'Think about how he would have handled Hyderabad, and JNU. He would have been very cross if he found two of his Cabinet ministers weighing in on the side of the ABVP.' 'And if Rohith Vemula still killed himself, he would have been the first to speak out in anguish and empathy rather than deny he was a Dalit.' 'And JNU, he would have simply said something like, 'let the boys speak, then they will grow up and join the IAS).' 'A good idea, when in crisis, is to apply the 'Vajpayee test' to your actions,' says Shekhar Gupta.
Ruling out any future alliance with the National Democratic Alliance, National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah on Friday said his party was part of the dispensation when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was at the helm, but not now.
One hopes the new Lok Sabha will mark a break from a dismal tradition -- lack of interest in defence and security policies, argues Colonel Anil A Athale.
Vajpayee had travelled to Lahore in a bus from India in 1999 and started a peace initiative with Pakistan in 2004.
Mole issue: PIL against Vajpayee, Jaswant
'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.'
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'.
Vajpayee's statement comes as a setback to Bharti, who had himself incurred the wrath of the entire second generation\nleadership in the party earlier.
The Bhartiya Janata Party may have forgotten its one time stalwart and ailing former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. But the 2014 Lok Sabha election has prompted party president Rajnath Singh to profusely remember the tallest BJP leader, whose five-term long stint as MP from Lucknow obviously comes in handy for Singh to make the capital of Uttar Pradesh his new political turf.
'The BJP is racing against its opponents by putting a chain on their legs.'
In a bid to evolve a political consensus before the bilateral talks, the United Progressive Alliance government has begun discussions with opposition leaders as part of which Natwar Singh had met Leader of Opposition L K Advani on Thursday.
Both leaders should take note of their age and remove themselves from active command of the party, RSS chief K S Sudarshan said.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani has said he had some political differences with his long time colleague and former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpyee especially on the Ayodha movement and the removal of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi after the Godhra riots.
'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.
Asking people to vote out the Congress, he said, "Punjab will see a change and when our alliance comes to power, we will bring a check to the rising prices."
The old Parliament building will now be known as 'Samvidhan Sadan', Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said on Tuesday as the functioning of Parliament shifted to its new building in New Delhi.
The situation in the Banbhoolpura area in Haldwani, the epicentre of the mob violence last week, was normal on Monday as additional troops of paramilitary forces were deployed to maintain law and order, officials said.
Replying to a letter from former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on June 15, Singh emphasised there was no room for ambiguity regarding India's position on Jammu and Kashmir in its discussions with Pakistan or actions.
The new BJP dispensation under party president Nitin Gadkari is likely to continue with Atal Bihari Vajpayee as chairman of NDA and adopt an "accommodative approach" towards out-going senior office-bearers at the Centre and in states by giving them other responsibilities.
The Punjab Kings are all set for their third game in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League against the Lucknow Super Giants at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow.
On Wednesday, the prime minister had declared that Advani would lead the BJP in the next general election.
Health and Family Welfare Minister Sushma Swaraj termed reports about AIIMS refusing to admit the commando as 'unfounded'.
"At one time, Vajpayee was talking about 'aar paar ki ladayi' (fight to the finish)...at another point he said talks with Pakistan would not be possible till cross-border terrorism was stopped," Gandhi said.
The controversy over a derogatory statement, made against former prime minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee by a Congress member during the debate over the Liberhan Commission's report in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, is not likely to die down soon with the party threatening to stall Parliament till he apologises for his remarks. "I am today both sad and angry," said deputy Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj.
Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said he respected veteran BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee as a senior politician and did not know whether the Liberhan Commission has done the right thing or not by naming him in its report on the Babri demolition.
Targeting Modi over inflation, Priyanka called him a "mehengai" man.
The BJP will enter this election, as it does every election, as if it is fighting to prevent a 2004-style defeat. This is a party that wins big because it always behaves as if its back is to the wall, predicts Mihir S Sharma.
The prime minister is Vikas Purush, while his deputy is Lauh Purush, party chief Venkaiah Naidu said.
The 17th Lok Sabha, which was dissolved on June 5, did not have a deputy speaker for its full term, and it was the second consecutive term of the lower house without an LoP.
Vajpayee had, on Sunday, asserted that he would consider attending the SAARC summit if Pakistan completely stopped cross-border terrorism before the event. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Maharashtra BJP chief and former deputy chief minister Gopinath Munde asked reporters not to read too much into Thackeray's absence at Tuesday night's Sena-BJP dinner meeting.
Modi spoke to the BJP's longest serving president, who is credited with crafting the party's rise through the 90s when it came to power for the first time as the head of coalition governments under Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and congratulated him.
"I request you to please see that my friends in NDA join the House and take part in the proceedings," Somnath Chatterjee said in a letter to the former prime minister.
Politely decline to be prime minister, and hand the baton to someone else in the BJP -- like Sonia did to Manmohan Singh -- advises Krishna Prasad.
Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences following fever and chest congestion, on Thursday showed signs of improvement, doctors said. "He doesn't have fever and his lower respiratory track infection is much better. His condition is stable," AIIMS Medical Superintendent Dr D K Sharma said. The 84-year-old BJP leader was admitted to AIIMS on Tuesday night following complaints of fever and respiratory infection.
