India

New Delhi, May 17: The BJP Parliamentary Party will meet on May 20 to formally elect Narendra Modi as its leader, a formality before his anointment as Prime Minister. This was decided a meeting of the Parliamentary Board, the highest decision-making body of the party chaired by BJP chief Rajnath Singh and attended by Modi, L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Sushma Swaraj and other top leaders. In a

New Delhi, May 16: The heartening mandate for the BJP under his leadership has strengthened Narendra Modi’s resolve for a free hand to choose his team of ministers and assign portfolios, senior BJP leaders conceded on Friday. Without appearing to be hard-headed, Modi, who is likely to be sworn in as the Prime Minister on or before May 21, has not minced words in conveying this impression. As a BJP

Ahmedabad, May 17: Following victory of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha election, his security cover will be upgraded to Special Protection Group cover, which is enjoyed by the Prime Minister of the country. The SPG officials are arriving in the state, with a small team in Gandhinagar, on Saturday to discuss the security cover for Modi till he is sworn in as the PM. Till the

Srinagar, May 17: Two persons died and at least 15 got injured when a Police vehicle overturned during a clash between the followers of the two mainstream political parties, the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] and the Peoples Conference [PC], in Kupwara district of north Kashmir, on Friday evening. Informed sources in north Kashmir said that the workers of the two parties attacked each other at

Vadodara, May 16: The sounds of hooting, clapping, whistling and sloganeering resonated in the air as Narendra Modi, all set to become India's 14th prime minister, met with rockstar adulation here as he delivered his first speech following BJP's impressive victory in the Lok Sabha poll. As soon as Modi, who is also the chief minister of the state, made an appearance on the dais, the massive crowd

New Delhi, May 16: Innocent and Paresh Rawal, who are now new MPs, may be from opposite sides of the ideological spectrum, but the two actors have a common thread. Rawal, a BJP parliamentarian from the Ahmedabad East seat in Gujarat, enacted a number of roles in Hindi films that were first immortalised in Malayalam films by Innocent, a Left-backed MP from Chalakuddy in Kerala. Rawal, a favourite

New Delhi, May 16: The Congress Friday accepted defeat in the Lok Sabha election. "We accept the mandate of the people and accept our defeat," Congress leader Satyavrat Chaturvedi said here. The Rajya Sabha member said the party will introspect and see "where it went wrong". Another party leader, Rajeev Shukla, said: "We are all responsible for this defeat." Shukla said the Congress had expected

Guwahati, May 16: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today announced that he will resign taking full responsibility for the party's dismal performance in the Lok Sabha elections in the state. "I will submit my resignation to party President Sonia Gandhi taking full responsibility for the party's performance in the state," Gogoi told reporters here. "This is not an emotional decision. This is a

Hyderabad, May 16: TDP was leading in over 50 Assembly seats and the YSR Congress Party in 40, as per initial trends in Seemandhra. TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu was leading from Kuppam in Chittoor district by over 1,400 votes. The 175 Assembly seats in Seemandhra went to polls on May 7.

Mumbai, May 16: The BJP-Shiv Sena alliance in Maharashtra looks set for an impressive performance, leading in 30 of the total 48 seats as per early trends. BJP candidates were leading in 17, Sena nominees in 13 seats. The notable BJP candidates leading included former party president Nitin Gadkari from Nagpur and the party's deputy leader in Lok Sabha Gopinath Munde, who is attempting to retain