The country is all set for the second round of elections on April 18 in the ongoing seven-phase Lok Sabha polls that will elect 543 members to the lower house of Parliament. Going to polls in the second phase will be 95 seats in 12 states and one Union Territory. Here is a look at some of the big names contesting in phase two of Lok Sabha elections.
Arvind Kejriwal speaks out on Congress leader Digvijay Singh, Robert Vadra and the Gandhi family in this exclusive interview with Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt.
Harivansh, a Janata Dal-United MP, is likely to get the support of 126 members in the Upper House, which has an effective strength of 244 MPs, sources in the Bharatiya Janata Party said.
The ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu had begun seeing Governor Ravi's decisions and actions as a part of the state BJP's non-stop criticism of its government and directed from Delhi, a view strengthened by the governor's decision to return the NEET exemption bill, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Against the backdrop of strong protests against the gang-rape of a student in New Delhi, Anna Hazare on Monday shot off a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding strong punishment like death penalty or life imprisonment for rapists.
A business firm connected with the son of former Tamil Nadu Governor S S Barnala, a former vice-chancellor of Anna University and some of its employees today came under the vigilance scanner over alleged irregularities in purchase of electronic equipment for the top technical institution.
He was also the second in Goa who died while still in office.
On paper, as many as 136 members should have opposed the Bill in a House of 241 members, reports Archis Mohan,
Condemning Arvind Kejariwal's statement on Parliament and members of Parliament, Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh on Monday said that the Team Anna member must explain in which type of system he believes.
Dismissing allegations of corruption against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh levelled by Team Anna, Coal Minister Sri Prakash Jaiswal on Sunday said all decisions on allocation of coal blocks were taken with the consent of the state governments in a transparent manner.
Activist Anna Hazare on Tuesday described Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as an honest man, but one who was unable to freely take decisions as he was being "remote controlled".
The godman is very popular in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh because of his spiritual and social works.
The Union Cabinet on Thursday repealed the Tamil Nadu Legislative Council Act, thereby laying the foundation of a political strategy to woo the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. After Home Minister P Chidambaram proposed the agenda and sought the views of other ministers in the Cabinet, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gave his go-ahead for the repeal.
Justice Santosh Hegde on Wednesday said it is "extremely difficult" to believe that allegations raised by Team Anna against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh could exist but demanded an inquiry if there are documents to suggest that some wrongdoing was done.
Claiming that a "straight-forward and simple" man like Anna Hazare was surrounded by politically ambitious people, senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Sunday launched an attack on Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi, saying they need to look inwards instead of just terming politicians as criminals.
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam supremo and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Saturday said her party was yet to decide on the ensuing presidential polls and nobody had approached her so far on the issue.
As a member of his Cabinet, the former finance minister would give valuable inputs because of his knowledge of parliamentary and government history, Modi said, adding that he will always miss his presence and called him an "encyclopedia".
Indian Against Corruption led by Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal will undertake a survey on Jan Lokpal Bill in Uttar Pradesh seven districts, including Rae Bareli represented by Sonia Gandhi, and constituencies of members of Parliament who are on the standing committee scrutinising the measure.
As part of the countrywide demonstration, supporters of Anna Hazare on Thursday held peaceful demonstration in front of the rented house of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in Guwahati shouting slogans demanding introduction and adoption of the Jan Lokpal Bill to fight corruption.
State Governor Surjit Singh Barnala administered oath of secrecy to Jayalalithaa at the Madras University's centenary auditorium in Chennai.
With the threat of Anna Hazare's agitation looming large, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called an all-party meeting next week to evolve a broad consensus on the Lokpal Bill and ensure its passage during the current session of Parliament that ends on December 22. Before the all-party meeting, the United Progressive Alliance allies will hold confabulations among themselves on December 13 to devise a common strategy and speak in one voice in Parliament.
"Ramdev is fighting against black money. It has my full support. We had been against black money and will continue to do so," Mulayam Singh Yadav said after meeting Ramdev at his residence.
Opposition parties, including the Bharatiya Janata Party and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, on Thursday termed Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran's resignation from the Union Cabinet as "long overdue" and asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to explain why action against "corrupt" ministers was delayed. They also claimed that Maran's resignation was "too little" and "too late".
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh puts it succinctly: "Arun Jaitley was every non-BJP person's favourite BJP-ite."
Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh has said that anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare is a mask of all anti-Congress parties and Bharatiya Janata Party intends to put up the social activist as its presidential candidate.
Former IPS officer Kiran Bedi was on Sunday appointed as Lt Governor of Puducherry.
Right to Information activist Arvind Kejriwal has been in the forefront of the massively publicised movement to demand a Lokpal Bill. A close associate of Gandhian Anna Hazare, Kejriwal has staunchly defended the movement and rebuffed many allegations made against civil society activists by the ruling Congress party. He has also taken on senior Congress leaders like Digvijaya Singh and Pranab Mukherjee who had taken pot shots at Hazare's movement.
President Ram Nath Kovind administered the oath of office and secrecy to Naidu.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday started his three-day fast at the Gujarat University Convention Centre for "peace, harmony and unity in the state".
The government will on Tuesday introduce the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill, 2015 in the Parliament to replace the Land Acquisition Ordinance.
The numbers, however, appear to be in favour of the ruling dispensation to get these bills passed from Rajya Sabha, while the lower house has already cleared them despite a key NDA member Shiromani Akali Dal vehemently opposing them.
Impressed by social activist Anna Hazare's anti-corruption movement, a youngster from Bihar, Ajay Kumar, has filed a petition to Vaishali district magistrate to probe into ill-gotten money of his father - a retired government official.
Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said in Solapur on Sunday that if Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wanted him to be a mediator and talk to social activist Anna Hazare, he was willing.
Amid a strong anti-corruption campaign led by Anna Hazare, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Saturday said Parliament should set aside all business and pass a strong Lokpal Bill at the earliest so that questions raised over the credibility of Legislature are answered.
The Congress core committee has rejected the demand made by Team Anna to withdraw the Lokpal bill from Parliament and replace it with the Jan Lokpal bill.
The AAP chief also said that Congress president Rahul Gandhi would be to blame if Narendra Modi came back to power.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Wednesday attacked social activist Anna Hazare, saying he was being used by certain forces to destabilise what he called an 'emerging economy', and said that the government was interested in finding out who were these forces backing Hazare.
Yoga guru Ramdev, who along with his supporters faced police crackdown during their agitation at Ramlila Maidan, on Monday, wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking him to exercise "self restraint" and ensure that similar action was not taken against Anna Hazare and his team.
Reacting strongly to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement that hunger strikes were not a way to solve the problem of corruption, activist Anna Hazare's team on Monday called him an "insensitive" person.
Activist Anna Hazare and the government seem to be headed for a confrontation with the Gandhian on Saturday deciding to go ahead with his indefinite fast from August 16 for a "strong" Lokpal.
