India

New Delhi, May 20: Narendra Modi was Tuesday elected leader of the BJP parliamentary party, paving the way to his becoming the prime minister. At a meeting held here, Modi's name was proposed by party patriarch L.K. Advani and seconded by other leaders including Murli Manohar Joshi, Venkaiah Naidu, Nitin Gadkari, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley. The Modi-led BJP won a staggering 282 seats in the

New Delhi, May 20: An NDA delegation will call on President Pranab Mukherjee this afternoon to convey to him its decision making Narendra Modi the grouping's leader. Immediately after the 15-member delegation of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) meets Mukherjee, Modi will call on the President at 3:15, President's Press Secretary Venu Rajamony said. The 63-year-old Prime Minister-to-be will

New Delhi, May 20: With the BJP registering a thumping victory in the general election, significant credit goes to the party's online campaign to tap the general psyche by connecting with millions of youngsters.Vikas Pandey, a 30-year-old software architect, headed the social media campaigns like "I Support Namo" on Facebook and Twitter, as a volunteer for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)

New Delhi, May 20: RSS may have decided not to interfere with ministry-making but it feels that BJP president Rajnath Singh and party leader Arun Jaitley should join the government. BJP sources said Sangh leaders camping in Delhi gave their assessment in the context of Rajnath's stated stand that he would like to continue in the organization. This was confirmed by sources close to Rajnath although

New Delhi, May 19: Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and her son and party vice president Rahul Gandhi Monday offered to resign for the party's worst performance in a general election, but the Congress Working Committee unanimously rejected it, senior leader Amarinder Singh said. "Sonia Gandhi-ji and Rahul Gandhi offered to resign, but the CWC (Congress Working Committee) rejected it," the former Punjab

New Delhi, May 19: The Supreme Court Monday granted three weeks' interim bail to Tehelka founder-editor Tarun Tejpal so that he could perform last rites of his mother, who passed away in Goa Sunday. The apex court bench of Justice B.S. Chauhan and Justice A.K. Sikri passed the orders granting Tejpal interim bail after holding the hearing on his plea in their chamber. A former junior woman

Patna, May 19: Nitish Kumar Monday refused to withdraw his resignation, following which the JD-U legislature party authorised him to elect a new leader. He quit as chief minister after the party's abysmal performance in the Lok Sabha polls. He resigned Saturday after the Janata Dal-United was reduced to two seats in the general elections. "With Nitish Kumar refusing to withdraw his resignation

New Delhi, May 19: Congress Working Committe members could offer their resignation at its meeting today in the wake of the party's worst-ever performance in the Lok Sabha polls, amid indications that it could witness an attack on advisors of Rahul Gandhi while insulating him from criticism. While there has been no official word about such a move, the talk about the CWC members offering to resign

New Delhi, May 19: Days after the BJP swept the Lok Sabha polls, the RJD and the Congress called for an urgent "understanding" with the JD-U to prevent any further split in "secular" votes. "We do not rule out an arrangement with the JD-U (Janata Dal-United) to consolidate the secular votes in the future," Bihar Congress leader Premchand Mishra said. Hinting at a possible realignment between the

Panaji, May 19: Tehelka founder editor Tarun Tejpal’s mother Shakuntala Tejpal passed away after being ill for sometime, his lawyer said on Monday. She was 87.Shakuntala was suffering from brain tumour and was living in Tejpal’s house at Moira in North Goa.“She expired last evening at Tejpal’s Goa residence. The decision is yet to be taken whether the final rites would be conducted in Goa or Delhi