The Congresssaid BJP veterans Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Kishan Advani never did this, but PM Modi by doing so is "demeaning" the high office he holds.
Amar Singh and Ram Dev, sons of Arjun Gopal alias Tshidawa, said their father had suggested the construction of the tunnel to the former prime minister.
'My primary point was where is the Mamata Banerjee who jumps and reaches out, starts talking directly and starts solving over the heads of the bureaucracy.'
A host of leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Bharatiya Janata Party patriarch at the hospital.
Former RA&W chief A S Dulat, who served as Atalji's adviser on Kashmir, gives us an insider's glimpse of a prime minister he has hailed as the 'greatest after Nehru'.
'Modi took to the dais and said he would like to step down as chief minister over the riots.' 'Immediately, people from several sides got up and said there was no need to do so.' 'Whether it was orchestrated or not, Shourie wasn't sure.' 'But, according to him, Vajpayee felt that it was a coup.'
'General Paddy was amongst the last line of generals who stood by his convictions and brooked no interference in matters which were his domain.' Lieutenant General Zameer Uddin Shah (retd) salutes his former chief who passed away on August 19.
Vajpayee, who died on Thursday at the age of 93 after a prolonged illness, had made a significant diplomatic breakthrough and travelled on a bus from Amritsar to Lahore with a delegation that included the likes of Bollywood legend Dev Anand, writer Javed Akhtar and cricket icon Kapil Dev.
With the Bharatiya Janata Party falling short of a majority in the Lok Sabha and needing the National Democratic Alliance partners to form the government at the Centre, Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal-United head Nitish Kumar and Telugu Desam Party's N Chandrababu Naidu have emerged as potential kingmakers.
Modi can abandon the path of Hindutva only at risk to his position within his own fraternity. But if he pursues a hard line, he faces the risk of being hauled up by his coalition-partners. For the first time in a decade, Modi is not in enviable situation, observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Restoration of Article 370 and Jammu and Kashmir's statehood as well as implementation of the autonomy resolution passed by the erstwhile assembly in 2000 are among the National Conference's 12 guarantees announced in its manifesto for the upcoming polls.
A ministerial berth for Kerala BJP general secretary George Kurian in the third Narendra Modi government is indeed a reward for a loyal party worker who has been active in the saffron party movement post-Emergency in the late 1970s.
The 93-year-old former prime minister was admitted to the premier All India Institute of Medical Sciences on June 11 with a kidney tract infection, urinary tract infection, low urine output and chest congestion.
Atalji witnessed many lows in his life. With these, says Syed Firdaus Ashraf, come lessons that can help you in your life.
'Ajit Doval said, "They are threatening us now".'
Speaking at a rally in Madhya Pradesh's Harda on April 24, Modi praised Chouhan saying the two had served together in the party organisation and also as chief ministers.
In any institution that has a passionate ideology, the moderate is always vulnerable to the person who is more extreme, because that is what the supporters want.
Meanwhile, a 25-feet high statue of Vajpayee will be installed in Uttar Pradesh government secretariat in Lucknow
Chef par excellence Satish Arora recalls his days working as a chef to prime ministers to Chandrima Pal.
The actor is as entertaining at press conferences as he is in the movies, and he keeps the proceedings light -- and fun -- and Hitesh Harisinghani/ Rediff.com and Afsar Dayatar/ Rediff.com capture them.
The convoy started from Bhalla college ground and went to Har ki Pauri with a host of party leaders and family members in attendance.
The 93-year-old veteran politician, who died at 05.05 pm, was also put on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support on his last day, they said.
If Advani's ideological leadership galvanised the party's cadres and core support, Vajpayee soaring oratory, common touch and easy charm won over the masses.
She quit the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2013 claiming the party was under a grip of power politics.
Vajpayee's ashes will be immersed in rivers in all the districts in Uttar Pradesh -- his karmabhoomi.
Only on Wednesday, in his Independence Day speech, Prime Minister Modi said he wants to resolve the Kashmir issue through Vajpayee's doctrine of "Insaniyat, Kashmiriyat, Jamhooriyat" - a testimony to the former PM's lasting legacy.
Bansuri Swaraj is banking on Narendra Modi's popularity, and the fact that the New Delhi electorate is known to vote on national rather than local issues for the Lok Sabha polls.
On the Opposition's poll promise of statehood restoration, Shah said, "I want to ask Farooq Abdullah and Rahul Gandhi, who is going to restore the statehood. You cannot give it back. Why are you misleading the public?"
Vajpayee said the support BJP was receiving in the polls was a good indication but counselled party workers to maintain unity in their ranks, which was essential for electoral success.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to create history when she presents her seventh straight Budget on Tuesday for the fiscal 2024-25, surpassing the record of former prime minister Morarji Desai. Sitharaman, who will turn 65 next month, was in 2019 appointed as India's first full-time woman finance minister when Prime Minister Narendra Modi won a decisive second term.
'Don't be surprised if the Census forms come with a caste box.' 'I will be surprised if it doesn't. It will be a point conceded to Rahul Gandhi and his allies,' asserts Shekhar Gupta. The BJP machine could take all 3 in its stride, but this election has changed that, notes Shekhar Gupta.
Although the credit for acquiring the technological skill must be given to India's outstanding nuclear scientists, the decision to go nuclear was a political one that entailed clarity of vision, courage and resolve, points out Rup Narayan Das.
The first meeting of leaders of the National Democratic Alliance after the election results was held at caretaker Prime Minister Narendra D Modi's residence in New Delhi on Wednesday, June 5, 2024.
What was the experience of meeting Vajpayee like?
'It was India's good fortune to have a Vajpayee lead the government at this crucial moment in history.' 'By taking the N-decision he saved future generations of Indians from being 'Kosovoed' or 'Iraqed',' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'The Vajpayee personae is so mirrored in Modi's initiatives that one wonders if the similarities are merely a coincidence or a divine design,' says RSS ideologue Tarun Vijay.
With the tablet carefully kept inside a red cover with a golden-coloured national emblem embossed on it instead of the briefcase, Parliament will be her next destination after the call on President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhawan.
'Vajpayee was the first prime minister to visit the battlefield at the height of conflict,' recalls Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Kaul had been Vajpayee's constant companion of many years and the mother of his adopted daughter Namita Bhattacharya
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