The Congress on Monday gave a clean chit to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and spiritual preacher Deoraha Baba, whose names figure in the list of those found culpable by the Liberhan Commission, for the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992. "Vajpayee's name was not in the conspiracy (to demolish Babri mosque). His name was only in one of the lists," Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said his government is committed to ensuring that the 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam' aimed at expanding women's participation in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies becomes a law, as he urged MPs of both Houses of Parliament to pass the bill unanimously.
Vajpayee, now chairman of the BJP Parliamentary Party, said he and his party colleagues will play the role of a constructive opposition, raising important issues in the interest of the people in Parliament.
He was responding to a suggestion made by Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav in the Lok Sabha.
The prime minister said the atmosphere is changing in the state.
Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who is undergoing treatment at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, is fully conscious and is breathing on his own, a senior doctor said on Sunday. "He is breathing on his own and he is fully conscious," Dr Sampath Kumar, chief of the Cardio Thoracic Vascular Sciences Department at the hospital, said. Vajpayee's basic parameters like heart, kidney, liver and blood pressure were normal and he had recovered from pneumonia.
"He [Vajpayee] did not do anything effective. I had sent him letters. I had talked to him directly," Narayanan said in a freewheeling interview to Congress MLA P T Thomas carried in a recent issue of Malayalam magazine Manava Samskriti.
'...It is important for you to take a stand.' 'It is a sin to remain silent when the basic structure of the Constitution is being attacked.'
The two leaders will be in NY to attend the UN General Assembly session.
Mohite is expected to replace Heavy Industries Minister Balasaheb Vikhe Patil, who has resigned on the directive of his party chief Bal Thackeray.
This comes on the eve of the crucial Bharatiya Janata Party Parliamentary Board meeting on Sunday.
Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj expressed disappointment over former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee not getting the Bharat Ratna this year, saying the Bharatiya Janata Party was expecting it. She also said the sanctity of these awards should be maintained as even some failures have been conferred with the honour.
His meeting with Vajpayee was described as a 'courtesy call'. Manmohan Singh called on the President to inform him about the Cabinet decision to request him to address both Houses of Parliament on June 7.
With the strain and anxiety of the longest Lok Sabha polls now behind the leaders, governance, with consensus, is the next step.
The over half-an-hour meeting between the opposition parties and the government, however, remained inconclusive.
Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is likely to be discharged tomorrow from AIIMS as doctors have today declared him fit to go home after 26 days of stay at the Intensive Care Unit.
The golden run of "Slumdog Millionaire" at the Oscars and A R Rahman's double win brought smiles on the face of ailing former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee who watched the awards at the AIIMS' ICU and even gestured to the staff to have a look at the television.
As the lower house took up the motion moved by Gogoi, there were heated exchanges between the opposition and treasury benches after Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi wondered why Rahul Gandhi's name as lead speaker was withdrawn at the last minute.
The prime minister also said BJP's rivals would not be able to cobble up a coalition despite making attempts.
Stung by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's remarks suggesting a rift between its leaders Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Kishenchad Advani, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday accused him of attempts to divert public attention from governance.
'Those who hope for a strong united Opposition are disillusioned at the way in which the INDIA alliance has already been caught in debilitating squabbles.'
Vajpayee told reporters while celebrating Holi at his residence in Delhi that he was confident about the BJP's prospects in the key state of the Hindi heartland.
The allusion is simple: Modi is the BJP in Gujarat. This encapsulates a paradigm shift in the way the BJP's internal politics is now being run.
The Pakistani prime minister in an interview with The Nation said he had no apprehensions about visiting India or to meet his Indian counterpart anywhere in the world.
Vajpayee had travelled to Lahore in a bus from India in 1999 and started a peace initiative with Pakistan in 2004.
Share your thoughts on the PM's contribution to the change in India's outlook.
Rehman had suggested that the Simla Agreement and the Lahore Declaration could be the basis for normalisation of Indo-Pak ties.
Terming the prevailing situation in Uttar Pradesh as a "challenge", he said that the party must prepare itself to face it and restore the earlier position of the party in the state.
'My chants in praise of BJP and RSS stalwarts were a reaction to what MPs like Owaisi did.'
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh top brass led by its general secretary Mohan Bhagwat on Monday met Bharatiya Janata Party president Lal Kishenchand Advani
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances