It is clear to any observer that the BJP risks its demolition drive boomeranging on itself. Except for one unpredictable factor in the works -- Rahul Gandhi himself, observes Shyam G Menon.
Offering his condolences to Vajpayee's family and admirers, Rahul Gandhi said the former prime minister was loved and respected by millions.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Saturday appeared to rule out early Lok Sabha polls, saying "our aim is to go till the very end".
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday took on Narendra Modi on his home turf of Gujarat, saying the state was nowhere near "swarg" (heaven) as claimed by him, and accused the BJP's prime ministerial hopeful of being concerned only about his chair.
A meeting of the Congress will be held on May 24 at 5pm in Parliament to elect the chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party. After the party managed to bag just 44 seats in the recently-concluded Lok Sabha elections, all indications point to the fact that supremo Sonia Gandhi would be made the chairperson of the party.
An open war broke out in the Congress over its whitewash in the Delhi elections with senior leader Sheila Dikshit attacking chief ministerial candidate Ajay Maken and the party virtually asking her to shut up.
The session is likely to see the proceedings of Parliament move from the old building to the new Parliament building.
In an apparent attempt at assuaging his feelings in the wake of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's denunciation of the government, Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi on Sunday praised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, saying schemes launched under his leadership have helped millions of people from the marginalised sections.
With this kind of coinage, the Opposition seems to be readily conceding the point that Modi is taller than all of them put together. So they need something bigger than themselves, collectively or not, to capture the voter imagination when it is about taking on Modi and the BJP in 2024, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
This is for the first time in a Lok Sabha election that results of voting machines will be matched with slips generated by paper trail machines.
The prime minister was often seen vigorously thumping the desk, prompting his Cabinet colleagues and NDA MPs to follow suit.
The UPA chairperson has resorted to the last refuge of the desperate, by accusing the BJP of indulging in divisive politics by "sowing seeds of poison", says Arun Jaitley
Chowdhury is a five-time MP from West Bengal and has not lost the Lok Sabha election since 1999.
'You can attack and conspire to weaken us, but you cannot destroy the Congress permanently.'
The Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday termed as misleading the announcement of implementation of food security scheme by the city government and said it will meet the same fate as other schemes like Rajiv Ratna Awas yojna, Annashri yojna and Antyodaya yojna.
The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen MP from Hyderabad, chanted "Jai Bheem, Jai Meem, Takbeer Allahu Akbar, Jai Hind", after members from the ruling side shouted slogans of 'Jai Shri Ram', 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' and 'Vande Mataram'.
The Congress now knows that it is the only force -- however weakened it might be -- that stands between the BJP and India's evolution into a single-party Republic. Because, once it is out of the way, the BJP could sort out the other regional powers: Co-opting some, demolishing others, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
Former National Security Advisor M K Narayanan on Wednesday said that he played no role in the controversial Rs 3,600 crore VVIP AgustaWestland chopper deal.
Rahul Gandhi said the meeting was very productive and everyone decided to stop the BJP from further assault of institutions and the Constitution.
Nath, a nine-time MP from Chhindwara seat and currently president of state Congress unit, will take oath at a grand function to be held at Jamboree Maidan in BHEL area instead of Lal Parade Ground as announced earlier.
If they wish to have any chance next year, the Congress and the alliance must quickly settle all issues, draw up an alternative agenda, and create a cohesive campaign.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Saturday cautioned people against political parties making 'tall pre-election promises' and asked voters not to get misled and carried away.
The Prime Minister's charge comes a day after former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi addressed a campaign rally at Hubballi on Saturday.
In her statement, Dutt has hailed and thanked her "mentor" United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
In a veiled reference to Narendra Modi, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Monday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party's only goal is to grab the Prime Minister's chair for which it was "misleading people" and shedding crocodile tears.
As a book offering "dramatised biography" of Congress President Sonia Gandhi hit stands in India, the party on Friday asserted it could take legal action if the contents of the book were "objectionable".
UPA chief Sonia Gandhi, attended the 61st birth anniversary of husband Rajiv Gandhi with her daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren.
On a day Narendra Modi attacked the United Progressive Alliance government for its "mis-governance", Congress chief Sonia Gandhi hit back accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of hatching conspiracies before elections and misleading people in its hunger for power.
Rahul's rage was not directed against the prime minister, but at his mother';s advisors who continue to thwart the Baba Army, feels Kamaraj Gopalan.
In a shocking incident, a Samajwadi Party member stunned the Lok Sabha on Wednesday afternoon snatching the copy of the quota in promotion bill from Minister V Narayanasamy and was sought to be thwarted by Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
MP Congress Committee's media department chairperson KK Mishra in a statement claimed it was a doctored video.
Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi said in Korba in Chhattisgarh on Friday that chief ministers of Congress ruled states refrain from going among the people fearing that people may throw stones at them.
Her speech was laced with Hindi, Urdu, Sanskrit and even Tamil verses.
The second list has named 16 candidates from Uttar Pradesh and five from Maharashtra.
Opposition leaders will also meet the Election Commission and raise the issue of tallying the paper trail of votes with the electronic voting machine figures as directed by the Supreme Court.
Trinamool Congress leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said the unity of opposition parties will take shape on its own, sidestepping questions of her taking on the leadership role.
The Act deals with automatic disqualification of MPs and state legislators upon being convicted and sentenced for two years or more in a criminal case.
While Sonia had expressed her intention to inaugurate the bridge, for which Rs 30 crore was given out of the Central Road Fund at her personal behest, Mayawati got her Public Works Department minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui to go ahead with the inauguration, 100 km away from the site of the bridge, in state capital Lucknow itself, 24 hours ahead of schedule on Wednesday afternoon.
Lok Janskati Party president Ramvilas Paswan on Friday said he fails to understand why Congress is "dithering" to join the Rashtriya Janata Dal-LJP alliance which is intact in spite of sentencing of Lalu Prasad.
The Chhattisgarh Election Commission has proposed the addition of expenses incurred during Baba Ramdev's recent visit to the state in the election expenditure account of the Bharatiya Janata Party, as his speeches during this period allegedly amounted to a campaign in favour of the ruling party.
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