The development came just days after West Bengal Left Front chairman and CPI-M Politburo member Biman Bose in a change of stance had said the party is ready to join hands with Trinamool Congress to fight the BJP at the national level.
BJP's K Surendran mocked the new government saying that it was contradictory that Communist ministers, who swear by rationalism and were not ready to take oath in the name of God and instead preferred to take solemn pledge had shown reluctance in taking the "No 13" state car as their official vehicle.
As news of the death came in, condolences for the family poured in from leaders and others, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ram Nath Kovind.
A senior CPI-M leader said there is no comparison between Sangh Parivar's demand for a complete ban on beef and Catholic Church's call for a ban on liquor.
While his critics described him as a leader 'with no smile on his face, and the most feared politician in Kerala', his party rivals have often accused him of deviating from the party line.
The Congress claimed that Facebook has different rules for different countries and "that is not acceptable".
'The title of 'core' of the leadership gives Xi Jinping greater political authority at a time when China is beset by various problems as well as a slowdown in economic growth,' points out former RA&W officer Jayadeva Ranade.
However, The Lok Sabha did not take up notices for no-confidence motion
India needs to be alert on how the Doklam standoff plays into the factional infighting in China's Communist Party, says Ambassador Shyam Saran, the former foreign secretary.
Kerala Minister Saji Cheriyan on Wednesday announced his resignation amidst mounting criticism from various quarters, including the Opposition, over his controversial remarks against the Constitution recently.
Xi, 68, holds China's all three power centres -- General-Secretary of the CPC, Chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission which is the overall high command of the military, and the Presidency is set to complete his second five-year tenure next year.
It will be interesting to see whether India-China border tensions figure during the deliberations of PLA deputies to the NPC and CPPCC, notes Jayadeva Ranade, the distinguished China expert and retired RA&W officer.
"We are ready to work with any anti-BJP party. This has been our stance whenever the need arose for a big movement against divisive forces from Kashmir to Kanyakumari," CPI-M politburo member Biman Bose told reporters to a question on whether the CPI-M will be with the TMC to prevent the BJP from coming to power in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
Important for India was Xi's meeting with representatives of PLA officers and soldiers stationed in Tibet. The video of the encounter was interesting to watch, especially the large number of lieutenant generals and major generals, observes Claude Arpi.
'Why did your generals try to grab a few square kilometres of Indian territory in Ladakh?' 'And what happened to the hard work that you and Prime Minister Modi put into the Wuhan and Mamallapuram meets?' Claude Arpi writes a letter to Xi Jinping, China's self-styled supreme leader, who turns 68 today, June 15.
The Supreme Court's query asking a rape accused whether he would marry the victim was based on 'judicial records' containing an undertaking of the man that he would marry the minor girl, a relative, after she attains 18 years of age, it was stated on Wednesday.
The elated woman later said she was yet to come to terms with the reality that she has finally won her battle and her son, who was forcibly taken away from her by her parents on the third day of his birth last year, is with her now.
After the Ladakh fiasco where Xi Jinping did not expect the Indian Army to resist his land-grabbing tactics, he has to save face before his colleagues in the Communist party.' To bring the threat of a mega-dam to the northern Indian border is a clever move, observes Claude Arpi.
CPM politburo member Hannan Mollah said the party is facing one of the toughest situations following its defeat in Tripura, which has "forced us to rethink in a new way".
Stating that people have the final say in a democracy, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday said her party TMC would win next year's assembly election.
The Left will never let the country go into the hands of the 'descendants' of Nathuram Godse, Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo member Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Saturday said and attacked the Narendra Modi government for 'blatantly' pursuing neo-liberal policies.
While Karat is opposed to any understanding with the Congress, Yechury is of the view that the situation warrants putting together a national alternative to the BJP, reports Archis Mohan.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of over 40 farmers' unions, on Friday urged agriculturists and other people of West Bengal not to vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party in the upcoming elections.
A Chinese high court on Friday rejected the appeal of disgraced Communist Party leader Bo Xilai and upheld his life sentence for bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power in the country's biggest political scandal.
'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.
Why is China's supreme leader promoting Han Chauvinism so aggressively, asks Claude Arpi.
Doval's visit was 'part of regular high-level engagements between India and China', an Indian Embassy press release in Beijing said.
The 65-year-old leader had taken over as general secretary of the CPI-M from Prakash Karat in the 21st party congress, which was held in Visakhapatnam, in 2015.
In an affidavit filed in response to a PIL, which has been listed for hearing before a bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde, the state government said it is important that the investigation is carried out by an independent central agency.
Kerala Minister Saji Cheriyan on Tuesday landed in trouble for his harsh remarks against the Constitution, triggering a huge political row in the state with the opposition demanding for his sacking, but the Left leader later expressed regret and claimed news reports in this connection were 'distorted'.
'The first time that China alleged the Dalai Lama was 'anti-national' and 'unpatriotic' was after he affirmed that Arunachal Pradesh and Tawang are part of India,' points out former RA&W official Jayadeva Ranade.
The decision was taken keeping in mind the party norm that no CPI-M leader can represent the party in the Upper House for more than two terms.
There are 13 new faces, including two women, in the cabinet. Five ministers had held positions in previous LDF ministries.
Grieving relatives of those on board the ill-fated cruise ship that capsized in the mighty Yangtze were on Thursday barred from reaching the site as rescuers pulled out more bodies, taking the death toll to 77 amid assurances from China of "no cover up" in the probe into the tragedy.
China, besides denying the United States allegations that COVID-19 has emerged from a bio-lab in Wuhan, also rejected that it emanated from a wet market in the central Chinese city from bats or pangolins before infecting humans.
Opposition leaders and activists hit out at the Centre after the death of Jesuit priest and activist Stan Swamy on Monday, saying it should be held accountable for the "ruthless" and "inhuman treatment" meted out to the 84-year-old who was suffering from multiple ailments and awaiting bail on medical grounds.
Reluctant to campaign so far, former Bengal CM draws large crowd in first roadshow since poll dates announced.
A two-day meet of Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo began in New Delhi on Sunday amid attempts to bring all non-Congress, non-BJP parties on a common platform ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
Beijing will be intently watching Washington's response for any hint of weakness. Xi Jinping, who feels China has a limited window of strategic opportunity, will be emboldened to take additional initiatives in the Indo-Pacific and specifically against India and Taiwan, warns Jayadeva Ranade, the former senior RA&W officer and China expert.
China on Tuesday said that the Dalai Lama can improve ties with it only by giving up wish for Tibetan independence and publicly announcing that Tibet is an inalienable part of the country.
