Pawar in focus as Sonia men arrive
A high-profile inquiry team of three Congress Working Committee (CWC) members, Rajesh Pilot, Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy and A K Antony, has been asked by Congress president Sonia Gandhi to look into the Maharashtra Rajya Sabha fiasco and report "immediately" on what went wrong. The focus of attention is Opposition leader Sharad Pawar who is being targeted for apparently ensuring the defeat of Sonia's nominee R D Pradhan.

Bihar situation bad -- Advani
Union home minister Lal Krishan Advani yesterday said the Central team sent to Bihar to assess law and order has conveyed to him that the situation in the state "is not good" though it is yet to submit its report. However, he said the BJP had never favoured the demand that Article 356 should be repealed.

Maharashtra State Congress vertically divided over cross-voting in RS polls
The old division within the Maharashtra Congress camp appears to be re-surfacing with the "loyalist" and pro-Sharad Pawar camps targeting each other on the eve of the visit of a high-profile Central team to probe the defeat of Ram Pradhan, the Congress' official candidate in the Rajya Sabha polls on Thursday. Both sides charge each other with hatching plots to defeat party candidates amid reports that at least eight MLAs who cross-voted have been identified by the party executives.

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