Bhartiya Janata Party leaders are trying to sort out the differences between the party's prime ministerial candidate L K Advani and former vice president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, which cropped up after the latter declared his intentions of returning to active politics."As far as the BJP is concerned, L K Advani is our candidate for the post of the prime minister," party president Rajnath Singh said."I am contesting the Lok Sabha elections," the former VP had stated.
The prestige of Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav and that of Bhartiya Janata Party star campaigner Uma Bharti will be at stake during the fifth round of the seven-phased Uttar Pradesh state assembly elections on Thursday. Sharat Pradhan reports.
Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh on Tuesday announced that he has resigned from the Bharatiya Janata Party. Singh is reportedly unhappy with the party top brass for sidelining him. His resignation comes in the wake of rumours that he might join the Samajwadi Party, after he met SP supremo Mulayam Singh a few days ago.
If Narendra Modi's forward march to Delhi is to be permitted then the president of BJP will be someone who is completely loyal to the RSS. That will improve Gadkari's chances though there is a serious lack on enthusiasm in the RSS on giving him a second term. Sheela Bhatt reports
Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal brought the government into another stand-off with the Bhartiya Janata Party, accusing it of stalling Parliament in the winter session to prevent the cover up the National Democratic Alliance regime's lapses.
In an exclusive conversation with rediff.com's Onkar Singh, Kulkarni, who was recently in the news for being jailed for allegedly masterminding a sting operation in the 2008 cash-for-vote scam that rocked the UPA government, said that the people would give a clear mandate to one party to form the government.
Amit Shah gave his first exclusive interview to Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt after taking charge of UP. The first of a two-part interview:
Even as Uttar Pradesh prepares for the first phase of polling on Wednesday, nine star campaigners of the Bhartiya Janata Party, led by its president Nitin Gadkari, mounted carpet bombing in a campaign blitz in the state.
Bhartiya Janata Party leader Vinay Katiyar has "threatened to expose Justice Liberhan's intent" behind party leaders Atal Behari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani for their alleged involvement in the Babri Masjid demolition. "Just wait for a while and see what I reveal about Justice Liberhan as soon as his report is tabled in the parliament", Katlyar told rediff.com on Monday.
The Bhartiya Janata Party on Sunday asked the government to unveil a concrete action plan to curb inflation effectively in a month and demanded an immediate roll back in the hike of fuel prices.
Snubbed by Mulayam Singh Yadav, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh called the Samajwadi Party chief a "traitor" and indicated he was willing to return to the Bharatiya Janata Party, while his son Rajbir Singh resigned from the SP.
The Bhartiya Janata Party's external affairs wing organised a demonstration at the Russian embassy in Delhi on Wednesday and handed over a memorandum addressed to President Dmitry Medvedev to the country's deputy ambassador, expressing outrage at a move in Tomsk to seek a ban on the Bhagvad Gita. The memorandum said the sentiments of millions of Hindus all over the world have been grievously hurt and hence the Russian government should ensure the dismissal of the case.
More than 20 months after Bhartiya Janata Party Member of Parliament Varun Gandhi spewed communal venom during his election campaign in Pilibhit, the Uttar Pradesh government on Friday gave its mandatory sanction for his prosecution.
Deputy leader of the Bhartiya Janata Party in Rajya Sabha, S S Ahluwalia made it clear during his interaction with mediapersons on Saturday that his party would settle for nothing less than a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe in the 2G telecom scam.
Senior leader of the Bhartiya Janata Party Sushma Swaraj on Saturday alleged that the United Progressive Alliance government was discriminating against the National Democratic Alliance ruled states. She claimed that this discrimination extended to railway projects, distribution of wheat and rice through the public distribution system, relief packages for natural calamities like draught and floods etc.
Bhartiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari on Thursday claimed that the 'Bharat Bandh' to protest against diesel price hike, Foreign Direct Investment in multi-brand retail and cap on subsidised LPG was a great success and hoped the 'most corrupt' government since Independence has got the message and would roll back prices of diesel and not allow investments by the big international such as like Walmart to invest in India in the wholesale market.
The Bhartiya Janata Party lashed out at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday over the selection of Telecom Secretary P J Thomas as the new Central Vigilance Commissioner. The Opposition party claimed that the Centre had appointed Thomas to scuttle the ongoing probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the Rs 60,000 crore spectrum scam. The BJP urged President Pratibha Patil to cancel the appointment of Thomas, who will be administered the oath of office by her.
The brakes applied on Bhartiya Janata Party veteran L K Advani's much-hyped Jan Swabhiman Yatra were finally released by the Uttar Pradesh government, as it finally gave the state's nod for holding a rally at Mughal Serai in Varanasi district, about 300 km from Lucknow, late on Wednesday evening.
Having received the forensic science laboratory report on the recordings of Varun Gandhi's hate speeches during his election campaign in Pilibhit , the Uttar Pradesh police were determined to cut down any further delay in proceeding against the newly elected Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) MP in each of the three criminal cases pending against him for those speeches he delivered during his election campaign in Pilibhit parliamentary constituency at the recently concluded Lok
Senior leaders of Bhartiya Janata Party feel that the Congress is adding fuel to the fire that is devastating the party in last couple of weeks.
Pragnesh Bhatt speaks to Zakia Jafri, wife of slain Congress ex-member of Parliament Ehsan Jafri, after the Supreme Court referred the controversial Gulburg society riots case on Monday. Excerpts from the interview:
Senior Bhartiya Janata Party vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has condemned the manner in which the Congress and United Progressive Alliance ministers launched an all-out attack against Anna Hazare on Sunday --less than 48 hours before he embarks on the second indefinite fast -- to press for total acceptance of Jan Lokpal bill.
Bhartiya Janata Party spokesman, Prakash Javadekar, has accused Minister of State for Sports and Youth Affairs Ajay Maken, for distorting facts in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday by stating that the UPA government had nothing to do with the appointment of Suresh Kalmadi as head of the Commonwealth Games.
Hours after United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi, accompanied by her son Rahul Gandhi, started their five-day China visit, the Bhartiya Janata Party slammed the Communist country for staking its claim over Arunachal Pradesh. Addressing newsmen at the party headquarters, BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy accused the Chinese of infiltrating the Arunachal Pradesh border 140 times and encroaching on 40,000 sq kilometers of land.
Senior Bhartiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley on Thursday slammed the Congress for its 'vote bank politics' which have plunged the country in increased terror attacks.
Onlookers filmed the episode, which was also shared by Dubey on his Facebook page. However, he later deleted it.
Though the Lok Sabha polls are spread over five phases, the Bhartiya Janata Party on Thursday said it would be the sixth phase of realignment of parties after the polls that will actually decide who forms the government at the Centre.
Unmindful of the deep resentment within his own ranks and file against his new found bonhomie with once sowrn political adversary and rebel Bhartiya Janata Party leader Kalyan Singh , Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Monday termed his relationship with Kalyan as a "bond of friendship."
Senior Bhartiya Janata Party General Secretary Arun Jaitley on Friday dismissed speculations about Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi becoming a challenge to the party's prime ministerial candidate L K Advani. "Politics is not so juvenile that Anil Ambani or Sunil Mittal can get anybody in the PM's seat," Jaitley affirmed while talking to reporters at the BJP headquarters in Delhi.
Bhartiya Janata Party General Secretary Arun Jaitley, of who is leaving for a holiday after masterminding the party's victory in the Karnataka assembly election, is convinced that an alliance between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party is sure to make L K Advani prime minister of India.
Soren losing to Jharkhand Party candidate Gopal Krishna by a margin of 9000 votes clearly shows that the people of Jharkhand have rejected him to continue as the chief minister, BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad told media persons in New Delhi on Thursday.
Piyush Goyal, treasurer of Bhartiya Janata party and noted charted accountant, has confirmed that he did advise D B Realty -- a Shahid Balwa company, one of the prime accused in 2G spectrum scam -- for raising equity by going to the public.
In a damage control move, while party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Tuesday roped in a large number of Maulanas to give himself a clean chit, his second-in-command Amar Singh flew down to the well-known Islamic seminary, DarulUloom Deoband in Saharanpur district to woo the clerics there.
Asking the government to explore all options against Pakistan and immediately stop all bilateral engagements, including 'illusionary peace and trade talks', the main opposition Bhartiya Janata Party on Wednesday lambasted Islamabad for "patent falsehood" and continuing to be in a state of "total denial" that the conspiracy about Mumbai terrorist attacks did not emanate from its soil.
The Bhartiya Janata Party on Friday said the President's address to Parliament supposed to enumerate government's priorities was the first disappointment and the second disappointment came in the prime minister's reply to the debate on the motion of thanks of the President's address.
Advani said, that Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani boasted that international pressure has forced India to return to the negotiating table. He asked if there was any other reason to hold talks, reversing India's steadfast stand after 26/11 against resumption of talks until Islamabad brings the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks to justice and cracks down on terrorist groups operating from its soil.