Sushma Swaraj's bid to link the terror attack in Srinagar with the lunch hosted in Jaipur to Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Parvez Ashraf irked External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, who advised the Leader of Opposition to take tablets to improve her memory.
A decision to this effect was taken at a two-hour long meeting of Cabinet Committee on Security chaired by Prime Minister Vajpayee.
"It would not be proper for Vajpayeeji to contest and lose. Any other nominee would feel that he contested and lost," Vijay Kumar Malhotra, deputy leader of BJP said in an informal chat with this correspondent.
He said discussions were held on this issue later but no effort was made to remove them from the preamble.
The entire opposition, including the BJPs ally the Bahujan Samaj Party, boycotted the function saying that they did not want to 'give credibility' to the activities and 'divisive policies' of Savarkar.
Taking a dig at Narendra Modi, Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari on Sunday said then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had reminded the Gujarat chief minister about 'Raj Dharma' in the wake of the 2002 riots in the state.
The Lok Sabha had a total of 21 sittings, spread over 113 hours.
"As many as 40 million new and high-value jobs can be created by enriching our professional resource base and strengthening our recent gains in the knowledge economy," he said.
Share your thoughts on the PM's contribution to the change in India's outlook.
Varun Gandhi on Wednesday gave a new twist to the prime ministerial candidate race in the Bharatiya Janata Party, comparing party president Rajnath Singh to Atal Bihari Vajpayee and saying he has the ability to bring together people of different religions and castes.
Musharraf, in his television interview, also sounded a warning of sorts to Sharif and told him to be 'economical' on revealing details.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated the Rs 17,840 crore Atal Bihari Vajpayee Sewri-Nhava Sheva Atal Setu, the longest bridge as well as the longest sea bridge in the country connecting south Mumbai with Nhava-Sheva in Navi Mumbai.
PM denies rift over talks with Hurriyat as he departs on his 3-nation tour
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari emphasizes the importance of truthfulness and confidence in politics, citing Balasaheb Thackeray as an example. He also addresses funding in his department and praises from Chief Minister Fadnavis.
"Ultimately, even the prime minister can get tired," he told NDTV.
It is for the first time in the history of Independent India that not a single Muslim is part of the Union Cabinet.
"We are not against the common man or the migrant workers from UP and Bihar. If somebody changes according to the house of the host (Maharashtra), he is welcome, but if somebody wants to change the host's home by dadagiri (force), we will never tolerate it," Raj asserted.
A spokesperson told reporters in New York that Vajpayee has been in touch with Joshi, who resigned after a special court in Rae Bareli decided to frame charges against him and six others in the Babri Masjid demolition case on Friday.
The Prime Minister's Office has refused to disclose communication exchanged between former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Chief Minister Narendra Modi during the 2002 Gujarat riots even after 11 years.
"We told the prime minister that it is the question of sentiments of crores of Hindus, hurt by investigations being conducted with a vindictive attitude and the ill-treatment meted out to Jayendra Saraswati," BJP president L K Advani said.
The controversy over a derogatory statement, made against former prime minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee by a Congress member during the debate over the Liberhan Commission's report in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, is not likely to die down soon with the party threatening to stall Parliament till he apologises for his remarks. "I am today both sad and angry," said deputy Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj.
Vajpayee had said on Tuesday night that if talks were to resume with Pakistan on Kashmir issue, they will have to be on the one-third portion of Kashmir which is under Pakistani occupation.
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi on Tuesday echoed Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar saying that the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate should be a liberal person like former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee acceptable to all sections of society.
However, he will continue to be in hospital till infection is controlled.
Bharatiya Janata Party chief M Venkaiah Naidu and Union Finance Minister Jaswant Singh were also present at the prime minister's Race Course Road residence when the discussion took place.
Former Union Minister Gingee N Ramachandran on Saturday said he resigned only to avoid embarrassment to the National Democratic Alliance government and to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
He turns 79 on December 25. He will leave for Rajasthan after spending his birthday in Delhi.
"I request you to please see that my friends in NDA join the House and take part in the proceedings," Somnath Chatterjee said in a letter to the former prime minister.
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