A battle of wits is currently raging between the ruling BJP and its arch rival Congress in Madhya Pradesh at a time when the ruling party cadres are busy making preparations to celebrate the completion of five years in office by chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on November 29.

New Andhra Pradesh chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy, who is the capital in connection with the Cabinet formation, struck a conciliatory note on rebel MP Jaganmohan Reddy by seeking his cooperation in running his government. Earlier in the day, Mr Kumar called on Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He had also met political secretary to the Congress president Ahmed Patel.

Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Saturday made a passionate appeal to all those who had deserted the ruling CPI(M) to extend their support to the Red flag once again. “It is only the CPI(M) which can provide succour to the poor farmers and workers. It is the CPI(M) alone which can maintain peace and communal harmony. I appeal to all those who have misunderstood and left us to return,” he added. Mr Bhattacharjee was addressing a public rally at Basirhat in North 24 Parganas.

A debate over the charisma and importance of Gujarat chief minister and the BJP’s Hindutva mascot Narendra Modi has begun in the saffron camp after the Bihar Assembly poll results.

Congress rebel and Kadapa MP Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy is under watch but the Congress high command is unlikely to discipline him right now. The party’s strategy appears to be to ignore him so that his following of party legislators from Andhra Pradesh dwindles before taking any action.

A Delhi court on Saturday directed the police to register an FIR against Hurriyat Conference faction leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, writer Arundhati Roy and others for allegedly delivering anti-India speeches during a programme in the national capital on October 21. The court, ticking off the police for failing to take action, said that at the stage of registration of an FIR the only thing the police has to see is whether the contents of a complaint disclosed a cognisable offence.

Senior BJP leader Vijay Goel has demanded that the DDA housing scheme, which was launched on November 25, should be limited only to the residents of Delhi and not to all the citizens in the country. He said that allowing people from across the country to apply would possibly attract property dealers and those genuinely in need of flats may be left out in the draw of lots.

Taking a strong step towards preventing absenteeism and dereliction of duty on the part of the teachers and school principals in its schools, the MCD on Saturday placed under suspension one principal, besides several other contractual teachers.

The India International Trade Fair ended on Saturday and over one-and-a-half lakh people visited the fair. People made the most of the last day discounts as some stalls offered as much as 70 per cent discount. However, traffic in the area remained affected due to the fair.

Taking notice of the car dealers who have encroached on the road and footpath below Defence Colony flyover in south Delhi, the Delhi high court on Saturday issued contempt notices to the chief secretary of the city government, the police and MCD chiefs for their failure to take action. In the notices the high court has asked actions against the car dealers.