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.
On Wednesday, the prime minister had declared that Advani would lead the BJP in the next general election.
The real risk is that the core assumption -- that the votes for a candidate sponsored by an alliance will at least equal the sum total of its parts -- proves to be facile, observes T N Ninan.
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.
From the voter-level, traditionally anti-BJP, anti-Hindutva minorities and other secular voters would have an option, especially in the face of the mounting anti-incumbency against the ruling party -- as it happened in the 2001 assembly polls, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
A B Vajpayee and L K Advani head a list of 68 leaders of the Sangh Parivaar and bureaucrats held culpable by the Liberhan Commission for leading the country to the "brink of communal discord" over the Ayodhya issue. In a scathing indictment, the Commission said these leaders cannot be given the benefit of the doubt and exonerated of culpability.
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.
Calling Narendra Modi a "chest-thumping, self-proclaimed hero", Union Minister Sachin Pilot has said that it is not possible for the Gujarat leader to be like former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
The prime minister is Vikas Purush, while his deputy is Lauh Purush, party chief Venkaiah Naidu said.
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
'The India which was all about glamour and razzmatazz through which he could earn the trust of people of the other India, which was Bharat.'
"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.
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.
A former MP from Janjgir Lok Sabha constituency, Shukla left the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of assembly polls in 2013 and joined the Congress next year, alleging that she was sidelined by the state BJP leadership.
By keeping the Sanatana Dharma row alive and adding the Ayodhya temple consecration scheduled for January 22 and adding the free darshan promise from four polled states to the entire country, the BJP may have a self-fulfilling concoction, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
Speaking to reporters in Jammu, VHP international president Ashok Singhal said Vajpayee has weakened the country and has shown little regard for the Hindu sentiment
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