Katiyar, however, made it clear that a final decision on these contentious matters will be taken by saints.
On the 40th anniversary of the beginning of one of the darkest periods in our history, here are six painful facts about the Emergency.
The five-state assembly elections are seen as a now-or-never, no-holds battle for the Congress, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday snubbed senior leader Jaswant Singh by denying him a ticket in the Lok Sabha elections in Rajasthan and instead decided to field Col Sonaram Choudhary in Barmer, which Singh was seeking.
It sent shock waves in the party -- a political greenhorn had taken on Modi in his home turf of Gujarat. Smriti had clearly tried to choose sides, in this case Vajpayee's camp. Many felt that this would end Irani's career. A revealing excerpt from Nidhi Sharma's new book She, The Leader: Women in Indian Politics.
'I told President Obama, "Mr President, do you realise that the person who is likely to become the prime minister of India in two weeks, does not have a visa, and you are talking about having great relations between India and the USA, how are you going to do it?".'' 'His answer was that this is not right and that he'll have somebody from the White House and the State Department reach out to me.'
We asked colleagues, present and past, to reflect on a man who has made such a difference to their lives and careers. Here it is then, a rich collection of memories that offer enchanting glimpses of the enigmatic Ajit Balakrishnan.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Wednesday said he aspired to become the CM of the state and also took a jibe at his 83-year-old uncle asking when will the Maratha strongman retire from active politics, as he appeared to be ahead in the numbers game for control of the Nationalist Congress Party after its vertical split.
In an unusual advice to Bharatiya Janata Party Members of Parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked his party MPs not to show him respect by touching his feet or greeting other senior leaders by touching their feet.
The transmogrification of Prime Minister Modi to Saint Modi began with the ground-breaking ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. By identifying himself with Lord Ram, Modi raised himself in popular imagination to a saintly person.
Here's a list of the full first-time ministers in the second term of the Narendra Modi government.
According to data culled by PRS Legislative Research, Singh has asked 13 questions in the Lok Sabha in its proceedings up to the last budget session, while the average is 69.
Modi will utilise the Presidential poll to show that he is the only leader who matters in India, argue Sunil Gatade and Venkatesh Kesari. So the question being asked in political circles is: 'Who will be the next Kovind?'
Shiv Sena activists threw ink at me and smeared my face. They abused me, Kulkarni alleged.
Failure to receive signals from the nine automatic cameras in Lok Sabha resulted in the blackout of Lok Sabha TV during the crucial proceedings for passage of the Telangana bill, a probe has found.
Former RA&W chief A S Dulat, who served as Atalji's adviser on Kashmir, gives us an insider's glimpse of a prime minister he has hailed as the 'greatest after Nehru'.
Shortly after former Defence Minister George Fernandes died at the age of 88, leaders across the political spectrum paid tribute to the veteran leader. Here is how our leaders reacted to the tragedy.
'On the Kashmir and Pakistan question, it is startling that Vajpayee and Advani did more than anybody in Indian history.'
The famous pilgrim place of Lord Shiva, the Somnath temple in Gujarat will now be off-limits for non-Hindus as authorities have decided against entry to people following other faiths without prior permission.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi, former Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and H D Devegowda, Union Ministers Smriti Irani, Najma Heptullah and Ram Vilas Paswan are among over 300 MPs who are on the utility bill defaulters list of the New Delhi Municipal Council.
'This is India, bhai. This kind of country does not exist anywhere in the world.'
'The Vajpayee personae is so mirrored in Modi's initiatives that one wonders if the similarities are merely a coincidence or a divine design,' says RSS ideologue Tarun Vijay.
The National Security Guards, which protects the most ulnerable' VVIPs of the country, has decided to stop taking any more protectees under its elite 'black cat' commando security cover.
In the Modi government, he was the mentor -- he groomed half a dozen of those who became ministers. Some remembered, others did not -- Jaitley seemed to care little. Aditi Phadnis reports.
The political resolution passed at the party's national executive claimed that the Modi government has created a new "history" in the direction of the poor's welfare with its bold initiatives.
The judge said the CBI's case became weaker or "forceless" in view of the fact that it did not probe and ruled out the Pakistan angle to the demolition to make the criminal conspiracy charge stand the judicial scrutiny.
The party, which was expecting to win at least three seats in the region this time, feels that the statements by senior leaders L K Advani and Sushma Swaraj on Thursday are counter-productive to their future plans. Vicky Nanjappa reports
It is not much of an issue just now, but it could become one if the idea of caste census captures socio-political imagination, going beyond electoral tags and identities, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Hitting out at the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party, he said, they were "shamelessly" opposing the abrogation of Article 370.
NSG commandos, who guard some of the most high-risk VVIPs in the country, are set to sharpen their skills in this domain with the elite force asking the Special Protection Group to audit its performance and share expertise in better securing its protectees.
The case pertains to the death of a man named Prabhudas Madhavji Vaishnani who died on November 11 1990, allegedly due to torture in police custody.
Facing accusations of pursuing communal agenda against the backdrop of conversion in Agra, government has asserted in Lok Sabha that it was committed to maintain communal harmony and suggested that all states as well as the Centre should have anti-conversion laws.
The fact that Home Minister Amit Shah recently met Raje was a marker that Delhi will be compelled to take her more seriously than it would care to. Like B S Yediyurappa, she's a regional chieftain who can't be discarded at will, reports Radhika Ramaseshan.
The beleaguered UPA government may provide Narendra Modi all the ammunition he wants. Still, without the politics of persuasion, the BJP's crowned prince has a daunting task before him, argues Akash Bisht.
'So complete is Modi's takeover of the foreign ministry, that Swaraj today is less important than a minister of state for secularism in Modi's government!'
By comparing I.N.D.IA. with banned terror outfits, Modi has exhibited the kind of nervousness never ever associated with him even at the height of the Gujarat riots, and certainly since his prime ministerial days, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
With just four days left before the curtains come down on the 15th Lok Sabha, sources in the government say that the Congress is left with no option but to pass the bill otherwise they would be at the losing end in both Seema-Andhra and Telangana. Renu Mittal reports.
The new party office is located at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg and will make the BJP the first major national party to shift its office outside Lutyens' Bungalow Zone.
Unabated uproar by Congress members in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday invited the wrath of Speaker Sumitra Mahajan who called their protests "murder of democracy" and "hijacking" the rights of 440 members by 40-50 others in the Opposition.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has questioned Deputy National Security Advisor and former Intelligence Bureau chief Nehchal Sandhu in connection with Sadiq Jamal encounter in 2003 by the Gujarat crime branch.
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