With the Lok Sabha elections round the corner, Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate L K Advani on Friday kickstarted the poll campaign from his Gandhinagar constituency, from where he has won for four times.
In twists and turns marking the top-level rumblings in the Bharatiya Janata Party, L K Advani on Thursday decided to contest from Gandhinagar in Gujarat after the party gave in to his pressure and allowed him the choice of the constituency in the Lok Sabha elections.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee met Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha L K Advani on Wednesday amidst speculations that the present monsoon session may be curtailed.
Despite Gandhinagar being his pocketborough, senior BJP leader L K Advani is leaving nothing to chance for the forthcoming parliamentary elections. The BJP's prime ministerial candidate is launching the election campaign in his constituency in Gujarat on Sunday though there has been no announcement about the Lok Sabha elections which are likely to be held early next year.
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.
Hitting out at the Bharatiya Janata Party over the L K Advani ticket issue, Shiv Sena on Saturday questioned why the party took so long to decide on his Lok Sabha seat and said while Narendra Modi's era has begun, it does not mean that it is the end of Advani's era.
Sudheendra Kulkarni, a former aide of Leader of Opposition L K Advani, on Saturday defended the former on the issue of the cash-for-vote scam that rocked the proceedings in Parliament in July 2008.Kulkarni's defence of Advani came a day after expelled BJP leader Jaswant Singh fired a fresh salvo at octogenarian leader, accusing him of being at the centre of the cash-for-votes scam drama enacted in the Lok Sabha last year.
Bansuri Swaraj is banking on Narendra Modi's popularity, and the fact that the New Delhi electorate is known to vote on national rather than local issues for the Lok Sabha polls.
Shah's meeting with the two leaders came days after they were not given poll tickets.
Before being served the food, Members of Parliament belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies from the National Democratic Alliance would be treated to a staged play of actor Anupam Kher at the dinner hosted on July 30 by L K Advani, leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
Senior BJP leader L K Advani today met RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and discussed in detail the reasons behind the party's defeat in Lok Sabha elections and strategies for its revival.
BJP leader L K Advani has said that the UPA government could hold Lok Sabha elections in January or February 2008, soon after assembly elections in BJP-governed Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. He also, however, said that Congress and Left parties feel they could face losses if they go for early Lok Sabha elections.
"Over ambition' of some Bharatiya Janata Party leaders has resulted in the resignation of party patriarch L K Advani and it would be difficult for many of them to work with the same ambition without its 'architect', actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha on Monday said in Patna.
Ahead of the party's brainstorming session next week, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani has met Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat amidst clear indications that the Shimla meet may skip the issue of who and what exactly were the reasons behind the party's defeat in the Lok Sabha elections.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani has strongly pitched for holding simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and state assemblies which should have a "fixed tenure" and sought the President's initiative in this regard, saying frequent polls affect decision-making process
In a show of unity, Narendra Modi on Saturday asked party workers to ensure victory of Bharatiya Janata Party patriarch L K Advani by a "huge margin" from the constituency and recalled the "illustrious" political career of the party veteran.
Profit motives shouldn't override national interests, said BJP leader at the Business Standard annual awards function. Though he did not name Ranbaxy, the signal from the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate was clear.
Bharatiya Janata Party senior leader L K Advani has told party leaders that he does not want to continue as the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha for the next five years, senior leader M Venkaiah Naidu said on Friday."He told us that he does not want to continue till the tenure of the 15th Lok Sabha and would like to hand over the responsibility to some other colleague," Naidu said.He said Advani was elected leader of the party for the 15th Lok Sabha.
A day after locking horns with Manmohan Singh during the Presidential Address debate, senior BJP leader L K Advani on Thursday said the prime minister had breached Parliamentary propriety by making "false" claims that enhanced pension announced for army personnel had been met.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday said the question of L K Advani's resignation does not arise once it has been rejected by the party's highest decision-making body. "The question of resignation does not arise once we have rejected it," Swaraj, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha told reporters.
In what could stoke fresh controversy in the Bharatiya Janata Party after the row over L K Advani's ticket, the party today replaced his loyalist and sitting MP Harin Pathak with actor Paresh Rawal from Ahmedabad East Lok Sabha seat.
Amid allegations and counter-allegations at the Bharatiya Janata Party meet to discuss the poll defeat, the party's top leader L K Advani said internal bickering had demoralised the grassroot workers of the party. The top eader also emphasized on Hindutva and advocated strong relations with RSS during his speech at the BJP National Executive meeting in New Delhi.
Against the backdrop of Bharatiya Janata Party veteran L K Advani indicating that he would not be the prime ministerial candidate in 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Wednesday said it does not issue any "diktat" to the party leaders on such issues and it was up to the party to take a call.
External Affairs Minister and leader of House in Lok Sabha Pranab Mukherjee called up Leader of the Opposition L K Advani expressing willingness to re-schedule the session as suggested by the latter at an all-party meeting on Friday on account of festivals, including Diwali, and the assembly elections.
Nitin Nabin, a five-time Bihar MLA, has been elected unopposed as the BJP national president, becoming the youngest person to hold the position. His appointment signals a generational shift in the party's leadership as it prepares for key state elections.
With only around 100 days away from the Lok Sabha polls, senior BJP leader L K Advani has used his Urdu website to reach out to Muslims to say he is in no way related to the Babri Masjid demolition.
Telangana Rashtra Samiti Member of Parliament and Telugu actress Vijayashanthi on Wednesday met veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani in Pragnapur, in her Lok Sabha constituency of Medak, amidst media reports that she might join the saffron party soon. Vijayshanthi, who was in BJP earlier, stood beside Advani, who is on his countrywide yatra, as he spoke from atop his rath. After concluding his speech, Advani said he welcomed her.
A number of senior BJP leaders including Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and party Vice President S S Ahluwalia rushed to L K Advani's residence in New Delhi after the announcement of his resignation on Monday from key party fora.
Amid growing clamour in the Bharatiya Janata Party to name Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate for 2014 Lok Sabha elections, veteran BJP leader L K Advani said on Saturday there was no competition in the party for the top post.
The issue of black money dominated in Lok Sabha on Wednesday with the Opposition asking the government to bring back an estimated Rs 25 lakh crore stashed away illegally in foreign banks and reveal the identity of depositors.
The Congress and other parties on Sunday took a dig at Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani saying he has conceded defeat even before the race has begun for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections while some BJP leaders differed with him.
The Lok Sabha witnessed a rare show of camaraderie between leader of Opposition L K Advani and leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday when the former lauded the latter for his role as the principal trouble-shooter of the government. Mukherjee blushed, smiled and welcomed the statement with folded hands as the House applauded with thumping of desks.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Tuesday said he suffered from an inferiority complex due to the oratorical skills of his party colleague Atal Bihari Vajpayee and now has the same problem when he hears Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj.
'The move to appoint a person with a profile, markedly lower than the leader Nitin Nabin will replace, has the potential to put the brakes on the careers of several others in the party and government in the positions they currently hold,' points out Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani is understood to have indicated that he will not complete his five-year term as the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and make way for his deputy Sushma Swaraj. Highly placed party sources said Advani also conveyed to Arun Jaitley that the latter would continue to be the leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha. Though Advani did not specify when he would hang up his boots, he is unlikely to continue for long.
What might force the BJP to sit up and take notice is his letter to Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot requesting him to probe the Rs 22,000 crore worth corruption charge against his predecessor Vasundhararaje Scindia which was incidentally levelled by the Congress party
Unhappy over the imposition of Central rule in Meghalaya, senior Nationalist Congress Party leader P A Sangma on Friday held discussions on the issue with opposition leader in the Lok Sabha L K Advani and Communist Party of India-Marxist General Secretary Prakash Karat in New Delhi.
'Shekhar Suman joining the BJP when the nation is going to the polls is like gatecrashing into a wedding just when the guests are being served their meal.'
Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari and senior party leader L K Advani would address NDA's public rally in Hyderabad on Thursday against the Central government, highlighting the issue of corruption.
Leader of Opposition L K Advani has contended that he had no desire to become BJP president again after the 2004 shock defeat which had depleted the NDA's strength in the Lok Sabha from 304 to 186. The responsibility for the defeat was collective and there was no question of pinning the blame on any individual, Advani wrote in his book My Country My Life.
