The Congress Party is treading cautiously following social activist Anna Hazare’s fast unto death on the Lokpal Bill issue after realising that it can isolate the party in the middle of the electoral battle in the five state Assemblies.

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi slammed the Opposition for levelling corruption charges against his government and termed it false and fabricated.
Visibly upset over the charges, Mr Gogoi told reporters, “There is not a single instance when the Opposition has been able to bring in any direct charge against me or my ministers but they have been harping on corruption just to mislead the electorate.”

Desperate to reach out to millions of voters ahead of the most challenging Assembly election, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee is also relying on the virtual world.

BJP leader L.K. Advani here on Wednesday asked voters to ensure that their franchise did not give power to the corrupt, but to good people and the party that will work for them and the state’s welfare.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to reopen the Kerala’s `2 kg rice scheme order at this juncture when only seven days are left for the polling in the Assembly polls when the extension of the scheme to all ration card holders was stayed by the court earlier on March 30.

The Congress president, Ms Sonia Gandhi, on Wednesday went for the Left’s jugular in Kerala, tongue-lashing it for being backward-looking, intolerant of dissent and for shamelessly trying to take credit for the good work done by the Manmohan Singh government.

Twisting the acrimonious debate over the secret ties of the Left Democratic Front with the Jamaat-e-Islami further, the CPI state secretary, Mr C.K. Chandrappan, said he would not only welcome the vote of the Muslim outfit but also that of the RSS.

The chief minister, Mr V.S. Achuthanandan, who has made the protection of women his main campaign plank, on Wednesday faced a hailstorm of protests over his “insinuation” against Ms Lathika Subash, his rival Congress candidate in Malampuzha.

You are bound to agree that people log on to Facebook (FB) to socialise and not to search for products. But have you ever thought about another angle?

Ballets are forgotten, ballerinas retire, choreographers die,” remarks noted dance critic Jack Anderson. He captures the fleeting quality of dance when he calls it “the most perishable of the arts”.