"He [Vajpayee] did not do anything effective. I had sent him letters. I had talked to him directly," Narayanan said in a freewheeling interview to Congress MLA P T Thomas carried in a recent issue of Malayalam magazine Manava Samskriti.
The prime minister said public opinion in India and Pakistan should lead politicians to 'pragmatic and acceptable' solutions to their problems.
Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who is undergoing treatment at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, is fully conscious and is breathing on his own, a senior doctor said on Sunday. "He is breathing on his own and he is fully conscious," Dr Sampath Kumar, chief of the Cardio Thoracic Vascular Sciences Department at the hospital, said. Vajpayee's basic parameters like heart, kidney, liver and blood pressure were normal and he had recovered from pneumonia.
The outfit's chief also took the English press to task for apparently keeping the Gujarat riots 'alive'.
The prime minister will arrive in Islamabad on Saturday to attend the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation summit.
The coming weeks are sure to have a lot of drama unfolding in Maharashtra, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
There is no use of the BJP targeting the likes of Mamata Banerjee and M K Stalin, directly by the party's political bosses, both in Delhi and the respective state capitals, or even using the Raj Bhavans to fire those salvos from. Successive elections have proved that it's counter-productive, if anything. But the BJP is yet to understand it, acknowledge it, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
His meeting with Vajpayee was described as a 'courtesy call'. Manmohan Singh called on the President to inform him about the Cabinet decision to request him to address both Houses of Parliament on June 7.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi, whose stature has touched a new high after declining one of the most powerful jobs in the world, looked elated.
In switching over, Nitish has sent out a message that if he could not now become the NDA's PM, then he would need to stay on as CM at the very least, which a third term for Modi would not let him have, N Sathiya Moorthy points out.
The golden run of "Slumdog Millionaire" at the Oscars and A R Rahman's double win brought smiles on the face of ailing former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee who watched the awards at the AIIMS' ICU and even gestured to the staff to have a look at the television.
'Vajpayee is the tallest leader of the BJP...' Venkaiah Naidu said, adding that the party held him in 'high esteem'.
Vajpayee, now chairman of the BJP Parliamentary Party, said he and his party colleagues will play the role of a constructive opposition, raising important issues in the interest of the people in Parliament.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has threatened to invoke provisions of POTA against the Union minister for his speech allegedly supporting the LTTE.
Some have been cherry-picked to assert the BJP's supremacy over its allies or, significantly, its leaders who charted an independent course in the recent past.
"The pneumonia is under control with the prognosis being good. Gradually his oxygenation (amount of oxygen in blood purified by the lungs) level has shown improvement and there is no spread of pneumonia," Head of AIIMS Cardiac Thoracic Vascular Sciences Department Sampath Kumar said. The 84-year-old leader was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday last with complaints of fever and chest congestion. Doctors later found that he was suffering from pneumonia.
Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and one of the most-respected politicians across parties will be conferred the Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian award, today.
The condition of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences following respiratory infection and fever, was stable on Wednesday. The 84-year-old Bharatiya Janata Party leader was admitted to AIIMS on Tuesday night. He is being given appropriate treatment to deal with complaints of fever and respiratory infection, Dr Sharma said. Vajpayee is also suffering from hypertension and diabetes, he added.
He was in Mumbai to flag off the Deccan Odyssey, via video conferencing from the Darbar Hall of the Raj Bhavan.
The prime minister said the atmosphere is changing in the state.
With over 50,000 ardent fans proudly sporting their Team India jerseys, the atmosphere was electric as they rallied behind skipper Rohit Sharma and his team
Atal (Bihari Vajpayee), Advani and Joshi have contributed a lot for the BJP to reach where it is now, he said.
Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is likely to be discharged tomorrow from AIIMS as doctors have today declared him fit to go home after 26 days of stay at the Intensive Care Unit.
The deputy prime minister's comments come after the prime minister's remarks that he was 'fit and ready' for elections.
Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj expressed disappointment over former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee not getting the Bharat Ratna this year, saying the Bharatiya Janata Party was expecting it. She also said the sanctity of these awards should be maintained as even some failures have been conferred with the honour.
Highlighting India's achievements in the field of information technology, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Thursday suggested an "effective alliance" between India and China in the IT sector.
Share your thoughts on the PM's contribution to the change in India's outlook.
He was responding to a suggestion made by Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav in the Lok Sabha.
'They hate him so much that if PM Modi says the Sun rises in the east the Congress will say the Sun rises in the west.'
The prime minister also said BJP's rivals would not be able to cobble up a coalition despite making attempts.
Police, however, said a link between the social media post and the assault has not been established yet.
The BJP leadership too has rallied behind Vajpayee, saying he would remain the party's undisputed leader.
The government told Portugal on December 12 that the gangster would not be given capital punishment if he were extradited to India.
The prime minister, however, refused to disclose the date of the reshuffle.
