Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya has called for Aligarh to be renamed 'Harigarh', drawing parallels with the renaming of Ayodhya and Prayagraj. He also paid tribute to former CM Kalyan Singh and criticized the Samajwadi Party.
The two-time CM, who had also been the Rajasthan Governor, died at a Lucknow hospital on Saturday after prolonged illness.
'Mr Modi has the power and pre-eminence in the BJP-RSS to choose how long he wants to serve, and he is definitely going to want to contest in 2029.' 'He will only be 79, as old as Donald Trump now, and fitter,' observes Shekhar Gupta.
'The values for which he stood for are still a benchmark. He was a prominent leader of the Ram temple movement and did not hesitate to quit office, so that a grand temple for Lord Ram may be built in Ayodhya.'
Singh was the UP chief minister when the Babri mosque was demolished by a mob in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.
Pakistan may face a significant water shortage during the Kharif season due to reduced water supplies from India.
"Had there been no demolition, probably the courts too would have ordered status quo," he said then. And his last wish, he said, was to live till the temple comes up.
Former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Kalyan Singh was sworn-in as the 20th Governor of Rajasthan on Thursday. Chief Justice of Rajasthan high court Sunil Ambwani administered the oath of office to Singh at a ceremony held at Raj Bhawan.
A day after Kalyan Singh quit the Bharatiya Janata Party, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and general secretary Amar Singh met him amid indications that they may reach a political understanding ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
"Anyone, including Amar Singh, who has faith in party's policies and ideology is welcome to join us," Jankranti Party head Rajvir Singh, son of Kalyan Singh, told media-persons in Lucknow."Though there have been no talks with Amar Singh lately,we continue to have personal and family relations with him,"he said.
Amid growing speculation that former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh might be headed to his parent party, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders on Friday said that they would welcome his return to the saffron party.
Singh joined the party at the BJP headquarters in the presence of general secretaries Pramod Mahajan and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and UP leaders Kalraj Mishra and Vinay Katiyar.
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.
'Who knows what will happen tomorrow,' the Rashtriya Kranti Party leader told reporters.
The panel, which is probing the demolition of the Babri Masjid, rejected a plea to summon Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his deputy L K Advani.
Ending speculations about his return to the Bharatiya Janata Party, its former leader Kalyan Singh on Tuesday floated a new political outfit -- Jan Kranti Party -- on the occasion of his 77th birthday."Respecting the sentiments of my supporters, who suggested that rather than joining another party, we should form our own party, I today float the new party," said Singh.He made the announcement nearly two months after parting ways with Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh.
Kalyan Singh, who was the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister at the time of demolition of the Babri Masjid, on Tuesday suggested a negotiated settlement of the vexed Ram Janmbhomi-Babri Masjid tangle. Singh, who quit the BJP on Tuesday, said that when he was the chief minister, he had initiated steps to this effect but before a settlement could be reached, his government had to go.
Shown the door by Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and having been cold-shouldered by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a rudderless Kalyan Singh is now toying with the idea of launching a political party.
Dissident Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kalyan Singh on Sunday met Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav amid growing apprehensions that the BJP's 'mandir-mandal' face may change sides in the run up to the Lok Sabha polls. Sources in BJP said that the meeting could have been triggered due to Kalyan's presumption of disciplinary action against him.
'Ayodhya is a sacred pilgrim spot. Construction of a temple of Lord Ram is a matter of faith for crores of people. And Lord Ram himself is a symbol of faith for crores of people of the country'
Noting that such a revamp was all the more essential as the next general elections were only two years away, Singh said the party would have prepare its "soldiers and commanders for it."
Criticising the state government, she said it was only interested in "amassing wealth and shielding criminals."
Singh was the chief minister when the Babri Masjid was demolished in 1992.
Accusing SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav of ditching and insulting him, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh on Sunday said the party will be "wiped out" in the next assembly elections.
The Padma Bhushan was conferred on 17 personalities including N Chandrasekharan, chairman of Tata Sons, Krishna and Suchita Ella of Bharat Biotech, Cyrus Poonawalla, Satya Nadella, chairman of Microsoft, Sunder Pichai, chairman of Google.
Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh on Tuesday announced that he has resigned from the Bharatiya Janata Party. Singh is reportedly unhappy with the party top brass for sidelining him. His resignation comes in the wake of rumours that he might join the Samajwadi Party, after he met SP supremo Mulayam Singh a few days ago.
The court is conducting the trial of accused persons, including BJP leaders L K Advani, M M Joshi, Uma Bharti and others.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has had many leaders who are wrestlers, teachers and Lodhs. Dara Singh, once nominated to the Rajya Sabha, is a wrestler; Dr Murli Manohar Joshi is a teacher; Uma Bharati used to be the party's best-known Lodh, a powerful middle-class caste in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. But the party had only one leader who represented all three: Kalyan Singh.
'In Independent India's politics you will not find any leader of a political party who has not contested elections or not held a powerful post.' 'It was only Balasaheb who never contested elections or held a post.' On the occasion of Balasaheb Thackeray's 99th birth anniversary, close aide Subhash Desai recalls vignettes about the Shiv Sena founder.
Can ordinary citizens counter this backward march? Can peace activists ensure that the two communities retain their bonds? Do they have a choice, asks Jyoti Punwani.
The Samajwadi Party on Wednesday said that former Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kalyan Singh has neither joined the party nor is he being given party ticket for the forthcoming elections. "Mulayam Yadav Kalyan Singh ke raste pe nahi, Kalyan Mulayam ke raste pe hai (Mulayam is not following Kalyan's path, Kalyan is following in Mulayam's footsteps)," party General Secretary Amar Singh said, responding to criticism over the former Uttar Pradesh CM's association with the SP.
The one-time BJP stalwart, who for some years spearheaded the Ayodhya movement and was at the helm of UP affairs, when the 16th century Babri mosque was pulled down by Hindu 'karsewaks' on December 6, 1992, failed to mobilise support of more than 40-50 people .
The poll panel is likely to write to President Ram Nath Kovind to bring the matter to his cognisance.
A melodramatic event marked Kalyan Singh's formal return to the BJP as he merged his Rashtriya Kranti Party with the BJP, Sharat Pradhan reports
Terming the Bharatiya Janata Party as a "dead snake", former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and leader of Jan Kranti Party Kalyan Singh on Thursday claimed that he had turned down an invitation to return to his old party.
Notwithstanding Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari's reported view that certain leaders who quit should return to the party fold, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh is going ahead and completing formalities for launching his new political party next month.
Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh will officially make a return to the BJP fold at Narendra Modi's 'vijay shankhnad rally' in Lucknow on Sunday.
Electoral setbacks and thwarted ambition can have an unpredictable effect on leaders,, observes Aditi Phadnis.
Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Jan Kranti Party patron Kalyan Singh on Tuesday said he was returning to his parent party Bharatiya Janata Party and the date for his re-entry will be announced soon. "Several rounds of talks have already been held with state and national-level leaders and a final decision on it (re-induction) will be taken after a meeting with party chief Nitin Gadkari," he told reporters.
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