Stung by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's remarks suggesting a rift between its leaders Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Kishenchad Advani, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday accused him of attempts to divert public attention from governance.
Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who is undergoing treatment at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, is fully conscious and is breathing on his own, a senior doctor said on Sunday. "He is breathing on his own and he is fully conscious," Dr Sampath Kumar, chief of the Cardio Thoracic Vascular Sciences Department at the hospital, said. Vajpayee's basic parameters like heart, kidney, liver and blood pressure were normal and he had recovered from pneumonia.
The prime minister, however, refused to disclose the date of the reshuffle.
His meeting with Vajpayee was described as a 'courtesy call'. Manmohan Singh called on the President to inform him about the Cabinet decision to request him to address both Houses of Parliament on June 7.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi, whose stature has touched a new high after declining one of the most powerful jobs in the world, looked elated.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh top brass led by its general secretary Mohan Bhagwat on Monday met Bharatiya Janata Party president Lal Kishenchand Advani
Vajpayee has said the PM must reveal what 'actually' happened at his meeting with Musharraf.
Joining other National Democratic Alliance leaders, former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Thursday attacked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his "impolite" and "unbecoming conduct" with an alliance delegation on Wednesday.
Vajpayee told reporters while celebrating Holi at his residence in Delhi that he was confident about the BJP's prospects in the key state of the Hindi heartland.
Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is likely to be discharged tomorrow from AIIMS as doctors have today declared him fit to go home after 26 days of stay at the Intensive Care Unit.
The allusion is simple: Modi is the BJP in Gujarat. This encapsulates a paradigm shift in the way the BJP's internal politics is now being run.
Expressing serious concern over "two distinct voices" that have emerged "louder" after the Gujarat election, the prime minister said Hindutva was being projected by "some people in a narrow, rigid and extremist manner."
The prime minister also said BJP's rivals would not be able to cobble up a coalition despite making attempts.
He was admitted to the AIIMS on June 11 with a kidney tract infection, urinary tract infection, low urine output and chest congestion.
Terming the prevailing situation in Uttar Pradesh as a "challenge", he said that the party must prepare itself to face it and restore the earlier position of the party in the state.
The Pakistani prime minister in an interview with The Nation said he had no apprehensions about visiting India or to meet his Indian counterpart anywhere in the world.
The golden run of "Slumdog Millionaire" at the Oscars and A R Rahman's double win brought smiles on the face of ailing former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee who watched the awards at the AIIMS' ICU and even gestured to the staff to have a look at the television.
'Modi took to the dais and said he would like to step down as chief minister over the riots.' 'Immediately, people from several sides got up and said there was no need to do so.' 'Whether it was orchestrated or not, Shourie wasn't sure.' 'But, according to him, Vajpayee felt that it was a coup.'
As the din continued, the Speaker adjourned the House till noon. Similar scenes were witnessed in the House on Thursday leading to its adjournment for the day.
Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who is seriously ill for the past two years, and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who did not canvas in the Bihar polls due to objections from ally Janata Dal-United, figure in the Bharatiya Janata Party's list of election campaigners.
BJP president Venkaiah Naidu appeared to have ruffled a few feathers by saying that the party would project both Vajpayee and Advani in forthcoming elections.
This comes on the eve of the crucial Bharatiya Janata Party Parliamentary Board meeting on Sunday.
The prime minister would hold summit level talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Share your thoughts on the PM's contribution to the change in India's outlook.
Vajpayee had resigned just 13 days after being in power due to lack of numbers.
The 93-year-old veteran politician, who died at 05.05 pm, was also put on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support on his last day, they said.
He said even Vishwa Hindu Parishad had openly said if anyone was to be blamed for the BJP's defeat it was Vajpayee.
Alleging deterioration in the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh, Vajpayee had asked BJP workers to carry out a "decisive" agitation to throw out the Samajwadi Party government.
Isak Swu and T Muivah had a one-hour meeting with the former prime minister at his residence.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was among the first to reach the BJP patriarch's 7-Krishna Menon Marg residence to wish him. Senior party L K Advani had called on Vajpayee on Monday evening to wish him as he had to go to Gandhinagar in Gujarat to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi as Chief Minister.
The decision appears to have been taken in view of the likely dissolution of Lok Sabha in the first week of next month.
'The NDA leaders expressed total confidence in the prime minister's wisdom in deciding the dates for the polls,' George Fernandes said.
