The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday formally declared Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the party's prime ministerial candidate after hectic parleys by senior leaders to convince L K Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Murli Manohar Joshi to give up their opposition to him.
His margin was just a shade lower than the 6.96 lakh record set by Pritam Munde in October 2014 when she won the by-election to Beed seat in Maharashtra after the untimely death of her father and former Union minister Gopinath Munde.
As the nation marks the 14th anniversary of the 2001 Indian Parliament attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other prominent leaders paid their tribute to the martyrs.
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Saturday said her party would contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections on its own.
Bharatiya Janata Party veteran Lal Krishna Advani on Friday said the only way to end the present situation of uncertainty in the country and tackle the economic crisis effectively is to hold Lok Sabha elections in 2013.
Ajit Pawar asked in his speech at his faction's meeting when would Sharad Pawar, who is 82 years old, "going to stop".
Acting on Speaker Manohar Joshi's directive, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said she had spoken to Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani and he had sought a day's time to collect relevant information from the state government.
Stepping up her campaign for former Lok Sabha speaker P A Sangma's candidature for Presidency, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam supremo Jayalalithaa on Sunday contacted top leaders of several non-Congress parties including Bharatiya Janata Party veteran L K Advani, seeking their support to the tribal leader.
Janata Dal-United on Monday gave first indications of parting ways with the National Democratic Alliance, saying it is "difficult" to remain in the alliance which is on "ventilator support" in the wake of resignation of L K Advani from top BJP posts and anointment of Narendra Modi as party's campaign committee chief for next Lok Sabha polls.
Modi was severe in his criticism of the opposition amid the continuing logjam in Parliament and also sounded confident of the ruling dispensation retaining power at the Centre for a third term after the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The prime minister maintained that the commitment that the government had made to the people has been fulfilled.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sought to send out the message that the ruling BJP, unlike its predecessors at the helm, is not guided by parochial politics in recognising contributions in the public life, as the party looks to break new ground during the polls.
74-year-old Singh, whose candidature was declared by NDA on July 16, filed his papers before Returning Officer T K Viswanathan, who is the Lok Sabha Secretary General.
The two main factions in Karnataka's Congress party -- one led by Siddaramaiah and the other by D K Shivakumar -- are both contenders for the chief ministership. Both groups have fought hard to get their choice of MLAs the party ticket, notes Aditi Phadnis.
With Rahul showing a significant lead over Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi in opinion polls across southern India but lagging in the north, the Congress believes his contesting from the south will help galvanise cadres.
Bharatiya Janata Party was in a dilemma on Saturday over anointing Narendra Modi as campaign committee chief for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections in the absence of patriarch L K Advani and other senior leaders, who have not turned up for the ongoing national executive meeting in Goa as they are said to be opposed to such a move.
Modi's decision to bring Shah in his cabinet signals that he will now play a crucial role in the government.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders -- LK Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Nitin Gadkari -- spent the night at Delhi's Rajghat in protest against the government's controversial handling of Baba Ramdev and his fast against corruption.
It is a measure of the overwhelming presence of the leadership of the original duo, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani, in the rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party that the party has had some difficulty in making the transition from the Vajpayee-Advani era. But in choosing Sushma Swaraj for the post of the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Arun Jaitley in the Rajya Sabha, the BJP has put its best foot forward.
The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance on Thursday formed a human chain in Parliament complex to protest price rise while its leader L K Advani asked the government to quit and go for elections if it was unable to control inflation. Alleging that the government had 'failed' on the issue, Advani joined NDA members, including leaders like Rajnath Singh, George Fernandes and Manohar Joshi, in forming the chain.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday took its grievances against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress-led United Progressive Alliance to President Pranab Mukherjee, demanding his intervention on the coal allocation issue and attacks on a constitutional institution like the Comptroller and Auditor General.
With two weeks of the monsoon session having passed without much significant business, Leader of the House in Lok Sabha Pranab Mukherjee and the Parliamentary Affairs Minister P K Bansal on Friday reached out to the Bharatiya Janata Party top brass, including L K Advani, to discuss smooth passage of pending bills in the House.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's dinner on Thursday for the Bharatiya Janata Party top brass failed to break the impasse over the Foreign Direct Investment in retail issue with the opposition party insisting on a discussion in Parliament on it under provisions which entail voting.
Sharad Pawar reckons that the NCP has value as a united, going concern, not as a gaggle of leaders in search of followers, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
'Our courts may fail, there may be lot of corruption in the working of our criminal justice system, but ultimately the justice of God will prevail,' says Sudheendra Kulkarni, recently released from bail in the cash-for-votes case.
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.
P A Sangma, the Opposition candidate for the Presidential poll, on Thursday filed his nomination papers in the presence of leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party, some National Democratic Alliance allies, Biju Janata Dal, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, northeast states and tribal legislators in New Delhi.
If Advani's ideological leadership galvanised the party's cadres and core support, Vajpayee soaring oratory, common touch and easy charm won over the masses.
After his revolt against elevation of Narendra Modi last month, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Thursday attended the first Parliamentary Board meeting along with the Gujarat chief minister to discuss the strategy for the next polls.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh top brass on Tuesday held a meeting, lasting over five hours, to discuss issues of mutual concern but the prime ministerial candidate and the Ram temple at Ayodhya issues did not come up during the parleys.
'My heart weeps for Vajpayee, the prince among poets, the king among politicians and the emperor among statesmen,' says Sudhir Bisht.
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.
Going the Obama way to reach out to millions of people, Bharatiya Janata Party is launching 'Advani TV' via IPTV technique to build the popularity of L K Advani, the party's prime ministerial candidate, in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls.
Former Union minister and Telugu Desam Party founder N T Rama Rao's daughter D Purandeswari on Friday joined BJP after quitting the Congress over the Telangana issue.
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.
The 70-year-old leader attended a meeting of the floor leaders of NDA allies in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha in the Parliament chamber of Opposition leader Lal Krishna Advani on Thursday.
The five-state assembly elections are seen as a now-or-never, no-holds battle for the Congress, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
She had many firsts to her credit such as being the youngest cabinet minister in the Haryana government, first woman chief minister of Delhi and the first woman spokesperson for a national political party in the country.
If the Opposition is bent upon shouting its own agenda on a deaf ruling dispensation, then it becomes binding upon the chair to ensure that the parliamentary affairs aren't reduced to a farce.
'Modi gave the slogan of 'Jai Shri Ram' just four days ahead of polling for the Delhi Assembly. Will be happy if (the number) goes up by two-four seats with the help of Shri Ram,' the Shiv Sena said.
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