RJD president Lalu Prasad will not attend the celebrations due to ill health.
The TDP snapped its ties with the BJP alleging neglect of the southern state and failure of the Centre to grant special category state status to Andhra Pradesh.
Party sources in the party said the Padyatra could begin either from Vidarbha in Maharasthra or some district including Medak from Telangana -- the two regions which have been in the news for farmer suicides.
Top Opposition leaders, including Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Sunday lashed out at the Narendra Modi government for "doing nothing other than 'show-baazi'" by slashing allocations to all major social security schemes like MGNREGA.
Health Minister Rajesh Tope also urged people to observe strict discipline
Central Mumbai on Friday witnessed traffic snarls due to security measures in view of the public meeting of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and a rally by Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar besides President Kalam's visit to the city.
The death of the veteran Bollywood actor Rishi Kapoor a huge loss for the Indian film industry.
'Modi wants to go down in history not necessarily as India's first overtly Hindu RSS pracharak prime minister, but as a world statesman who built the idea of India as a great nation.'
The government on Wednesday reached out to opposition Janata Dal-United as continued disruptions in Parliament blocked passage of the United Progressive Alliance's 'game changer' Food Security Bill that aims to provide foodgrains at cheap rates to 67 per cent of the population.
"What is the hurry," Modi said, while referring to Gandhi's hand gestures when he came across to PM's chair.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi turned 70 on Thursday, and wishes poured in from top dignitaries, including the President and Vice President, Union ministers and leaders from across the political divide. The Bharatiya Janata Party is organising a number of events, mainly aimed at public service, across the country to celebrate Modi's birthday as 'Sewa Divas'.
'The Modi-Shah duo won't leave the war zone without putting up a tough fight.' 'Modi's slogan for 2019 could well be, "I have done much. Give me one more chance to do even more".' '2019 will be tough for the BJP.' 'But it will be even tougher for the Opposition -- united or otherwise,' says R Rajagopalan.
The Nationalist Congress Party on Thursday attributed the drubbing the Congress-led UPA has received in polls mainly to the "communication deficit" on part of outgoing prime minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi and also to issues like hike in prices of fuel and LPG cylinders by the ruling dispensation.
Thackeray, who is also president of the Shiv Sena, said his alliance partners -- the Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress -- are 'positive' and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government is benefitting from their experience.
The Bombay high court on Thursday sought affidavits from Maharashtra government, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and Mumbai Cricket Association in reply to a Public Interest Litigation filed by 'Aam Aadmi Party' alleging illegality and irregularity in allotment of land in suburban Kandivli to the MCA.
Such is the force of his oratory that many Muslims, even those who don't vote for him, have come to believe that Asaduddin Owaisi is the first and only politician who speaks up for Muslims since Independence, observes Jyoti Punwani
Dr Lagoo, who was a trained ENT surgeon, played important role in the growth of theatre movement in Maharashtra in post-Independence era.
The former Union minister joined the UPA after holding talks with the Congress leadership.
'Ram Sir was a creator of law. He has his stamp on every leading judgment in criminal law.'
Over 100 Opposition members of Parliament led by Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday marched from Parliament to the Rashtrapati Bhawan
It won't be a surprise if Raju Shetti, the first to part ways with the National Democratic Alliance, citing agrarian distress, joins hands with the Congress and becomes part of the UPA.
The AAP won in 62 with a total vote share of 53.58 per cent. The BJP recorded victory in eight seats, receiving 38.49 per cent of the total votes. The Congress could not even manage a single seat and ended with 4.27 per cent vote share.
'Modi's finest political legacy ought to be a border settlement with Beijing,' asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The BJP president came down heavily on the Opposition saying a shocking change has happened in the country's politics with those against the prime minister resorting to lies and speaking it loudly all the time.
'The last four years was not Dravidian rule, it was BJP rule by proxy.'
Brushing aside speculation about a leadership change in Maharashtra, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan virtually confirmed on Thursday that he is not going to be replaced.
'As general elections draw near, the BJP and the JD-U (in whatever form it is) will do a deal -- the state to the JD-U in return for support at the Centre for the BJP.'
'This government is so fond of some corporate friends that they can always amend existing laws or make new laws.'
Deadlock on Monday continued on the issue of Congress alliance in Bihar for Lok Sabha polls with seat sharing with Rashtriya Janata Dal coming under strain and Janata Dal-United ruling out any adjustment with the party.
Shah said that the BJP hoped the Dalit nominee would be unanimously selected as the President.
'A fierce crusader against communalism, George joined hands with majoritarian forces, never to revisit or re-assess his saffron association.' 'He was a Union minister in 1998-2004, a time when people like Graham Staines were lynched in Orissa.' 'On the Gujarat pogrom of 2002, George went on to kind of justify the slashing of pregnant women, by saying in the Lok Sabha that this was nothing new for India.' 'Thus, he was in sharp contrast to what he had himself stood for in the heyday of his political career in the 1970s and 1980s, says Mohammad Sajjad.
Congress leaders from Maharashtra Ashok Chavan, Prithviraj Chavan and Pradesh Congress Committee chief Balasaheb Thorat attended the meeting along with the top brass of the party, including Ahmed Patel.
It is a tribute to India's democracy, however flawed, that the very same MPs who had harangued her intermittently from Opposition benches now surged towards her, anxiety writ large on their faces. One offered her some homoeopathic tablets, another advised her to stay seated, another grasped her hand wishing her good health... the crowd parted as Prime Minister Narendra Modi strode up to congratulate her. But it was mostly well-wishers from the Opposition and the NDA that kept the finance minister cocooned with good wishes until it was time to leave, reports Aditi Phadnis.
With almost all opposition parties too backing the 'Bharat bandh' and many announcing parallel protests in support of the farmers, the Centre has issued an advisory directing the states and Union Territories to tighten security and ensure peace is maintained.
The Sharad Pawar and P A Sangma factions of the Nationalist Congress Party on Friday crossed swords before the \n\nElection Commission, both laying claim to the party symbol -- a clock.
