Eyeing a return to winning ways in their home IPL clash with the Punjab Kings (PBKS), Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) head coach Justin Langer on Saturday said the team was working hard to avoid lapses on the field and come up with a sharper display.
'Just because the NDA has a majority and the BJP is the single largest party does not mean that this Modi government enjoys a majority in the Lok Sabha.' 'It is always possible that some members (of the NDA and even the BJP) may defect, some members may not want him to be the prime minister and they might vote differently (against Modi) in the confidence vote.'
'The lack of a majority isn't the issue. He has enough in 240, especially as none of his allies can pull down his coalition.' 'That's why he's started as if this were just another, normal term. That pretence is vital for him.' 'The change for Modi 3.0 comes not from numbers, but from the new environment of contestation,' points out Shekhar Gupta.
Gujarat was labelled Hindutva's crucible and Modi was to become the chief 'chemist'. A revealing political saga excerpted from Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay's The Demolition, the Verdict and the Temple: The Definitive Book on the Ram Mandir Project.
The Pakistani leader said he had decided to cut short his stay in Agra twice after the Indians had "backed out" of what had been agreed earlier. However, he had been persuaded by his diplomats not to do so.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh set aside political differences to call on him and greet him on the occasion.
It took hours of patient explaining to convince my three-year-old it was 'Bihari' and not 'Biryani.'
'I have faced 18 hours of darkness daily all my life.'
The BJP's strategy seem to be to wean away allies from the Congress, in Dravidian Tamil Nadu, and maybe later in UP, Bihar and elsewhere, though in slow doses, but without wooing them into a new alliance. The idea seems to be only to weaken the INDIA bloc from within -- and leaving it at that, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Vajpayee has apparently resolved that if they can undertake arduous campaigns then so should he, the first step in any plans is a complete makeover, that is to lose weight.
The RSS chief recalled how Vajpayee "had almost solved the Kashmir issue but later governments did not follow up on Vajpayee's efforts".
India's first National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra, who died in New Delhi on Friday night, was a pivotal figure in shaping foreign policy during National Democratic Alliance government and a troubleshooter of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
According to insiders, their lack of enthusiasm is showing on the ground. There is nothing to suggest that their enthusiasm will return in the final four phases of polling, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Deriving from Narendra Modi's continuing charisma, the proposed scheme, if and when implemented, can cut both ways. That is to say, if Modi can win, he can lose. Or, someone else in his place, later on, could lose as much as he could win in his time, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Anupam Gupta, counsel for Liberhan Commission from 1999 to 2007, said Vajpayee cannot be indicted because he was neither given notice or summoned.
Former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee was on Friday conferred with the Bharat Ratna.
'Union Budgets are often used as political instruments and that was the intention of this government too.' 'But while the exercise has settled two fronts, it has left open several others and this has the potential to aggravate with time,' predicts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee was involved in the Ram Janma Bhoomi movement which led to the Babri Mosque demolition in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, VHP chief Ashok Singhal said on Friday.
The 96-year-old leader, the longest serving president of the BJP, said ever since he joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as its volunteer at the age of 14 years he has sought reward in only one thing "in dedicated and selfless service of my beloved country in whatever task life assigned to me".
The leaders met for about 15 minutes, party sources said. However, the two were not willing to comment on the meeting.
The former PM added that Advani's remarks on Jinnah were 'misinterpreted'.
BJP leaders to stage rally against rising inflation.
Archana Masih recalls that December evening 22 years ago when Atal Bihari Vajpayee logged into the Rediff Chat.
The condition of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who is admitted at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences with chest infection, is stable and he is responding to the treatment, doctors attending him said on Sunday.
Speaking to reporters after the 75-minute meeting, Mayawati said she would reveal the contents of a letter she had written to the prime minister earlier in the week at an appropriate time.
Dr Singh played well on rhetoric; after playing dove, he satisfied the hawks too.
Union Minister Farooq Abdullah on Monday backed the Bharatiya Janata Party's demand for according the Bharat Ratna to former prime minister and veteran leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
In the midst of the poll heat, the Congress has heaped praise on A B Vajpayee to attack Narendra Modi, asking how can a person whom the tallest leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party "wanted removed" as the chief minister in the wake of Gujarat riots be the party's PM candidate.
Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad Yadav on Tuesday said he was in favour of extending reservation benefits to Muslims but emphasised that it should be based on social backwardness and 'not on the basis of religion'.
On January 29, the Central government had extended the ban imposed on the SIMI for five more years.
The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance lost power to the Congress-led alliance in the election despite its high-profile 'India Shining' media campaign.
Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee continued to be on ventilation on Saturday with his respiratory track infection remaining a cause of concern, doctors attending on him at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences said. "Vajpayee's condition is stable. His heart is stable but his lungs require support and that is why we are putting him on ventilation," Dr Sampath Kumar, head of Cardiac Thoracic Vascular Sciences of AIIMS, said.
