The Congresssaid BJP veterans Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Kishan Advani never did this, but PM Modi by doing so is "demeaning" the high office he holds.
'When Dr Murli Manohar Joshi wanted to start a course on astrology, Jayant was the first one to have the courage to stand up and say astrology is not science.' 'That's a very rare quality -- to stand up to authority.'
He won two terms in office, which was a stunning feat for a leader who used his silence as the most vocal weapon to change the economy and the lives of a billion people, asserts Tarun Vijay, former BJP MP and former Chief Editor, Panchjanya, the RSS weekly.
The team won the ODI series against Pakistan.
In the latest medical bulletin issued by AIIMS, the hospital said that he 'continues to respond well to treatment'.
Modi said Vajpayee would remain an inspiration and said the outpouring of emotions following his death despite his being away from public life for over a decade due to illness, shows his greatness.
Sitharaman, India's first full-time woman Finance Minister, broke away from the colonial tradition of carrying a Budget briefcase in July 2019, opting instead for a traditional 'bahi-khata', to carry the Union Budget papers.
'Tributes to beloved Atal Ji on his Punya Tithi. India will always remember his outstanding service and efforts towards our nation's progress,' Modi tweeted.
'It could be the Pakistan army's commercial interest, tactical or strategic interest or one of their leaders.' 'Even if you send a message that we have attempted to kill one of the Pakistani generals, that itself will serve the purpose.'
'Another term for the government under the prime minister would likely be a step forward on the path to Hindu Rashtra.' 'No question of going back or any slowing down.'
A host of leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Bharatiya Janata Party patriarch at the hospital.
During Emergency Indira Gandhi acquired absolute power. Lakhs of political opponents, students, activists were arrested.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday snubbed the Rashtriya Janata Dal, headed by his arch-rival Lalu Prasad Yadav, stating that he had forged alliances 'by mistake' with the opposition party which 'did nothing' while in power.
After the people pay their homage for an hour on Friday morning, the late prime minister's body will be taken to the BJP headquarters where it will lie in state before the funeral.
Gandhi, then a newly appointed Congress chief, had staked claim to form the government at the Centre after the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had lost the vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha on April 17, 1999.
Sports fraternity mourns former PM Vajpayee's demise
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to create history when she presents her seventh straight Budget on Tuesday for the fiscal 2024-25, surpassing the record of former prime minister Morarji Desai. Sitharaman, who will turn 65 next month, was in 2019 appointed as India's first full-time woman finance minister when Prime Minister Narendra Modi won a decisive second term.
There is a proposal from the BJP camp that they would resort to a proportion-based increase in the number of Lok Sabha seats for individual states, based on what they now have. On the face of it, this sounds like a fine argument that those demanding a 'freeze' now cannot oppose without reasons and justification, avers N Sathiya Moorthy.
Over the medium and long term, the BJP hopes to devour the AIADMK, they having identified the party as 'ideologically not as sound as the DMK', predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
Had it not been for Pankaj Tripathi, who must have worked hard to get those Vajpayee intonations and mannerisms so perfectly well, Ravi Jadhav's flattering portrait of Vajpayee would have been more vacuous than what we get to see, observes Prasanna Zore.
"You can change friends but not neighbours," Atal Bihari Vajpayee famously said this 15 years ago.
Today even those who support Prime Minister Modi feel there is a certain sense of listlessness in this government. What is it intending to achieve? This is not easy to say, notes Aakar Patel.
The preferred format would be for the top BJP leadership in the government to reach out to the alliance leaders on a case-to-case basis.
Her comments come days after Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif sought "serious" and "sincere" talks with his Indian counterpart for the resolution of the "burning" issues, including Kashmir.
Born in 1924, Vajpayee entered politics during the Quit India movement in 1942. He was also the first external affairs minister to deliver a speech in the UN Assembly in Hindi. Vajpayee was elected to Lok Sabha from Lucknow in 1991, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2004. He is the first and the only non-Congress leader who completed his full term as prime minister.
After being elected president of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in 1999, Najma Heptulla rang up the then Congress chief Sonia Gandhi from Berlin to convey the news but had to hold the phone line for an hour as a staff told her that 'madam is busy'.
A prayer meeting was held at Sadaiv Atal -- the memorial to Vajpayee -- to mark the birth anniversary of the former prime minister.
Uddhav said Modi lacks the self-confidence of 2014 and 2019.
However, he will continue to be in hospital till infection is controlled.
Vajpayee's ashes will be immersed in rivers in all the districts in Uttar Pradesh -- his karmabhoomi.
Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, PM Modi, Rajnath, Advani, Sushma, Shah and several other leaders visited the AIIMS to enquire about the ex-PM's health.
The BJP MP has been vocal in empathising with farmers agitating against the three agri laws enacted by the Modi government and sharing Vajpayee's speech is seen as his message to the central government.
Vajpayee's long-time associate and Bharatiya Janata Party veteran L K Advani, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and BJP president Amit Shah were also present at the event.
'The word 'ally' in a coalition is misleading because it suggests someone who is always for you and with you. This is incorrect.' 'They are always for themselves and sometimes with you,' explains Aakar Patel.
'Just because the NDA has a majority and the BJP is the single largest party does not mean that this Modi government enjoys a majority in the Lok Sabha.' 'It is always possible that some members (of the NDA and even the BJP) may defect, some members may not want him to be the prime minister and they might vote differently (against Modi) in the confidence vote.'
What was the experience of meeting Vajpayee like?
A strategist and a quintessential political leader with grassroots connect, Rajnath Singh is credited with expanding the Bharatiya Janata Party's organisational network in the Hindi heartland state of Uttar Pradesh in the 1990s and the subsequent decades.
Vajpayee had resigned just 13 days after being in power due to lack of numbers.
Soon after assuming office, Meghwal declared that there was no confrontation with the judiciary and that his priority would be to ensure speedy justice for all.
'Maharashtra is virtually in a debt trap.'
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