Bharat Rashtra Samiti leader K Kavitha on Thursday skipped the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summons here for questioning in the Delhi excise policy money laundering case and made a plea to defer the proceedings but it was rejected by the probe agency which asked her to appear on March 20.
There is nothing of the level of Yes Minister, House Of Cards, Madam Secretary or Veep but there are at least 10 Hindi series and an OTT-released film or two, to whet the viewer's appetite for power-mongering, corruption and intrigue.
Can Nitishbabu create an anti-BJP phalanx like Jayaprakash Narayan did in 1977 or will his efforts come undone by Opposition leaders' political ambitions and, of course, the BJP's agency-aided campaign of intimidation?
'He is exposing the failings of the BJP, which is rankling the party.'
Efforts to forge unity in the opposition ranks gained momentum on Monday with the Congress asserting that a 'vast majority' of non-Bharatiya Janata Party outfits will meet soon, after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar met its president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti who is visiting Karnataka, on Sunday appreciated the people for voting out a 'fascist' Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state, but also cautioned people about the recent developments in Delhi, saying it was a wake-up call for everyone as it can happen anywhere in the country.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday said he was neither a claimant for the prime minister's post nor desirous of it, his assertion coming amid speculation that his visit to the capital is to claim leadership of the opposition parties.
A basic outline and roadmap for Opposition unity are likely to be deliberated upon with the contentious issue of seat sharing and leadership questions to be avoided for now.
'All sorts of tactics are used on political adversaries.'
The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed that the petition challenging the constitutional validity of the farm laws will be tagged with other similar matters pending before it.
The Congress on Friday welcomed the statements of opposition leaders condemning Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from the Lok Sabha and said it was now time for the party to take on the job of building the opposition unity in a "systematic way".
No major glitches in electronic voting machines were reported and the voting passed off peacefully with high security observed at the 3,360 critical booths in 493 locations where more than 25,000 police personnel, nearly 13,000 home guards and 100 companies of paramilitary forces were deployed, officials said.
With numbers on its side -- the ruling NDA has about half the votes of the electoral college -- and the possible support of fence-sitters like the BJD, the AIADMK and the YSRCP, the NDA candidate will likely sail through the contest.
Sikandar Kher's Nishikant Adhikari is a solitary poet by the corner, trying to remind us that the honest plans of honest people don't always come to respectable ends, observes Sreehari Nair.
AIADMK candidate Daniel Sachin Mani, contesting from the 35th ward of Perambur constituency, dressed up as party founder MGR.
Our political history tells us this has never worked. A united Opposition does work in some specific, limited situations, especially in the states. But never as some brilliant pan-national collection of diverse interests with no ideological or political core, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
Alva, 80, would file her nomination papers on Tuesday, July 19 which is the last date for filing nominations for the August 6 election.
Sources said the opposition parties would look to avoid the prickly leadership question as of now and emphasise on building a common ground.
Voting will be held on Thursday in bypolls to seven assembly seats in six states -- a contest symbolic of the fierce turf war between the Bharatiya Janata Party and regional parties.
The CBI has alleged that Gorantla's role in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 caused 'wrongful gain' to Hyderabad-based wholesale and retail licensees and their beneficial owners.
Chief ministers and other senior leaders made last-minute appeals to voters for their support in Mokama and Gopalganj of Bihar, Adampur of Haryana, Manugoda of Telangana, Gola Gorakhnath of Uttar Pradesh and Dhamnagar of Odisha.
Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav is among six personalities chosen for this year's Padma Vibhushan.
The grand old party faces the onerous task of rebuilding its moribund organisation, which is struggling to overcome a leadership crisis and regain credibility with the voters.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday won four seats in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha, while the Rashtriya Janata Dal retained the Mokama assembly seat in the bypolls to seven assembly constituencies in six states.
Sisodia was arrested after nearly eight hours of questioning on various aspects of the excise policy for 2021-22, which the probe agency says suffered from irregularities both in its formulation and implementation, allegedly intended to benefit people with links to the AAP.
The assembly bypolls in Bihar and Maharashtra, scheduled for November 3, are set to be the first electoral test of the popularity of the respective state governments after a change in the political alignment.
Attorney General K K Venugopal on Wednesday defended The Tribunals Reforms Act of 2021 in the Supreme Court and said that many times the top court through its judgments had waded "into the policy domain" and it should "keep in mind separation of powers".
Conservative investors and those in the lower tax bracket should opt for these, experts tell Sanjay Kumar Singh
Raising equity exposure to 50 per cent in the National Pension Scheme will benefit young investors, provided they can stomach higher volatility.
Sukanya Verma looks at the many ways fire enjoys a significant presence in our movies.
In renaming TRS and repositioning it as a 'national' party, KCR is also eyeing a pole position in opposition politics ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The new chief minister, if from the Congress, will have little or no time for political administration, to ensure that he does not lose the voter's goodwill even before the Lok Sabha polls. He can count only on one thing. That the BJP may not want to upset him too early lest an early failure should become an added problem for the party in all the polls to follow, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
A Delhi court on Friday sent former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, arrested in a money laundering case related to the excise policy, to the Enforcement Directorate's custody till March 17.
In an apparent bid to reach out to Dalit voters, Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Friday urged people to remember Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar while voting in next month's assembly polls and said he "worships" the leader.
They just wanted their angst noticed, and as a symbol of recognition, Jallikattu, restored without the annual ritual of court cases and adjournments, explains N Sathya Moorthy.
After Rahul's Bharat Jodo Yatra began criss-crossing the Hindi heartland, BJP leaders have revived their attacks on 'dynasty politics' and 'family rule' in the Congress, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Opposition leaders urged Modi to use the opportunity for the country's benefit.
If a couple is registered as joint owners of a property, the tax authorities expect both of them to show their income or capital gains from the house in their tax returns, says Arvind Rao, a chartered account and certified financial planner
If Kerala wants to sustain its room for independent thinking and talk back to Delhi when needed, it should put its finances in order. Or - if one takes the North East example - Kerala's political posturing may end up commensurate with its financial dependence on others, suggests Shyam G Menon.
Reacting sharply to Banerjee's fulminations, the Congress struck back pointing out that Prime Minster Narendra Modi's and her stand were similar, with one seeking a 'Congress 'Mukt' (Free) India' and the other, an 'Opposition coalition sans Congress'.