Sonia Gandhi and L K Advani are faced with a lot of political headache ahead of the Lok Sabha polls with their allies trying to extract maximum seats in the seat-sharing talks. Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party have become the favourite punching bags for allies wanting to extract maximum seats from their rival groups being led by the two national parties.
It was astonishing that the statement of a 86 year old leader, virtually retired and who by his own admission is not even in the party, should create so much turbulence in the BJP. From the way the party reacted, it seemed as if he was about to snatch away the PMship from Advani, says Neerja Chowdhury
Unfazed by BJP's rebuff, former vice-president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat today said he would definitely contest the upcoming Lok Sabha election if his health permitted.
Responding to Leader of Opposition Lal Kishenchand Advani's demand for a decision before Wednesday, the anniversary of the attack, Patil said no deadline had been set in such cases earlier.
Opposition National Democratic Alliance leaders on Monday urged Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee not to allow the government conduct official business in Parliament amid din, barring compelling circumstances.
'The BJP is the most progressive force within Hinduism today.'
Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari on Friday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of double standards."When the Ahmedabad serial blasts case was allegedly cracked, the chief minister of Gujarat and leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha L K Advani did not waste a second in calling press conferences, both in Ahmedabad and Delhi, to pat themselves on the back. The BJP will have to answer as to why it is trying to suppress the investigations into the Modasa blasts? he said.
Uttrakhand Chief Minister B C Khanduri has resigned more than a month after Bharatiya Janata Party's rout in the Lok Sabha election in the state and mounting dissidence against him.
On the eve of the Trust motion, National Security Adviser M K Narayanan and Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon briefed most of the UPA speakers, including Rahul Gandhi, on the intricate details of nuclear deal to prepare them well for the debate.
"We have strong reservations about the impact of Indo-US nuclear deal on foreign policy aspects but for us the top priority is to stop the Bharatiya Janata Party and L K Advani from coming to power. That is the why the MIM has decided to support the UPA government," Asad Owaisi told a press conference in Hyderabad.
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.
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.
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.
'We could have instead chosen 'India Rising' to project the reality'.
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.
Malik believes he can solve the problems of farmers and is sending signals to the government to give him a chance.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Ending suspense, the Bharatiya Janata Party has picked actor-turned-politician Smriti Irani to take on Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi in Amethi.
The powerful orator leaves behind the legacy of an easily-accessible leader who played a key role in BJP's emergence in the late 1990s.
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.
In an election where every seat will matter, micro-strategising is going to be the order of the day. And in such a situation, party infighting - in all parties --could lead to unpredictable results.
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.
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.
The issue combined with its alliance with anti-Congress parties in 1989 won the BJP 85 seats in Lok Sabha elections against mere two in 1984.
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