Attempting to form a "secular and democratic alternative" to dethrone the Congress from power at the Centre, the All India Anna Dravida Munetra Kazhagam and the Communist Party of India on Sunday announced their decision to enter into an alliance ahead of the coming Lok Sabha polls.
The resolution, once finalised, would chalk out the political-tactical line of the CPI-M for the next three years.
The Congress chief will also be contesting from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.
There are 13 new faces, including two women, in the cabinet. Five ministers had held positions in previous LDF ministries.
While Karat is opposed to any understanding with the Congress, Yechury is of the view that the situation warrants putting together a national alternative to the BJP, reports Archis Mohan.
The four Left parties, which had won 24 seats in 2009, are seen bagging 14-20 this time
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley said on Sunday that the relationship of Rahul Gandhi with Amethi is "nominal" and it remains one of the most backward constituencies in the country.
It is the last place where the dinosaurs who once dreamt of ruling the Earth can still be seen in their natural habitat, says T V R Shenoy.
Pune police on Tuesday raided homes of prominent Left-wing activists in several states and arrested at least five of them -- poet Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, activists Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Ferreira in Mumbai, trade unionist and lawyer Sudha Bhardwaj in Faridabad and Chhattisgarh and civil liberties activist Gautam Navalakha in Delhi.
'Tell me, what is more important to Modi -- his position as prime minister or as an RSS pracharak?' 'We feel he gives priority to his position as an RSS pracharak. Otherwise, why did he not agree to go to Parliament as the prime minister of the country and air his opinion on ghar wapsi as demanded by the Opposition?'
Congress leaders were in for a rude shock on Monday when the media sidelined their much-touted Jawaharlal Nehru birth anniversary event, and instead turned its full attention to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was addressing thousands of supporters in Sydney's Allphones Arena
Giving in to demands of the BJP, the Congress-led state government has now decided to hand over the probe to CBI
The 89-year-old leader was expelled by the CPI-M after he refused to step down from his position as Speaker holding that the post is above any party politics.
Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday met President Pranab Mukherjee and leaders of political parties in an attempt to find an amicable solution to the problem of division in New Delhi Andhra Pradesh and creation of Telangana state.
Left parties on Wednesday warned the government that it would commit an "illegal act" if it tried to dilute the Civil Nuclear Liability Act or signed any agreement for supply of nuclear reactors during the upcoming United States visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The main contest is between the CPI-M and the BJP in the February 18 assembly polls for 60 seats.
Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, 11 parties on Tuesday got together with a vow to defeat Congress-led United Progressive Alliances and prevent the Bharatiya Janata Party from coming to power by presenting themselves as an alternative to them.
Pushing efforts to firm up a Third Front, top leaders of the Janata Dal-United, Left and the Janta Dal-Secular met in New Delhi on Monday and decided to convene a meeting of 11 parties after the end of the current Parliament session to give concrete shape to a non-Congress and non-BJP alternative.
Seeking to reassert Jawaharlal Nehru's legacy, Congress President Sonia Gandhi said secularism is a compelling necessity for a country as diverse as India.
A total of 1,203 candidates, including 109 women, are contesting for the 140 assembly seats in which a total of 2.61 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar Thursday did not rule out emergence of a Third Front, which was also favoured by the Samajwadi party, after the Bharatiya Janata Party-Janata Dal-United face-off triggered the possibility of a non-Congress, non-BJP grouping to fight the next Lok Sabha polls.
The Supreme Court's refusal to stay execution of Yakub Memon on Wednesday drew sharp reactions from legal experts.
'The Congress has no moral right to throw mud at others. The Gandhis talking of corruption sounds worse than the devil quoting scripture.'
The Opposition has alleged that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh runs the Narendra Modi government.
The interesting bit about the Azamgarh poll finding on India TV was the whopping percentage of Muslims backing the SP-BSP alliance, which sort of negates Mayawati's appeal to the community to not split their vote with the Congress, says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
At the best of times, ticket distribution in India's political parties is a tough business. The post-election result has to be judged, and judged correctly. It's an impossible job in view of the 814 million voters for whom the party bigwigs have to perform. Sheela Bhatt presents this light-hearted assessment of what's top of the mind for our political heavyweights.
Shah said the Congress was not rooted in any ideology or principles and was sort of a "special purpose vehicle" to secure freedom.
'Modi should have trust in us and the minorities should also have trust in him.'
What the Congress will have to understand is that it is not enough to have a 40-something vice-president in New Delhi, but young faces with fresh ideas in the states,' says Amulya Ganguli.
"I will miss his tantrums" is what Congress president Sonia Gandhi said while bidding farewell to Pranab Mukherjee from the Congress Working Committee at a meeting which formally approved his name as the United Progressive Alliance's presidential nominee in June 2012.
The government on Monday came under sharp attack on the issue of crucial files of Coal ministry going missing, with the Opposition alleging that it was a conspiracy to save Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the coal block allocation scam and demanding an impartial probe into it.
After an unsavoury courtroom battle, his party won to secure for him the final resting place at the Chennai landmark
'The Left is dying, but its economic ideology rules, unchallenged.' 'Modi is its newest standard-bearer.' 'Even in today's bitterly polarised politics, if there is one thing on which not just the BJP and Congress, but all other parties agree, it is that socialist economics is the only way to survive,' says Shekhar Gupta.
Manmohan Singh, reveals the former President, was keen that either P Chidambaram or Montek Singh Ahluwalia be the finance minister.
Politicians, actors and eminent jurists have written a petition to the President to waive off the 1993 Mumbai blasts convict's execution, saying it 'would degrade us all'.
With party Vice-president Rahul Gandhi's relations with senior party leaders deteriorating, Priyanka Gandhi is now being tipped to be the bridge between the organisation, the government, and the family. Renu Mittal reports.
20 times increase in people joining RSS on rss.org, Marginal increase in number of branches. Archis Mohan reports
In the midst of mounting pressure from both pro and anti-Telangana leaders, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ahead of the crucial United Progressive Alliance and Congress working committee meetings to take a final decision on the separate statehood issue.
For the third front to become a reality, it needs a party that has a pan-India presence and wins more Lok Sabha seats than all other parties in the front, say experts.
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