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.
Opposition parties on Sunday slammed External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and demanded her resignation for "helping" scam-tainted former Indian Premier League commissioner Lalit Modi.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday sought to play down the row over inclusion of Reddy brothers in Yedduyurappa government in Karnataka and blamed the media for the controversy.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and Home Minister P Chidambaram will meet on Monday to decide who will become the next central vigilance commissioner. According to the Supreme Court's instructions, the PM, home minister and the leader of Opposition has to finalise the CVC together. On Thursday, Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan held an informal meeting with BJP leader Sushma Swaraj.
Bansuri Swaraj, the daughter of former Union minister Sushma Swaraj, will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls from the New Delhi seat and incumbent MP Manoj Tiwari from Northeast Delhi as the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday announced the names of five candidates from the national capital, dropping four MPs -- Meenakshi Lekhi, Harsh Vardhan, Parvesh Verma and Ramesh Bidhuri.
Joined by leaders from all major parties, Modi paid tributes to the Bharatiya Janata Party stalwart, who died last week, at a condolence meeting.
The Congress on Tuesday demanded the resignation of Opposition Leader in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj after visuals showing the top BJP leader dancing at Mahatma Gandhi's samadhi Rajghat sparked a controversy.
Despite severe opposition from one-time mentor Sushma Swaraj, the Bharatiya Janata Party has decided to re-induct former Reddy brothers' aide Sriramulu into the party. He will officially be welcomed back into the party on Friday at 1 am at a function where all senior leaders will be present.
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National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon on Tuesday briefed senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley on the ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops along the Line of Control.
The Shiv Sena on Tuesday voiced its support for Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj as National Democratic Alliance's prime ministerial candidate, a day after senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yashwant Sinha backed Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for it.
Putting behind the acrimony witnessed during the session, Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj on Friday praised Sonia Gandhi and other Congress leaders for their conduct in the Lok Sabha.
The leader of opposition in Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj declared the Bharatiya Janata Party's support for the Telanagan movement on Saturday.
In remarks which can create controversy, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday said a Congress leader had pressed her to give diplomatic passport to coal scam accused Santosh Bagrodia.
The opposition claimed that Swaraj misinformed the House on India's foreign policy.
Far from the political noise generated by state assembly elections, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday had lunch together at a five-star hotel in Johannesburg soon after attending the memorial service of anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela.
'Not just the angry families, but also the public will remember Swaraj's foreign ministership for this colossal lapse of judgment,' notes Karan Thapar.
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.
The Congress on Monday stepped attacked on External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj alleging there was "quid pro quo" involved in her "assistance" to Lalit Modi in obtaining British travel documents and demanded that the scam-tainted former Indian Premier League commissioner be brought back and tried in India.
Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday formally took over as the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, occupying the seat hitherto held by senior BJP leader L K Advani.
"The ministry of external affairs would convey the time of the meeting in due course. It could take place on November 8 as per the schedule of the visiting dignitary," party leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said.
Soon after United Progressive Alliance announced Pranab Mukherjee as its candidate for the Presidential election, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj to seek BJP's support for him.
Criticising Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his "half-empty" glass remark about the economy, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said that it was not because of the NDA, but due to rampant corruption of the UPA government.
Launching a fresh attack on United Progressive Alliance's presidential nominee Pranab Mukerjee, Leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj on Friday alleged that his signatures on the papers he put in while resigning from Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata were not genuine.
Sri Lanka must address the issue of reconciliation with the Tamil minority in the country with "a sense of urgency", Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said in Colombo on Saturday. Swaraj, who is leading a 12-member Indian parliamentary delegation, said she had told Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa that the current stalemate and the deadlock on the talks with the Tamil National Alliance over the parliamentary select committee process must be broken.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushma Swaraj has said that the situation in her party is 'volcanic' following its defeat in the Lok Sabha elections.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday extended help to a distressed Indian in Dubai after her help was sought.
The WikiLeaks expose on the alleged 'cash-for-votes' scam in 2008 on Friday disrupted Parliament proceedings, as a united Opposition demanded a clarification from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the matter. The cables published by WikiLeaks alleged that the United Progressive Alliance government had bribed MPs to win the 2008 trust vote after the Left parties withdrew support on the Indo-US nuclear deal.
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj has apprised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of discussions with Sri Lankan leadership during the visit of a MPs' delegation led by her to look into the resettlement and rehabilitation process of displaced Tamils there.
After criticising United States President Barack Obama's first speech delivered at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai on November 6, the Bharatiya Janata Party has softened its stance against him.
The Lok Sabha on Wednesday condemned the attacks and harassment of people from the northeast in various parts of the country in the wake of the killing of a boy from Arunachal Pradesh in Delhi and said a message should go out that they should be protected.
With the stand-off between her party and the Nationalist Congress Party continuing, Congress President Sonia Gandhi was heard asking NCP leader Praful Patel to "do something" to end the crisis.
Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday said the two-day national executive meet beginning in Mumbai on Thursday will discuss the strategy of the party to prepare itself as a viable alterative in 2014 general elections.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj will court arrest in Bhopal as part of Bharatiya Janata Party's nationwide 'jail bharo' agitation against hike in petrol prices and overall inflation on June 22, it was announced on Tuesday.
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.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Friday supported his colleague Sushma Swaraj's stand against the appointment of Chief Vigilance Commissioner P J Thomas, saying he could not have been chosen for the post as he had cases pending against him. "This controversy started even when I was the Leader of the Opposition," he said.
The Lok Sabha will on Tuesday take up discussion on the issue of Foreign Direct Investment in multi-brand retail under rule 184 that entails voting.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday denied allegations of some pro-Tamil leaders, including Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Vaiko that party leader Sushma Swaraj had invited Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse for an official event in Madhya Pradesh on September 21.
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.
The much-debated Lokpal Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday amid objections from the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies of the National Democratic Alliance over the exclusion of the prime minister from the purview of the proposed legislation.
