BJP distances itself from key strategist’s comments

October 8th, 2009 National Democrats absent from NYC mayoral raceNEW YORK — A Democrat is struggling to unseat the mayor of the nation's largest city, but top party leaders are staying on the sidelines. The Democratic National Committee has said nothing about William Thompson Jr.'s uphill battle to unseat Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the popular billionaire who has spent $64.8 million of his own money on the race, or 16 times what Thompson has spent.

October 7th, 2009 Gov. Pawlenty headlining Iowa GOP event next monthNEW YORK — Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty will travel to the Iowa next month to headline a state Republican gathering.

September 28th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Actor-turned BJP politician Shatrughan Sinha has refused to apologise or retract his comments on Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi. It may be recalled that on Sunday, Sinha had openly praised Gandhi in Nagpur, describing him as a well brought up person who had a bright future before him.

September 22nd, 2009 Patrick wants to do no harm in replacing KennedyBOSTON — Massachusetts Gov. Deval (deh-VAHL') Patrick isn't just thinking about who can represent the state in Washington as he considers a temporary replacement for the late Sen.

August 19th, 2009 Milwaukee mayor to make 1st comments since beatingMILWAUKEE — Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett plans to make his first public comments since being beat up by a man after answering a grandmother's cries for help. The 55-year-old mayor was attacked by the man as he tried to help the woman and her 1-year-old granddaughter near the Wisconsin State Fair on Saturday.

July 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Rail travel in India just got more attractive for Gen-X and women. The easy on the pocket special trains Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee announced in her budget speech have been cheered by youth and women.

July 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee Thursday introduced dedicated air-conditioned trains at affordable tariff for the youth, terming them as an asset for the country. I will run Yuva trains dedicated specifically for the young generation, Banerjee said in her budget speech in parliament Friday.

June 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Air travel on Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines has become costlier, with both carriers Wednesday increasing fuel surcharge on tickets by Rs.400 on all domestic sectors. Attributing the decision to an increase in aviation fuel prices, Jet said the fuel surcharge would be applicable on all Jet Airways, Jet Airways Konnect and JetLite flights from Wednesday.

June 11th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The beleaguered Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sank deeper into a crisis Wednesday with its veteran leaders criticising key election strategists for publicly blaming others for the party's poll debacle. Reliable sources told IANS that senior leader Jaswant Singh, who has written a letter to BJP president Rajnath Singh about the blame game, asserted again at a meeting of the party's core group that it would be difficult to run the organisation if the poll managers themselves were now washing dirty linen through articles in the media.

May 7th, 2009 NEW DELHI / JAISALMER - As hundreds of thousands of people voted in the national capital on Thursday despite scorching heat, several visually impaired voters also exercised their franchise and voted joyfully. Polling booths with electronic voting machines (EVMs) in Braille were specially set up for the visually handicapped voters, the fact which fascinated these special voters turning out to vote in big number.

April 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - While most Lok Sabha seats have a fair amount of urban and rural areas for politicians to cover during campaigns, Chandigarh enjoys the unique distinction of being essentially an urban one. The 114-sq km union territory - which is the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana and was designed in post-independence India by French architect Le Corbusier - has just one Lok Sabha seat.

March 27th, 2009 LUCKNOW - Under the poll panel scanner for his alleged disparaging remarks against the Mainpuri district magistrate, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav Friday said he had not made any derogatory comments about the woman IAS officer and his party always believed in equality for women. 'I have not not made any derogatory comment about the district magistrate and the Samajwadi Party has always believed in equality for women and women empowerment,' Yadav told reporters here.

March 19th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Caught in a bind over the incendiary hate Muslim speeches by its Pilibhit candidate Varun Gandhi, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Wednesday distanced himself from the controversy and said it would wait for the Election Commission's view before initiating action against him. 'The BJP disapproves and dissociates itself from the statements attributed to Mr Varun Gandhi,' said party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad.

March 18th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Wednesday said it has dissociated itself from the statements attributed to its Pilibhit candidate Varun Gandhi. 'The BJP disapproves and dissociates itself from the statements attributed to Mr Varun Gandhi,' party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad told a news conference here.

February 28th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Congress president Sonia Gandhi Saturday appointed former union minister Jairam Ramesh as the party's co-ordinator for the coming Lok Sabha elections. 'The Congress president has approved the appointment of Jairam Ramesh as co-ordinator for Lok Sabha elections-related affairs,' a statement released by Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi said.