The Congress' run-up to the polls has begun on a mixed note. On Sunday night, the party added two new allies, Trinamool in Bengal and Samajwadi Party in UP. It, however, failed to sew up an alliance with the JD(S) in Karnataka. It is also having trouble with the NCP, which wants a national-level alliance in addition to renegotiating terms in Maharashtra. Despite the hiccups, the Congress appears confident.

"This is nothing unusual. Rest assured, all seat-sharing arrangements will be satisfactorily worked out by the time we go to elections," the party's election coordinator Jairam Ramesh said.

polls are only one-and-a-half months away, but tie-ups still unclear

Poll punditry is a hazardous business at most times, but this time it is going to be tougher to predict how the fortunes of parties and formations will shape up.

The elections kick off a month-and-a-half from today, but even at this stage, there is no clarity on who is signing up with whom for a poll arrangement.

London, Mar. 3: Former Pakistan Prime Minister and Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) chief, Nawaz Sharif may have been disqualified by the Supreme Court, but his exclusion from Pakistan’s political stage was likely scripted outside the country.

According to the former British high commissioner to Pakistan, Hilary Synnott, the United States and Britain, during the military regime of General Pervez Musharraf, hoped to revive democracy while maintaining Musharraf at the top.

State doesn't want to leave anything to chance when it comes to terror attacks

Though the state government has not so far received any specific threat of terrorist attack during the forthcoming Lok Sabha election, the state has made a strong representation to the Centre for allotment of more central paramilitary forces (CPMF) to maintain law and order during the polls and also for the protection of vital installations on Saurashtra and South Gujarat coast.

Call it a coincidence or simply fate, but merely few hours ahead of the announcement of the Lok Sabha election dates, chief minister Narendra Modi had sworn in six BJP MLAs as the parliamentary secretaries of the state. Unfortunately these new secretaries, who were lucky to get berth in the quasi-ministership, but with polls dates announced, their wings have been clipped owing to the election code of conduct that set in almost immediately after!

After many false starts, a third front comprising eight parties was finally announced on Monday by former PM and JD (S) leader Deve Gowda. The formation is a significant departure from the 2004 elections, which saw a more direct fight between Congress- and BJP-led alliances.

The Left Front, a major constituent of this formation, was with the Congress the last time, as were Gowda, Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) and Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK. Another major constituent, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), was with the NDA.

Gowda claimed the front was coming together of like-minded parties wanting equidistance from the Congress and the BJP. The fact, however, is the formation is gambling on a hung parliament.