Are cracks beginning to appear in Mr Amar Singh’s decade-old relationship with the Bachchans? The expelled Samajwadi leader, who no longer stays with the Bachchans during his frequent Mumbai visits, poured cold water on the theory that Jaya Bachchan sacrificed the Rajya Sabha seat offered to her by the SP for her “brother Amar Singh”. Speaking exclusively to this newspaper, Mr Singh said: “She is missing the Rajya Sabha more than she misses me.”

The expelled Samajwadi leader Amar Singh revealed that Jaya Bachchan had kept her meetings with Mulayan Singh in April-May a secret, however, he bore no grudge against her. Speaking exclusively to this newspaper about the cracks appearing between him and the Bachchans after his expulsion, Mr Singh clarified. “No cracks from

The BJP, already reeling under a series of organisational crises, has landed in further trouble: it could just be sued for video piracy. In order to keep its Rajasthan MLAs, allegedly locked up at a resort near Jaipur on the eve of Thursday’s Rajya Sabha election, is reasonably good spirits, senior BJP leaders reportedly organised a video show of Prakash Jha’s recently-released political thriller Raajneeti.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is likely to go in for a reshuffle of his council of ministers in July. While the government is under considerable pressure to drop communications minister A. Raja of the DMK following the 2G spectrum controversy, his party leader, Tamil Nadu chief minister M. Karunanidhi, is strongly resisting such a move.

Is mercurial Trinamul Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee contemplating resigning from the Union Cabinet to concentrate completely on next year’s Assembly elections in West Bengal? Speculation has intensified about this after her party’s landslide victory in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation elections and its impressive showing in the civic polls across the rest of the state.

West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has indicated his desire to step down following the Left Front’s drubbing in the civic elections. Mr Bhattacharjee and state industries minister Nirupam Sen are unlikely to attend Saturday’s meeting of the CPI(M) politburo in New Delhi, which is being held to discuss the poll results.

The Bengal civic and municipality poll results clearly indicate that the Trinamul Congress will need to strike a grand alliance with the Congress to wrest the state from the Marxists in the forthcoming Assembly elections.

With 24 hours to go for the outcome of the civic polls in West Bengal, there seems to be a sense of relief among the Marxist spin doctors as the exit poll predictions indicate victory for the Trinamul

The People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities, whose posters the police said were found at the site of Friday’s train derailment, has reportedly enjoyed the support and sympathy of the Trinamul Congress.

The Maoist move to target civilians is the second phase of their warfare strategy. While the first phase was confined to remote tribal areas, in the second phase the insurgents intend to bring the war close to the urban areas.