Left, Right & Centre

We are now firmly on the road to 2019. A day after the by-poll results, which came as a shot in the arm for the opposition, the Congress today tied up with the JDS for the Lok Sabha polls. Party leaders have also begun informal consultation with Mayawati's BSP in three key states where assembly polls are being held later this year - Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. What the by-poll results proved was that the only effective way for the opposition to defeat the BJP is to come together so that their votes are not divided. And over the next few months, several alliances and formations across states are emerge. The question is - can this opposition resolve hold for another year? Or will inherent contradictions tear them apart?

A day after the opposition got a shot in the arm in the Lok Sabha and assembly by-poll results, senior NCP leader Praful Patel dismissed rumours that his leader Sharad Pawar was making overtures to the Shiv Sena for a possible understanding. "Let me be honest, in Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena can never be a part of us. We and the Shiv Sena cannot work together. We have completely different thought processes, ideological differences and style of functioning," Mr Patel told NDTV in an exclusive interview.

We are less than a year away from the next general election and it is now clear that this promises to be a real contest. Today's bypoll results have come as a huge setback for the BJP and a boost for the opposition. The loss of the Kairana Lok Sabha seat in particular marks the third big Lok Sabha bypoll loss for the BJP in Uttar Pradesh. In this all important swing state, the BJP won 71 of the 80 seats in 2014. What these bypolls have shown is that it will not be easy for the BJP to repeat that performance in UP next year and that in turn will have a huge bearing on the election outcome. These bypolls have shown that it is a united opposition alone that can take on the might of the BJP and from here on they will look to consolidate that further. The big question is: Will they stay together?

As India and Pakistan agree to uphold the 2003 ceasefire, signs of thaw emerge. Should India consider a dialogue after a new government is elected in Pakistan in July? Or should India stick to its position of no talks with terror?

Karnataka has a chief minister but it still doesn't have a government. It is now been a week since HD Kumaraswamy was sworn in, and a tussle over portfolios with his ally, the Congress, is holding things up. Does this bode well for opposition unity against the BJP in 2019?

The big focus tonight is on the rising prices of petrol and diesel. The government had said it would act, but it hasn't. Is this inaction justified? Is the revenue from the fuel taxes critical for the government's welfare schemes? Is this a move that could hurt politically?

The Congress is not happy that former President Pranab Mukherjee will be chief guest at an RSS event next week. Should he be free to engage with all political opinion or is there something more at play here?

On the National Democratic Alliance government completing four year, foreign minister Sushma Swaraj lists the achievements of the Modi government on the foreign policy. Has it been a hit or a miss? Has India's policy towards Pakistan, China, the US and other key countries, been a diplomatic success or failure? The US is planning to change visa rule, which is making Indians living in the US anxious.

The high-stakes Lok Sabha and assembly bypolls -- from Uttar Pradesh to Maharashtra, and the big one being the Lok Sabha constituency of Kairana in UP, where four opposition parties have come together in the hope of defeating the BJP, have been marred by malfunctioning EVMs. The Kairana seat is likely to signal what kind of a fight the 2019 general election will be. But has the malfunctioning EVMs cast a shadow on this election?

The Delhi's government's schools have posted their best results in 20 years, the Aam Aadmi Party government says. Delhi has 1,100 government schools and 1,700 private schools. This time, with a pass percentage of 90.64 per cent, they have outdone private schools in the national capital (pass percentage of 88.35) for the second year in a row. The government claims that the results prove that the Arvind Kejriwal government has succeeded despite the obstacles thrown in their way. But is this a matter of school results being politicised, or has the Delhi government proven its critics wrong?