis of religion is not possible in India and RSS does not approve of such a system.
Bharatiya Janata Party Parliamentary Party chief L K Advani asked his party MPs to donate Rs 10,000 from their salary for providing relief to victims of flash floods in Leh and suggested that the MPLAD funds be diverted for rehabilitation and rebuilding of the region.
During the tenure of BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government, Bhandari was appointed Governor of Bihar and Gujarat.
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