Advani's interview backing ties with the US highlights the rift withing the BJP on the issue.
President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday conferred Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian honour, on former prime ministers P V Narasimha Rao and Chaudhary Charan Singh, agriculture scientist M S Swaminathan and two-time former Bihar chief minister Karpoori Thakur, posthumously at a ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
The Lok Sabha witnessed a rare show of camaraderie between Leader of Opposition and Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate L K Advani and Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday when the former lauded the union minister for his role as the principal trouble-shooter of the government.Mukherjee blushingly smiled and welcomed the statement with folded hands even as the House applauded with thumping of desks.
By resigning from all posts of the Bharatiya Janata Party, and finally being persuaded to withdraw the resignation, veteran leader L K Advani, there is a realisation in the party it could not overlook or ignore the senior leader's tantrums as it would show up the party as a divided house, says Anita Katyal
The Congress resisted all temptation to comment on senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani's decision to step down from key party posts on Monday, but there was a palpable sense of relief that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's elevation had not been a smooth affair and had, in fact, triggered a major storm in the opposition camp, feels Anita Katyal.
Advani has said that the BJP's response led to Sonia's resignation.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani said on Thursday that he will launch a "crusade" to mobilise public opinion against corruption on behalf of the National Democratic Alliance. He urged all other political parties, which are united in their demand for the joint parliamentary committee probe in the 2G Spectrum scam, to join hands with him.
The former deputy PM has requested that a Governor's report be asked for.
Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje finally resigned as the leader of the Opposition in the state assembly on Friday.Raje, who initially refused to resign, has been dodging the Bharatiya Janata Party leadership for over two months on the issue.However, she did not hand over her resignation letter to party president Rajnath Singh. Raje met Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha L K Advani in Delhi on Friday and handed over her resignation letter.
"The Parliament session has a very heavy legislative agenda. We are reaching out to the various political parties to carry through these agenda in the four weeks that we have for the session," Finance Minister P Chidambaram said today at a press conference in New Delhi.
Senior BJP leader L K Advani hoped that the strike called against price rise would put an end to criticism that the opposition was not doing enough on the issue. "Through you (the media) I would like to thank the people of the country for making Bharat Bandh an unprecedented success. I would also like to thank the people of Delhi and our supporters here for this success," he said.
Senior BJP leader L K Advani and Narendra Modi on Wednesday shared a public platform for the first time after the declaration of the party's prime ministerial candidate but a feeling of warmth was missing as they exchanged greetings.
Leader of the Opposition L K Advani today demanded that the Constitution be amended to make it mandatory for the Prime Minister to be a member of the Lok Sabha.
The Congress on Friday criticised L K Advani for describing Manmohan Singh as the "weakest" prime minister and said the Bharatiya Janata Party leader's Jan Chetna Yatra was "a ploy" to keep himself in "national politics and power".
Buoyed by the high turnout in the Punjab Assembly elections, Advani asked for a similar phenomenon in Congress-ruled Uttarakhand where elections are scheduled for February 21.
Dr Singh and Gandhi, along with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, had the discussion with Advani on the issue during the State dinner hosted for visiting Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai in New Delhi on Monday.
According to a source in the commission who has been privy to hundreds of hearings there were no direct evidence produced against Advani during the entire 17 years of tenure of the commission.
President A P J Abdul Kalam presented the awards in Central Hall of Parliament.
As the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh mounted pressure on Bharatiya Janata Party president Lal Kishenchand Advani to resign, former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Sunday came out in support of Advani, saying he could continue in both posts.
In a surprise development, former Madhya Pradesh chief minister and sitting Lok Sabha member of Parliament from Bhopal, Kailash Joshi said on Wednesday that he has asked veteran BJP leader L K Advani to contest Lok Sabha polls from Bhopal.
The Outstanding Parliamentary Awards for the years 2000, 2001 and 2002 have been given Arjun Singh Jaswant Singh and Manmohan Singh respectively.
Rashriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat had the final word on the crisis that gripped the Bharatiya Janata Party since Lok Sabha polls, declaring not to allow any Delhi-based leader become the party president and asserting that Lal Krishna Advani would quit as Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha 'according to the schedule agreed by him.'
The court also observed that late Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Ashok Singhal wanted to save the structure because Ram idols were inside.
On the first day of winter session, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached out to the Opposition.
The appointment of a new chief information commissioner has been deferred as the scheduled meeting of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with Leader of Opposition L K Advani has been postponed. Official sources said the meeting of the three-member committee comprising the Prime Minister, Advani and Law Minister Veerappa Moily has been postponed without citing any reasons and no new date has been given.
Accusing the government of trying to disturb the social harmony by providing reservation to converted Muslims and Christians, leader of opposition Lal Kishenchand Advani on Monday said economic status should be the only criteria for grant of quota.
For the BJP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's big move to push through his 'one-nation-one-election' concept promises to be the big ticket idea which can disrupt conventional calculations and allow it to frame the upcoming Lok Sabha polls along helpful lines as the party believes the issue has the potential to catch popular imagination.
Thakur's tenure as chief minister is best remembered for implementation of the recommendations of the Mungeri Lal Commission, whereby quotas for backward classes were introduced in the state in 1978. This panel was the forerunner of the Mandal Commission. Both Mungeri Lal and B P Mandal were from Bihar, which has a long history of socialist struggles.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Monday referred to another book to support his claim that there were differences between Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel over sending the Indian army to Hyderabad when the Nizam was trying to join Pakistan at the time of partition.
Advani and Rajnath Singh will simultaneously conduct the yatra.
Opposed to Narendra Modi's elevation in the party, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Saturday stayed away from the national executive which looks set to make the Gujarat chief minister the chief of campaign committee.
"NDA is a beautiful rainbow of regional aspirations... So nation's development through the development of states... At a time when we are working for a developed India, NDA is taking the lead in showing the spirit of sabka prayas," he said.
L K Advani, who turns 82 on Sunday, may quit as leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha early next year after a new president takes over the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Neerja Chowdhury on Advani's latest book My Country My Life.
Unhappy over the treatment meted out to party colleagues Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley at Jammu airport, senior Bharatiya Janata Partty leader L K Advani on Monday talked to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to lodge a protest over the developments which had "never happened" earlier.
Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari, parliamentary party chief L K Advani and Leader of Opposition of both Houses of Parliament will finalise the strategy for Presidential and Vice Presidential elections and discuss the issue with the National Democratic Alliance partners.
National Security Advisor M K Narayanan will meet Leader of the Opposition L K Advani on Friday to apprise him about the Malegaon probe. Intelligence Bureau Chief P C Haldar will also be present at the meeting, the sources said.