Union Civil Aviation Minister Shahnawaz Hussain asserted that Muslims in India are as patriotic as any other Indian.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Left Front on Monday slammed the Group of Ministers on the Bhopal gas issue for recommending that the government pick up the tab on payment of compensation to victims."The GoM report has disappointed the people," BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said. Communist Party of India - Marxist leader Nilotpal Basu told PTI, "It is unfair that the taxpayer has to pick up the compensation bill."
Asked about the BJP-JMM formula to run the government and if the chief minister's post would be rotated, Hussain said "as of now the government will be formed under the leadership of Arjun Munda. There are no conditions to forming this government."
After the tough talk and retaliation, Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday appeared keen on not breaking its alliance with Janata Dal-United in Bihar while Chief Minister Nitish Kumar kept the cards close to his chest.
An hour before Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate L K Advani was scheduled to address a press conference on Thursday evening, party leaders informed him that he could face a media boycott as some senior journalists were irked with him, for meeting only a select group of journalists for a news briefing the day before.The BJP quickly went into a damage control mode, with Shahnawaz Hussain and Rajiv Pratap Rudy acting as trouble shooters to appease the scribes.
BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain was replying to questions by mediapersons on what the party had to say on RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's comment that the Ram Mandir movement had helped BJP but the Sangh was not looking for help from anyone to run its movement.
Shahnawaz's security has been beefed up.
Counter-attacking the divisive and communal barb, BJP on Monday said Congress was the 'biggest communal party' because it was responsible for the partition of India and the Bhagalpur riots.
The BJP leader said the demand for reducing the level of security forces in Jammu and Kashmir was being made by anti-national forces and those who did not want to anger Pakistan.
Varun, the 27-year-old son of party parliamentarian Maneka Gandhi, was believed to have the backing of Vajpayee and Advani but faced strong resentment in the state party unit,
To bring Muslims into its fold ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, a brainstorming session of senior saffron party leaders will be held at Hyderabad next month to chalk out a comprehensive strategy. "The BJP is no longer untouchable for Muslims and they will have no problems under the leadership of L K Advani," senior BJP leader and party's national president of the minority cell Shahnawaz Hussain said.
India, which plans to start flights to Kabul whenever Pakistani airspace opens, on Wednesday agreed to take a slew of steps, including waiving off expenses, to assist Afghanistan in building up its aviation infrastructure.
The government on Tuesday withdrew the Airports Authority of India (Amendment) Bill, 2000, in the Lok Sabha saying it had decided to introduce a comprehensive legislation on the issue soon, Civil Aviation Minister Shahnawaz Hussain said.\n\n\n\n
BJP has left people guessing about who would get the top office if the latter is voted to power, the presence of too many strong turncoats on its side only adding to the confusion.
Taking on the Congress-led UPA coalition, the BJP leader said it has done "nothing on the ground" for the Muslims except making announcements in its three-year rule.
Jammu and Kashmir BJP chief Ravinder Raina, seeking re-election from Nowshera assembly constituency of Rajouri district in Jammu and Kashmir, is facing a major challenge from his former party colleague Surinder Choudhary.
Lok Sabha on Friday passed the Airports Authority of India (Amendment) Bill, 2003 paving the way for private investment in greenfield airports and restructuring of existing airports.
The government on Monday denied any pressure on it regarding selection and procurement of aircraft for the Indian carriers.\n\n\n\n
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, approved the proposal of the civil aviation ministry to remove IA and A-I from the divestment roster.
The government is shortly going to move ahead with the process of developing airports at New Delhi and Mumbai to international standards, Civil Aviation Minister Shahnawaz Hussain said on Friday.\n\n\n\n
Civil Aviation Ministry will shortly take the view of the Union Cabinet on divestment of Air India and Indian Airlines before it proceeds with the proposal for fleet acquisition of the two carriers.
The government indicated on Saturday that an early decision was likely on the proposals of fleet acquisition by Air-India and Indian Airlines as well as of privatisating the four metro airports.
The US-led war against Iraq and the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome have led to sharp decline in demand for air travel and raised costs on account of aviation turbine fuel, the Lok Sabha was informed on Monday.
The proposal to take off Indian Airlines and Air-India from the divestment list will come up for discussion at the next meeting of the Cabinet Committee for Divestment to be held soon.\n\n\n\n
The plane, which was travelling from Karachi to Male, did not have necessary clearance.
Alleging that something was fishy in the Jet-Etihad deal, BJP today demanded that the Prime Minister's Office should come clean on the issue.
Indian Airlines fares have been raised by 15 per cent across the board with immediate effect due to a massive increase in the prices of aviation turbine fuel, Civil Aviation Minister Shahnawaz Hussain
Lalit Modi on Wednesday sought to drag Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and BJP leader Varun Gandhi in the escalating row involving the controversial former IPL chief.
With the Rajya Sabha term of Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi ending, the BJP will have no Muslim MP among its 395 members of Parliament.
State minister Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, a national spokesman of the party, made the averment in Patna at a press conference he addressed jointly with Sanjay Jaiswal, the Bihar BJP president.
Shahnawaz Hussain asked Muslims to demand ban on sale of beef in their states to "promote communal harmony".
Earlier this week, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said a law on population control would not serve any purpose but insisted instead on education for girls and women.
In the clearest indication yet about Narendra Modi's elevation, Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday said that the party "cannot ignore the expectations of the workers" and a decision would be announced shortly.
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