'Modi has to lead the BJP. There is no alternative,' a senior BJP leader tells Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt.
With the Janata Dal - United staying firm in its opposition to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi being made the National Democratic Alliance's prime ministerial candidate, Bharatiya Janata Party President Rajnath Singh on Saturday gave subtle hints that his party is ready to sort out any issues with its "old ally".
Bharatiya Janata Party's Delhi unit chief Vijay Goel on Saturday created a flutter with his remark that the next government at the Centre will be formed under L K Advani's leadership, a statement that comes amid growing clamour in the party to project Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate.
Claiming that it was "too late" for Narendra Modi to be saying that Gujarat riots had shaken him to the core, Union Minister Kapil Sibal on Sunday attacked Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate saying his recent comments in a blog were only a belated reaction before Lok Sabha polls.
With the rout in the year-end assembly elections, Congress has been left looking at the bottom of the barrel ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, with Narendra Modi breathing down its neck.
Senior leader L K Advani on Monday kept alive the suspense over his intentions of becoming the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate in the next elections, saying a decision will be taken by the party when the time comes.
The BJP on Thursday announced a seat-sharing arrangement with the Asom Gana Parishad, saying that it will contest eight of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in Assam while the regional party will field candidates in rest of the six constituencies.
They adopted a resolution moved by NDA convenor George Fernandes where the parties vowed to dislodge 'the anti-poor, anti-kisan, corrupt, non-performing and an internally paralysed UPA government' and secure a decisive mandate for the NDA in the next elections, senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh top brass on Tuesday held a meeting, lasting over five hours, to discuss issues of mutual concern but the prime ministerial candidate and the Ram temple at Ayodhya issues did not come up during the parleys.
The saffron party dubbed the Prime Minister as being "diffident and unable to run the government" as his Left allies are threatening to pull the rug beneath him. "He is frustrated and disappointed and is making these comments considering his own state of mind," said BJP vice president M Venkaiah Naidu. Singh had taken a dig at Advani's anointment as BJP's next prime ministerial candidate, saying it was done because the party feared danger from Gujarat CM Narendra Modi
There are enough indications that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, with a third term victory behind him, intends to set the pace of events inside the Bharatiya Janata Party at the national level, says Neerja Chowdhury.
The Congress Working Committee anointed Rahul Gandhi as party vice-president at the party's Chintan Shivir in Jaipur on Saturday. He is now the official number two in the Congress, paving the way for his projection as the party's prime ministerial candidate in the run up to the 2014 general elections.
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Monday took a dig at senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani, saying that an 'iron man' like him must be hurt that people have accepted Dr Manmohan Singh, whom he had termed as a 'weak' prime minister during the campaign for the Lok Sabha polls."Till yesterday, you were prime ministerial candidate and you were referring to Manmohan Singh as a weak prime minister.
Rediff takes a look at some of the tallest statues and how tall they stand in comparison.
Bharatiya Janata Party's PM-in-waiting works for 18 to 20 hours and managing him is a team of top bureaucrats and officers on special duty. Here's a look at Team Modi.
The crowd turned up in large numbers outside the BJP headquarters in New Delhi on Thursday to congratulate Narendra Modi. At least, they were clear in their mind on who will be BJP's prime ministerial candidate in the 2014 elections. K Akhter reports
Videos this week: Modi super win, India's shame in capital and more
Gujarati asmita may have resulted in a hat-trick for Modi, but can he really speak on the behalf of 1.2 billion Indians, asks Neena Vyas.
Narendra Modi, whose hat-trick in Gujarat could possibly pitchfork him as a prime ministerial candidate of BJP in 2014, has always remained a leader with a difference, a personality you may love or hate but cannot ignore.
As Narendra Modi appeared set for a hat-trick in Gujarat, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday parried questions on whether he will be the party's prime ministerial candidate in the next Lok Sabha elections.
The Congress party is thinking of ways to counter the BJP in Lok Sabha constituencies is it unlikely to win, reports Renu Mittal.
Ambani's Reliance has refineries at Jamnagar in Gujarat.
While many thought that the BJP will go in for a pre-poll alliance, it now appears that the party has decided to fight the elections on its own in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra.
The Telugu Desam president and a leading figure in the third front N Chandrababu Naidu has ruled out the possibility of any body being projected as the prime ministerial candidate of the third front before the elections.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday hit out at the Election Commission for allowing Rahul Gandhi to hold a road show in a Varanasi area where Narendra Modi was refused permission for a rally, saying it was done for "political reasons".
Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate L K Advani on Monday said that the National Democratic Alliance lost the 2004 general elections due to 'over confidence' and use of wrong slogans like 'India Shining'."The impression even among the opponents and foreign analysts was that we will win....but we lost...one, due to over-confidence and secondly, using some wrong slogans like India Shining," he said. Advani was then the deputy prime minister.
Named Saffron 1 -- two variants -- and Saffron 2 the phones will be available this Sunday and are priced between Rs 18k and Rs 24k
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Wednesday told mediapersons that his party was in alliance talks with the Bharatiya Janata Party.The alliance will be possible only if the BJP agreed to SP's conditions, Mulayam said, though he did not elaborate the conditions. He added that he had met BJP's prime ministerial candidate L K Advani and senior leader and former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to discuss the matter.
But the presidency of India then won't be the same, says author and columnist Shobhaa De in a no-holds-barred conversation.
The Bharatiya Janata Party may further delay the announcement of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the party's Prime Ministerial candidate till the assembly elections to Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan are over.
The Bharatiya Janata Party is likely to announce on Friday that Narendra Modi will be its candidate for prime minister, according to sources, despite strong opposition from party patriarch LK Advani.
Ridiculing the Congress and its allies for fearing him, BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi said in Kalyan on Monday that the ruling coalition is more concerned about stopping him than strategising to win the Lok Sabha election.
The BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the country needed a servantand not a ruler. Calling him a sevak, Modi said that if voted to power he would serve the country.
BJP's prime ministerial candidate L K Advani will be fighting the next general elections from his four-time Lok Sabha seat -- Gandhinagar --, but this time the saffron leader will have to face new people as the geography of the seat has changed due to the recent delimitation process. The Gujarat BJP leaders have started surveying the delimited constituency to ensure that their leader is elected from the seat for the fifth time.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yashwant Sinha has said there are many "capable" prime ministerial candidates in the party, including himself, but a decision on whether or not to project anybody for the coveted post would be taken before the Lok Sabha elections. Sinha also sought to downplay reports of differences between BJP leader L K Advani and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
Congress on Wednesday said Rahul Gandhi is the "future" of the party and the country, echoing senior leader and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's sentiments that he is going to be a "new leader" of the party.
Venkaiah Naidu, former president of the Bharatiya Janata Party, tells Gyan Verma why the party stalled Parliament, why Arvind Kejriwal will find it difficult to sustain a political party and that there is no dearth of prime ministerial candidates in BJP
Congress on Saturday attacked Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for his fast accusing him of "wasting" public money through his "drama" and said National Democratic Alliance would collapse if Modi was projected Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate.
Given the prevailing state of flux in the polity, it is early days yet to predict a presidential polarisation of the Modi versus Rahul variety. But it cannot be ruled out, Neerja Chowdhury
'Nitish Kumar has reverted to the 1990s model. The besetting sin of this type of ministry formation was a fundamental insult to democracy,' argues T V R Shenoy. 'Not only did it not inform the voter who the prime ministerial candidate was, but it also gloried in keeping out the largest party in the Lok Sabha.'
