Former BJP president makes the claim at function to release Marathi translation of MJ Akbar's book
After two successive Lok Sabha election defeats, the Bharatiya Janata Party was in an introspective mood on Wednesday with its president Nitin Gadkari making a blunt speech attacking unnamed leaders for the party's plight, while senior leader L K Advani asked partymen to work for cohesion.
Bharatiya Janata Party chief Nitin Gadkari on Friday said his party was not against Electronic Voting Machines or the use of technology in elections, but wanted paper back-up, as it had not been proved conclusively that EVMs were tamper-proof. Gadkari insisted that reservations about EVMs were not confined to the BJP alone and many other political parties, including the Orissa unit of the Congress, were wary of its use."The system should be modernised," Gadkari said.
Sharing the dais with Ramdev, Bharatiya Janata Party President Nitin Gadkari on Monday pledged his party's "full support" to the yoga guru's agitation against black money and launched a blistering attack on the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government on issues like corruption and black money.
Once it comes to power, the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) focus areas would be infrastructure, agriculture, power and housing. Also on the cards is diversifying agriculture into energy and power sectors to help farmers generate more income, apart from reconsidering opening up the economy to multi-brand retail.
Nitin Gadkari, who is all set to take over as the new Bharatiya Janata Party president, will assume office in Delhi on Saturday afternoon.
The Bharatiya Janata Party national president Nitin Gadkari on Friday demanded a probe by a sitting or a retired judge of the Supreme Court into the huge blaze that engulfed Mantralaya, the secretariat of Maharashtra, in Mumbai on Thursday.
Congress on Wednesday attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party for giving a clean chit to its President Nitin Gadkari facing charges of owning shell companies, alleging it has shown the "bankruptcy" of the opposition party's leadership and the "mask" has now come off "exposing its real face".
Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday denied comparing Swami Vivekananda with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and expressed "sincere regret" over the hurt to public sentiment caused by his remarks.
Amid allegations of dubious funding for companies run by BJP chief Nitin Gadkari, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Friday distanced itself from the controversy saying it has nothing to do with the controversy surrounding him.
Upset over Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari ticking her off at a his press conference in New Delhi on Wednesday, a sulking Lok Sabha Opposition leader Sushma Swaraj tried to lodge her protest by skipping a meeting of the Central Election Committee held on Thursday to decide candidates for the upcoming assembly elections.
Gadkari told Business Standard on Monday, "The adverse effect of Soviet Union model accepted by India are now quite visible as poverty has risen by 12 per cent. The BJP will strive for a welfare state and 'antyodaya' to reduce poverty and increase job opportunities so that benefits of progress reach the last person. This will be possible through good governance."
President Droupadi Murmu hosted a dinner for the outgoing Union council of ministers at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Amid reports that it has reservations about fielding Nitin Gadkari at an anti-graft protest in Delhi, Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday announced the party chief will lead a march to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's residence as part of the nation-wide agitation on November 21.
Bharatiya Janata Party President Nitin Gadkari on Saturday faced a fresh attack with party national executive member Jagadish Shettigar demanding that he should step down from the top post in the wake of charges of dubious funding of his Purti Group.
Seeking to distance itself from the controversy over business dealings of Bharatiya Janata Party President Nitin Gadkari, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Friday said the law should take its own course and it does not have a soft corner for anybody.
Faced with stiff opposition on the land bill, the government on Thursday reached out to leaders of opposition parties, including Sonia Gandhi, and activist Anna Hazare inviting them to an open debate on the issue while asserting that the bill was "very much in farmers' interest".
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ram Naik on Friday came out in defence of party president Nitin Gadkari for touching the feet of yoga guru Baba Ramdev, saying it is the Indian culture to touch the feet of the elderly.
'The prime minister took a meeting recently and he asked for suggestions and ideas for a plan till 2047.'
Speak less or do not speak at all, is the mantra Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari has given to partymen in a bid to make it a party with a difference and not one of differences.
BJP president Nitin Gadkari on Friday had a word of praise for Rahul Gandhi, saying the young Congress leader is doing a good job in spending time with Dalit families.
In the first post-assembly poll shakeup, the BJP has replaced Munde with Nitin Gadkari as the state party chief.
Bhartiya Janata Party President Nitin Gadkari on Friday called upon partymen to use Uttar Pradesh as the launch pad for regaining power at the Centre.
Uttam Ghosh offers his take on BJP leader Nitin Gadkari's recent comment that 'Democracy runs on two wheels -- the ruling dispensation and the Opposition'.
Stepping up further pressure, Bharatiya Janata Party Rajya Sabha MP Ram Jethmalani on Tuesday demanded the immediate resignation of party president Nitin Gadkari and claimed three other senior leaders including Jaswant Singh and Yashwant Sinha were with him on the issue.
Against the backdrop of reports about fissures in the National Democratic Alliance over the name of the presidential candidate, Bharatiya Janata Party national president Nitin Gadkari said on Wednesday that the name would be finalised only after consulting the NDA leaders and small parties.
You increase the production, only then it is possible to reduce cost, Gadkari said.
Buoyed by the results in Delhi civic polls, Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday attributed the party's victory to good governance provided by the party, saying it has emerged as a strong alternative to the "corrupt" Congress. The BJP's victory in the Delhi civic polls is a clear indicator of the anti-Congress mood prevalent in the capital, Gadkari told reporters.
'Curiously, Pinarayi's approach, stressing the imperatives of development, is robustly backed by Nitin Gadkari.'
'I stand next only to Gadkari, one of the few outstanding ministers in the Modi government, in applauding Pinarayi's political courage and vision,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Ruling out himself as his party's prime ministerial candidate, Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari on Sunday favoured Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for the top job and promised to back his candidature as party chief.
Violence erupted in central Nagpur at around 7.30 pm om Monday with stones hurled at police amid rumours that the holy book of a community was burnt during an agitation by a right-wing outfit for the removal of Aurangzeb's tomb, leaving six persons and three policemen injured, officials said.
Ashish Shelar, the city Bharatiya Janata Party chief, rubbished the reports of a secret meeting between former party president Nitin Gadkari and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray at a five-star hotel in Mumbai on Monday.
Ram Jethmalani, who has demanded the resignation of Nitin Gadkari in the wake of allegations of dubious funding of his company, today said he may like to ask questions to the Bharatiya Janata Party president in a bid to convince himself of his innocence.
Bharatiya Janata Party President Nitin Gadkari said on Thursday night the ruckus at the meeting of the Public Accounts Committee on the 2G spectrum scam represented a "black day" for the country's democracy and alleged that whatever happened there was done at the "direction" of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.
Accusing the Congress of playing "vote bank politics", Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said his party would take steps to seal the country's international borders to prevent illegal immigration, if elected to power.
Not everyone in the BJP is happy with the tainted ex-minister entering the party. BJP MP from Gorakhpur, Yogi Adityanath, blamed the BJP leadership for bringing Kushwaha into the party. Sharat Pradhan reports.
Nitin Gadkari, had an exclusive chat with rediff.com readers on Thursday afternoon, where he discussed a score of issues with our readers, ranging from price rise, Karnataka crisis to 'Rahul charisma' and Ayodhya verdict.
Bharatiya Janata Party President Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday defended all the charges levelled against him by RTI crusader and India Against Corruption activist Arvind Kejriwal, saying there have been repeated attempts to malign his reputation
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari was on Wednesday given the additional charge of portfolios held by Gopinath Munde who died in a road accident in New Delhi.
It was widely speculated that the mantle would fall on Nitin Patel.