The United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) has categorically said that it was opposed to the nuclear deal and felt that the UPA government should proceed no further in that direction.
Hamid Ansari of United Progressive Alliance-Left, Najma Heptulla of National Democratic Alliance and Rasheed Masood of the Third Front are in the race for the second highest office.
The Deen Bachao, Desh Bachao conference in Patna on April 15 was attended by lakhs of Muslims. Will the electoral dividends from this rally be reaped by Nitish Kumar, the BJP (through Hindu consolidation), by both Nitish and the BJP or will it be reaped more by the anti-BJP forces, asks Mohammad Sajjad.
The UNPA's decision clearly reflects no change in its earlier stand of maintaining equal distance from the Congress and the BJP.
Rahul Gandhi also predicts a NDA collapse 'not seen in many years'
The NDA made it clear that this does not mean that Shekhawat had opted out of the race in favour of Kalam.
She also advised people not to watch debates on television channels which only foment hatred between the two warring nations as well as the Muslims of Kashmir and the rest of the country.
In Lok Sabha, Deputy Leader V K Malhotra demanded the suspension of Question Hour as soon as the House met for the day.
The Left and the BJP are opposed to the deal.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Friday hit back at Narendra Modi for the "56-inch chest" remark alluding to his father and Samajwadi Party supreme Mulayam Singh, saying the BJP prime ministerial candidate is the "biggest liar" with a "56-inch belly".
It is now almost certain that Najma Heptulla, lately from the Congress and now member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha (Rajasthan) from the Bharatiya Janata Party, is not going to be elected vice-president.
'There was no communication from the party's leadership asking the MLAs not to vote and they exercised their franchise in favour of Shekhawat.'
"The story seems to have been planted and aimed at hitting out at the interests of Najmaji," said a senior party leader from Rajya Sabha, who is known for his lung power.
"SP is engaged in the formation of a secular Third Front in the country minus Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party. The proposed front will take shape before the next general elections in the country," state party president Sheikh Abdul Rehman said.
The monsoon session of Parliament was on Monday adjourned sine die four days ahead of schedule in the shadow of the government-Opposition stand-off on the Indo-US nuclear deal that disrupted proceedings from day one
The share of the four Left parties may drop drastically to 38 to 48 seats from their present tally of 59 seats.
Cassandras and Congressis may sneer at the findings, but the Times Now poll indicated that the Modi government was very much on its way to a second term.
Khurana said he will announce a third front to take on the Congress and the BJP in the national capital after the UP elections.
It is impossible to say when would these leaders stab each other for political gains," it said.
Polling began at 1000 hours in Parliament and 30 capitals of states and Union Territories amidst tight security and strict vigil by the Election Commission, which issued a series of stringent instructions for voters.
A message board asking for people's opinions on Kalam's second term.
In an electoral college of 10,98,882, the candidate backed by UPA could easily get over 5.70 lakh votes counting on Bahujan Samaj Party's vote share of 58,300 given the latest development in the Taj Corridor case.
With Tamil Nadu's electoral fate decided, all eyes would now veer round to the pending 'disproportionate assets case' against Jayalalithaa in the Supreme Court, and Stalin's own future within the DMK, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Terming West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's call for a Federal Front as a "ploy" to increase her bargaining power with Congress and BJP before the 2014 polls, the Left parties feel it cannot be successful without a common minimum programme.
The Samajwadi Party on Thursday pulled out of the 'grand alliance' in poll-bound Bihar, saying it felt "humiliated" as it was not consulted while deciding seats and would contest the assembly elections in the state on its own.
'There are many serious crimes in which powerful and fake babas have been involved in... The states where this is prevalent are Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and even Delhi,' CPI-M General Secretary Prakash Karat tells Neeta Kolhatkar.
'The Godse controversy may have helped Kamal Haasan reach out to a larger audience, both inside the state and outside, coming as it does when the main campaign for elections 19 is over and only those in the four assembly bypoll constituencies are drudging along,' says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Campaigning has reached a fervent pitch in Bihar with senior political leaders wooing the voters, one last time before the state goes to the polls.
India is mushrooming with Deve Gowda wannabes because being a former prime minister is better than being a former chief minister, says Shekhar Gupta.
'The BJP will be the single largest party in the next Lok Sabha, the only one party with a three digit tally.'
Khurana has said he has plans to launch a third front.
From hobnobbing with the likes of Jacqueline Kennedy and Mick Jagger, the reclusive author-turned-politician has come a long way, says Anita Katiyal
Biju Janata Dal supremo and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who was the first to advocate an alternative government minus Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre, on Tuesday said it was still too early for such a move.
'Kerala will witness a lot of fireworks in Wayanad and a kind of fight that it has not witnessed so far.'
The strengthening of regional outfits may weaken the grand old party's chances of leading a joint opposition front for the 2019 general elections.
Rahul Gandhi is behaving as if he has come from planet Mars, Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi said on Monday taunting the Congress leader for levelling accusations on others, instead of accounting for his party's 10-year rule at the Centre.
'I told him when I started my political career seven decades ago he was not even born. His political activities, the protests he organises and the way he fights the biggest corporate of India, the Ambanis, give hope to all people who are progressive. My desire is that such a party must grow, and I wished him all success for its growth.' V S Achuthanandan, the senior-most Communist in India, tells Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier why he turned down Arvind Kejriwal's invitation to join the Aam Aadmi Party.
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