Union minister and senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde was killed in a car accident here Tuesday morning, rendering a set-back to the Narendra Modi government barely a week after he took charge.
Pressure mounted Monday on the Akhilesh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh over the grisly gang rape and murder of two minor girls in Badaun, with politicians and human rights agencies blaming the government for the poor law and order situation in the state.
With the BJP-led NDA government, of which the Shiromani Akali Dal is a part, in power at the centre now, Badal will have to ensure delivery of all the demands his government used to make earlier.
A few months back, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had described the UPA's 50 paise hike in diesel prices as a "criminal conspiracy" but when the price was hiked by the same amount Saturday by the NDA government, he just batted for cheaper prices.
Doing away with one of the relics of coalition politics, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday abolished all 30 ministerial groups to ensure that his colleagues heading various portfolios take faster decisions with more accountability.
Despite Sonia Gandhi's advice to Congressmen to avoid "public acrimony", rumbling of discontent about the party's miserable performance in the recent elections have continued