New Delhi: The Congress on Saturday ruled out change of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the run up to next Lok Sabha elections but steered clear of questions whether he would again be at the helm if the UPA-III comes to power. In reply to questions about change of the Prime Minister soon and holding of early Lok Sabha elections, Congress spokesman PC Chacko said "please do not think of a change of the Prime Minister.. We have a strong Prime Minister".
He said "we have the time. Elections are far away. The question of leadership is not with us". Chacko's remarks came when reporters asked him about the possibility of Singh again becoming Prime Minister if UPA emerges victorious in next Lok Sabha elections.
The Prime Minister had sometime back neither ruled himself in or out of a third term. "Holding of early elections is out of question. Government is in a comfortable position. No plan for early elections. We have an agenda to implement", he said.
With the ninth anniversary of UPA scheduled on May 22, Chacko highlighted the achievements of the coalition in various sectors and targeted the opposition for having "obstruction as the only slogan" in the pro-people legislative agenda of the government. Replying to questions, he said Congress is for an early discussion and passage of the Food Security and Land Acquisition bills. "We are not against a special session of Parliament. It will have to be a unanimous
07:50 PM, May 18, 2013
Lucknow: Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma on Tuesday accused Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav of conniving with BJP leader LK Advani to bring down the Babri mosque in Ayodhya. Congress leader Verma said in Lucknow that after detaining BJP leaders like Advani and Vinay Katiyar at a guest house in Faizabad, Mulayam Singh Yadav, the then chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, had met them discreetly and it was...
03:26 AM, May 15, 2013
New Delhi: The BJP on Friday asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to call it a day and take rest by retiring from politics "in the evening of his life". Senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh told reporters in reply to a question that Manmohan Singh is underestimated as a politician and over-rated as an economist. "A comment was made on Dr Manmohan Singh by somebody several years back. I would not...
06:50 PM, Apr 26, 2013
Haridwar: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi found support in seers as yoga guru Ramdev on Friday backed and rooted for him in Haridwar. Modi, who inaugurated Ramdev's new school Acharya Kulam, said that India has been built by saints and religious leaders, and not by any politician. "I want to announce from this stage that not a single religious leader has ever asked for anything from me. Today I am...
04:48 PM, Apr 26, 2013
New Delhi: Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Prakash Karat has ruled out any possibility of his party supporting a Congress-led government at the Centre. Speaking to CNN-IBN National Bureau Chief Bhupendra Chaubey, the CPI(M) leader said there was a high possibility that a Third Front would be formed ahead of the next Lok Sabha elections. Here is the transcript of an excerpt from the interview: Bhupendra Chaubey: In...
10:26 AM, Apr 20, 2013
After Nitish Kumar's clear assertion that the JD(U) would not be comfortable with the BJP projecting Narendra Modi as the NDA's candidate for the position of Prime Minister, Shiv Sena has also echoed similar sentiments. Shiv Sena spokesperson Rahul Narvekar joined IBNLive readers for an interaction on the matter. Q. By opposing Modi are the allies trying to push BJP to name a weaker candidate and later squeeze BJP to...
05:44 PM, Apr 18, 2013
Mumbai: There seems to be more trouble for the National Democratic Alliance as the Shiv Sena has now said that the Bharatiya Janata Party should make it clear as to who will be its Prime Ministerial candidate. An editorial in the Shiv Sena mouthpiece, Saamna, says an NDA meeting should be called and a decision should be taken. In reference to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, the editorial further says...
09:20 AM, Apr 17, 2013
New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yashwant Sinha has vouched for senior party leader LK Advani to be the Prime Ministerial candidate. He said if Advani is available to be the PM candidate, it will end the debate on NDA's PM nominee. "Advaniji is the senior-most, most respected leader and if he is available to lead the party and government, then that should end all discussion. Everyone should fall in...
01:42 PM, Apr 15, 2013
New Delhi: Are the ties between the Janata Dal United and the Bharatiya Janata Party reaching breaking point over Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the Prime Ministerial candidate? Senior leaders from Bihar will meet party chief Rajnath Singh on April 18 in Delhi. The Bihar BJP leaders say Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's veiled threat over Narendra Modi is not acceptable. "The Chief Minister's attack on Narendra Modi is against...
11:22 AM, Apr 15, 2013
New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party is scrambling to tackle Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's ultimatum on its Prime Ministerial candidate. The Bihar BJP core group will meet party chief Rajnath Singh on April 18 in Delhi. The BJP will discuss Nitish's ultimatum on keeping out Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi from the PM race. Top state leaders of the BJP will join the meeting, including Sushil Modi, Mangal Pandey,...
09:55 AM, Apr 15, 2013
New Delhi: The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) drama played out on Sunday with the Janata Dal United (JDU) giving the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a year-end deadline to declare its Prime Ministerial candidate. By Sunday evening, the BJP hit back saying that the key NDA ally should rather focus on targeting the UPA than its own allies. Hoping to gain some advantage of this BJP-JD(U) squabble, the Bihar Congress tried...
07:52 AM, Apr 15, 2013
While speaking to Karan Thapar on Devil's Advocate, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Rajnath Singh ruled out an apology from Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for the 2002 Gujarat riots. Below is the full text of the transcript: Karan Thapar: Hello and welcome to Devil's Advocate. Could Narendra Modi be the great savior of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or its biggest problem? That is the key issue I shall...
08:30 PM, Apr 14, 2013
Rashid Alvi said it is NDA's internal matter to select LK Advani or Narendra Modi as its PM candidate, but there is not much of a difference between the two. ...
07:24 PM, Apr 14, 2013
Indore: The Congress on Sunday alleged that Narendra Modi was busy "marketing" himself for the post of Prime Minister, even though there was no consensus on the Gujarat Chief Minister within his own party. "With an intention to become Prime Minister, Modi is these days marketing himself despite the fact that his own party leaders are not unanimous in declaring his candidature for the top post," Congress General Secretary in-charge...
03:18 PM, Apr 14, 2013
New Delhi: The Janata Dal (United) on Sunday passed its political resolution. The party has asked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to announce the NDA's prime ministerial candidate before year end. The JD(U), in its resolution, said that it has been a tradition since the last two general elections that the NDA declares its PM candidate before the Lok Sabha elections. Laying down the criteria for PM candidate, the resolution...
01:26 PM, Apr 14, 2013
New Delhi: As its ally Janata Dal (United) prepares to adopt its crucial political resolution on Sunday, Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh has expressed hope that any anti-Narendra Modi resolution brought by the JD(U) would be amended. He added that it was not the party president but the BJP's Central Parliamentary Board which will decide on the prime ministerial candidate. Singh was speaking to Karan Thapar on Devil's Advocate....
07:35 AM, Apr 14, 2013
New Delhi: With JD(U) indicating that it does not have reservations against LK Advani being projected as Prime Ministerial candidate, the Congress on Saturday sought to raise its discomfiture saying there was "not much difference" between him and Narendra Modi. "I don't find much difference between LK Advani and Narendra Modi. They have same thought, same ideology", Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi said. At a press conference after the first day...
08:49 PM, Apr 13, 2013
New Delhi: The Janata Dal (United) on Saturday made it clear that there was no question of the party allying with the Congress even if the situation arose. "The Congress is not an ally. The BJP is our ally," JD(U) General Secretary KC Tyagi said at a press conference. Tyagi evaded questions on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, though he did not hesitate to say that he had failed to...
05:04 PM, Apr 13, 2013
As the two-day National Executive Meeting of the JD(U) began in New Delhi on Saturday, posters outside its office have surprised many. The poster which reads '2nd Mahabharata War 2014' shows two chariots - one of the UPA and the other of the NDA. The NDA chariot is shown being driven by Nitish Kumar, no BJP leader features in the poster. ...
11:49 AM, Apr 13, 2013
Hyderabad: Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) would fight the Andhra Pradesh Assembly polls and the 2014 Lok Sabha elections alone, party president K Chandrasekhar Rao said on Friday. "TRS politbureau today resolved to face the ensuing elections without having alliance with any party. After elections, we will move strategically to achieve separate Telangana," he told reporters. He said the candidates for elections would be finalised next month in consultation with a...
10:50 PM, Apr 12, 2013
