Amidst indications that Samajwadi Party leader and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav is warming up to the idea of an alliance with Congress, UP PCC President Raj Babbar on Monday said his party will contest alone in the state and described such talks as "hypothetical".
Some of the expelled youth leaders, close to Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, have already met party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, triggering speculation of their early return to party fold.
Nelson Mandela's remains arrived in his childhood village in eastern South Africa on Saturday for a traditional burial on Sunday, bringing down the curtain on 10 days of national mourning and memorial events for the anti-apartheid icon.
Congress candidate Manvendra Singh, who recently crossed over from the BJP, will be facing off the Rajasthan chief minister in her political fortress of Jhalrapatan.
'How can the BJP give Muslim candidates tickets if they don't have any good Muslim candidates?'
While it took the Congress nearly a half century to earn the hatred of other political outfits, the BJP appears set to reach there in around six years, says Arun Bhatnagar, former secretary to the GoI.
'Pakistan has no strategic depth and is vulnerable to Indian military power without even crossing the border,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Its allies Apna Dal (S) and Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party bagged nine seats and four seats, respectively, taking the total tally of the combine to 325.
Kerala's iconic Marxist and former Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan turned 90 on Sunday.
In Maharashtra, where the 'Mahayuti' alliance of BJP, Shiv Sena and smaller parties is against the 'Maha-agadhi' led by the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party whereas the ruling BJP is locked in a contest with the opposition Congress and the fledgling Jannayak Janata Party for the 90 assembly seats in Haryana.
Targeting the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party, the PM said the two never see eye-to-eye on any issue but are now together demanding his removal as he is working to root out blackmoney.
With faction bosses not seeming to control anyone any more, can the BJP count on the AIADMK for the presidential polls any more, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary Anurag Thakur on Monday hinted at initiating a probe against former chief Narayanswami Srinivasan in order to pave the way for his ouster as chairman of the International Cricket Council.
The latest shakeup of the White House leadership comes as the feud between Priebus and the new Communication Director Anthony Scaramucci went nasty over the past few days, hogging the media limelight.
'There is a problem with the rise of a popular view that sees Kashmir through the prism of the larger, chronic Hindu-Muslim tensions.' 'By redefining the Kashmir problem simplistically in Hindu-Muslim terms could end up keeping Kashmir but losing most Kashmiris,' says Shekhar Gupta.
At a time when the AIADMK has chosen the late Jaya's personal aide to lead the party, M K Stalin re-enters the scene with greater credibility and better clarity of his own role in the DMK, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'If you have never seen Kangana Ranaut on screen before, and instead know more about her in real life and the spirited controversies that seem to happily follow her about, you realise that the actress puts a lot of herself into a screen role, feels Vaihayasi Pande Daniel.
UP CM Akhilesh Yadav and his uncle Shivpal Yadav fired barbs at each other at an event to celebrate the SP's silver jubilee, barely two days after putting up a united show.
With the presidential elections over, the time has come for Prime Minister Modi to show Tamil Nadu that the state's interests are safe under him, says R Rajagopalan.
RIL has been talking to groups including Gionee, Huawei and Xiaomi
'The wonderful thing about being a journalist is that when someone tries to muzzle your work, it's a badge of honour.' 'You know you've done something right,' Priyanka Pathak-Narain, the author of Godman To Tycoon: The Untold Story Of Baba Ramdev, tells Sunil Sethi.
Akhilesh Yadav begins his campaign for next assembly election in Uttar Pradesh.
An audio clip of Chhattisgarh CM's son-in-law, Congress' Ajit Jogi and his son Amit, points at their involvement in "fixing" the by poll to an assembly seat last year.
The average Indian soldier remains as hardy as before but he is certainly confused with the pace of change occurring all around him. It is here that the leaders -- the officers -- will have to adapt themselves to the new reality, says Nikhil Gokhale
We get tangled up in our own crooked web on purchases, and the murky arms bazaar knows it, says Shekhar Gupta.
How does India's current national coach Ravi Shastri compare with the other men who have coached the Indian cricket team this century?
Sukanya Verma recaps all the action at this year's MAMI.
Om Puri, notes Arthur J Pais/Rediff.com, has given one of the most endearing performances of his career in producers Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey and director Lasse Hallstrom's new film, The Hundred-Foot Journey
Mulayam, Akhilesh shout at each other as SP supremo defends Shivpal, Amar Singh.
'There has never been a problem between Hindu and Muslims in Kairana.' 'We are a people that smoke from the same hookah.' Once the seat of an influential tradition of Indian classical music, Kairana has become a metaphor for the exodus of Hindus.
'In times to come this will be considered a watershed event, but only if the establishment can see the flag which is up and the straws in the wind which are flying,' says Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
When M K Stalin attended the Jayalalithaa government's swearing-in and the chief minister thanked him for the gesture, a new page was turned in the state's political lexicon, reports B Srikumar.
"Until now, the Congress was completely against the current government. Now they have also joined hands overnight. This goes to show how honest their intentions are," he added, taking a swing at the alliance.
Every day when Akhilesh returns after a joust with political adversaries to his Camelot, which is Lucknow's 5, Kalidas Marg, it is time to hold court with advisors and loyalists.
In our special series revisiting great Hindi film classics, we look back at Prithviraj Kapoor, Raj Kapoor, Randhir Kapoor and Babita's 1971 film, Kal Aaj Aur Kal.
From Pakeezah to Ladies vs Ricky Bahl, from Shatranj ki Khilari to Umrao Jaan, the great city of Lucknow has made its way to the wornderful world of Hindi films.
In spite of the glitches and scramble, the Mumbai Film Festival shaped into an enriching experience, feels Sukanya Verma.
The Tamil Nadu state unit of the BJP has been alleging that its leaders have been systematically being attacked/murdered in the state. A Ganesh Nadar bring to light five cases where workers of the BJP or its affiliate organisations were attacked to find out if there is any truth in the charges.