Both the BJP and the Congress have issued whips to their 18 and 24 MLAs respectively asking them to be present in the Assembly and vote as per their party's line.
Shelar demanded that Desai's death should not be treated just as a case of accidental death, but must be dealt with from a larger perspective.
JD-U national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan, who addressed a press conference in Patna, however, dismissed queries about Kumar's absence at the NITI Aayog meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with the terse remark 'you should ask the chief minister'.
Kushwaha was referring to 'Luv Kush' rally in Patna, a veritable gathering of Kurmis and Koeris upset with supposed hegemony of numerically powerful Yadavs which Prasad, then helming Bihar, was seen as embodying.
AFSPA confers special powers on the armed forces in areas deemed as disturbed.
The Jat vote is crucial in winning at least 40 assembly seats in Western UP, which has been in the grip of a widespread farmer movement, reports Nitin Kumar.
Environmental activist and educator Sonam Wangchuk accused the BJP of reneging on its promise of including Ladakh under the sixth schedule.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit attended the swearing in ceremony as did BJP president J P Nadda.
Like Nitish, Mamata and KCR have prime ministerial ambitions, but, unlike Nitish who has established a rapport with Sonia, both Mamata and KCR are cold towards the Congress president, points out Virendra Kapoor.
'Sometimes we use political pressure and sometimes political acumen to get what we want.'
The Supreme Court on Wednesday observed that giving the lieutenant governor the power to nominate aldermen in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi would mean that he can destabilise an elected civic body.
The legendary PT Usha will be officially elected as the first woman president of Indian Olympic Association (IOA) during the governing body's polls on Saturday, ushering in a new era in country's sports administration.
The first election that the US and UK-trained Conrad Sangma, who now runs the National People's Party (NPP) formed by his father PA Sangma, fought in 2004 had resulted in a narrow defeat.
There is the problem of regions in the North East being theatre for power-play by nations with borders and influences converging in those parts, which in turn requires a sizable presence of the armed forces, notes Shyam G Menon.
Having a young, untested leader makes sense for the Tamil Nadu BJP. But the new state president's immediate concern will be to gain acceptance within the state unit that is still in the grip of those with a strong RSS background, says N Sathiya Moorthy
What the election demonstrated is that the BJP has a stranglehold on most of the Hindu votes in the Union territory, observes David Devadas.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said pollution levels declined in the national capital due to government initiatives as he announced a 15-point winter action plan to curb pollution.
'Our demand is simple: Those private players (to whom 94 per cent of the farmers sell their produce) should also buy our produce at the MSP.'
Both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha did not see a debate on the Manipur violence, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah spoke on it during their addresses on the no-confidence motion.
For the most battle-hardened, specialised and successful counter-insurgency army in the world, this is an unfamiliar, first-time experience of dealing with the north east's deepest complexities, observes Shekhar Gupta.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday retained Garoth assembly seat in Madhya Pradesh's Mandsaur district albeit with a reduced margin than in the 2013 assembly polls. The Congress, however, termed the BJP's win with a lower margin than earlier as a "moral defeat" for the ruling party.
'Kanhaiya is eager to play a more active political role as a young leader of a major mainstream party.'
Keen to win more allies, the Bharatiya Janata Party, which has been identified with the Hindutva tag, on Friday decided to strive for an "imaginative reprojection" of its "commitment to secularism" and reassured minority community that it does not support discrimination on basis of religion.
Four BJP leaders and former Supreme Court judge S Abdul Nazeer, who was part of the Constitution bench that upheld the archaeological report on Ayodhya, were among six new faces appointed as Governors on Sunday.
Medical seats for under-graduates and post-graduates remaining vacant in the NEET era, together with the Centre 'freezing' the number of medical colleges and seats in (Dravidian) Tamil Nadu and the launch of the PM's 'Vishwakarma Scheme' for the nation's craftsmen, are all seen as a bid to further reverse the state's progressive socio-economic agenda of and its achievements of the past hundred-plus years, argues N Sathiya Moorthy.
Some armed men intercepted Sikander Rai's jeep near Paruri village, about 15km from Sasaram, in Rohtas district.
Both the BJP and the JD-U abetted the LJP split but interestingly, independently. And there hangs a tale of conflicting interests, gamesmanship, subterfuge, and retribution, reports Radhika Ramaseshan.
"The Sachar Commission's recommendations constitute the most divisive step ever initiated by the government of independent India," the political resolution at the party's National Council meeting stated, giving a call to the people to remove the Congress-led regime at the Centre. "Communal reservations and communal budgeting are a remedy worse than the problem being addressed", the resolution noted.
BJP made inroads into the Congress and NCP strongholds, winning 851 seats. Shiv Sena won 514, NCP 638, Congress 643, MNS 16, BSP 9, unrecognised parties 119, local coalitions 384, CPM 12 and Independents 324 seats.
According to Congress sources, few ministers from the party have even offered to step down in the larger interest and to keep the coalition intact.
The saffron allies are locked in an intense negotiation on seat-sharing and a consensus has eluded them till now on how many constituencies each of them will contest.
Addressing the Inter-State Council meeting, convened after a gap of 10 years, the Prime Minister told the chief ministers that "we should focus on how we can make our country prepared to counter challenges to our internal security".
While Himanta Biswa Sarma scotched rumours that he would be the king this time, political sources in Guwahati maintained that he, and not Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, had a bigger say in choosing candidates, reports Radhika Ramaseshan.
Rajnath did not refer to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in his address.\n\n
Kiren Rijiju's exit from the coveted law ministry came in the midst of his frequent criticism of the judiciary, particularly on the system of appointment of judges to high courts and the Supreme Court.
Disgruntled Janata Dal-United leader Upendra Kushwaha on Monday resigned from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's party, less than two years after returning to the party, and announced formation of the 'Rashtriya Loktantrik Janata Dal'.
Neither the ruling DMK nor the fractured AIADMK Opposition anticipated that an assembly by-election would put them both to test, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Every Indian knows why the BJP is targeting Hamid Ansari.'
'With the deaths of Jayalalithaa and Karunanidhi, the BJP and Congress thought that they had a chance.' 'They have conceded that power is with the Dravidian parties.'
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