Bhupender Yadav's entry to the Modi government as a Cabinet minister is seen as his just reward after serving as a party office-bearer for the longest term among all current occupants.
Law Minister Salman Khurshid on Monday night sought to cap the stand-off with the Election Commission over his Muslim sub-quota remarks by writing a letter to the poll body in which he is understood to have said that he has all the respect for the constitutional authority.
Those who are appointed to the EC must be like Caesar's wife -- above suspicion, men of impeccable integrity and credibility, and must be seen as fair and impartial in order to command the respect of citizens of this country and of all political parties.
BJP leaders were told that Chawla would not recuse, as demanded by the party, and would be part of the hearing.
The Supreme Court on Thursday proposed that the Board of Control for Cricket in India elections can be held next month but the people named in the Justice Mudgal Commission report, which probed the betting and spot-fixing in the sixth edition of Indian Premier League in 2013, must be kept out.
How did Smriti Irani go from being a graduate in 2004 to an undergraduate in 2014?
Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh on Monday said he would approach the Election Commission seeking derecognition of Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena in the wake of its party chief's remarks and subsequent violence in Mumbai targetting North Indians.
If the EC decides to put on hold a gas price revision for RIL, it would set a precedent for pricing decisions of the government and policy decisions taken but undergoing procedural delays.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday termed the cancellation of over 25,000 school jobs as 'gross injustice' and alleged that it was a ploy by the Bharatiya Janata Party to stop these job losers from being deployed in poll duty.
Expressing "deep concern", the Election Commission on Thursday issued a fresh show cause notice to Uttar Pradesh minister Mohd Azam Khan for reportedly making objectionable remarks against it and circumventing a ban imposed on him from campaigning in the state.
Congress candidate Ajay Rai on Monday landed in a controversy after he went to vote wearing his election symbol on his kurta, prompting Election Commission to launch an inquiry into the matter while BJP and Aam Aadmi Party also sought action against him.
Congress on Thursday disapproved of Union Minister Beni Prasad Verma's controversial remarks daring the Election Commission to issue a notice to him over his statement on sub-quota for minorities.
Neither the ruling DMK nor the fractured AIADMK Opposition anticipated that an assembly by-election would put them both to test, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Saharanpur Congress candidate Imran Masood has stirred up a controversy by threatening to "chop Narendra Modi into pieces", inviting sharp criticism from the Bharatiya Janata Party which termed the remark as "inflammatory" and sought strict action by the Election Commission.
'I have decided to postpone the proposed 'Garib Kisan Rally' to end the controversy arising out of the commission's directive against the RJD and filing of a case against me,' he said.
In the thick of controversy over his remarks on minorities' sub-quota, Law Minister Salman Khurshid on Sunday refused to comment on Election Commission's move seeking "immediate and decisive" intervention of President Pratibha Patil.
Modi's BJP has promised more revdis or freebies for these assembly elections than ever before, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Aam Aadmi Party on Friday defended its leader Arvind Kejriwal over his controversial comments on sending media personnel to jail, saying he was referring to a section of the media which was running an "agenda" of the Bharatiya Janata Party and its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.
Rashtriya Janata Dal members pressed for an immediate debate leading to abrupt adjournment of the Lok Sabha shortly before the lunch recess.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi vacated the seat in the wake of office of profit controversy.
The notice was issued to Singh after the Commission received a report that the chief minister had protested against the detention of a vehicle with beacon light and had said that it was illegal on part of the deputy commissioner and superintendent of police to do so. "You had cautioned the officials to behave properly as you had posted them to the district and had further remarked that the model code of conduct is not a law and I know what the law is," the EC said.
The Congress suggested there was cash stashed in the trunk.
Justice Hemant Prachchhak of the high court took up the criminal revision application filed by Gandhi challenging the April 20 order of the sessions court.
There are concerns within the Congress with respect to the articulation of the party's demand for the caste census, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently accusing the grand old party of attempting to divide Hindus through its push for the Other Backward Classes.
Accusing Aam Aadmi Party rival Shazia Ilmi of making "irresponsible" statements on his age issue and that he had written an article lauding Arvind Kejriwal, BJP candidate V K Singh urged the Election Commission to take action against these "hit-and- run tactics".
The EC has also to act on the complaint made to the President against Navin Chawla.
By keeping the Sanatana Dharma row alive and adding the Ayodhya temple consecration scheduled for January 22 and adding the free darshan promise from four polled states to the entire country, the BJP may have a self-fulfilling concoction, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
BJP releases new poster taking a dig at Kejriwal.
SC notice to Centre, EC over Chawla's removal
In the midst of political heat over Congress Member of Parliament Jagan's controversial yatra, two persons from Andhra Pradesh have sought registration of a political party named after his late father and former Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.
Debates on changing the name of India to Bharat continue to spark a crisis of identity without answering moot questions that stare us in the face. Ramesh Menon asks a few of those questions that do not have easy answers.
Distancing himself from the comments, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the LDF's stand is not to personally attack Gandhi.
His five-year rule saw the Babri Masjid demolition, the rise of the saffron forces and also the country being placed firmly on a new economic path, away from the Nehru years of public sector socialism.
The apex court had earlier restrained the high court from proceedings with the PILs seeking a probe against Soren in the mining lease issue.
While the BJP demanded that the polls in the Raja Rajeshwari Nagar constituency are countermanded, the Congress alleged that the apartment belonged to a BJP leader.
The three Karnataka ministers, who are in the midst of illegal mining controversy, on Monday contended before the Election Commission that Governor H R Bhardwaj had no authority to refer to it the petition seeking their disqualification from the state legislature.
Elections will also be held in 35 assembly constituencies in Odisha.
The Commission wanted "very early action" in the matter with intimation to it.
The Election Commission on Saturday asked political parties in Bihar not to publish advertisements that have the potential to create mutual hatred and ill-will among different social and religious communities so that the peaceful atmosphere is not vitiated.
