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.
About 45 per cent of the voters on Wednesday exercised their franchise in the first six hours of polling in seven states and two union territories during the seventh phase of Lok Sabha elections that will decide the fate of political heavyweights like Narendra Modi, Sonia Gandhi, L K Advani, Rajnath Singh and Murli Manohar Joshi. Barring skirmishes in Punjab that left 10 persons injured, voting was by and large peaceful.
The National Democratic Alliance on Monday gave separate privilege notices in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha against Sports Minister Ajay Maken's statement on the Commonwealth Games.
The top brass of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday decided to strongly protest against Leader of the House in Lok Sabha Sushilkumar Shinde during the budget session till he tenders an apology for his remark on 'Hindu terror' against the principal opposition.
Leader of Opposition L K Advani moved the motion.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's meeting with BJP top brass L K Advani, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, her counterpart in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley on Tuesday ended on a positive note with both sides reaching a consensus on most issues in the draft bill.The Parliamentary Standing Committee finalised its report on Nuclear Liability Bill. The Compensation cap raised from Rs 500 crore to Rs 1,500 crore.
In 2014 too, the Congress had lost all the 26 seats in Gujarat.
In keeping with an announcement made by party leader L K Advani, Bharatiya Janata Party MPs from both Houses of Parliament on Friday submitted declarations to their respective presiding officers stating that they do not have any illegal money stashed in foreign bank accounts.
It also marks the end of the first half of the Budget session in the Lok Sabha.
The Congress will not fall into the BJP's trap by naming anyone as its prime ministerial candidate, reports Anita Katyal.
The BJP will contest on 73 seats out of the 80 in Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha elections as per the seat-sharing agreement reached between the saffron party and the Ajit Singh-led RLD.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's efforts to reach out to the Bharatiya Janata Party to end the parliamentary stand-off over the missing coal files issue failed on Tuesday with the BJP not giving him any assurance on the smooth running of the house on Wednesday.
The BJP's Madhya Pradesh unit prefers the CM over the PM-designate.
Members of the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha on Saturday debated and discussed the issue of the Jan Lokpal bill, for which activist Anna Hazare has been on a hunger strike since the last 12 days.
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.
In a strong show of support for Arun Jaitley, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the finance minister will come through "with flying colours" against charges of corruption levelled against him by the opposition in the same way L K Advani did in the Hawala case.
The manner, in which campaign for commutation of capital punishment to Mohd Afzal, prime accussed in Parliament attack case, was being allowed to be carried out, indicates that the Centre was going soft on terrorism, Advani alleged.
Ajit Pawar asked in his speech at his faction's meeting when would Sharad Pawar, who is 82 years old, "going to stop".
It was after a long gap that an aggressive and united Congress took the Bharatiya Janata Party head on in both the Houses of Parliament over the WikiLeaks exposure on the cash-for-vote scam as the party fielded its brightest and the best.
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.
Chairing a meeting of the BJP Parliamentary Party in the absence of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Advani said the suggestion, initially made by Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, will be discussed extensively at different levels within th
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday emerged from the throes of one of its worst crises yet when party patriarch L K Advani withdrew his resignation from key posts and agreed to "accept" the party's decision to appoint controversial Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the president of its campaign committee for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
New Delhi is likely to experience a huge traffic jam on Wednesday, as the Bharatiya Janata Party holds a rally to protest against price rise.
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.
Among other dignitaries who paid tributes toSavarkar were Sushma Swaraj, S S Ahluwalia, V K Malhotra, Shri Santosh Kumar Gangawar, Maya Singh, Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, members of Parliament and many former members of Parliament. Lok Sabha Secretary-General P D T Achary and Rajya Sabha Secretary-General V K Agnihotri, also paid floral tributes at the portrait of Savarkar.
Advani told the PM that the Speaker carried on with House business amid din and did not allow the party to raise its objections over the arrest of its chief Rajnath Singh.
'We are confident that you, with your vast experience, will conduct the proceedings in accordance with highest traditions of democracy,' Dr Manmohan Singh.
Three top leaders of the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) -- Venkaiah Naidu, Arun Jaitley and Jaswant Singh -- will contesting the coming Lok Sabha elections and manage the party's election campaign instead.
An angry Congress President Sonia Gandhi was at her combative best after senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Wednesday dubbed as 'illegitimate' the 2009 election, a remark which he later retracted.
Here are some day's snippets of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections:
62-year-old Sampath will take over as CEC after incumbent S Y Quraishi demits office on June 10.
Hours after L K Advani emphasised that the Bharatiya Janata Party would need to join hands with other political outfits to defeat the Congress, the Janata Dal - United on Saturday attempted to reach out to senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj, saying she should have been considered first for the prime minister's post as she is a lady and the leader of her party in the Lok Sabha.
The National Democratic Alliance convener and defence minister said Advani's name does not figure in the NDA agenda.
Known as an astute strategist whose non-political interests range from playing chess and watching cricket to stage performances and listening to classical music, 54-year-old Shah is often hailed as the BJP's most successful president for crafting its way to power states after states.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday said it will support the government in passing the anti-rape Bill by voting in its favour.
The Indian National Lok Dal on Sunday rejoined the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance and announced that it will contest the coming Lok Sabha elections in Haryana in alliance with the BJP.
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?'
The deputy prime minister's comments come after the prime minister's remarks that he was 'fit and ready' for elections.
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.
