If Sharad Pawar, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Karunanidhi and the Left parties endorse the Congress's game-plan, it is difficult to see how Sonia Gandhi's choice will fail to become President, reports Sheela Bhatt
Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the United States, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj held bilateral meetings with foreign ministers of seven countries, including the United Kingdom, on the sidelines of the 69th session of the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday.
Taking strong exception to Amazon Canada selling doormats depicting the Indian flag, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday asked the e-retailer to withdraw the products and tender an unconditional apology, failing which no official of Amazon will be granted Indian visa and the ones issued earlier will also be rescinded.
Among the new entrants in the council headed by the Prime Minister, which will now have 147 members, are Ambika Soni, Dayanidhi Maran and Salman Khursheed have made their entry as Union Ministers while BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley have come in as Leaders of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha respectively.
Congress on Wednesday sought to demolish Sushma Swaraj's claim of helping Lalit Modi on humanitarian grounds in Lok Sabha, saying she could have done it under a legal framework and demanded response from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Nine Indian sailors who were in a jail in Iran on charges of smuggling have been released and will reach Delhi on Wednesday, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj informed.
Indicating fissures in the National Democratic Alliance over the issue of Presidential election, the Janata Dal United on Tuesday snubbed the Bharatiya Janata Party for unilaterally announcing its stand on the issue. "Whatever Sushma Swaraj has said is the opinion of the BJP. This is not our party's view. The issue was not discussed in any NDA meeting. BJP has not discussed the issue with us," JD-U President Sharad Yadav told reporters.
The 16-month civil war has killed more than 6,500 people and displaced more than 2.5 million people.
He targeted the prime minister over the controversy, saying "one Modi is standing by another Modi".
Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office V Narayanasamy on Wednesday condemned Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj'' "act" in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, describing it as ''unfortunate'' and ''not expected''.Swaraj had alleged that Congress President Sonia Gandhi had instructed party members of Parliament to interrupt her speech.
Veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leader stepped down from the position of leader of opposition from Lok Sabha on Friday and handed over the reins to his successor Sushma Swaraj, who had been the party's deputy leader in Lok Sabha.
Union Minister Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Friday warned of a criminal defamation case against Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi if the latter continues to insult External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.
Unseasonal rain coupled with lightning and thunderstorm lashed parts of Mumbai in the wee hours of Thursday, bringing some respite from the hot and humid weather in the city, civic officials said.
Hours after L K Advani emphasised that the Bharatiya Janata Party would need to join hands with other political outfits to defeat the Congress, the Janata Dal - United on Saturday attempted to reach out to senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj, saying she should have been considered first for the prime minister's post as she is a lady and the leader of her party in the Lok Sabha.
President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted the people of Telangana on the 10th State Formation Day while state Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and Union Minister for Tourism G Kishan Reddy separately hoisted the national flag on the occasion here on Friday.
BJP leader Kailash Vijaywargiya said Rohith did not commit suicide due to expulsion from hostel.
"We were travelling to Iceland from India via Frankfurt with our 4-year-old daughter when I was asked to move aside for this 'random check', no explanations offered. I was taken into a room and was asked to lift my dress/take it off so that I could be checked to make sure I wasn't carrying anything under my clothes," Shruthi Basappa alleged in the Facebook post.
India has been eyeing deeper energy ties with Iran and has already lined up $20 billion as investment in oil and gas as well as in petrochemical and fertiliser sectors there.
Ahead of the Parliament session, beginning Monday, the government is apparently aiming to build a consensus to deal with its biggest neighbour as well on Kashmir issue.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself has spoken to various countries through which contacts can be established in Yemen where India does not have an Embassy of its own.
The government on Wednesday rejected the Congress demand for resignation of Union ministers Sushma Swaraj and Smriti Irani over 'Lalitgate' and 'fake degree' controversies, saying "our ministers do not do all that their (the United Progress Alliance) ministers used to do".
Dismissing reports about the Bharatiya Janata Party relenting on their demand for prime minister's resignation, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj on Sunday asserted that the party would continue to seek Manmohan Singh's ouster in Parliament.
Bharatiya Janata Party's decision to field Sushma Swaraj from Bhopal in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections not gone down well with party workers and leaders in Madhya Pradesh.
As protests against the gang-rape incident turned violent, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushma Swaraj on Sunday called for an all-party meeting and made an appeal to youths not to resort to violence, saying this is not the solution.
Advani retained his predecessor Venkaiah Naidu in the panel and in the parliamentary board.
On Thursday, both countries announced that they would develop Kartarpur corridor in their respective areas, linking Dera Baba Nanak in Punjab's Gurdaspur district with the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan.
They also emphasised that Pakistan should play an "active role in highlighting the human rights violations" in Jammu and Kashmir at international fora.
The actor has been traced to a mental asylum in the US.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushma Swaraj on Monday expressed profound grief over the death of the 23-year-old gang rape victim, and demanded that speedy justice must be meted out in this unfortunate case.
US Secretary of State John Kerry has had "two conversations" over the "last two days" with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on this issue, even as India explores a range of diplomatic options to isolate Islamabad.
As India makes efforts to deepen its diplomatic and economic engagement with its neighbours, Nepal on Saturday said there is a "historic opportunity" in taking bilateral ties with India to the "next level" and that it must be seized by both the countries.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday said it is fighting the Assam assembly elections to form the government on its own as people are "displeased and disappointed" with the Congress-led Central and state governments.
Sushma in her address at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Council of Foreign Ministers meeting said that terrorism is an enemy of basic human rights.
Senior leader of Bhartiya Janata Party Sushma Swaraj said that her party was in favour of adopting the second resolution on women's reservation bill, which neither requires any constitutional amendment and also does not warrant reservation for women of any particular constituency.
Karnataka ministers G Janardhan Reddy and G Karuanakar Reddy, under pressure over allegations of illegal mining, today paid an unscheduled visit to New Delhi and met senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj and Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, after which they dismissed all the charges against them.
Minister of State for Home Affairs and Congress spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed said the general view in the Congress party is that BJP leader Sushma Swaraj should be tried for treason for alleging that the "Centre has role in the blasts in Karnataka and Ahmedabad".
Swaraj's intervention came after the infant's father brought the matter to her notice on Twitter.
The Union health minister said the vaccine's clinical trials were on.
The issue of radicalisation is not limited to Jammu and Kashmir but other states as well and the entire world too, she said in the Lok Sabha.
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