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POLL PULSE |
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A
‘pari’ paratroops into Rampur
White
chiffons and diamonds, rifles and film stars. Shoma Chaudhury
brings home the anarchy of Indian elections |
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‘I
have never felt out of the Congress’
A
few days before his accident, the former Chhattisgarh chief minister,
AJIT JOGI spoke to Mohanty
R about his suspension, the circumstances that prompted
him to hand over the controversial ‘support letter’ to BJP
leader Baliram Kashyap, his
relationship with Congressmen in the state and about how he managed to
return to the party’s mainstream. |
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Not
brothers in arms
The
rift between Digvijay Singh and his Brother Laxman Singh |
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Beating
the heat, Laloo style
Laloo tells people to chew khaini and eat sattu to beat
the heat |
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‘Let’s
make politics cool’
Vidyottama
Sharma profiles Milind Deora the young blood in Maharashtra
politics |
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‘Our
leaders are selling democracy’
Ruth
Manorama, a Bangalore-based social activist, was promised a ticket by all
the main political parties. Now she has taken the plunge into politics as
an independent. She says she decided to contest because the “attitude
of political parties towards women” disappointed her. She spoke to
M Radhika about the challenges
ahead. |
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‘I
must do all I can to defeat Advani’
Vitthalbhai
Pandya, father of Haren Pandya is determined to defeat Advani in
the forthcoming elections |
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The
Dusklands of Justice
Shoma
Chaudhury tours Madhepura, once Laloo Prasad Yadav's constituency,
to reveal the pathetic state of infrastructure and environment of the
district |
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Young
BJP poacher prowls an old Congress fiefdom
The
finance minister’s son, Manvendra Singh, is working
caste, class and religious equations to his credit in a constituency his
party has never won, reports Vijay Simha |
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Casting
aspersions on the ‘monolithic’ community
Caste
may soon play a more important role in the community than Muslim leaders
like to admit, says Yogesh Vajpeyi |
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The
desert’s hard heart
By
Vijay Simha |
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Krishna
runs scared in Maddur
But
the Karnataka chief minister may have deserted it needlessly, reports
M. Radhika
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Congress
is not letting BJP anywhere near
Karnataka
is the BJP’s gateway to the South but victory in the state is still
a far cry, reports
BS Nagaraj |
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Hanging
on to the Northeast thread
In a tight
finish, the minuscule numbers from the Northeast could make a difference,
says Nitin A Gokhale |
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Bhupen
Hazarika’s long and winding song
Assamese
like Hazarika, but it is his politics that they don't trust, reports
Nitin A Gokhale |
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Poll
Buzz |
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Virar
ka chhokra comes home, jhatak-matak
Govinda the
politician. Govinda the actor. Minty Kunwar
Tejpal discovers both on the campaign trail |
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‘We
will not support Vajpayee’
Samajwadi
Party general secretary Amar Singh talks to Vijay
Simha, about his party’s commitment to “secular”
politics and problems within the “secular” combine as well.
Excerpts: |
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Family
ties that strangle
N
Chandrababu Naidu may have his family ties as the cause of his
political trouble in the forthcoming elections |
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Poll
Buzz |
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Yadav
vs Yadav vs Yadav
The
big Yadavs of Indian politics are fighting each other in north India,
reports Yogesh Vajpayee |
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‘Politics
need not be bereft of good people’
Professor
Deven
Dutta is well known in Assam for fighting for consumer rights and
his extensive writing on public issues. He is entering politics now. Nitin
A Gokhale speaks to the undeterred man who is fighting his
election against Bhupen Hazarika of BJP and former home minister of Assam
Bhrigu Kumar Phukan |
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‘I
will show you that I can defeat Sonia’
Ashok
Singh, the vociferous SP leader in Rae Bareli, speaks about his
prospects in the coming elctions |
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Who’s
upto what: A peek into the war rooms of the BJP and the Congress
First
off the blocks and still going strong. The BJP’s election machinery
and propaganda network show no signs of slowing. But this is when things
can get tricky. The overkill factor could negate the early advantage,
even as the party refuses to take its foot off the accelerator, reports
Vijay Simha |
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Look
who’s helping the Congress
In
four key seats, the Shiv Sena could torpedo the BJP, report Vidyottama
Sharma and Suyash Padate |
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‘Joining
a party is like putting on chains’
Former
Rajya Sabha MP Shabana Azmi talks to Leo
Mirani about her political convictions and her ideas on
how women and actors can be powerful and useful players in politics
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BJP’s
good for father, not for son
Former Karnataka
Chief Minister S Bangarappa’s family stands divided on political front
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Poll
Buzz |
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Mulayam:
Please all, annoy none |
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‘Rahul’s
the Rahu in Amethi’ |
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Blues
beyond Cyberabad |
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Sachin
Pilot: Looking for a smooth landing on family base |
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Past
Imperfect, Future Tense
Yogesh
Vajpeyi on the jitters the Congress’ Generation Next
is giving the old guard |
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Winning
inconsistency
An
analysis of constituencies that are not loyal to any particular party |
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‘I
am Going to Prove Everyone Wrong’
It
seems like a scene straight out of a Prakash Jha blockbuster on the criminal-politician
nexus in Bihar. But when Jha has himself decided to transfer his cinematic
perspective to the world of realpolitik, what is to stop real life heroes
from taking the plunge? Ex-cop Shailendra Singh of the Uttar Pradesh Special
Task Force is one such. Singh has fought the criminal-politician nexus
throughout his professional life. He resigned recently, refusing to kowtow
before the government on the issue of the arrest of infamous don-turned-legislator
Mukhtar Ansari. His resignation led to a huge controversy. The government
claimed that he was seeking “unnecessary publicity”. Singh
maintained that he was being prevented from acting against high-profile
criminals because they have political support. He has now decided to contest
as an independent candidate from Varanasi. And his move, he says, is not
going to meet the same fate as that of TN Seshan and GR Khairnar. Both
of them lost elections after gaining huge popularity as civil servants.
Excerpts from an exclusive interview to Suman Gupta |
