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In West Bengal the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) had finally something to be jubilant about, as it comfortably won two by-elections at Bongaon (Parliamentary) and Krishnaganj (Assembly) constituencies.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The investigations into the infamous bar bribery and Pattor land grab cases have taken a disturbing turn with the Special Investigating Team(SIT) chief ADGP Jacob Thomas voicing fears about a threat to his life.

Will the BJP’s rout in Delhi assembly elections change the party’s equations with regional parties, particularly its allies Shiv Sena and Akali Dal? Does the saffron party’s stunning defeat mark the end of the Modi government’s honeymoon period? Answers are ‘Yes’.

The Delhi election outcome has been a learning exercise for the political parties. Immediate fallout of the results was the toning down of Arvind Kejriwal’s characteristically caustic observations in his Ramlila ground speech after being sworn-in as the Chief Minister.

With every passing, day the ruling party of Bengal, the Trinamool Congress, and its supremo, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, are getting more and more caught in the toils of the Saradha chit fund scam. Saradha boss Sudipta Sen and his fellow-accomplices apart, TMC big guns are being arrested one by one by the CBI.

BHOPAL: The entire non-IAS administrative staff of the Madhya Pradesh government is in an angry mood. The reason: unruly behaviour by leaders and workers of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, including violent attacks on government officers and employees. They have decided to lodge their protest through a day-long strike on February 18. They have given their protest the name of 'Total shut-down'. Administrative personnel, from Patwari upwards, who constitute the backbone of the government machinery, will join the strike.

Manjhi government is now set to face a floor test of Assembly on February 20. The issue of the election of Nitish Kumar as the leader of JD (U) legislator party has been put before Patna High Court, which has restrained the Speaker from announcing Nitish Kumar as the leader of the Assembly, when the session starts. Initially it was rumoured that the Court has stayed the election of Nitish as the JD (U) legislator’s leader, but the fact is that only the notification of speaker making Nitish as the house leader has been stayed. There is logic in the direction of the Court. Nitish Kumar is not a member of the lower House of Bihar, rather he is an MLC. He is not a Chief Minister or even a Minister at the moment. Hence he is not fit to sit in the Assembly and take part in its affairs. House is meant for the MLAs. Ministers, who are not MLAs, sit there, because they are accountable to the MLAs for their works as Ministers and they are there to answer the questions of MLAs.

Mr Arvind Kejriwal’s spectacular electoral conquest of Delhi, at the centre of the Modi Government, outshines, albeit over a smaller but politically sensitive area, the way Mr Narendra Modi managed to enthrone himself as Prime Minister of India but with just 31 per cent of an 800-million electorate backing him in May last. Mr Kejriwal's AAP ,making a clean sweep of the national capital region with 67 out of 70 Assembly seats, has politically hurt Mr Modi and has also raised new hopes for weakened opposition forces in the country to galvanise themselves for more state battles to come.

When the Union Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhu presents his maiden rail budget 2015-16 in Parliament on February 26, 2015, he will have several challenges to meet. The major challenge would be to enhance rail capacity and de-bottleneck the rail network. Another important challenge would be removal of capacity constraints due to lack of investment.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Few state governments can rival the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) Government in Kerala when it comes to kicking up controversies. So formidable is the reputation it has built over the years that almost anything it touches turns to controversy! In fact a joke doing the rounds these days is that, if there were to be a world cup for controversy-creation, then the Oommen Chandy-led UDF Government will be an odds-on favourite to win it!