Game Changers  Story Dated : Fri,June,14 2013 21:39 hrs IST The Yadav leaders of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar were the big presence, and were credited with finishing the Congress in the two populous states of the Gangetic plain. They were key figures when a Third Front was formed in 1996 to form a government at... Policy Paralysis  Story Dated : Sun,June,02 2013 23:04 hrs IST The slowdown of the economy in the last few months has alarmed even the admirers of the government, as the prime minister and his economic team has been unable to take major initiatives, after the budget was presented three months ago. The decade's... Sword of Damocles  Story Dated : Sun,May,05 2013 17:06 hrs IST The fighting amongst the topmost law officers of the government has dented the image of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as an administrator very much. Despite having a galaxy of lawyers in his cabinet like P Chidambaram and Kapil Sibal, the prime... Power Stratagem  Story Dated : Mon,March,11 2013 21:29 hrs IST Rahul Gandhi remains the focus for his remarks both on his personal and political goals. The Congress vice president has thrown his party and the opposition by his declaration that he would not be a prime ministerial contender in the 2014 elections,... Honour conferred or denied?  Story Dated : Thu,January,31 2013 20:33 hrs IST S.Janaki is not the first celebrity to reject the Padma Award conferred on the occasion of Republic Day. Many artistes, social activists and journalists have rejected the award either at the awarding stage or after it is announced. But officials in... Tussle between two sentiments Story Dated : Mon,December,17 2012 16:43 hrs IST Intense differences between Defence Minister A A Antony and Delhi Chief Minister sheila Dixit over the India Gate lawns in the heart of New Delhi is a tussle between two sentiments. The armed forces think there is no other area better than the large... Great Expectations Story Dated : Sat,November,10 2012 20:44 hrs IST Much expectations have been placed at the door of veteran minister Kamal Nath by the UPA leadership as the winter session comes nearer.  The businessman-turned-politician has been given charge of parliamentary affairs, at a time when the... BJP's Winter Dilemma Story Dated : Wed,October,31 2012 14:27 hrs IST BJP president Nitin Gadkari has asked the party's top leaders in parliament like L.K. Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley to meet and discuss the strategy for the coming winter session of parliament. The question he has posed to the top three... Party Time  Story Dated : Wed,August,08 2012 13:16 hrs IST Anna Hazare has blessed his supporters to start a political party and his team has already announced that they would be in a position to change the country in just three years. The enthusiasm of the acolytes, especially Arvind Kejriwal, who had... Nitish's newfound halo  Story Dated : Wed,July,18 2012 10:20 hrs IST Nitish Kumar looks much pleased these days. He has become the centre of attraction for ruling UPA, even though the Bihar chief minister is a key member of opposition NDA. His agenda is getting acceptance in both the fronts.Latest success of Kumar is... The Lawmaking Business   Story Dated : Tue,April,03 2012 10:27 hrs IST The Election Commission has sounded the bugle by countermanding elections to Rajya Sabha from Jharkand, as rich candidates were buying MLAs who are the voters.   The Jharkand Assembly has been a hunting ground for industrialists and businessmen,... Mumbai Soft Pedal  Story Dated : Wed,March,07 2012 16:32 hrs IST The crackdown on Mumbai congress leader Kripashankar Singh by the Mumbai high court has again raised questions on why the party did not remove Singh earlier. Instead his resignation was accepted after the Mumbai high court directed the city police... Maken's Tackle   Story Dated : Mon,February,13 2012 10:32 hrs IST The series of setbacks suffered by Indian cricket both on and off the field has once again emboldened sports minister Ajay Maken to revise his proposal for greate government control on sports federations in the country. Maken has been unhappy that a... War over Aadhaar  Story Dated : Wed,January,25 2012 17:26 hrs IST Manmohan Singh is just not able to have the final word in his own cabinet. The latest instance where cabinet ministers are fighting each other, after a formal decision of the cabinet pertains to the Unique Identity number project, which was a pet... The Anna Fizzle  Story Dated : Wed,January,11 2012 15:14 hrs IST Anna Hazare and his team are searching for new ways to capture the public imagination for their campaign on corruption in 2012. While the team captured  the high ground of morality and purposiveness in august when  there was a strong response, the... Troubleshooter Blues  Story Dated : Wed,December,21 2011 16:17 hrs IST As the economic slowdown is hurting the rupee and causing concerns, a serious question is being asked in political circles about Pranab Mukherjee. Many senior officials and even ministers feel that the 76 year old minister has got too many burdens,... Mamata Muscle  Story Dated : Wed,December,07 2011 20:13 hrs IST Mamata Banerjee has proved she will not be a docile passenger in the UPA coalition like other big parties which have been with Manmhan Singh since 2004, when UPA was formed. Interestingly the Congress was much more vulnerable in terms of numbers in... Army fans Khan fire  Story Dated : Thu,November,24 2011 18:17 hrs IST The thaw in the India-Pakistan relations which led to the grant of most favoured nation by Islamabad has caused cheer as well as surprise in the national security establishment. the prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani has asserted that every... Corporate Bailout  Story Dated : Tue,October,25 2011 18:03 hrs IST When law minister Salman Khurshid said that the prolonged detention of chief executives of telecom companies accused in the 2G spectrum scandal was affecting the investment climate, many eyebrows had gone up. It was seen as a message from the... Smoking Dragon  Story Dated : Tue,September,20 2011 19:24 hrs IST India has been caught in the crossfire over who controls the South China sea, as five littoral countries lay claim to the waters off their shores. The dominant among the five is China, which insists that it has complete control over the small sea... The Showstopper  Story Dated : Tue,August,16 2011 18:56 hrs IST Leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj is caught in a controversy after she privately admitted that her party disrupted proceedings on demands from the BJP state units, apart from the national issues she takes up. Sushma is unhappy that... Ragtag Dharma  Story Dated : Wed,August,03 2011 12:11 hrs IST Political relations within the UPA are a complex maze, with the Congress adopting different tactics to deal with the allies.The congress has one way of dealing with parties whose leaders were never in the Congress, like the DMK in tamil nadu and... The Turf Warriors  Story Dated : Mon,June,27 2011 11:03 hrs IST When Rahul Gandhi alleged that there were killings and sexual molestations of protesting villagers in Bhatta Parasul, just outside Delhi on May 8, there was a heated political contest between him and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayavati. He charged... Twist for Tax  Story Dated : Mon,May,30 2011 16:12 hrs IST Aseem Dasgupta had a large presence in the taxation circles of Delhi thanks to his powerful position as the chairman of the empowered committee of state finance ministers for a long time. Dasgupta, the long serving fiance minister in Buddhadeb... At war with the Pawars  Story Dated : Sat,May,14 2011 16:12 hrs IST Even as Congress celebrates the victory of its ally Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal, new tensions have surfaced in its relations with former congressman Sharad Pawar and his Nationalist Congress Party in Maharahstra. While Mamata rebelled against... Diggy Diatribe  Story Dated : Sat,April,23 2011 11:49 hrs IST Digvijaya Singh relishes political battles, and the Congress general secretary is leading the charge against the nominees of Anna Hazare in the joint committee to draft the Lokpal bill.He has questioned the credentials of two non official members,... The importance of being an MP  Story Dated : Sat,April,02 2011 16:38 hrs IST S.M. Krishna  is one of the seniormost members of parliament. He came to the Parliament first in 1968, and has been elected four times to the Lok Sabha and twice to Rajya Sabha, apart from long stints in Karnataka legislature.The external... Rich LADS, poor lads  Story Dated : Tue,March,15 2011 20:38 hrs IST One of the earlier opponents of local area fund for individual members of parliament was Manmohan Singh, when he was finance minister in the P.V.  Narasimha Rao government.He had felt that MPs should be more busy with lawmaking than... The tight Roti walk   Story Dated : Mon,February,21 2011 15:50 hrs IST Food and Civil Supplies minister K.V. Thomas has a tough job on hand. He has been handed one of the most difficult controversies of the UPA government to resolve.Thomas, who enjoys the confidence of Congress president Sonia Gandhi completely has has... The Karma of Tax  Story Dated : Mon,February,07 2011 11:29 hrs IST The recovery of Rs. Seven crores from the Dharmasala monastery of the Karmapa, an important leader of Tibetan buddhists has made brains whirr in the finance ministry, especailly in the income tax department. As the details of the recovery of... Clash of interests  Story Dated : Mon,January,17 2011 16:50 hrs IST Environment minister Jairam Ramesh is a morning man. He starts his day very early and reaches his office by 7.30 am. He is not a night person, avoids parties and late nights. Foodwise too, his main meals are breakfast and lunch, while he prefers... Burma backfire  Story Dated : Mon,December,27 2010 16:54 hrs IST Wikileaks has done damage to reputations of governments and individual american diplomats around the world. But the Indian government has suffered an embarassment with Myanmar after the frank conversation of Indian diplomat Mita... Candid court  Story Dated : Tue,December,07 2010 19:52 hrs IST Markandeya Katju is physically the tallest judge in the Supreme Court. He has also become the most outspoken judge of the court by his frank language and candid approach.His remarks about women in "live in" relationships sparked off strong protests... The Ray legacy Story Dated : Mon,November,08 2010 20:32 hrs IST Siddharth Shankar Ray, the last Congress chief minister of West Bengal, evoked strong memories in the political establishment even though he left active politics some years ago. There was a lot of interest in both central and state level leadership... Delhi dole   Story Dated : Tue,October,19 2010 11:23 hrs IST Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has stuck to his promise of a thorough inquiry into the corruption scandals of the commonwealth games. Even before the last athlete left the glittering capital city, Singh asked former comptroller and auditor general... Aliens in the valley Story Dated : Wed,September,29 2010 15:37 hrs IST The Kashmir package announced by the centre has had mixed reactions. While the Hurriyat conference leaders have described as eyewash, the mainstream political parties both in Kashmir and at the national level feel it makes a good beginning.However... Dilly-dally Story Dated : Thu,August,19 2010 16:05 hrs IST The Rajbhavan in Jaipur witnessed an unusual scene this independence day. More than two thousand prominent citizens received an invitation for a reception by the governor. This is a conventional practice, where the President in Delhi, and the... Parliament motions - futility and success   Story Dated : Thu,August,12 2010 15:46 hrs IST The repeated confrontation between the UPA government and the opposition parties in the Lok Sabha are being described as goal less draws by some MPs, with neither side gaining any advantage. But these result-less games which go to extra time have... Tightrope yatra   Story Dated : Fri,July,16 2010 10:44 hrs IST Jagan Mohan Reddy has finally gone on his much postponed and very controversial yatra, despite advice from Congress high command that he should avoid a road show.Sonia Gandhi had been buffeted with contrary advice. Many congressmen from Andhra... One-man army Story Dated : Wed,June,30 2010 12:06 hrs IST The Karnataka Lok Ayukta Santosh Hegde was reflecting the wide spread frustration among anti corruption authorities when he resigned one year ahead of retirement.The former Supreme Court justice has been one of the most outstanding Lok Ayuktas in... MPs like it on the house     Story Dated : Tue,June,01 2010 10:30 hrs IST David Laws, A liberal democrat minister in united kingdom has resigned after it was revealed that he had got money from parliament for paying rent to his male partner. Several members of the two houses have been found of giving false vouchers for... The MEA hot seat Story Dated : Tue,April,20 2010 16:22 hrs IST After Natwar Singh, Shashi Tharoor is the second Congress minister to exit from the council of ministers under a cloud. Natwar was undone for allowing his son Jagat Singh and other relatives to misuse his position as a Sonia Gandhi confidante.... 'Aam aadmi' agenda gets 10 Janpath push   Story Dated : Tue,April,06 2010 15:42 hrs IST Sonia Gandhi's return as the chairperson of the National Advisory Council has brought a new buzz in UPA, even though the full Council is yet to be named. The Prime Minister has left the choice of members to Sonia, and there are lot of... The swine flu slayer Story Dated : Fri,March,19 2010 17:02 hrs IST There is buzz of excitement in the corridors of the health ministry; Health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad no more looks a tense man, as the  H1N1 flu is under control across the country. Azad had worried about the rapid spread of the...