Atal Behari Vajpayee

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh Monday hit out at the opposition for not appreciating Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the surgical and air strikes on Pakistan and reminded them of the praise showered on Indira Gandhi by Atal Bihari Vajpayee after the victory in the 1971 war.

Political insiders have know for a while that Swaraj,a fiery orator in the league of Atal Behari Vajpayee, who has been uncharacteristically subdued during the Modi government's term, wanted to opt out.

The only person my father, Jaswant Singh, called on after being expelled from the BJP over authoring Jinnah's biography was his friend, mentor, guide, and every other term of affection that befits the unique relationship he shared with the man India knew as Atal Behari Vajpayee.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today condoled the death of former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and said his passing away is a big loss to the country.

Exclusive excerpt from Saba Naqvi's book 'Shades of Saffron: From Vajpayee to Modi'

Would Atal Bihari Vajpayee have appointed Yogi Adityanath as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh? Asking such a question is not a mindless exploration of the "Ifs" of history, but one way of assessing where we stand today in relation to the evolution of the Hindutva right in the shaping of our polity.

To the saffron brigade, I say, look to your own leader, Atal Behari Vajpayee, and see how biting was in his criticism of a government at war, how frank and open he was in his critique of government policy, and learn from him the lessons in democracy that he and Nehru taught and practiced - and that you are denying us today.

As the Valley's mourning of Wani's death shows, New Delhi has been fooling itself if it thinks Kashmir is moving towards "normalcy" - or that it is edging towards acceptance of its place within the Indian state.

The worst outcome of this whole exercise has been that we ourselves have hyphenated India with Pakistan. It has taken a great deal by successive governments to kill the idea of that hyphenation.

Tibetan spiritual head the Dalai Lama has said that "some unique close relations" between India, Japan and the US, who believe in the ideals of democracy and freedom of expression, are "very important."

Exclusive extracts from Barkha Dutt's just released book 'This Unquiet Land - Stories from India's Fault Lines'.

Might Atal Behari Vajpyaee be the best Congressman we never had? Given the company he has kept all his political life, he remains amazingly untainted by the vices of the family from which he has emerged - the Sangh Parivar.

Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee favoured a dhoti and kurta teamed with a Jawahar jacket and chappals or slippers. On a police proforma that the government says is routinely filled by prominent politicians for security reasons, BJP leaders LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi are listed as Mr Vajpayee's close associates.

In Parliament today, the Congress confronted the government over what it has titled 'Snoopgate 2' - the alleged political espionage against its vice president Rahul Gandhi by the Delhi Police.

When President Barack Obama visits Agra to tour the Taj Mahal, he may stop at the five-star hotel where Pervez Musharraf stayed when he travelled to the city as Pakistan's president in 2001 for the summit with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh Monday hit out at the opposition for not appreciating Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the surgical and air strikes on Pakistan and reminded them of the praise showered on Indira Gandhi by Atal Bihari Vajpayee after the victory in the 1971 war.

Political insiders have know for a while that Swaraj,a fiery orator in the league of Atal Behari Vajpayee, who has been uncharacteristically subdued during the Modi government's term, wanted to opt out.

The only person my father, Jaswant Singh, called on after being expelled from the BJP over authoring Jinnah's biography was his friend, mentor, guide, and every other term of affection that befits the unique relationship he shared with the man India knew as Atal Behari Vajpayee.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today condoled the death of former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and said his passing away is a big loss to the country.

Exclusive excerpt from Saba Naqvi's book 'Shades of Saffron: From Vajpayee to Modi'

Would Atal Bihari Vajpayee have appointed Yogi Adityanath as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh? Asking such a question is not a mindless exploration of the "Ifs" of history, but one way of assessing where we stand today in relation to the evolution of the Hindutva right in the shaping of our polity.

To the saffron brigade, I say, look to your own leader, Atal Behari Vajpayee, and see how biting was in his criticism of a government at war, how frank and open he was in his critique of government policy, and learn from him the lessons in democracy that he and Nehru taught and practiced - and that you are denying us today.

As the Valley's mourning of Wani's death shows, New Delhi has been fooling itself if it thinks Kashmir is moving towards "normalcy" - or that it is edging towards acceptance of its place within the Indian state.

The worst outcome of this whole exercise has been that we ourselves have hyphenated India with Pakistan. It has taken a great deal by successive governments to kill the idea of that hyphenation.

Tibetan spiritual head the Dalai Lama has said that "some unique close relations" between India, Japan and the US, who believe in the ideals of democracy and freedom of expression, are "very important."

Exclusive extracts from Barkha Dutt's just released book 'This Unquiet Land - Stories from India's Fault Lines'.

Might Atal Behari Vajpyaee be the best Congressman we never had? Given the company he has kept all his political life, he remains amazingly untainted by the vices of the family from which he has emerged - the Sangh Parivar.

Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee favoured a dhoti and kurta teamed with a Jawahar jacket and chappals or slippers. On a police proforma that the government says is routinely filled by prominent politicians for security reasons, BJP leaders LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi are listed as Mr Vajpayee's close associates.

In Parliament today, the Congress confronted the government over what it has titled 'Snoopgate 2' - the alleged political espionage against its vice president Rahul Gandhi by the Delhi Police.

When President Barack Obama visits Agra to tour the Taj Mahal, he may stop at the five-star hotel where Pervez Musharraf stayed when he travelled to the city as Pakistan's president in 2001 for the summit with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.