BJP leader Arun Jaitley is often criticised by colleagues for not fighting a Lok Sabha election from Delhi, especially since Jaitley was the president of the Delhi University Students Union in 1974. So it was ironic that when the BJP announced its candidates for Delhi, Jaitley said three Delhi University alumni were in the list &mdash; Vijay Goel from New Delhi, Jagdish Mukhi from West Delhi and Vijendra Gupta from Chandni Chowk.

DU for Delhi

Business Standard

Even without help from the lyrical ad guru Prasoon Joshi, who is reportedly helping create the party&rsquo;s jingles, the BJP is doing a pretty good job. Former party president and now the vice-president in charge of the southern states, Venkaiah Naidu, held a press conference on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh attacking LK Advani: His one-liner for the day: &ldquo;PM presides, Madam decides&rdquo;.

One-liners

The world should have known what to expect. Varun Gandhi&rsquo;s book of poems &mdash; his first declaratory statement to the world about who he is and what he believes in &mdash; is entitled &lsquo;The Otherness of Self&rsquo;. Hardly surprising, then, that he should say it is not he, but someone else, who is speaking in the CD that records offensive and abusive references to a minority.

Newsmaker: Varun Gandhi

After the collapse of his alliance with the Congress, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav sent an emissary to some Left leaders with the intention of trying to patch up. The emissary was told the Left leaders had no problem meeting Yadav as he is still respected as a prominent socialist leader. &ldquo;But we told them not to bring Amar Singh. It is difficult to talk to him,&rdquo; said a senior Left leader.

Come alone please

After Congress president Sonia Gandhi released and held the first copy of the manifesto on the dais, she noticed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was standing empty-handed. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, the head of the manifesto committee, quickly salvaged the situation and was heard saying, &ldquo;There is also a copy for the PM&rdquo;.

Soothing feathers

For its manifesto-release function, the Congress party had a huge pandaal, covered from all sides along with speakers and microphones located at various places. As it happened, the speaker system started acting up during the Q&amp;A session with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party chief Sonia Gandhi. An exasperated journalist told party managers, &ldquo;It seems you have given the contract for the pandaal and sound system to Sudhanshu Mittal.

Tent troubles

While Congress is yet to finalise its candidate amidst a controversy and the Janata Dal (S) appears to be more or less finalising the name of former minister from Kodagu B A Jeevjaya, the BJP candidate C H Vijayashankar is taking a lead in the campaign for the Lok Sabha polls in Mysore.

BJP leads in LS poll campaign

BJP's prime ministerial candidate L K Advani will hold his first public meeting in the state tomorrow.

Advani to address public meeting in Ahmedabad on Friday

Press Trust of India

Three parties that are not in competition with each other in any way, today decided to form an alliance that seemed to have as its main aim, browbeating the Congress.

SP, RJD, LJP form alliance

Gorur Ramaswamy Iyengar Gopinath (Capt. G R Gopinath), who founded the country&rsquo;s first low-cost carrier Air Deccan, is now training his sights on a political career. The former Army veteran told reporters at his residence in Bangalore on Thursday that the murky waters of electoral politics would be no less challenging, and he had decided to take the plunge after discussions with friends and well-wishers.

Gopinath to contest from Bangalore

After losing two major allies &mdash; Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal &mdash; in the Hindi-heartland, the Congress today received a jolt in south India, as the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) parted ways with the UPA and joined rival J Jayalalitha&rsquo;s camp, the AIADMK. The Congress tried to put up a brave face, saying the estranged allies will all come back to the alliance after the Lok Sabha elections.

PMK quits UPA, Congress unfazed

Anxious not to rock the boat of his government, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today declared that his party, the Janata Dal (United) [JD(U)], will continue to stay on in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and will not join the Third Front.

JD(U) will not join Third Front: Nitish

BJP&rsquo;s National General Secretary Gopinath Munde is not happy with his party as it has denied ticket to Poonam Mahajan from the Mumbai North-East seat. Poonam is his niece and daughter of slain BJP leader Pramod Mahajan.

'I will not demand anything for the Mahajan family'

With khadi-clad political leaders out on the general election campaign trail, the Khadi Gram Udyog outlets are doing brisk business, as sales have picked up as much as 25 per cent in March.

Khadi sales up 25% after announcement of general elections

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh disclosed today that he had offered a ministerial post to Rahul Gandhi, who had refused it.

Rahul refused being a minister: PM

The 'index of UPA unity' has sharply tumbled with the PMK dumping it and the RJD and LJP forming a secular alliance with the Samajwadi Party for the Lok Sabha polls in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

Congress plagued by desertions of allies ahead of LS polls

Even as the BJP moves into high campaign gear for the Lok Sabha elections with major rallies each day, the party has ruled out using Varun Gandhi as one of its star campaigners saying he was not a national level leader.

BJP rules out using Varun as star campaigner

Not satisfied with amendments made in the law to deal with terrorism, BJP has said that if voted to power, it will enact a tough law on the pattern of erstwhile POTA and have a comprehensive action plan to tackle the scourge.

We will enact tough law on pattern of POTA: Rajnath Singh

BJP leader Varun Gandhi against whom FIR was lodged for making inflammatory communal speeches during election campaign in Uttar Pradesh, today withdrew his bail plea from the Delhi High Court.

Varun withdraws bail plea from Delhi High Court

Controversial Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen has been barred from entering India till May 31, apparently to stave off any problems here ahead of Lok Sabha polls, according to her website.

Taslima barred from entering India till May 31

Former cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin is among the 14 candidates announced today by the Congress for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Azharuddin to contest from Moradabad

Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Visit Business Standard for the latest updated information on the general election results 2024, including the candidate lists for the BJP and Congress, Lok Sabha Election Dates, Exit Polls, Opinion Polls, and Election Results.

Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Election Results News, PM Candidates, Narendra Modi | General Election

Visit Business Standard for the latest updated information on the general election results 2024, including the candidate lists for the BJP and Congress, Lok Sabha Election Dates, Exit Polls, Opinion Polls, and Election Results.

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