New Delhi, May 15 2009: Suspense mounted on who will form the next government on the eve of counting of votes as Congress and the BJP worked overtime to cobble up an alliance to reach the magic figure of 272.

"Everything is fluid," said NCP leader Praful Patel as political leaders confabulated with one-time allies, friends and foes hoping to bring them on to their side.

Congress leaders Pranab Mukherjee, A K Antony, Ahmad Patel and Digvijay Singh were huddled in talks till late last night.

New Delhi, May 14 2009: BJP today sought to junk TV exit polls that gave UPA an edge in the Lok Sabha elections and claimed that it would bag the maximum seats in the Lok Sabha polls and the NDA would emerge as the "most credible pre-poll alliance."

The party contended that the internal survey conducted by the party predicted a win for them.

"We have also done our internal survey which shows BJP emerging as the single largest party and the NDA as the most credible pre-poll alliance," BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters here.

New Delhi, April 7 2009: A Sikh journalist today hurled a shoe at Home Minister P Chidambaram protesting against CBI's clean chit to senior Congress leader Jagdish Tytler accused in 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, but it missed the target.

Chidambaram, who was addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters, was surprised when suddenly Jarnail Singh, journalist from a Hindi daily, flung the shoe and an alert Home Minister made a quick movement to see it pass by him.

New Delhi, March 26 2009: Not satisfied with amendments made in the law to deal with terrorism, Rajnath Singh, Santosh K Joy and Ajay Kaul of BJP have said that if voted to power, it will enact a tough law on the pattern of erstwhile POTA and have a comprehensive action plan to tackle the scourge.

BJP President Rajnath Singh said that along with the laws, there is a need for "strong will" to deal with terrorism and only a government headed by L K Advani can have it.

Kolkata, March 27 2009: Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee last night met WBPCC President Pranab Mukherjee for the second time within a week to bolster the joint campaign strategy for the Lok Sabha elections and effectively take it to the grassroot level.

"We have done the stocktaking of the campaign strategy which will be further stepped up," Banerjee told reporters after her 35-minute meeting with Pranab Mukherjee at his Dhakuria residence.

She said that the joint campaign would be done at every level and "we will decide it through meetings at a regular interval."

Jaipur, March 21 2009: As the party is yet to decide on his candidature from Rajasthan or Uttar Pradesh, former Indian cricket captain Mohammad Azharuddin has said he will contest from anywhere the party suggests.

"I have faith in Sonia Gandhi's leadership and will be willing to contest from whichever seat she suggests," he told reporters here yesterday.

Mumbai, March 19 2009: Dismissive of NCP leader Sharad Pawar's ambitions to become Prime Minister after the Lok Sabha polls, Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma has asserted that Manmohan Singh will lead the country again, heading the Congress-led UPA coalition.

Even though coalition partners have a right to aspire for the top post, Singh is Congress-led UPA's prime Ministerial candidate, Sharma told a news conference.

New Delhi, March 19 2009: The Third Front need not name its prime ministerial candidate before the Lok Sabha elections because the country does not follow a presidential system as to who should be the leader, the CPI-M has said.

With several possible prime ministerial contenders emerging in the fledgling alliance of Left and regional parties, CPI-M also said no party is barred from making their own "legitimate efforts" to project their leader as prime minister. It, however, said no party can "dictate" to the others as to who should be the prime minister.

Ranchi, March 19 2009: A school for politicians is doing a good business in Ranchi and anybody with a yen for 'netagiri' is welcome to join it.

Run by a former Congressman Raj Ranjan who believes 'political thinking should be inculcated deep into human mind to curb corruption', the 'Netagiri Vidyalaya' has, since its inception in 2001, imparted training to 200 aspiring politicians. ''It is important for a politician for both beginners and veterans to learn that bit of politics necessary to know what a manifesto is as also its implementation,'' said Ranjan, a former PCC secretary.

New Delhi, March 18 2009: In the run up to the Lok Sabha elections, Congress and the BJP are both suffering from a common ailment -- losing trusted and tested allies.

While Lalu Prasad's RJD has given a jolt to Congress by allocating it only three seats in Bihar, Navin Patnaik's BJD has literally dumped BJP in Orissa and has virtually joined the fledgling Third Front.