'The BJP has no presence where the regional parties are strong.' 'And we should think of the Congress and support the Congress in those places where it is the dominant regional party.' 'The leaders of the other parties (have to) get together on this simple principle of one candidate against the BJP candidate.'
Party sources said the course of action against Shourie could be decided against the backdrop of the swift action taken against Jaswant Singh who was expelled last week. "The party has taken note of the utterances of Mr Shourie. It shall be responded to appropriately after discussions," BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said in New Delhi.
Former telecom minister Arun Shourie responds to the Shivraj Patil committee's findings on the 2G spectrum scam, in this interview with Karan Thapar on CNN-IBN programme 'Devil's Advocate'. Excerpts:
Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi can and will downsize the government, and the Union Cabinet could be cut by half its present size, Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Union minister Arun Shourie reveals as explains what could be the new PM's masterplan ahead of Cabinet formation in an exclusive interview to CNN IBN.
Amid a raging controversy over the 2G spectrum scam, Minister of State for Telecom Sachin Pilot said most of the allegations that are cropping up date back to the National Democratic Alliance regime.
An occasional quiz to improve Narendrabhai's grasp of Indian history...
His legacy will endure through the countless lives he touched, the legal precedents he set, and the principles he upheld.
An interim order putting on hold the contentious sedition law and the consequential registration of FIRs will continue as the Supreme Court granted additional time to the Centre on Monday to take "appropriate steps" with regard to the reviewing of the colonial-era provision.
The Centre is expected to apprise the court of the steps taken so far with regard to reviewing the contentious penal provision.
Mr Modi can create a small temporary team in the PMO whose only job would be to listen to businessmen's mann ki baat referring to global best practices.
Human memory about policy issues is short. That alone can explain why many are deliriously happy with his latest slogans and ignore seven years of poor 'doing business' climate, taxtortion, extortionate oil prices, and high dependence on babus and the big State that has kept the enterprise system stifled, observes Debashis Basu.
Even Subramanian Swamy, who says he is an ardent supporter of the prime minister, has been taking proxy pot shots at him.' 'At the ground level too, there is resentment from workers and local leaders who have perhaps not got whatever they may have wanted,' notes T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan.
That such a deal can be greeted with celebration in the camps of both buyer and seller speaks volumes about the airline and its recent history, explains T N Ninan.
'In today's situation, it is not going to help anyone's case if they try to politically contest with the BJP on ideological issues.' 'Instead, it is best is to swim along the tide, present the more acceptable face of the cultural Hindu, but not be a political Hindu as the BJP or Mr Modi is.'
'If Khan Market today -- a neon-drenched spectacle of blingy shops and pricey eateries -- is what it is, it's not due to the dramatic shift in political dispensations, but because free-market India is another country,' notes Sunil Sethi.
There are justifiable concerns that, if all financial allocation powers are now shifted to the finance ministry, then the end of the Commission might be counter-productive -- states' needs could, in fact, be addressed less.
Even today when news organisations and their owners have stooped before the powers that be when they were only asked to bend, Prannoy is still standing tall, asserts Sanjay Ahirwal, , former managing editor, NDTV Worldwide.
Nobody is clear what 'minimum government maximum governance' means.
The Supreme Court on Thursday expressed concern over the misuse of "colonial era" penal law on sedition and sought response of the Centre on pleas including the one filed by the Editors Guild of India challenging the validity of the provision.
'The Modi Model we see now is still the old Gujarat Model.' 'But with an acknowledgement that governing India is more challenging than governing Gujarat,' notes Shekhar Gupta.
'He is 47 years old and not married. Since his son or daughter can contest for Parliament only 25 years after being born, the earliest, if he marries in December, would be 2043.' 'So this, pretty much, is the end of the road for dynastic rule in the party,' says T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan.
'This coming general election is not going to be about manifestoes.'
The jobless armies of youthful India are getting angrier and desperate, warns Shekhar Gupta.
Shekhar Gupta's anthology is a valuable addition to our understanding of the seeming muddle that is India... The experience of reading his columns is more like a chat with a friend in the afterglow of an enjoyable drink, but never frivolous, says Shreekant Sambrani.
he has to demonstrate the ability of his government to take a quantum leap, almost tantamount to setting the Ganga on fire, in the next six months, if not in 100 days, if the people were to take seriously the cascade of commitments spewing out of the President's address to both Houses of Parliament on June 9, says B S Raghavan. B S Raghavan suggests five practical propositions through which the Modi government can bring in paradigm changes.
'People want to see Mr Sinha win again because he has always been there for Patna whether he has been a leader or not.' 'Even when he was an actor, he was a proud Bihari.' 'He is not doing it because he only wants to win an election, he wants to do it because he really loves Bihar.'
'I was at a very senior position in the CBI and what happens is, hints are dropped for you to act upon. But then it depends upon your conscience, to do it or otherwise.' 'I know the rank and file of the CBI, they will bounce back; it is the leadership which has failed.'
Darryl D'Monte mentored more journalists than any other editor of his generation. Some of the biggest bylines owe their beginnings in our glorious profession to this wonderful human being.
'By holding forth on Swadeshi economics, Bhagwat is showing his intent to fight back,' says Shekhar Gupta.
A government that confuses PowerPoints for policy is delaying structural change too much.
He has been removed from the high-profile post on the charges of corruption and dereliction of duty making him the first chief in the history of the agency to face such action.
The success of the government will depend substantially on the quality of its team of key ministers, officials and advisors
It is too late in the government's term for it to pull its usual trick of blaming the last guys.
While the judiciary remains our most trusted institution, it should debate its internal health, argues Shekhar Gupta.
The attorney general admitted that there is no sovereign guarantee, but asserted that there is a letter of comfort by France which would be as good as a governmental guarantee.
'The IAS officers are after the rich people, the IRS officers are after the middle class and the IPS officers are after the poor. This is the new varnashrama created by the bureaucracy.'
'Minorities should not fear a Modi sarkar... Who has given the right to kill in the name of religion? No one! You are not James Bond 007, that you will just take a shotgun and kill anybody at your whims and fancies. We are not living in a banana republic...' The inimitable Shatrughan Sinha on Narendra Modi as a dabbang action hero, what a Modi Sarkar would be like.
'What if Modi becomes the fascist the leftists paints him as? What if he does suspend the Constitution and declares himself the ruler, with support from the army? What exactly will you do, Mr Leftie?' asks Rajeev Srinivasan.