News18.com Daybreak : Kejriwal's Apology Spree, Mamata's Third Front and Other Stories You May Have Missed

In case you missed it

A huge relief for Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as he was acquitted in two separate defamation cases lodged against him by Union minister Nitin Gadkari and advocate Amit Sibal, son of Kapil Sibal, after he tendered apologies to both of them. 

In a major development on forging the much-talked about 'third front' — a non-BJP and non-Congress federal front — before the Lok Sabha polls, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao met his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee. The TRS leader called it the "beginning of the whole thing".

While the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh maintains social media accounts across platforms, its chief Mohan Bhagwat does not have any such accounts. When asked about the reason behind this aloofness, Bhagwat issued a word of advice and observed that such platforms are all about "me, my and mine". Here’s where Bhagwat explains why he isn’t on social media.

When BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav issued a statement against Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party (TDP) recently highlighting what the Modi government has done for Andhra Pradesh in the last 4 years, it wasn’t without reason. After ensuring successive victories in the north eastern states and troubleshooting with a treacherous ally in PDP in Jammu and Kashmir, Madhav is now heading south. He will now be handling BJP affairs in Andhra Pradesh where the party is hoping to expand its footprint with the TDP walking out of the NDA and embarrassing the Centre with a no-confidence motion.

There were at least six persons in the plot to kill Gauri Lankesh – and possibly more – and a larger conspiracy is evident in the execution of this murder. Now, A1 or Accused number 1 in police parlance, KT Naveen Kumar, who was arrested last week for being involved in this murder, is scared for his life and thus not revealing too much about the identity of his accomplices, top police sources told News18. After nearly 13 days in SIT custody, the SIT allowed for his transfer to judicial custody voluntarily on 12th March.

Tollywood superstar and Jana Sena founder Pawan Kalyan wants the central government to probe the alleged corruption charges against the Chandrababu Naidu government in Andhra Pradesh. Speaking to News18, Kalyan said that 40 TDP MLAs and some party leaders have levelled allegations against Naidu’s son Lokesh and other TDP leaders of being involved in corrupt activities. Read the excerpts from the interview. 

Ending months of speculation, the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in Karnataka has decided to ask the Centre to recognise the Lingayats as an independent religion. After a marathon cabinet meeting and informal discussion with the powerful Lingayat seers, the state government declared that it would send the recommendation to the Centre.

An FIR has been filed by the Delhi Police against Jawaharlal Nehru University professor Atul Johri after a Phd student made some serious allegations against him. 

With just a year left for the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP cannot afford to take the All India Congress Committee’s 84th plenary session lightly. This is because the issues raised, especially of growing unrest among youth and farmers due to lack of jobs and unsustainable farming, have the potential to damage the Narendra Modi government in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, which are expected to be fought on issues rather than over personalities. Rahul Gandhi has not only realised Modi government's weaknesses but has also launched an aggressive campaign against it. This comes at a time when regional parties, inside and outside the NDA, have sensed that a BJP's victory in 2019 could wipe out their domain.

The exit of the Telugu Desam Party from the NDA and its decision to move a no-confidence motion saw collateral damage across the border. The AIADMK is clear that ‘Love thy neighbour’ is not its philosophy and it is unlikely to vote in favour of the no-trust motion. TS Sudhir reveals the several reasons why he does not feel the need to bat for Andhra Pradesh.