A day after Nitish Kumar compared Narendra Modi to Hitler, Union Minister Manish Tewari joined the attack on Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate, saying "fascists" usurp power through democracy only to subvert it.
M I Khan in Patna Nearly twelve years after he left the National Democratic Alliance and resigned from the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government after the Gujarat riots in 2002, Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan will share the dais with Gujarat Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi at his 'hunkar' rally in Bihar's Muzaffarpur town on Monday. Paswan, who joined the NDA last week to contest the Lok Sabha polls and took a U-turn on Modi, will appear in public with the BJP's top brass including Modi at the rally. Paswan's son Chirag will also be present at the function. Upendra Kushwaha is another new face that will be at the event. Kushwaha is the chief of the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) that joined hands with the BJP last week. Both Paswan and Kushwaha are known as their own caste. Paswan is said to enjoy overwhelming support of his caste -- locally known as Dusadh, the only Dalit caste in Bihar after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar categorised 21 other Dalit castes as 'Mahadalit' -- poorest of the poor. Kushwaha has been trying hard for last few years to emerge as a leader of his caste -- Koeri, an agrarian backward caste spread across the state. A senior BJP leader said that presence of Paswan and Kushwaha will send a strong political massage among respective castes in Bihar. "It will strengthen the BJP's social support base in Bihar," he said. In Bihar, the BJP is widely seen as an upper caste party. The much-hyped rally is seen as a bid to mobilise support and strengthen the support base in the state. The state in the Hindi heartland that sends 40 Lok Sabha members to Parliament is politically very important. In the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, the party had won 12 seats, while the Janata Dal-United won 20 seats, when they had contested as a combined force. It is expected that Modi will target Kumar, who has openly opposed him by repeatedly saying that the prime ministerial candidate should be of nsecular credentials.
External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Thursday downplayed US Ambassador Nancy Powell's meeting with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, saying diplomats in India are free to move and get information to understand better the dynamics of Indian politics.
The Congress on Tuesday dismissed as 'day dreams' the projection of the likes of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and senior leader Sushma Swaraj as the party's prime ministerial candidates, and said Delhi is 'still distant' for the opposition party.
The Shiv Sena on Saturday said that Narendra Modi's "toilets first, temples later" remark show that the Bharatiya Janata Party is not in touch with the views of its prime ministerial candidate.
Hitting back at Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh, who recently snubbed him for extending an "unsolicited support" to Narendra Modi and "seeking votes" in his name without joining the Shiv-Sena-BJP-RPI alliance, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Monday taunted Singh for raising the objection, while Modi was silent on the issue.
In switching over, Nitish has sent out a message that if he could not now become the NDA's PM, then he would need to stay on as CM at the very least, which a third term for Modi would not let him have, N Sathiya Moorthy points out.
Congress stalwart Gegong Apang, who served as the second longest serving chief minister in the country with a record 22 years, mostly with the party, has resigned and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Top Bharatiya Janata Party leaders have been engaged in consultations with each other over the post-poll situation in the wake of exit polls projections that the party-led National Democratic Alliance may form the government.
In a damage control exercise, the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Tuesday night spoke to Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray amid fissures in the saffron alliance over BJP's overtures to the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.
Making a no-holds-barred attack on Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said Narendra Modi needs to be "treated in a mental hospital" for talking "rubbish".
Kapil Mishra, a former AAP member and a vocal critic of the BJP, RSS, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has undergone a complete political transformation, becoming a controversial figure often regarded as the "posterboy of Hindutva." He has now been inducted as a minister in the newly formed Delhi government, marking a significant shift in his political allegiance and raising questions about his role in shaping the city's future.
Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of forcing it to walk out of the alliance by not being forthcoming on Narendra Modi's future role, senior Janata Dal-United leader Shivanand Tiwari on Saturday said the announcement of a split in the coalition was a "mere formality".
The Assam unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday decided against teaming up another political party to contest the 14 Lok Sabha seats in the state, informed BJP general secretary Santanu Bharali.
The Aam Aadmi Party on Friday defended its leader Arvind Kejriwal over his controversial comments on sending media personnel to jail, saying he was referring to a section of the media which was running an "agenda" of the Bharatiya Janata Party and its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.
Additional District and Sessions Judge (First Class) Bipin Bihari rejected the petition of the Nawada Lok Sabha candidate of the saffron party.
The Rajasthan unit of the Aam Aadmi Party has written to Election Commission seeking action against Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje for her controversial remarks at an election rally.
Endorsing Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as BJP's prime ministerial candidate for the first time, party patriarch L K Advani on Wednesday said he would be happy to see him as the Prime Minister.
As Narendra Modi sharpened his attack on the government accusing it of failing to curb price rise, Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Friday hit back saying the BJP's prime ministerial candidate will have to "unlearn" a lot before he learns about Indian economy.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi, while addressing a rally in Jaipur Rural on Monday, attacked the BJP and Narendra Modi and said they are not seeing the achievements of the UPA government. She also sought to point out, in a barb at Modi, that running a state and a country are two different things. Shanawaz Akhtar reports.
The Congress has not released a poll manifesto but a declaration of appeasement.
Bharatiya Janata Party President Rajnath Singh said on Monday there was a "security lapse" at the venue of Narendra Modi's rally in Patna, which witnessed serial blasts that left six persons dead, and extra precautions should have been taken.
He raised the issue while mocking at the excavation being conducted by the Archaeological Survey of India in Unnao in Uttar Pradesh after a saint said he had dreamt about 1000 tonnes of gold being underneath at a place there.
"Within a few weeks, Rahul Gandhi will become the prime minister. In your (Gandhi's) hands the country will be safe we believe," he said.
Congress General Secretary Digvijaya Singh on Saturday took potshots at the Bharatiya Janata Party over the latter's decision to nominate Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate, saying the party has succumbed to threats from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, and wondered if the Sangh could still call itself a "cultural organisation".
The question now is whether BJP patriarch L K Advani will fall in line and contest from Gandhinagar or he would stick to his guns and not contest at all, says Renu Mittal
Congress Vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday reiterated that the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi was pro-industrialists and did not bother about poor farmers.
Asserting that there has been no change in its visa policy on Narendra Modi, the United States has said the BJP's prime ministerial candidate is welcome to apply for a visa and wait for a review like any other applicant.
'Nitish Kumar is our CM today and he will be CM going forward also. Nitish Kumar will continue as CM till he wishes.'
Advocating for Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, yoga guru Ramdev on Monday accused the Congress of creating economic and social anarchy, and said only Modi can save the country from corruption.
Attacking Narendra Modi, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on Tuesday said that "even a butcher is shy" of the BJP leader who was aiming to become the Prime Minister of the country.
Both NDA and INDIA are racing to woo marginalised groups with Assembly polls fast approaching.
Modi said he dared to say so even though his image as a Hindutva leader did not allow him.
The Congress will not fall into the BJP's trap by naming anyone as its prime ministerial candidate, reports Anita Katyal.
Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial Narendra Modi on Saturday hit back at Congress Vice president Rahul Gandhi for attacking him on his links with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, saying he was "proud" of the ideology and the principles based on the "altar of sacrifice and service".
Days after he became famous after pictures of him with Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi were released, the Enforcement Directorate has filed a fresh First Information Report against Afroz Fatta, who was arrested last month in Surat in connection with an alleged hawala racket to the tune of Rs 700 crore, on money laundering charges.
Dwarka Peeth Shankarachayra Swaroopanand Saraswati has raised serious objection to the 'Har Har Modi' slogan in favour of Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.
Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Friday appealed to politicians and prominent personalties from other fields to work towards registration of youths as voters.
Narendra Modi on Sunday hit back at Sonia Gandhi over her 'zeher ki kheti' barb saying it is the Congress which spews poison and reaps the harvest out of it with its divisive politics.
The entry of Kohli, a local businessman, into the BJP came a day after the prime minister rejected perceptions of a 'Modi wave' in the country. Lok Sabha elections in Punjab are due in one phase on April 30.
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