Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat on Wednesday rejected the Bharatiya Janata Party's allegations of corruption against him over alleged changes in liquor policy saying the party was "desperate" and making the charge to deflect national attention from scams involving its top leaders.
Ace shooter and Asian Games gold medalist Jaspal Rana was on Thursday named as the Bharatiya Janata Party's candidate from Uttarakhand's Tehri constituency as the party declared its list of 23 candidates for the Lok Sabha polls.Rana, who is BJP President Rajnath Singh's daughter-in-law's brother, is one of the four candidates declared from Uttarakhand.
While some in the Congress were apprehensive that land grab allegations against her husband Robert Vadra could turn out to be Priyanka's Achilles heel, much of the BJP leadership opted not to bring up the issue at the current juncture.
The youth leadership taking the reigns of the states was a rare event in the last century as very few broke the glass ceilings.
The Uttar Pradesh government on Sunday asked authorities in all districts on the banks of the Ganga river to be on a high alert and continuously monitor the water level after a glacier broke off in Joshimath in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district.
People poured their wrath on Mussoorie MLA Ganesh Joshi for showing cruelty to the animal.
The monk-turned politician will take the reins of the most populous state for a second time in a row after completing his full five-year term.
The chief minister will visit Joshimath on Saturday, meet the affected people and hold a meeting with officials.
Shah said he is confident that BJP will return to power in four states -- Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur -- and make impressive gains in Punjab.
Bharatiya Janata Party president J P Nadda on Thursday met leaders of the party's allies in Uttar Pradesh -- Anupriya Patel of the Apna Dal-S and Sanjay Nishad of the Nishad party -- at his residence in New Delhi as part of its government formation exercise.
For far too long, the BJP has postponed an uncomfortable debate on the need for radical change. The outcome in Uttar Pradesh presents the perfect opportunity to force that debate, says Shashi Shekhar.
'I am quite optimistic that sooner or later, my wishful thinking would turn into a reality.' The only hitch is that the INC president's own career ambitions may be hurt if the Congress merges with the BJP,' says Sudhir Bisht.
Shah made the announcement at a public meeting, putting to rest speculation over the party's choice for the top post.
The Uttarakhand police chief on Saturday said that the 19-year-old receptionist, whose body was fished out from a canal on Saturday, was being pressured by the resort owner to provide 'special services' to guests.
Bharatiya Janata Party leaders L K Advani and Uma Bharti on Thursday met President Pranab Mukherjee and appealed him to direct the government to ensure uninterrupted flow of Ganga downstream from Tehri dam and save Dhari Devi temple in Uttarakhand from submergence due to construction of a dam.
The exit poll results for the recently concluded assembly elections have projected that that BJP arty could emerge as the single-largest party in four of five states except Punjab.
Addressing BJP workers at the party headquarters, Modi also referred to the next Lok Sabha polls, scheduled for 2024, saying he hopes that political pundits will note that his party's win in the four states has also made clear the verdict for the next general election as they had linked its win in 2019 to its sweep of the Uttar Pradesh elections in 2017.
Inability to take everyone along during his nearly four-year term led to Trivendra Singh Rawat's undoing. He tried to take control of all major departments by holding on to more than 40 of them, but still could not deliver.
In Delhi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah assessed the situation in Joshimath and steps taken to ameliorate people's hardship at a meeting attended by Union ministers Nitin Gadkari, R K Singh, Bhupendra Yadav and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and top officials.
BJP says SC's stay on the Uttarakhand high court order has 'halted' the piquant situation created in the state.
Terming the case lodged against Joshi as an act of "political vendetta" by the previous government, state urban development minister and spokesman of the state government Madan Kaushik said all "politically motivated" cases slapped against party workers by the previous regime are being withdrawn.
Bahuguna is said to be unhappy with the Congress leadership over projection of Sheila Dikshit as the party's chief ministerial face
The 2014 Lok Sabha election saw the Bharatiya Janata Party led by Narendra Modi storm to power at the Centre with a "triple century", giving the National Democratic Alliance an unexpected 336 seats in the Lok Sabha .
The Brij Bhushan camp, who claim to have the support of 22 of the 25 state units, expressed 'confidence' of winning all 15 posts during the WFI elections on August 12.
The Haridwar Police have added the names of Hindu leaders Yeti Narasimhanand and Sagar Sindhuraj in an FIR in connection with the case of alleged hate speech.
Addressing the annual Dussehra rally at the iconic Shivaji Park ground in Mumbai, Thackeray lashed out at Shinde, whose rebellion in June this year brought down the Thackeray-led Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government in the state.
Could the defeat of Vasundhara Raje, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and Raman Singh in last year's polls in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh, respectively, augur a transition in the command structure of these states, where they reigned supreme?
Gandhi said the prime minister continued shooting for a film till even three hours after news of the Pulwama terror strike came in.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra did remarkable and energetic campaigning for the party, and "from my point of view, I don't think that the Congress per se can be faulted because on the grounds of one person's campaigning", Tharoor said.
Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury while making these points however, spoke out against any need for change in the top leadership of the party, stating that both Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi have been 'trying wholeheartedly'.
Dismissing the Congress' criticism over its decision to charge Rs 5 for attending Narendra Modi's forthcoming public meeting in Hyderabad, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday said the ruling party is making allegations as it is unable to digest the growing popularity of the Gujarat chief minister. "The Congress is rattled by Narendra Modi. They are not able to digest the growing popularity of Narendra Modi. That's why they are making such allegations. They are trying to hit below the belt," senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu told reporters.
Celebrations broke out outside the Rajasthan BJP headquarters in Jaipur and the party workers burst firecrackers and distributed sweets as Murmu emerged victorious in the presidential poll.
Targeting the Bharatiya Janata Party over corruption in party ruled states, Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi on Monday said it opted for change of guard in Uttarakhand ahead of polls to "cover up" for the wrong-doings under former Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhariyal.
Namdhari has been expelled from the party following his arrest in connection with the Chattarpur farmhouse shootout in which controversial liquor baron Ponty Chadha and his brother Hardeep were killed, state BJP chief Bishan Singh Chufal said.
Colonel Ajay Kothiyal, Kirti Chakra, Shaurya Chakra, is one of the most decorated soldiers to join politics. He still has two bullets lodged inside his body sustained in a gun battle with terrorists in J&K.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday got a majority in the Uttarakhand assembly when it won the Vikasnagar seat in a by-election, taking its tally to 36 in the 70-member House.The BJP's victory assumes significance especially after it lost all the five seats in the state recent Lok Sabha elections that forced B C Khanduri to quit the post of chief minister.The BJP also bagged four of the seven assembly seats in Gujarat, where by-polls were held on September 10.
'At a time when people don't like to even sacrifice their panchayat seat, Biplab Kumar Deb sacrificed the chair of chief minister with a smiling face.'
Hitting back at the opposition, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna on Wednesday said the Bharatiya Janata Party should not fear about any poaching attempt from his side and asked the party to put its own house in order first.
'There was trust, but perhaps there was also this apprehension that given the supreme post of prime minister, Sonia Gandhi felt her authority may be a challenged.'
B C Khanduri will remain the chief minister of Uttarakhand if the party is voted back to power as he possesses all the skills necessary for the post, including vision and transparency, Bharatiya Janata Party President Nitin Gadkari said on Tuesday.