The Bihar unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party removed its spokesperson Ram Kishore Singh from his post on Tuesday, a day after he questioned Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's popularity and his development model.
With senior party leader L K Advani asking the party to become the clear winner in the next Lok Sabha polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party has kickstarted the process of selection of candidates, in a bid to gain a headstart in campaigning.The party's two-day National Executive discussed in detail the nitty-gritty of the exercise and directed all state units to send the list of probable candidates to the Central Election Management Committee by this month end.
'We could have instead chosen 'India Rising' to project the reality'.
After having gone out on a limb over the creation of Telangana, the UPA government is expected to go for the kill and do whatever it takes to pass the bill in Lok Sabha. But the question remains whether the Congress would really be able to push the bill in the noise and confusion. Renu Mittal reports.
The Lok Sabha speaker will meet the Leader of Opposition over breakfast on Tuesday to discuss ways to break the deadlock over the opposition boycott of parliamentary committees.
To bring Muslims into its fold ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, a brainstorming session of senior saffron party leaders will be held at Hyderabad next month to chalk out a comprehensive strategy. "The BJP is no longer untouchable for Muslims and they will have no problems under the leadership of L K Advani," senior BJP leader and party's national president of the minority cell Shahnawaz Hussain said.
Akali Dal member of Parliament and former speaker of the Punjab assembly, Charanjit Singh Atwal, was today unanimously elected Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha
Sources said Rahul's meeting with Pranab follows the former's participation in the Congress Core Group meeting for the first time on July 12.
The decision to table the motion, which entails voting, was taken at a meeting of senior NDA leaders, chaired by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Islamic spiritual leader Aga Khan, who runs a large number of philanthropic institutions in India, on Wednesday met President A P J Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and discussed developmental issues.
Aam Aadmi Party termed BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi as "an autocrat and dictator in his party" and claimed that even senior BJP leaders L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi have "no say" before him.
In a setback to the Bharatiya Janata Party days ahead of the April 10 elections in Gautam Budh Nagar, former Union minister and senior leader Ashok Pradhan on Tuesday joined the Samajwadi Party, claiming that there was "trade" of Lok Sabha tickets in the saffron party.
Advani said the decision 'would only spur people of the country to unite to oppose the tendency of America'.
There were some tense moments since the chamber is a few metres away from the prime minister's chamber.
The govt said seeking information about the legal position of any case was its 'legitimate right'.
BJP MPs refused to allow the house to function till the railway minister apprised them of the accident.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who arrived in New Delhi on Friday, on a three-day visit, cut short his trip and returned home tonight by an Indian Air Force plane because of death of his mother-in-law.
Bommarabettu Laxmijanardhana Santhosh is the only south Indian and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's representative in the BJP's senior decision-making hierarchy.
Both Houses of Parliament were adjourned today, following the Opposition's clamour over a report claiming that the Prime Minister's Office PMO had asked the Central Bureau of Investigation to explain why no action was taken against L K Advani
The entire opposition, including the BJPs ally the Bahujan Samaj Party, boycotted the function saying that they did not want to 'give credibility' to the activities and 'divisive policies' of Savarkar.
Ending suspense, the Bharatiya Janata Party has picked actor-turned-politician Smriti Irani to take on Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi in Amethi.
Initiating a discussion on the adjournment motion moved by him on the issue, Leader of the Opposition L K Advani ridiculed the ruling party's claims that the Volcker Committee report was an attempt to tarnish Congress.
He said even Vishwa Hindu Parishad had openly said if anyone was to be blamed for the BJP's defeat it was Vajpayee.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has broached the issue with senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani and National Democratic Alliance convener George Fernandes.
It is increasingly clear that for the BJP to try and establish itself as an electoral force in Tamil Nadu, the party has to come out of the old Brahminical mould, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi claimed that "20-25 per cent" voters from the minority community had voted for him in the assembly polls and asked the party cadre to reach out to all sections, including Muslims, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
Seeking another term at the Centre, the party sought to woo the minorities by asking its workers to "seize the opportunity" by moving forward and bringing Muslims and Christians into the partyfold.\n\n
Singh joined the party at the BJP headquarters in the presence of general secretaries Pramod Mahajan and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and UP leaders Kalraj Mishra and Vinay Katiyar.
Reports said Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was likely to meet President A P J Abdul Kalam and recommend that the LS be dissolved a day after a short session of the lower House of Parliament end on Feb 5.
The Shiv Sena chief's comments come in the background of reports that the BJP is keen to allow the NCP to enter the NDA.
'The BJP is the most progressive force within Hinduism today.'
Gearing up for the crucial Bihar assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday revamped the state unit of the party by putting senior leader Sushil Kumar Modi at the helm of affairs.
Last week, the RSS informed the party president Rajnath Singh and other leaders that all leaders above 75 should not be given any "pad" (position), meaning just not Cabinet position but even as chairman of the National Democratic Alliance or as Lok Sabha Speaker. That put to rest claims by old and veteran leaders like L K Advani, M M Joshi, Shanta Kumar and Karia Munda, reports Sheela Bhatt.
BJP will not contest Tosham and Hissar seats in Haryana.
Stepping up his attack on Narendra Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party rebel Jaswant Singh on Tuesday said "personality cult" was not good in a democracy and it would harm the party.
"On the sensitive issue of the huge price rise demanded by natural gas exploring companies in the Krishna-Godavari basin, Modi tried to be evasive but indicated that if required the price may have to be increased," says the interviewer, Dilip Gohil.
RJD members in the Lok Sabha, led by Ramkripal Yadav, waving a newspaper clipping and a compact disc, shouted slogans against Fernandes for his remarks against Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
Arun Saharya, former chief justice of Punjab and Haryana high court, would head the committee.
