Written By Suparna Singh

As the government announced that the special status for Kashmir has been done away with, several parties in parliament which are not part of the ruling BJP's coalition commended the move. Jagan Mohan Reddy's party, for example; and Mayawati's.

As Yogi Adityanath's home base, Gorakhpur was always VIP vicinity. This time around, it's even more eminent - as the birthplace of that once unimaginable political proposition, the Mayawati-Akhilesh Yadav combo. In this election, its political weight is off the charts.

This is part of Saurashtra's new vexation as it decides who to choose on Tuesday, torn between its long-standing loyalty to the BJP and its recent shift to the Congress.

Mr Owaisi and Mr Ambedkar have been dubbed the "Viru and Jai" of Maharashtra politics by the local media, in a reference to the two characters in the 1970s Bollywood classic "Sholay", who used their combined strength and cunning to overpower the ruthless dacoit Gabbar Singh. This may not be their moment of convocation "but we are already hungry for...

On social media, the PM's supporters and detractors clash on his trips to Tamil Nadu with hashtags like #GoBackModi feuding with #WelcomeModi. Mr Natarajan's cadres, similarly, try to talk up among voters an alleged 'emotional disconnect' between Tamil Nadu and Delhi since 2014.

Mayawati has always been deeply suspicious of Chandrashekhar, half her age and like her, a Jatav. She has repeatedly accused him of being a BJP agent, funded by its ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh or RSS, who should have joined her party instead of founding the Bhim Army if he were serious about Dalit unity and rights.

Tejashwi Yadav, the 29-year-old who is leading the main opposition party in Bihar, was summoned to the hospital in Ranchi today where his father, Lalu Yadav, is being treated for heart and other conditions.

Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan, who was imprisoned for a year on controversial charges of endangering national security, has been freed just in time to challenge the Dalit powerhouse status of Mayawati.

What Madhya Pradesh is reaffirming, ahead of the general election, that if alliances will be a major theme of every political gambit that comes into play, the other will be caste.

Right after the Congress was rejected by Karnataka today, the party's first family met at the Delhi home of Rahul Gandhi, who took over from his mother, Sonia Gandhi, as party president in December.

Karnataka today joined the list of states who've signed up for a Congress cleanse, though the party isn't through with trying to retain the southern state. Its last-minute scramble was impelled by the BJP failing to win an outright majority with 104 seats (it needs eight more to form the government on its own). It is, however, Rahul Gandhi who may ...

Karnataka election: Hours before the results for his election were declared, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah got hints of a possible termination notice - from within his own party. "There are at least half a dozen chief ministerial candidates in our party," said G Parameshwara, a senior Congress leader from Karnataka, cheerfully confirming his own spot...

Tucked away into a luxe beachside resort in Puducherry, a group of politicians who have the potential to bring down the Tamil Nadu government have no complaints about their all-paid-for villas or the massages that are on offer. The only blip on the palm-tree lined horizon is Chief Minister E Palaniswami - "EPS" -who, they say, must quit.

Allies Nitish Kumar and the Congress are trying to bridge the gap that busted out after they decided to back competing candidates for the President of India.

For those questioning Lalu Yadav's alliance with Nitish Kumar in Bihar, the 69-year-old political heavyweight has two questions of his own: "Am I a fool?" and "Do I look like Kalidas?"

As the government announced that the special status for Kashmir has been done away with, several parties in parliament which are not part of the ruling BJP's coalition commended the move. Jagan Mohan Reddy's party, for example; and Mayawati's.

As Yogi Adityanath's home base, Gorakhpur was always VIP vicinity. This time around, it's even more eminent - as the birthplace of that once unimaginable political proposition, the Mayawati-Akhilesh Yadav combo. In this election, its political weight is off the charts.

This is part of Saurashtra's new vexation as it decides who to choose on Tuesday, torn between its long-standing loyalty to the BJP and its recent shift to the Congress.

Mr Owaisi and Mr Ambedkar have been dubbed the "Viru and Jai" of Maharashtra politics by the local media, in a reference to the two characters in the 1970s Bollywood classic "Sholay", who used their combined strength and cunning to overpower the ruthless dacoit Gabbar Singh. This may not be their moment of convocation "but we are already hungry for...

On social media, the PM's supporters and detractors clash on his trips to Tamil Nadu with hashtags like #GoBackModi feuding with #WelcomeModi. Mr Natarajan's cadres, similarly, try to talk up among voters an alleged 'emotional disconnect' between Tamil Nadu and Delhi since 2014.

Mayawati has always been deeply suspicious of Chandrashekhar, half her age and like her, a Jatav. She has repeatedly accused him of being a BJP agent, funded by its ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh or RSS, who should have joined her party instead of founding the Bhim Army if he were serious about Dalit unity and rights.

Tejashwi Yadav, the 29-year-old who is leading the main opposition party in Bihar, was summoned to the hospital in Ranchi today where his father, Lalu Yadav, is being treated for heart and other conditions.

Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan, who was imprisoned for a year on controversial charges of endangering national security, has been freed just in time to challenge the Dalit powerhouse status of Mayawati.

What Madhya Pradesh is reaffirming, ahead of the general election, that if alliances will be a major theme of every political gambit that comes into play, the other will be caste.

Right after the Congress was rejected by Karnataka today, the party's first family met at the Delhi home of Rahul Gandhi, who took over from his mother, Sonia Gandhi, as party president in December.

Karnataka today joined the list of states who've signed up for a Congress cleanse, though the party isn't through with trying to retain the southern state. Its last-minute scramble was impelled by the BJP failing to win an outright majority with 104 seats (it needs eight more to form the government on its own). It is, however, Rahul Gandhi who may ...

Karnataka election: Hours before the results for his election were declared, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah got hints of a possible termination notice - from within his own party. "There are at least half a dozen chief ministerial candidates in our party," said G Parameshwara, a senior Congress leader from Karnataka, cheerfully confirming his own spot...

Tucked away into a luxe beachside resort in Puducherry, a group of politicians who have the potential to bring down the Tamil Nadu government have no complaints about their all-paid-for villas or the massages that are on offer. The only blip on the palm-tree lined horizon is Chief Minister E Palaniswami - "EPS" -who, they say, must quit.

Allies Nitish Kumar and the Congress are trying to bridge the gap that busted out after they decided to back competing candidates for the President of India.

For those questioning Lalu Yadav's alliance with Nitish Kumar in Bihar, the 69-year-old political heavyweight has two questions of his own: "Am I a fool?" and "Do I look like Kalidas?"