Through the yatra the UP CM would try to send the message that he was in the driver's seat, notwithstanding all the hue and cry within the party.
According to some accounts, internal Congress surveys indicated a tough battle for the chief minister in Chamundeshwari.
Verifiable 'distress-sharing' of available water may still be the way out of the Cauvery water row, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Indian secularism doesn't deserve a tombstone. It needs a new shrine,' argues Shekhar Gupta.
'Like it or not, the Congress is still the only party with the potential to challenge the BJP at a pan-Indian level,' says T V R Shenoy.
'Today, we being the majority pass a law and if the Opposition parties do not like it, they throw files at the Chair, and beat up women marshals.'
Coming as it does only months ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the Chennai meet could provide the launch pad for a national alternative to the BJP-NDA, and MK Stalin may be given the credit for getting it going, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Over 100 Opposition members of Parliament led by Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday marched from Parliament to the Rashtrapati Bhawan
Opposition parties on Thursday launched a vociferous attack on the Centre over its handling of the farmers' agitation, callings its dialogues with the protestors 'monologues', even as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party defended the new laws asserting that its government is committed to the welfare of peasants and increase their incomes.
"Only the Congress and the JD-S are celebrating, people of Karnataka are not," he told reporters.
'Today, political formations seem to adopt an 'us' versus 'them' approach which shows up even in their attitude towards civil servants.'
'This creates an added layer of fear.'
'Look at the number of billionaires, the number of new billionaires in India.' 'Adani and Ambani are not the only ones.' 'What's wrong with people making money as long as it benefits us?'
Elections for 19 Rajya Sabha seats spread across eight states will be held on Friday with the contest in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan promising to be a close affair between the BJP and the Congress.
The newly-formulated Third Front left its imprint in Parliament on the opening day of the reconvened winter session when it surprised the ruling coalition by derailing the Anti-Communal Violence Bill
Kejriwal, who had joined International Yoga Day participants last year along with Lt Governor Anil Baijal and the then Union minister and now Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, was found having high blood sugar following his nine-day, arduous sit-in at the Lieutenant Governor's office.
"Will anybody want a servant that who is on vacation when needed at home? And nobody knows where he is," he continued.
'No, that is not an abbreviation for the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha,' says T V R Shenoy, 'but for J Jayalalithaa-Mamata Banerjee-Mayawati-Mulayam Singh Yadav... If the AIADMK, the Trinamool Congress, and other regional forces do extremely well, we could be heading for a repetion of the 9th Lok Sabha (1989 to 1991) and the 11th Lok Sabha (1996 to 1998), each of which saw multiple prime ministers and neither of which lasted even half of its five-year term.'
If you are confused about the US presidential elections, here's a simple guide by Smita Prakash to explain how it works.
'Mamata Banerjee was an anti-body that the people of West Bengal needed to throw the CPI-M out. Though the disease is no more, we are suffering the anti-body. It is a punishment for the people of this state.' BJP leader Tathagatha Roy lashes out at the West Bengal chief minister.
Demonetisation hit informal sector hard and caused job losses which was not addressed by the budget, Moily said.
In the post Jayalalithaa Tamil Nadu, Sasikala is the person to be watched in the coming days, weeks and months, writes R Ramasubramanian.
Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat are over. Another set of state elections is due in 2018. Here's an assessment of the next round of the electoral challenge and how it could change India's political equations.
Amid speculation over the fate of alliance between the Janata Dal-United and Rashtriya Janata Dal ahead of the crucial Bihar polls, JD-U President Sharad Yadav on Thursday insisted that both the parties will fight the assembly polls in the state together in alliance with the Congress to challenge a resurgent Bharatiya Janata Party.
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.
The initial misadventure of an individual AAP leader highlights how the party not only has to bone up on tactics but should also constantly look within to root out ingrained and inherited prejudices, says Subir Roy.
The results are a ringing endorsement of Modi's popularity, his government's achievements in the last five years and his campaign, which centred around national security, nationalism and Hindutva.
With clouds of storm hovering over Parliament's budget session, President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday sought the "cooperation" of all MPs in the smooth conduct of legislative business but gave no indication of plans to bring changes in the controversial land acquisition ordinance.
'For short-term gain, the BJP makes extraordinary promises, they take extraordinary decisions, but in the long term it is going to impact both them and the country.'
'The Modi government needs some big private sector trophies to affirm its anti-corruption credentials before the polls.' 'So on whose neck will the sword fall next?' 'To that extent, the outing of the ICICI Bank-Videocon story is cathartic,' says Shekhar Gupta.
It has been also revealed that V G Siddhartha had written a letter to the Board of Directors and employees of Coffee Day Enterprises, saying he had 'failed as an entrepreneur'.
The chief minister skipped meals and remained awake the entire night on a makeshift dais along with some senior ministers and party members.
'The Godse controversy may have helped Kamal Haasan reach out to a larger audience, both inside the state and outside, coming as it does when the main campaign for elections 19 is over and only those in the four assembly bypoll constituencies are drudging along,' says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Why is the entire Cabinet running around in Bangalore?' 'Why are they making arrangements for horse-trading?' 'Is this not the BJP's greed for power?' 'They have won the entire country. Why are they so desperate for Karnataka?'
'Will Muslims in large numbers react positively, especially in the context of the events of the last thirty years?' 'In the process, could Modi end up alienating his core supporters?' A fascinating excerpt from Jaithirth Rao's The Indian Conservative : A History of Indian Right-Wing Thought.
The confidence motion moved by Kumaraswamy was defeated with 99 members voting for the motion and 105 against it in a House of 225 including speaker P R Ramesh Kumar and a nominated member.
'2019 is just a year away and Modi can do with some peace and tranquility on the external front.' 'There are risks, of course, but isn't Modi a risk taker?' asks Ambassador B S Prakash.
Amma will wait for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'honeymoon' with the voter to fade away before deciding on the issues that are of real concern to the state and others that may need a considered and balanced solution, say N Sathiya Moorthy and M Kasinathan
From lining up allies to having them accept him as the Opposition's prime ministerial candidate in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Congress president Rahul Gandhi's real challenge has just begun, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Modi and Shah know their politics. That is why the alarmed switch to reservations, and raising the threat from 'vote bank' politics,' says Shekhar Gupta.
The veshti controversy in Tamil Nadu is not about the dress -- but a dress-code, which seems permissible in private homes and offices, but not in private clubs that are open only to well-heeled, and well-paying private members, observes N Sathiya Moorthy
