In yet another round of sops, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh on Wednesday said the exemption on dividend distribution tax to open-ended equity-oriented scheme of mutual funds should continue for full year beyond March 2004.
These six were placed under suspension along with a superintendent of police rank officer, who was reported suspended earlier.
Police on Thursday registered a case against senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jaswant Singh and nine other party leaders including some Rajasthan ministers for allegedly using opium in a social function recently.
Jaswant Singh, who was unceremoniously ousted from the Bharatiya Janata Party for 'attacking' the party's 'core ideology,' had described the saffron organisation as 'an open field where one gets to kick an ideological football everyday.'
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday sacked expelled party leader Jaswant Singh's son Manvendra Singh from its National Executive in the wake of reports that he was campaigning against the party's candidate Sonaram Chaoudhary in Barmer.
With the Bharatiya Janata Party taking Jaswant Singh back into its fold, the Congress on Thursday said the opposition party should explain to the country whether it endorses his views on Pakistan founder M A Jinnah. "The BJP has become like a revolving door of a hotel. It throws out people outside at one time and brings them inside the next time," said party spokesman Manish Tewari. Tewari added that the BJP should give an explanation to the country on the issue.
Admitting that fiscal deficit was a "major source of worry", Finance Minister Jaswant Singh on Thursday said pegging it at 5.6 per cent of GDP for the coming year was not "unsatisfactory" given the adverse circumstances.
In summary the BJP cannot be faulted for acting in its own interest. Jaswant Singh's expulsion was an act, Machiavellian in its concept that combined political expediency with shrewd political insight; a move designed to shore up the sagging image and morale of a fractured entity that had lost its verve and was drifting aimlessly.
President A P J Abdul Kalam presented the awards in Central Hall of Parliament.
Apparently reflecting their discomfort, no BJP leader today showed up at a function in which Jaswant Singh's book on Jinnah was released and where his view that Nehru was responsible for the Partition was contested.
Facing protests from a section of the Rajput community over Union Minister Parshottam Rupala's remarks, the Bharatiya Janata Party in Rajasthan's Chittorgarh -- a Rajput-dominated seat -- is hoping that the 'Modi factor' and the development work undertaken by his government will help it retain the Lok Sabha constituency.
"I have worked with him for sometime and it would be in the fitness of things if he were to resign. Some of our MP's did not attend the meeting called by him. I request him publicly to quit otherwise we would have to talk to the Speaker," Swaraj said.
Jaswant refuses to step down as PAC chairman
Expelled Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jaswant Singh on Tuesday rejected the party's demand to step down as chairman of the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee, saying a decision on this could be taken only by the Lok Sabha speaker and not by the party.
After expelling party stalwart Jaswant Singh, now it seems that the Bharatiya Janata Party is all set to take action against the veteran leader's son and legislator Manvendra Singh for allegedly campaigning for his father.
The 11 convicts in the case of gang-rape of Bilkis Bano and murder of seven of her family members during the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat can approach the Maharashtra government with request for remission of their sentences.
The Bharatiya Janata party's defeat in the Karnataka assembly polls turned Finance Minister P Chidambaram into a 'TV reporter' on Wednesday.
The Janata Dal - United, which had backed United Progressive Alliance's Presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee, on Monday supported the Bharatiya Janata Party's candidate Jaswant Singh for the vice presidential election.
The Gujarat government on Wednesday banned expelled BJP leader Jaswant Singh's controversial book on Pakistan founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah which allegedly defamed the image of Vallabbbhai Patel, officials in the Chief Minister's Office said.
Former external affairs minister Jaswant Singh on Saturday defended the National Democratic Alliance government's decision to free three dreaded terrorists to save the lives of 166 hijacked passengers on board an Indian Airlines flight and said governments should always opt for such a decision.
Former Union minister Jaswant Singh on Thursday formally returned to the Bharatiya Janata Party, ten months after he was summarily expelled for praising Pakistan founder M A Jinnah in his book.Singh was welcomed back to the BJP by senior leader L K Advani and party president Nitin Gadkari. Gadkari had met Jaswant in New Delhi last week before leaving for the party national executive in Patna to discuss his entry into the party.
The numbers are loaded against him but the BJP's vice presidential candidate Jaswant Singh has his eyes set on battles beyond. Neerja Chowdhury provides an insight
The Prime Minister's Office has denied that Jaswant Singh had named the 'mole' in his letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Former Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jaswant Singh, who was last year expelled from his party for praising Mohammad Ali Jinnah in his book, said it was wrong to demonise Pakistan's founder.
Pakistan Muslim League-Q party, has invited former external affairs minister Jaswant Singh to Pakistan to launch his controversial new book on the country's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah, saying it would be a step towards promoting intellectual and people-to-people understanding.
In a sudden development, senior Parliamentarian Jaswant Singh has resigned as chairman of the prestigious Public Accounts Committee, which he had refused to quit when he had a bitter parting of ways with the Bharatiya Janata Party four months ago. His resignation raised questions on whether there was any possibility of a rapprochement with the BJP, but the 71-year-old leader ruled that out, saying he did not take the action under 'any pressure' or with 'some calculation'.
The Gujarat government, which banned Jaswant Singh's controversial book on Jinnah alleging it was an attempt to tarnish the image of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, has in its notification described it as "highly objectionable and against national interest".
Seventy-six is not an age to be plowing a lonely furrow in the heartless electoral fields of India, especially in Rajasthan, given the heat in summer, but Jaswant Singh, the expelled Bharatiya Janata Party veteran, is not exactly alone, says Rediff.com's Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
The VP is supposed to be the President's 'voice'. But so far, he has been relegated to be the chairman of the Rajya Sabha, says BJP's vice presidential nominee Jaswant Singh
A famous book store in Lahore sold 100 copies of the book in a single day (last Wednesday) which indicates how eager the Pakistanis are to know the reason what prompted the BJP to expel the former foreign minister and end his 30 year long association with the party.
Accusing the Left Front government in West Bengal of ignoring Darjeeling Hills, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jaswant Singh on Friday demanded the creation of a separate Gorkhaland. Singh also demanded more funds under the Cyclone Aila package. Initiating a debate on the Finance Bill in the Lok Sabha, the Darjeeling Member of Parliament wondered, "What wrong have the Gorkhas done not to deserve a separate state."
Setting the economic agenda for the new year, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh Friday favoured speedy disinvestment, strengthening regulation, linking fiscal and monetary incentives to shore up productivity and growth.
"Views expressed by Jaswant Singh in his book Jinnah -- India, Partition, Independence does not represent views of the party. In fact, the party completely dissociates itself from the contents of the book," party chief Rajnath Singh told media persons in New Delhi.
Expelled Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jaswant Singh on Tuesday put to rest speculations that he might rejoin the party saying "the roads are closed".
In a frontal attack on the Common Minimum Programme of the new Congress-led coalition government, the National Democratic Alliance
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