Advani begins election campaign in Jharkhand

August 23rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - BJP spokesperson Balbir Punj on Sunday said that Sudheendra Kulkarni's move to leave would not affect the party Describing Kulkarni as a "valuable colleague", Punj said: "If Kulkarni feels that he is uncomfortable in BJP and he has taken a decision to leave the party, well, that is his decision. This decision of his is not going to affect the BJP." Another BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said Kulkarni has not been a member of the BJP since 2005.

August 21st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Breaking his decade-long silence over the hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane to Kandahar in Afghanistan, former External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh on Friday sought to embarrass senior BJP leader L K Advani further by saying that he (Jaswant Singh) "covered" up for him (Advani) when he said that the former Home Minister was not aware that he was going to Kandahar with three terrorists in 1999. He also said Advani was aware of the decision to release of the terrorists in exchange for freedom of over 160 hostages kept in the Indian Airlines plane that was hijacked.

April 19th, 2009 RANCHI - Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's elder brother, Narendra Dhoni joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Sunday and started campaigning for the party's candidate in the Jharkhand capital. The elder Dhoni joined the BJP at a simple ceremony at the party's state head office Sunday afternoon.

April 19th, 2009 LUCKNOW - A grand Ram temple in Ayodhya will become a reality if the Bharatiya Janata Party is voted to power, BJP prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani told an election rally here Sunday.

April 18th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Bharatiya Janata Party leader Varun Gandhi met senior BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani on Saturday for the first time since his release from the Etah District Jail on Thursday. During their meeting, Advani reportedly told Varun to respect the undertaking he had put before the Supreme Court.

April 13th, 2009 THIRUVANTHAPURAM - Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L K Advani on Monday asked Congress President Sonia Gandhi to apologise for her critical remarks on the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in a recent election meeting in Jharkhand. Addressing a press conference here, Advani said that he was shocked to hear Gandhi's statement that, "we are in greater danger from people inside than from foreign terrorists entering India".

April 13th, 2009 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani Monday asked Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to apologise for her statement that there was a greater risk from parties within the country than from terrorists, saying that it was intended as a 'slander' to the BJP.

March 31st, 2009 RANCHI - Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and party general secretary Rahul Gandhi will visit Jharkhand to campaign for party candidates in the Lok Sabha polls. Rahul Gandhi is arriving in Jharkhand Wednesday and will address two public rallies, while Sonia Gandhi will campaign in the state next week, Rabindra Singh, spokesperson of the state Congress told reporters.

March 30th, 2009 RANCHI - The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seems desperate to gain ground again in Jharkhand, which was once considered a party bastion, as senior party leaders are doing everything possible to woo voters. While Sushma Swaraj has been made election in-charge, prime ministerial aspirant L.K.

March 27th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A two-member team of the Election Commission (EC) headed by Naveen Chawla will visit Jharkhand and Chattisgarh today to review the poll preparedness for the coming Lok Sabha polls. Chawla, who would be accompanied by Deputy Election Commissioner J P Prakash, would meet representatives of all recognised political parties at the office of the CEO soon after his arrival in Raipur on Friday evening.

March 26th, 2009 ITANAGAR - Senior Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) leader L K Advani is on a visit to Arunachal Pradesh today to boost his party's election prospects in the state. Advani will address a rally at Sepa in East Kameng District and meet with state party leaders and members of the parliamentary constituency.

March 7th, 2009 RANCHI - A worried Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani Saturday asked leaders of his party in Jharkhand to set aside their differences and gear up for the Lok Sabha election.

March 6th, 2009 RANCHI - The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) senior leader L.K. Advani will Friday kick off the election campaign in Jharkhand, a state from where the party has no member in the Lok Sabha.

January 7th, 2009 RANCHI - Jharkhand Chief Minister and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief Shibu Soren Thursday lost a key assembly by-election he needed to win to remain in his post, officials said. Soren lost from Tamar constituency by about 9,000 votes to Raja Peter of the Jharkhand Party, a member of the ruling alliance led by the JMM, Election Commission officials said.

January 2nd, 2009 RANCHI - The campaign for the by-election in Jharkhand's Tamar constituency, from where Chief Minister Shibu Soren is seeking election, ended Saturday. There are 15 candidates for Monday's election.