For the Bharatiya Janata Party anything manufactured in India, including by multinational companies, are local products and it would not make a distinction among them, the party said on Thursday. Responding to questions on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for national self-reliance, BJP spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member, G V L Narasimha Rao, said there is not going to be any directive to buy local products but felt that a lot of people might themselves see the need to purchase those of good quality made in the country.
'One wishes that today's 'take no prisoners' brand of politics would give way to an understanding of the national interest that is shared by both government and Opposition.'
Congress leaders A R Antulay, Vasantdada Patil, Shivajirao Nilangekar-Patil, Shankarrao Chavan, Sushilkumar Shinde and Prithviraj Chavan are among the leaders who were not members of any of the state legislature Houses when they occupied the top post.
What stood out in his 15-year journey as a member of the political executive at the Centre was his glowing record as India's most successful and effective finance minister. Both as prime minister and finance minister, he understood the importance of gradualism, except when the economy or the polity was in a crisis.
The Bill allows stopping of transmission and intercepting messages in case of public emergency, in the interest of the public, to prevent incitement for committing offence.
If Modi wants to leave a real legacy, breaking India's strategic triangulation would be the real gift, notes Shekhar Gupta.
The recent 'revelation' by TN fishers freed by Sri Lanka after they had paid up Lankan rupees 50,000 each in fines, that their hair was tonsured in prison and they were forced to remove their garments other than the underpants, and were also made to clean toilets, as if with vengeance, has touched a raw nerve this time, just as another issue or issues had done it ahead of the Jallikattu protests, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Rejecting the charge, Reddy termed it 'baseless and false' and said he would quit politics if Owaisi proved it.
Initiating the debate from the opposition's side in the Lok Sabha, Gandhi said, "I stand here in support of Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam."
Wouldn't it be better to join the celebrations with the vast Hindu majority while at the same time criticising Mr Modi/BJP/RSS for politicising it? notes Shekhar Gupta.
The Babri Masjid Action Committee meeting was held against the backdrop of the apex court recently asking parties involved to sit together and arrive at a consensus on the issue, which has been dragging on for decades.
"Let them hear us, we are prepared. But we are not ready for out-of-court settlement," Jilani said.
On the eve of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's press conference on Friday, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday asked him some probing questions, including how he thinks history would judge his tenure, "failure" to assert himself against corruption and "subversion" of constitutional institutions.
Say hello to the cast of The Accidental Prime Minister.
BJP leaders Bhupendra Yadav and G V L Narsimha Rao were addressing the media.
"I don't want to be decided by the prime minister but he knows what he is saying is not true," Singh told reporters after casting his vote at Dispur Government High School in Guwahati.
The first no-confidence motion was moved against Jawaharlal Nehru in August 1963 by J B Kripalani.
The Act deals with automatic disqualification of MPs and state legislators upon being convicted and sentenced for two years or more in a criminal case.
BJP says Rahul considered himself a 'super VVIP who should be put ahead of everyone else'.
Patel's closeness to the Gandhi family was undeniable. But unlike others, he resisted the temptation to use it to leverage personal business, says Aditi Phadnis.
The Congress on Thursday objected to Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar deleting some portions of Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge's speech from official records, saying he used no unparliamentary words and some of the expressions he employed were earlier used even by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan on Tuesday filed his nomination papers from the Hajipur parliamentary constituency in Bihar, and claimed that he would break his own Guinness World Record for winning a parliamentary election with the highest margin.
If Indira Gandhi hadn't targeted the RSS, Narendra Modi wouldn't be sitting pretty with his second majority and looking at a third, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
'All the things that went into bringing Yakub Memon back to India between 1993 and 1994 must be recorded in that file. Raman would have submitted his findings to the prime minister on file; in writing.'
The five-state assembly elections are seen as a now-or-never, no-holds battle for the Congress, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
There is a need for tax reforms in the country in a bolder way, Singh said.
The BJP on Thursday alleged that the opposition parties have decided to boycott the inauguration of the new Parliament building by Prime Minister Narendra Modi just because it has been built at his initiative.
NCP president Sharad Pawar on Friday said there should be a presentation by the government on what is happening on the India-China border, particularly in Ladakh, where the armies of the two countries are involved in a face-off. Pawar, who is in the national capital to attend a meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence, said there are other defence-related issues on the table for discussion, but he will make a request that a presentation is made on it.
Very few know of his scintillating mind, the outpouring of fresh ideas, the attention to detail in every endeavour, the extraordinary administrative and organisational skills, and a limitless stamina and energy with which he pursues every interest and commitment, notes Ambassador Talmiz Ahmad.
While Narendra Modi spent fewer days abroad than his predecessor -- 275 days versus Dr Singh's 306 - he has travelled more widely than any other Indian PM.
In an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana', the party claimed the foundation stone ceremony in Ayodhya is "personality centric and political party centric".
Self-styled' loyalists of 10, Janpath convinced Sonia Gandhi that it would be better to back P V Narasimsha Rao in 1991 as prime minister over him as the "Gandhi family was not about to let someone with independent mind" to get the top post, Sharad Pawar has claimed.
Overruling strong objections from his security detail, Modi had shunned the bullet-proof enclosure to "connect directly" with people during his maiden Independence Day speech as PM from the ramparts of the iconic Red Fort in 2014.
While Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi greeted him on the occasion, NCP's Praful Patel blamed the Congress party's internal culture for Pawar missing the opportunity to occupy the top post in the 1990s.
Driven by hardship, adventurous souls mortgage their homesteads in Punjab or Haryana, pawn the family jewellery and borrow heavily to satisfy the greed of the criminal traffickers who organise their trips, points out Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
'The tally of Muslim MLAs has increased. They know they can make themselves count in the electoral system.'
Naresh Chandra was most certainly among the greatest patriots two generations of Indian strategists have seen.
Driven by the winds of globalisation, people are moving towards a global culture which is emerging as a threat to local cultural symbols and identities, even as social media, television and pop culture glamorise a particular way of life that the people are sadly "blindly aping", Chief Justice of India N V Ramana said on Friday.
The TDP and JD-U will have a lot to answer inside Parliament, day after day, session after session, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Temperamentally, they are quite alike.' 'Ahmed Patel avoided the limelight and was not a power seeker.' 'The Gandhis too are not power wielders, but trustees of power.'
