BJP's best bet lies in the TDP and the TRS striking a deal with the Congress and framing the battle as a UPA versus NDA clash, reports Radhika Ramaseshan.
UP and Bihar contributed 105 seats to the BJP's tally in 2014. It has now lost 8 Lok Sabha by-polls in the last four years, including three successive losses in UP and two seats in Rajasthan.
"Nobody other than Modi can give a strong government," Shah said.
For the fourth day, the Lok Sabha House fails to take up trust vote notices.
The BJP assessment -- or at least that of some of its leaders -- is that the Congress in Gujarat has peaked too soon, having already fired all its weapons and has nothing new to say.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has ruled out a rethink on the seat-sharing formula for the 'Grand Secular Alliance' for the state Assembly polls, a day after Nationalist Congress Party's ultimatum for reconsideration by August 20 and its insistence on 12 seats.
Hoping that the new state of Telangana will come into being by January, over a dozen Congress leaders from the region are said to be lobbying hard with the party high command for the chief minister's post.
European leaders are searching for solutions as conflicts in Syria and Iraq are sending thousands of refugees on dangerous voyages through the Balkans and across the Mediterranean to the 28-nation European Union. Here are the latest developments on the crisis.
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.
Nitish 'sent his emissary, Prashant Kishor, to me on five different occasions.' 'Kishor seemed to indicate that if I were to assure in writing my party's support to the JD-U, the latter would pull out of the BJP alliance and rejoin the Mahagathbandhan.' A revealing excerpt from Lalu Prasad Yadav's Gopalganj To Raisina: My Political Journey.
The Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Bill and The Specific Relief (Amendment) Bill passed amid din.
'The problem lies in the popular perception that the Marathas are a rich, politically powerful and dominant caste in the state... The truth is different. The tragedy of this community is that only 137 Maratha families are the dominant players in state politics. The disparity is so wide, that the rest of the Maratha community isn't even half as rich, forget being powerful,' says N Suresh.
Sajjad is the younger son of Hurriyat leader Abdul Gani Lone who was assassinated on May 21, 2002, by militants
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said the government is ready for a discussion on the issue of alleged financial irregularities in the banking sector and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will reply to the debate.
The extended Winter session of Parliament got off a stormy start on Wednesday with uproar over the Telangana and caste-reservation issue stalling proceedings.
'What Trump and Kim have demonstrated is that leaders need not remain prisoners of the status quo and they can, by showing the necessary will and courage, break out of the hang-ups and constrictions of the past and carve out a new pathway for themselves,' says B S Raghavan.
De-scaling of businesses, job losses and subsequent impact on disposable incomes has created negative sentiment among traders, business owners and workers alike, says Abhishek Waghmare.
Gopinath Munde came up the hard way and never forgot his roots. Just when he seemed destined for bigger things, death snatched him away.
Ground surveys have found that several members of the dominant castes are in economic conditions quite similar to that of peer communities with the advantage of quotas.
'This novel format of diplomacy -- the informal summit -- will not only facilitate bilateral communication and reduce miscalculations at the very top level of the two governments, but possibly open the space for China and India to speak in one voice on various issues of mutual concern,' note Feng Renjie and Ding Kun Lei
Only three percent of Indians pay income tax; our tax-GDP ratio is among the lowest in the world. This must change. Our elites must realise that India's poverty has damaging consequences for them, and that they can help decrease it. The food security bill, with all its limitations, will hopefully contribute to generating such awareness, says Praful Bidwai.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis faces the challenge of ensuring that Dalits and Muslims -- who are likely to be most affected by the beef ban -- do not drift away towards the opposition.
Army was on Friday called in for deployment in eight districts of Haryana after one person was killed and 21 were injured in police action as Jat stir for quota turned violent and the rampaging mobs set ablaze the house of state's Finance Minister besides several government and private properties.
'Someone is needed to restore India back to Indians. So you decided you won't vote for Modi. But then, who will you vote for? List your leaders from the north to south and east to west, and ask your heart and mind, will any one of them be able to deliver and bring back India from the darkness it has fallen into?' asks Rajya Sabha MP Tarun Vijay.
The imapsse continues over issues like bank scams and special status demand for Andhra Pradesh.
Rediff.com gives you a look at newbies in the Council of Ministers
Yet to come to terms with the poll drubbing, knives are out in the Congress state units against Prithviraj Chavan, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Tarun Gogoi and Partap Singh Bajwa as there's a gradual crescendo seeking their resignations. Anita Katyal reports.
Congress is still undecided about its move
Shah also said that the parties in power in Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka were answerable for the incidents cited by protesting writers.
Syed Firdaus Ashraf spends a week in Goa in pursuit of his favourite dish, and discovers a few other things about the state as well.
The WTO has fixed an external reference price (ERP) for rice at Rs 3.52 per kg
BJP claimed close to 116 lawmakers from rival parties appeared to have voted for Kovind.
'Who's providing all this money to the BJP? And who's providing all this money to the Congress?' 'Where did all this money come from?' 'Who is enabling all these MLAs to be bought for Rs 50, 60 crores?' 'There's one MLA on whose behalf somebody claimed that the BJP invited him for Rs 60 crores. Whose money is this?'
While there is no denying that certain sections of the community deserve aid, the politics of reservation can be suicidal for India.
Expelled BJP ideologue Prof Hari Om speaks to Pervez Majeed.
With the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party seat-sharing talks deadlocked over the latter's insistence on getting more seats to contest the assembly polls, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Sunday said he is against breaking the alliance but party workers feel the ally's "body language is anti-Congress".
'This government wants to keep control of everything in its hands.' 'If they have their stooges sitting on the National Medical Commission, they will do only the government's bidding.' 'Imagine a scary situation where people who have no knowledge about medicine sit on a commission that will take decisions on matters related to medical education, doctors and medical ethics.'
Sherna Gandhy hopes Malala Yousafzai can convince the powers-that-be in New Delhi that it is the responsibility of the government to ensure that our children get a decent education.
If money allocations, investment commitments are a sign of better things to come, the state can be optimistic.
Congress Vice-president Rahul Gandhi has a real chance to push through the changes he has been talking about for the past year, now that the state bosses stand exposed after the recent assembly polls. Anita Katyal reports
