Merger of the three key ministries is expected to help in removing the hurdles in these areas.
Following the split with the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Shiv Sena blamed its former ally for "choosing to part ways" in spite of it standing by the party during its 'bure din".
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.
With Shiv Sena facing criticism for an editorial in its mouthpiece Saamna, party's youth wing Yuva Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray on Sunday said rape cases should be tried carefully in courts and not in the media.
After a series of desertions in the election year, the ruling Congress in Haryana may face another jolt as its senior leader and Rajya Sabha MP Birender Singh, who has openly revolted against the chief minister, appears set to dump the party and join the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Modi said, "The Karnataka government was indifferent...it did not care about the benefits that a farmer can get from the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana."
Hailing the role of self-help groups in advancement of marginalised section of society, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Monday said they provide the poor with "self-confidence to overcome poverty".
Here's a list of the full first-time ministers in the second term of the Narendra Modi government.
On Tuesday, police in Suri in West Bengal's Birbhum district used batons to disperse a rally where 'Jai Shri Ram' slogans were raised.
The priest-turned-politician is not someone who minces his words.
Born as Ajay Singh, the diminutive shaven headed politician is known for his provocative speeches and mass following across Uttar Pradesh.
Armed with brooms, workers of the Aam Aadmi Party on Wednesday clashed with lathi-wielding activists of the Bharatiya Janata Party and fought pitched street battles in Lucknow in protest against the detention of former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in Gujarat.
The bill was passed with 165 voting in favour and 7 against it.
The director general of police said everyone in the force should have to perform their duties irrespective of their religion and politics.
"The post-mortem report said it was a case of asphyxia due to ante-mortem hanging and suicidal in nature," the SP said.
Noting that Lok Sabha elections are around the corner and only one session of Parliament remains, he asked the government to bring an ordinance.
BJP MP Satish Gautam demanded the expulsion of Uttar Pradesh Labour Minister Swami Prasad Maurya from the party for calling Jinnah a 'mahapurush'
Political observers feel that the outcome of the elections weighs in favour of the BJP which had won a massive mandate in the Lok Sabha elections, held earlier this year.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley said there should be no controversy over the issue of the party's prime ministerial candidate as that would be akin to committing a "hit-wicket" and turn out to be the only possible reason for the main opposition losing the upcoming general elections.
"Yes, We Can," chanted Narendra Modi, as he borrowed United States President Barack Obama's iconic 2008 poll campaign slogan to fire up his audience largely comprising youth at a public meeting in Hyderabad.
Congress accused the BJP and RSS of being behind the 'murderous attack' on Gandhi.
Kejriwal, on a four-day visit to Gujarat, is widely seen to be in the poll-bound state to woo the numerously strong Patel community to gain foothold in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home turf.
The Bharatiya Janata Party claims it has over six lakh committed workers in Bihar, a team of 10 deployed for each of the 62,200 polling booths.
Opposition Congress termed the government's decision as 'unilateral' and said it was against the interest of a majority of Ayyappa devotees in and outside the state.
The visit of a high-level delegation of revenue officials from Bangladesh to India-Bangladesh border areas in Dhubri sector in western Assam has triggered sharp protests by political and non-political groups in Assam.
The BJP chief began his speech with the slogan of uprooting the TMC government from Bengal and said in order to do that, he would visit all the districts of the state.
'What the BJP will have to ensure in order to score an ideological victory is to demonstrate not only its commitment to the rule of law -- which is the first prerequisite -- but to introduce a sense of compassion,' says Amulya Ganguli.
Despite his ministers on shaky ground, Chouhan -- at the helm for three consecutive terms -- is holding the fort. He is being aided by a capable team for public relations and the RSS, which has deployed its workers to bolster the BJP's campaign, reports Sandeep Kumar.
Under siege, Nitish plans to tweak Bihar's anti-booze law
Why are far right Hindu organisations growing in strength? Why is there a rising subscription to Neo-Wahabism, the Saudi Arabian version of contemporary Islam?
Narendra Modi is set to address a huge political rally in Lucknow in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh on Monday, January 2. The PM is expected to make some big announcements at the rally, his first after the 50-day deadline on demonetisation curbs expires. Utkarsh Mishra imagines what Modi will say at the rally, dubbed as Lucknow's 'biggest ever.'
"Sushma Swaraj is a great asset to the nation. There is a no allegation at all. Still they want her to resign," he said.
The Congress opened another front against the Bharatiya Janata Party, as it raked up the row surrounding allotment of land to Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association during its rule and accused former CM PK Dhumal and his son Anurag Thakur of causing a loss of Rs 100 crore to the state exchequer.
Although the authorities had maintained till the last minute that Mevani and his supporters did not have permission to hold the event, it seems the rally organisers and Delhi Police reached a compromise later.
Life in Mumbai was on Wednesday slowly coming back on tracks as rains subsided and hundreds of stranded commuters headed home with the partial resumption of suburban train services.
If Modi and Shah did not project Adityanath as CM, it was out of expediency, says Radhika Ramaseshan.
A group of young women and men have had enough of moral policing in Kerala. On Sunday, November 2 they plan to meet at Kochi's Marine Drive and stage a somewhat unique protest that involves... kissing.
Formidable challenges including funds for the farm loan-waiver, and law and order stare him at his face, with the opposition claiming the misses have outnumbered the hits.
Just to be clear, "love jihad" -- a concept that claims that Muslim men court Hindu women to convert them to Islam purely to take over India -- doesn't exist, says Mitali Saran
Attempting to break the deadlock in seat-sharing talks for the October 15 Maharashtra assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party will send a fresh proposal to the Shiv Sena even as it said it would like to contest seats its saffron ally had not won in years.
