Suggesting that Muslims have contributed to Narendra Modi's victory in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, SP leader Azam Khan, who had indulged in a vitriolic attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party leader, said they had proved that they were a "secular" community.
Hema Malini and Shaina NC have also been omitted from the group.
The saffron party which has a lot at stake in the last two phases of polling scheduled for March 4 and 8 has moved its war room to Varanasi, entrusting Union ministers and senior leaders with the task of strengthening the campaign with the prime minister in the vanguard.
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati and other senior politicians on Sunday cast their votes in the third phase of Uttar Pradesh elections and claimed that their parties will form the next government.
'The standing committee on defence was flagging what the services had said.' 'As a soldier, General Khanduri might have felt that it was his duty to point this out in the greater good of India,' points out Aditi Phadnis.
Four junior ministers - Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Sanjiv Kumar Balyan, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Mahendra Nath Pandey - have resigned ahead of the rejig.
Ugly scenes were witnessed in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday when Bharatiya Janata Party and Trinamool Congress members came to the verge of a clash over the Railway Budget whose withdrawl was demanded by members from West Bengal.
The Rashtrapati Bhavan has come out with a communiqu announcing distribution of portfolios of the ministers sworn-in on Monday in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's council of ministers:
The SP candidates in these seats include Mulayam Singh Yadav's daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav and three ministers, one of whom was recently sacked.
'The days when less government, more governance were spoken of are well and truly behind us.' 'More government, it is now believed, means more governance,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
A woman Indian Administrative Service officer, who had clamped down on illegal mining and resolutely taken head on the powerful sand mafia in Uttar Pradesh, has been suspended barely 10 months after she got her first posting in the state.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assets worth Rs 1.26 crore while Defence and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley stands out as the richest minister with assets totalling Rs 72.10 crore.
Twenty-four girls were rescued from a shelter home in Deoria in Uttar Pradesh after allegation of sexual exploitation of the inmates came to light a few days ago.
On the eve of the final phase of the Uttar Pradesh elections, Rediff.com's Aslam Hunani reviews the political landscape in the epicentre and beyond.
An estimated 57.03 per cent voters cast their ballots on Saturday in the sixth phase of the Uttar Pradesh elections covering 49 Assembly seats, including Mau, where gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari is in the fray.
Around 1.72 crore voters, including 94.60 lakh men and 77.84 lakh women, are eligible to cast their votes in this round to decide the fate of 635 candidates.
All the BJP's present leaders from UP put together cannot win the state for the party. So how about an out-of-the-box leader like Subramanian Swamy, asks Nazarwala, the man who called right the 2007 and 2012 UP elections.
Notwithstanding L K Advani's resignation, BJP President Rajnath Singh made it clear that there will be no going back on the decision to appoint Narendra Modi as campaign committee chief.
Portfolios of more than half-a-dozen ministers are expected to be changed.
Full list of the rejigged Union Council of Ministers
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Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi will contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.
The BJP sees investments, both foreign and domestic, as their pathways to political power and not the construction of the Ram temple or a nationwide ban on beef. It will have no option but to let commerce prevail over religious sentiments, says Amulya Ganguli.
On the eve of the sixth and penultimate phase of the marathon Uttar Pradesh elections, Rediff.com's Aslam Hunani reports on what's at stake.
The entire campaign in Lucknow is based on Narendra Modi -- there is little mention of the BJP candidate, a certain Rajnath Singh. Some locals wonder, 'Rajnathji is not coming to campaign in Lucknow. How will he take care of this city after he wins?' Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com reports from Lucknow.
UP now has 16 ministers, the maximum from any state, in an apparent bid to keep the Dalit and other backward class votebank content.
The theme of the reshuffle is to fulfill Modi's earlier promise of 'maximum governance, minimum government.' Some key ministries are likely to be merged.
Bharatiya Janata Party MP Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday defied a ban on his election meeting in Lucknow by addressing it and accused the SP government of following a communal agenda.
Narendra Modi's stamp was written all over as the Bharatiya Janata Party announced its election campaign committee for 2014 polls on Friday including top leaders Murli Manohar Joshi, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley who will work under him.
In the 2012 election, the BJP's performance was the poorest in Purvanchal, winning only 12 of the region's 112 seats. Will 2017 be different? Will the party ride on Varanasi MP Narendra Modi's charisma?
'While Piyush Goel, Dharmendra Pradhan, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and a clutch of former bureaucrats including R K Singh, Hardeep Singh Puri and K J Alphons are loyal BJP members, none of them fit the mould of party apparatchiks.' 'In fact, many of the latter kind have been shown the door or have been given reduced charges.' 'That goes to show the prime minister's comfort level in dealing with professionals and administrators and the trust he reposes in them,' says Shreekant Sambrani.
'Politics is not a post for retired people to enjoy.'
According to community leaders, Rajnath Singh has filled party posts with Thakurs and pushed Brahmins to the margins. Archis Mohan reports
BJP-led govt will need regional parties' support in Upper House to get legislation cleared. Archis Mohan reports
Many in the Bharatiya Janata Party feel that internal democracy in the party is being stifled
Kirti Azad, a known detractor of Jaitley, egged on the Congress to seek a time-bound SIT probe.
PM Modi on Friday pitched for a BJP govt in UP to promote politics of development but skipped any mention of the raging controversy surrounding Dalits.
In the third reshuffle since coming to power, Prime Minister Modi raised the strength of his Council of Ministers from 73 to 76.
The Varanasi versus Azamgarh story is about the fears and insecurities of two of our strongest leaders, Narendra Modi and Mulayam Singh Yadav, says Sheela Bhatt.
'If the BJP wants to build a minimally inclusive and secure society, in which vulnerable groups and religious minorities don't feel persecuted, then the Sangh Parivar, the party and its government must change their ways. Or else, they risk dividing India further -- violently and irreparably -- for narrow political ends,' argues Praful Bidwai.
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