Two weeks ago, the Congress party declared it would stop propping up the minority United Front government unless it dropped one of its coalition partners, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (a regional party).

ECONOMIST: India

Deve Gowda, who heads the United Front minority coalition, has been trying to woo Congress dissidents to achieve a majority in Parliament.

CNN: Hard Times for Congress

With House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) declining to run for a leadership post in the minority, the front-runner for Republican leader is the current majority leader, John Boehner of Ohio.

NPR: After the Election, New Races on Capitol Hill