West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said the January 19 mega opposition rally in Kolkata would sound the “death knell” for the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections and regional parties would be the deciding factor. The latest to confirm attendance were the former BJP troika of Arun Shourie, Yashwant Sinha and Shatrughan Sinha, all of who are staunchly opposed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP. BSP chief Mayawati, who recently struck an alliance pact with Akhilesh Yadav-led SP in Uttar Pradesh, has deputed party general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Satish Chandra Misra in her place. Akhilesh Yadav, former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers Farooq Abdullah and son Omar will be among those attending the rally. So will be former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, his son and Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy, his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kerjiwal. DMK President M.K. Stalin, RLD chief Ajit Singh, NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Lalu Prasad’s son Tejashwi Yadav would join the rally. While Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi are giving the rally a miss, the party would be represented by leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge.read more

He will perform the German composer’s six suites for solo cello in a single sitting, at a concert in Mumbai. read more

The Private Member’s Bill which has been introduced in Parliament to give employees the right to refuse official calls after office hours will be useful and help boost morale read more

The former Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar made the statement during a press conference in Kolhapur, to clarify his party’s stance over the ongoing speculation that NCP was likely to tie-up with MNS, ahead of the upcoming general polls. read more

The issue of Puneri pagdi, often associated with Peshwas, who were Brahmin prime ministers during the Maratha kingdom, first landed into controversy earlier this year after NCP chief Sharad Pawar removed it and instead wore a Phule pagdi during a fu... read more

With no consensus in their Delhi meet, Kharge, Patel asked to come up with a solution read more

While the Sena called the NCP comments “immature,” the BJP refused to comment. read more

N Chandrababu Naidu of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), a leader close to him said, also believes that a three-cornered contest in Uttar Pradesh – when Congress contests independently of the SP and BSP – could be detrimental to opposition unity and ultimately... read more

From “I won’t enter Mantralya till Dhangars get reservation”, to “I was referring to the next term”, senior BJP leader and state’s rural development minister Pankaja Munde found herself in a tight spot on Tuesday after a colleague reminded her of her... read more

At one end is union minister Nitin Gadkari who is campaigning for road safety and at the other is the Pune BJP opposing safety helmets read more

BJP chief, CM tell workers not to worry about alliance, to begin groundwork for all constituencies read more

Ah, those long Delhi winter lunches on the sprawling lawns of Lutyen’s bungalows belonging to leading members of India’s political elite. read more

The parties are also in the process of finalising their coalition with smaller parties. read more

NCP city unit president Chetan Tupe said, “Previously, the Metro route was planned on a straight 6.5 km route between Hadapsar to Katraj. However, now the BJP wants to divert it through Market Yard and Gangadham Chowk and extend it to almost 9 km. read more

The general election in April-May 2014 saw 55% voter turnout; it was a record of sorts where turnout percentages in national, state and especially local elections have generally hovered around 40%. read more