Amid reports of dissent brewing among senior BJP leaders, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) on Thursday chalked out a formula to address the concerns expressed by the old guard of the party ahead of Narendra Modi’s likely coronation as Prime Minister.

According to reports, a strategy has been devised after BJP chief Rajnath Singh met top RSS leaders, including Suresh Soni, to discuss the post-poll strategy and the shape of the next NDA government at the Centre.

It is believed that the RSS has given a free hand to Narendra Modi to choose his team, while at the same time, it has asked him to ensure that the senior leaders of the party are not ignored and they continue to play an important role in the party’s affairs.

It has been decided that Modi will be answerable only to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and will speak to him directly – eliminating the need for any mediator to avoid any confusion and maintaining clarity on important matters.

The RSS leadership is of the view that it is not necessary for the seniors to be part of the NDA government led by Modi. However, it does feel that the seniority and the vast experience of top BJP leaders must be maintained.

Secondly, on the issue of allocation of important portfolios to party leaders, the RSS thinks it should be Modi’s prerogative and there should be no outside intervention in it. However, the RSS has made it clear that it wants Rajnath Singh to be a part of the Modi Cabinet, but the BJP chief wants a number 2 slot in the government.

However, there is no consensus yet on this issue, sources claim.

The RSS has asked Modi to give his wish list to the apex Sangh leadership, which will decide how and when to implement them.

Importantly, the RSS has asked Modi not to be in a hurry to implement the Hindutva agenda of the Sangh Parivar. The BJP’s ideological mentor wants the party to continue its focus on forming a stable government after the counting of votes on May 16.

The RSS leadership today shifted its base from Nagpur to the national capital after reports that three top BJP leaders, including LK Advani, MM Joshi and Sushma Swaraj, were unhappy with their possible future roles perceived by the party high command for them.

Under the RSS guidance, the party is considering drastic changes in the organisation in the wake of its possible government formation. The party is set for a major organisation revamp and indicated that it is open to taking support from any regional party to form the government.

The meeting at Rajnath’s residence was also attended by BJP leaders taking care of the organisation, including party’s organisational general secretary Ramlal.

The meeting came a day after Rajnath’s marathon meeting with Modi in Ahmedabad on Thursday where other senior leaders Arun Jaitley and former party chief Nitin Gadkari were also present.

While the BJP top brass is working out roles for party veterans including LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi in the next government, it is also working on changes within the party that includes the change of guard steering the party.

Sources said in case Rajnath is given a ministerial berth, then the reins of the party will be handed over to someone else and the name of Gadkari is doing the rounds.

Two months after ND Tiwari admitted that Rohit Shekhar is his biological son, the 89-year-old Congress veteran leader married Ujjwala Sharma at his residence in Lucknow.

Sharma, a former college professor in Delhi, is the mother of Rohit Shekhar.

Meanwhile, speaking to the media, Sharma said that the decision to get married was taken by Tiwari and she is very happy about it.

The 67-year-old Ujjwala had earlier deposed that at the time of Rohit’s birth, she had talked to the Congress leader regarding giving his name as the father of the child, but she was “not allowed” to do so.

“At the time of birth of the child (Rohit) as well as at the time of his admission, I talked to defendant No 1(Tiwari), I wanted to give his name as father but on his pursuasion, taking his political career into consideration, I was not allowed to do that because he assured me that he intended to adopt the child and I trusted him,” she had said.

The Delhi High Court on July 27, 2012, read out a DNA report in the case, according to which Tiwari was Shekhar’s biological father.

The HC had also dismissed a plea by Tiwari seeking mediation in the paternity suit.

The former governor of Andhra Pradesh and chief minister of Uttar Pradesh was dragged to court for the first time in the year 2008 by the 34-year-old young man, alleging him to be his father.

In 2012, Tiwari was forced to give samples of his DNA for a paternity test which established he had fathered Shekhar.

Tiwari’s admission came after the mother-son duo met him at Uttarakhand Sadan in New Delhi in March. During the meeting, the 88-year-old Tiwari acknowledged Rohit as his son.

“I accept him (Rohit Shekhar) as my son. It was already proved two years ago when my DNA matched with his. I am proud of my association with this great family. Whatever it has been, I want to put the matter at rest and publicly accept him as my biological son,” Tiwari had said.

Even before the national election results on Friday, Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit has conceded defeat.

“I can speak for myself. There is a lot of anti-incumbency and a win is unlikely. But I don’t speak for the party,” Mr. Dikshit said.

“Our campaign was not up to the mark, there was anti-incumbency and that clearly showed in Delhi. That’s why you see so many exit polls are giving these numbers,” he added. He is fighting to retain his East Delhi constituency, which has voted him since 2005.

Mr. Dikshit, 49, is facing the BJP’s Maheish Giri, an Art of Living instructor, and AAP candidate Rajmohan Gandhi, the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi.

He is the first Congress MP to endorse the findings of exit polls, which have predicted that Narendra Modi’s BJP and its allies will win a majority.

The BJP is expected to win five, and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) two.

A preview of a possible drubbing for the Congress was seen in the Delhi assembly election in December, which resulted in the exit of Mr. Dikshit’s mother Sheila Dikshit after 15 long years in power.

Ms. Dikshit lost her own constituency, New Delhi, to AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, whose party scored a spectacular debut.

AAP bagged 29 of the state’s 70 seats, placing second after the BJP and decimating the Congress.

If the BJP is scouting for new allies, it should apparently cross the DMK off its list.

“We have no such idea or plan (of supporting the BJP). We intend to support a secular party if at all,” said TKS Elangovan, a leader from the regional party from Tamil Nadu that’s headed by M Karunanidhi.

“Who asked them anyway? They are all criminals,” retorted Subramanian Swamy of the BJP, provoking Mr. Elgangovan to describe him as “the biggest blabberer on earth.”

Exit polls show the BJP, powered by its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, getting enough seats to form the government with its existing allies. A majority of 272 seats is needed to form a government.

Knitting together more partners could be important for the BJP to construct a more stable coalition.
The DMK’s denial of interest comes as its political rival, the AIADMK, headed by J Jayalalithaa, has indicated it is open to suggestions. “Let’s wait for the results,” Ms Jayalalithaa, the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, said yesterday. But today, she expelled a party man who had said the AIADMK would partner with Mr. Modi.

Both the DMK and the AIADMK have in the past been partners of the BJP in the NDA government at the Centre.

The BJP fought this year’s election in a rainbow alliance with five regional parties in Tamil Nadu and is forecast to win two seats.

A new set of Supreme Court judges are being assigned to hear the high-profile Sahara case. One of the two judges hearing the case is retiring. The other wrote to the Chief Justice of India offering to opt out of the matter.

Subrata Roy, the 65-year-old chairman of the unlisted Sahara conglomerate has been in jail in Delhi for two months over his group’s alleged failure to refund lakhs of small investors in two outlawed bonds scheme.
Justice JS Khehar has reportedly written to the Chief Justice of India RM Lodha, offering to recuse himself from the case. Justice KS Radhakrishnan, who was hearing the case with him, is retiring and allegedly spoke last week of “pressure” in the case.

Mr Roy, one of India’s most enigmatic corporate personalities, is mired in a long-running legal battle between his group and the Securities and Exchange Board of India.

He was detained on February 28 after failing to appear at a contempt hearing, and has been in a Delhi jail since March 4. Mr. Roy, who has denied any wrongdoing, has yet to be formally charged.
The court had asked the group to make an interim payment of Rs. 10,000 crore to secure Mr. Roy’s release on bail. Last month, Sahara proposed to the court paying the money in installments, saying the amount was too large to be paid in one go.

The court has rejected different proposals, and asked Sahara to come up with another repayment schedule.

Market regulator SEBI accuses Sahara of raising thousands of crores from small investors through outlawed financial schemes and failing to comply with a court order to refund the money.

Sahara argues it has repaid most investors and that its total liability is less than the Rs. 5,120 crore it had deposited with the regulator after the bonds were outlawed.

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi returned to India on Thursday, a day after his absence at the farewell dinner for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh drew flak from the Opposition.

The Opposition had yesterday torn into the Gandhi party scion after it was reported that Rahul had gone overseas and chosen to skip the farewell dinner for the PM hosted by his mother and party chief Sonia Gandhi at her 10, Janpath residence.

Although embarrassed Congress leaders had said that Rahul Gandhi was out of town, but they offered no reasons.

Rahul’s decision to skip the dinner party just days before the election verdict in which Congress is expected to face the worst-ever defeat, gave a chance to the Opposition to raise questions on the man, touted to be Congress’s future leader.

No matter how hard Congress leaders tried to shield the Congress vice president, saying Rahul had met the PM before going abroad and he trip was probably due to “some personal work”; the Opposition, however, did not buy the Congress leaders’ defence.

Taking a jibe at Rahul, BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain had said that it was unfortunate that the Congress vice president could not take time out to attend the PM’s farewell dinner, especially when his mother was hosting the dinner at her place.

BJP MP Tarun Vijay drew parallels between Sonia Gandhi’s act of “insulting” Sitaram Kesri and Rahul’s decision to miss the farewell dinner for the PM and “insulting” him.

BJP leader Captain Abhimanyu said: “A PM for 10 years when relinquishing his office deserves a befitting farewell, Rahul Gandhi should have been there.”

Aam Aadmi Party spokesperson Ashutosh said Rahul’s absence was baffling.

Earlier too, Congress leaders threw a protective shield around Rahul Gandhi against the predicted rout in the elections and went on to say that he will remain their leader for the future.

After being lashed by rains during the past few days, maximum temperatures across Punjab and Haryana including capital Chandigarh hovered a few notches below normal level.

After light to moderate rains in the last couple of days, Chandigarh had a clear sky today and the high here settled at 34 degrees Celsius, five notches below normal, the MeT department said.

Ambala in Haryana recorded a high of 34.9 degrees Celsius, down four notches while Hisar’s maximum settled at 36.2 degrees Celsius, two levels below normal.

Karnal recorded a high of 35.2 degrees Celsius, down three notches while Bhiwani’s maximum settled at 32 degrees Celsius.

In Punjab, Amritsar recorded a high of 35.8 degrees Celsius, down three notches. Ludhiana and Patiala also recorded below normal maximums at 34.3 degrees Celsius and 34.6 degrees Celsius respectively.

The election of the speaker and appointment of pro-term speaker will be the first job before the newly-elected parliamentarians after the Lok Sabha results are declared on Friday.

Lok Sabha secretary general P Sreedharan told media persons on Thursday that the pro-term speaker, who administers the oath of office to the newly-elected members, is recommended by the Parliamentary Affairs Ministry and is appointed by the President.

He said President Pranab Mukherjee will administer oath to the pro-term speaker and the pro-term speaker will then administer oath to the newly-elected members in the Parliament House.

He said the government also recommends “two-three names” for panel of chairman, who assist the pro-term speaker in the process of getting new members sworn in.

As per norms, the pro-term speaker is the longest serving member of the house or one of its very senior members.

In the outgoing house, Congress member Manikrao Gavit, who was into his ninth Lok Sabha term, was appointed the pro-term speaker.

Communist Party of India-Marxist member Basudeb Acharia will be the longest-serving member in the 16th Lok Sabha, if he is re-elected. Acharia also was into his ninth term in the outgoing Lok Sabha.

Union minister Kamal Nath was into his eighth term in the 15th Lok Sabha.

Officials said the dates for convening the parliament session will be decided by the new government.

They said the process of oath-taking takes about two days and the house then elects its speaker. Following election of the speaker, the president addresses the joint sitting of the two houses of Parliament.

However, if there is hung verdict, the president may ask the new government to prove its majority in the lower house by a stipulated date and then address the joint sitting.

The term of 15th Lok Sabha will end on May 31 as its first sitting was held on June 01, 2009. However, the President might dissolve it earlier.

Unlike the appointment of pro-term speaker, the process of electing the speaker can witness a contest between the ruling party and the opposition.