Like his father Karunanidhi and AIADMK rivals MGR and Jayalalithaa, Stalin would like to confine his real political work to Tamil Nadu, and not want to take after the late Congress leader K Kamaraj and take up a national role, even if to create greater political space for son Udhayanidhi, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Chandrababu Naidu's latest announcement that the Telugu Desam Party would be a part of the just-conceived "Federal Front", on Thursday took senior party leaders by surprise as it currently maintains a cordial relationship with the Left.
Defending its proposal for the formation of a Federal Front, the Trinamool Congress on Saturday said such an idea is relevant in the current political scenario as the United Progressive Alliance was slipping fast and the Bharatiya Janata Party was unable to come up sufficiently to be an alternative.
A senior Trinamool Congress party leader said in Panaji on Friday that the 'Federal Front', which is much different from the Third Front, would corner more than 100 seats after the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Monday called for a federal front of non-Congress and non-Bharatiya Janata Party regional parties for the coming Lok Sabha elections and said a plan of action should be decided.
Rao had recently said a non-Congress and non-BJP front should be formed in the country
Narendra Modi's elevation in the BJP has given a fillip to the idea of an alternative forum for those who want to counter him for the 2002 Gujarat riots and for those like Nitish Kumar who do not wish to be part of a dispensation which is steered by him, says Saroj Nagi
Raijor Dal president Akhil Gogoi said on Thursday that his party has not accepted the Trinamool Congress's proposal of a merger as it does not want to compromise on its Assamese identity.
For the first time in seven years the prime minister finds himself at his most vulnerable, observes Virendra Kapoor.
K Chandrasekhar Rao deputed the party's working president and his son K T Rama Rao and other senior leaders to hold parleys with the leader of the opposition in Andhra Pradesh, Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, on Wednesday.
She asserted that all the regional anti-BJP parties were together and they should sacrifice for the country's benefit.
Stalin said Rao had not visited Tam for forging alliances.
A senior TRS leader had said his party expects the Congress to not cross the 100-seats mark.
While the DMK dubbed the meeting as only a 'courtesy visit', Rao did not meet the waiting reporters.
A suitable non-Congress candidate from a regional party could help influence even some of the NDA allies like the Shiv Sena and the Janata Dal-United to vote for a consensus Opposition candidate, reports Archis Mohan.
Amidst reports of a possible parting of ways between Janata Dal United and the Bharatiya Janata Party, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who had given a call for a federal front, on Wednesday spoke to her Bihar and Odisha counterparts on the issue.
Banerjee was supposed to attend the event, but the principal denied permission and the invitation was withdrawn on Friday.
As the united opposition routed the BJP in bypolls, here are some of the political reactions.
'KCR's plan for the future is three-pronged. He wants to see a non-Congress, non-BJP government at the Centre in 2019 so that he can become the Union minister for home or defence,' says R Rajagopalan.
The Bengal outcome can have a marginal impact on national politics. Whereas elections in UP next year might still change the course ahead of the parliamentary poll in 2024, observes Virendra Kapoor.
It is too early to write Narendra Modi's political obituary, asserts Virendra Kapoor.
With her various overtures and right noises at the right time, Mamata is once again trying to reshape her image from being a regional leader to one with national appeal and acceptability. After all, the charge of building a Federal Front may also bring to the fore Mamata's chances to become prime minister in 2019.
"All opposition parties should work together. It should be a one-to-one fight against the BJP. All opposition parties should help the strongest one in the state against the BJP," Banerjee said.
Mamata Banerjee fended off a spirited challenge by a resurgent Bharatiya Janata Party in West Bengal with a landslide victory for her Trinamool Congress on Sunday for a third consecutive term and the saffron party and the Left Democratic Front were poised to form government again in Assam and Kerala respectively while the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam stormed back to power in Tamil Nadu after a gap of 10 years.
It is likely that the party's allies in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, two of the five states going to the polls in April-May, might insist on allocating fewer seats than they did in 2016, reports Archis Mohan.
The Telangana Rashtra Samiti had backed the NDA on demonetisation, GST and in the elections to the post of President and Vice-President during its last term.
In an interview with CNN-IBN, the Trinamool Congress chief explains why she decided to team up with activist Anna Hazare and alleges that the Left Front, the BJP and the Congress have an 'understanding' in Bengal.
It won't be the Third Front, nor even a Federal Front. In case of a fractured verdict, a minority coalition comprising AIADMK, BJD and Trinamool Congress is the most likely outcome -- but it's the BJP that will call the shots, says Bharat Bhushan
Mamata said TMC will win all 42 LS seats from WB.
The West Bengal CM also said that she wasn't averse to working with the Congress and expressed confidence that a grand alliance of opposition parties is possible.
"Very shortly we will come out with a concrete plan," Rao told reporters after meeting the Trinamool Congress president.
The Bihar chief minister is in talks with the Congress while simultaneously exploring the possibility of the formation of a Federal Front, reports Anita Katyal
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee who was in Mumbai to woo captains of the industry is faced with a unique challenge. With significant Muslim votes backing her, she can't be seen aligning with Narendra Modi but at the same time does not want to partner with the Congress. Renu Mittal reports
In an interview to CNN-IBN, Odisha Chief Minister and Biju Janata Dal Chief Naveen Patnaik reiterated his stand that the Third Front would be an alternative to the BJP and the Congress in 2014.
Kick-starting her party's Lok Sabha campaign, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said her party would go it alone in the 2014 polls and renewed her call for a federal front of non-Congress and non-Bharatiya Janata Party parties.
Asked whether the Congress will be a part of this confluence, he said, "I said that there will be sangam of people and thoughts. All answers are included in this."
He said that non-ideological opportunistic coalitions always get trapped within their own contradictions.
Gowda said that the Congress will play a crucial role in forging opposition unity in the bid by the alliance to dislodge the BJP from power.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday said "positive" talks took place between 14 non-Congress and non-BJP parties for formation of a separate bloc in the Parliament which he said would be based on programme and not person.
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