Onkar Singh, a valuable member of the Rediff.com team over the years, breathed his last on January 13. Syed Firdaus Ashraf, who knew him intimately, remembers the ultimate newsman.
In an indication of the growing clout of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the Bharatiya Janata Party, senior party leaders, including L K Advani and Arun Jaitley, have decided to attend his three-day fast starting this Saturday for peace, unity and harmony in the state.
Expressing serious concern about the recent attack on a Pakistani naval base, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Thursday said India should take serious note of the incident, which raises questions about whether terrorist elements were trying to make the neighbouring country a 'jihadi state'. "The attack on Pakistan's Mehran naval base is a matter of concern. The attack in which ten Pakistani jawans were killed is not a minor terrorist attack," Advani said.
Welcoming the Supreme Court order in the Gulbarga society case, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday said it has vindicated the party's stand that there is no shred of evidence against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the case relating to the 2002 riots in the state.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has decided in principle not to file any fresh case from the Liberhan commission report which indicted 68 people including Bharatiya Janata Party stalwarts Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani for demolition of the Babri Masjid, but will go into details of some incidents as pointed out by the Union home ministry.
An accused in the case of planting a bomb on Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani's yatra route has filed a petition in the Madras high court bench in Madurai, seeking a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the matter, alleging that he was falsely implicated in the case. Hakeem of Jaihindpuram, who moved the court, expressed fear that the police could "resort to extra judicial killing of some accused" to cover up their alleged lacunae in the probe.
The Bharatiya Janata Party Thursday went on the offensive on the cash-for-vote scam with senior leader L K Advani hailing as "whistle-blowers" the two former party MPs jailed in the scam and declaring that if they are guilty then he too should be sent behind bars.
Can a corrupt revenue system be trusted to keep confidences when oodles of money are involved, asks Mahesh Vijapurkar
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday launched a campaign against Karnataka Governor H R Bhardwaj demanding his immediate recall and knocked at the doors of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who gave an assurance that "nothing unconstitutional" will be done.
Terming the situation in Jammu and Kashmir as "alarming", Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani said the state administration had "completely collapsed" and the United Progressive Alliance government was about to "capitulate" before Pakistan- supported secessionists.
A move is afoot to extend the session of Parliament by three days from December 27 to 29 after a five day break from December 22, when it was scheduled to conclude, to facilitate adequate time for consideration of the Lokpal Bill. The Lokpal Bill is expected to be brought in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal has sounded Bharatiya Janata Party Parliamentary Party leader L K Advani on the move and has promised to get back.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Sunday made it clear that though Team Anna has a right to voice its differences on various aspects of Lokpal Bill, the final word lies with Parliament on passing laws.
Modi has a real challenge if the allegations of corruption pick up momentum. Modi was struggling to improve his image with the minorities but now he will have to convince the majority that his deals were clean and he is above board, says Sheela Bhatt.
Singh, who was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh when the 16th-century structure was razed on December 6 in 1992, was first taken in judicial custody by the court after he appeared before it in response to the summons in the demolition case.
Five years after courting controversy for praising MA Jinnah, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani still seems to be haunted by it as he remarked that he had "personally" experienced what the Pakistan founder would have gone through by advocating for a secular state.
The issue of black money dominated in Lok Sabha on Wednesday with the Opposition asking the government to bring back an estimated Rs 25 lakh crore stashed away illegally in foreign banks and reveal the identity of depositors.
In keeping with an announcement made by party leader L K Advani, Bharatiya Janata Party MPs from both Houses of Parliament on Friday submitted declarations to their respective presiding officers stating that they do not have any illegal money stashed in foreign bank accounts.
Rare pictures of Advani taking a break in Kodagu, a beautiful district in Karnataka.
Sharpening its attack on Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday demanded that he step down owning "moral responsibility" for the 2G spectrum scam.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Sunday received support from an unexpected quarter when senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani described as "highly uncomplimentary" some remarks made by Wikileaks editor Julian Assange about him.
The National Democratic Alliance on Monday gave separate privilege notices in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha against Sports Minister Ajay Maken's statement on the Commonwealth Games.
After a CAG report rapped the Delhi government for irregularities in CWG projects and dragged the prime minister's office in the 2G spectrum case, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday appeared all set to raise these issues in Parliament and even force adjournment of the two Houses.
The Parliamentary panel examining the nuclear liability bill on Wednesday decided to seek an extension for submitting its report on the controversial legislation. The decision to seek an extension came after top Bharatiya Janata Party leaders including L K Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley had a meeting with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee."The committee cannot hustle through the proceedings," said BJP leader Jaswant Singh.
The Congress on Tuesday said that Bharatiya Janata Party veteran L K Advani's remarks that Anna Hazare's fast achieved more in four days than what the opposition had in two months was a "sad reflection on the opposition party".
The ruling came after the Apex court heard a petition in the Babri mosque demolition case opposing the dropping of criminal conspiracy charges against Bharatiya Janata Party veterans.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Wednesday said he wanted his party's ex-MPs who had received bail in the cash-for-vote case to be declared innocent and honoured in Parliament for "strengthening democracy."
"All the petitioners are admitted on bail on furnishing of a personal and a surety bond of Rs two lakh each," said Justice Mehta, while allowing the bail pleas of the five jailed accused, which included two former BJP lawmakers Faggan Singh Kulaste and Mahabir Singh Bhagora.
The Delhi police on Monday did not oppose the bail petitions of the five jailed accused in the 2008 cash-for-vote case, including two former Bharatiya Janata Party Members of Parliament and L K Advani's former aide Sudheendra Kulkarni, besides the anticipatory bail plea of a party MP in the Delhi high court. Justice M L Mehta reserved the order on the pleas of the six accused till November 16.
In an embarrassment to the Bharatiya Janata Party gernment in Madhya Pradesh, the Supreme Court on Wednesday decision of the state authorities to allot at throwaway prices land to a trust named after late party leader Kushabhau Thakre.
The Bhartiya Janata Party Parliamentary Board in New Delhi on Thursday unanimously decided that there was a need for a change in the party leadership in Karnataka, and advised Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa to resign from his office.
Calling upon "honest" people within the Congress to act the way VP Singh had done on Bofors, Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Wednesday said they should show the same courage in getting back black money stashed abroad by Indians.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Tuesday said he suffered from an inferiority complex due to the oratorical skills of his party colleague Atal Bihari Vajpayee and now has the same problem when he hears Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj.
L K Advani had a greater chance of being accepted as a consensus choice for PM had he given up his claim for the post, feels Neerja Chowdhury
Demand for the removal of Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Saturday emerged from within the Bharatiya Janata Party in the wake of the Lokayukta indicting him in his report on illegal mining in the state.
Stating that the focus of Parliament's winter session is bound to be on black money, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Saturday asked the government to reveal names of three members of Parliament who figure in the income tax probe list in connection with the Swiss bank accounts.
Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yet again, senior BJP leader L K Advani said he expected the Prime Minister to have the last word in a democracy but it was not so.
The Delhi high court on Monday sought a response from the police on the bail pleas of four accused, including Sudheendra Kulkarni, a former aide of Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani, and two ex-BJP Members of Parliament in the cash-for-vote scam. Issuing a notice to the Delhi police, Justice M L Mehta sought its response by November 14 on the bail pleas of Kulkarni, former BJP MPs Faggan Singh Kulaste, Mahabir Singh Bhagora and alleged BJP activist Suhail Hindustani.
"I had said in April that corruption will be fought, but I would not tolerate it in my own party. We have been strict where corruption is concerned. We acted immediately when the Lokayukta report on illegal mining was out." -- That was the extent to which the veteran leader addressed the corruption issue in Karnataka.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani's rally in Bengaluru is, in comparison to all previous rallies organised by the party, turning out to be a toned-down event.
"Even when Vajpayee is ill in hospital, I was the first one to visit him, since the Congress believes he has contributed to the country," he said.
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