RSS chief against ideological untouchability

September 4th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat Friday met former prime minister Atal Bihari Vaypayee to inquire about his health and discuss the current political situation in the country. A statement issued by the RSS, the ideological mentor of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said Bhagwat met Vajpayee to know about his health and discuss contemporary issues.

August 23rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani's close aide, Sudheendra Kulkarni, on Sunday announced that he was quitting the party because of ideological differences with it.

August 21st, 2009 JAMMU - Rashtriya Sawayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Rao Bhagwat arrived here Friday on a three-day visit to review the functioning the state unit of his organisation. This is the first time Bhagwat is on an official visit after being named the chief of the RSS this year.

August 18th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The young generation should be put at the helm of affairs in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat said Tuesday, breaking his silence over the leadership crisis in the party. It is a universal rule that the young generation must replace the old generation, Bhagwat told television channel Times Now when asked about the aging top leadership of the BJP.

June 15th, 2009 LUCKNOW - Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Maywati has come under severe criticism from opposition leaders for having made derogatory remarks about Mahatma Gandhi. While addressing a meeting of MPs and legislators of her Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) here Saturday, Mayawati called the Father of the Nation a "natakbaaz" (fake).

May 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh on Friday put a dampener on speculations of any alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Squashing rumours of any talks of forging a post-poll alliance fuelled by his meeting with BJP president Rajnath Singh, Amar said, "It was not possible as there was an ideological difference between the two parties." "I don't think so because there is a core issue of difference between us and them.

May 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi Tuesday said his party had ideological differences with the Left parties but was confident of their support to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the post poll scenario. Stating that the 'field is open' for post-poll alliances, Rahul Gandhi said: 'We will do better than last time.

April 26th, 2009 NEW DELHI - With political equations in a flux and the Left parties seeking to play the role of kingmaker in the formation of the next government, the fate of the India-US nuclear deal and the trajectory of bilateral ties are being called into question. The anxieties about the shape of India-US relations primarily spring from the uncompromising opposition of Left parties to any strategic relationship with Washington.

April 14th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The nation on Tuesday paid rich tribute to Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar on his 118th birth anniversary.

April 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - The new Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief, Mohan Bhagwat, has said there was no opposition to the group within the country. Speaking here on Tuesday, Bhagwat said that nobody really opposed the RSS and if they did, it was just because of their own selfish motives.

March 19th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Third Front could ask the Congress to support it to form a government in a post-poll scenario, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash Karat has said. He also said the decision not to allow Jyoti Basu to become prime minister 13 years ago was not a historic blunder.

March 19th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Nothing remains constant in politics and equation keeps changing, CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat described his relationship with Manmohan Singh as a political one, not a personal one, and said the decision to not allow Jyoti Basu to become Prime Minister was not a historic blunder. In 1996, the CPM had refused to let Basu take the Prime Minister's oath at the head of a United Front government, something he later termed a "historic blunder".

February 15th, 2009 VADODARA - Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi said it was unfortunate that the country's political system 'fosters the dominance of one family', and India needs to be free of 'such mindset' so as to release 'tremendous energy for a vibrant democracy'. Speaking after unveiling the statue of Lok Nayak Jay Prakash Narayan here late Sunday, Modi emphasised the need to recognise the contributions of great Indian leaders.

February 1st, 2009 KATHMANDU - Nepal's Maoist Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, who won a battle against the nation's powerful royal family, is now finding it far more difficult to reform society and create the 'new Nepal' of his vision. The former guerrilla chief's public pledge last week to ban dowry and untouchability in a bid to spruce up his tarnished image has come a cropper with his people turning a deaf ear to it.

December 27th, 2008 NEW DELHI - The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Sunday said it would not support any party to form the government in Jammu and Kashmir due to 'ideological differences' with them. 'There is no question of supporting either the Congress or Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) or the National Conference in Jammu and Kashmir,' BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said as the state headed for another hung legislative assembly.