Crossing the Laxman Rekha

Laxman Singh, recent BJP convert and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijay Singh's younger brother, finds the going tough in Rajgarh this time, reports The Statesman.

Survey puts Mulayam ahead in UP

The Bharatiya Janata Party is facing a negative vote swing of 2.4 percent in Uttar Pradesh, reports an Asian Age/Deccan Chronicle-ACNielsen Opinion Poll.  According to the survey reported in The Asian Age, the Samajwadi Party will end up with 29 seats, one more than it scored in 1999, the Congress party will get nine seats, same as last time, the Bahujan Samaj Party gets 15 seats, one more than the last time, while the BJP is set to get 23 seats, two less than the last time.

Hell hath no fury

Like a bahu (daughter in law) scorned, as Shivraj Patil, Congress deputy leader in the 13^th Lok Sabha, is discovering in Latur, Maharashtra, reports the Deccan Herald.

Congress' numbers game

In 1999 the Congress party contested 453 of 543 seats, and won 114 seats. This time it has so far announced 414 seats, and indications are that the remaining 129 seats for its allies and like-minded parties, reports The Asian Age.

Wife's election has CM Shinde in a tizzy

Maharashtra Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde's wife Ujjwala is contesting from Solapur, where the Congress party suffered a shock defeat last year, and naturally the husband is on tenterhooks, reports The Telegraph.

Ride of a lifetime

Tapanjit Rajkonwar, presiding officer of the Borkachang polling centre in a village near the Assam-Meghalaya border, was excited: he was about to ride an elephant for the first time in his life. On Monday, the history lecturer rode on the back of Lakhimala, a 60-year-old pachyderm, for nearly three hours to reach the polling centre, reports The Hindu.

Congress seeks friendly help from DMK

The faction-ridden Congress party in Tamil Nadu has taken shelter under the DMK umbrella for help in electioneering since almost all of its ten candidates are facing internal sabotage, reports Deccan Chronicle.

Ahmedabad's Muslims say 'no' to Congress

The message from Ahmedabad's Muslim areas of Juhapura, Bapunagar, Naroda Patiya, and Jamalpur, cannot please the Congress party, reports The Indian Express.

Where politicians don't step in

Nabatoli, a remote Adivasi village in Jharkhand, has not been touched by the India Shining campaign, reports The Times of India, although its residents make it a point to vote in the elections.