“Why did a courteous, poem-penning, educated young man threaten to tear the secular fabric of a country that his great grandfather and grandmother have so diligently woven into a united whole? Did he get carried away by his debut political address? Ganesha says it's the diabolical Rahu-Ketu effect that fanned the embers in Varun's brain.”
If you want to know more, do click here.
Link via “It’s Not Varun Gandhi’s Fault”
“The West Bengal government’s decision to relocate 40 polling booths near Lalgarh in West Midnapore district — as per the demands of the People’s Committee against Police Atrocities, supposedly backed by the Maoists — has the obvious advantages of allowing elections to be held in the troubled area as well as keeping the tribals happy by precluding police presence near their homes. But the compromise worked out by the state government, the Election Commission and the People’s Committee is also the official acknowledgement of the extent of administrative failure.”
An editorial in the Indian Express claims “Maoist victory”
“The over four-decade old saffron outfit, founded by Bal Thackeray, is reaching voters through telephony, internet, mobile SMS and also plans a full-fledged studio to help meet needs of the electronic media.
The Sena has started a toll-free number 1800222772 on which people can register their grievances to the party over phone. Their complaints would be recorded and addressed by the party leaders.”
Shiv Sena is embracing the new technologies in order to get closer to the Gen Next vote bank. Do I hear anyone tell me that all this is western influence and against our ‘Hindutva’ culture?
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Their relief camps are shutting down and they have to return to houses that are, in large part, still burnt-out. They’re mostly without election ID cards and quite some distance from the towns where they’re registered. Where responsible politics would heal these wounds, the local — and, unfortunately, the national-level BJP as well — has taken on the task of pushing things in the other direction. Yet another step backward for the BJP in this campaign.”
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Among things that the Samajwadi Party officially opposes are fancy English education, computers, farm machinery, stock-trading, and shopping malls. If this stuff is seriously meant, it reveals the SP’s intellectual vacuity and disconnect with the outside world. If it is a text merely meant to rally the faithful (with no bearing on actual governance), it is shocking in its condescension to the people.
Mulayam Singh’s plan involves phasing out computers wherever human labour can be substituted — a plank that even the Left has left behind, because of its patent absurdity. Warming over a centuries-old man versus machine debate, the manifesto also pushes for some prelapsarian past where farmers would directly cultivate the land. India’s biggest global advantage has been its IT-competent, English-speaking population — a segment that more and more young people openly aspire to — and the SP’s manifesto essentially promises to send his imagined constituency spinning away from that orbit.
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More at http://www.indianexpress.com/news/translate-this/446139/
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"When the NDA was ruling at the Centre, they had sent Lord Rama for 'vanvaas' (exile). Now they have again raised the issue of constructing a
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To be fair to the NDA, the allies during the time the NDA was in power ensured that the mandir would not be built. But it does seem that the mandir issue is dusted and presented only during election time. If the mandir is built, then the BJP would lose an election issue, won’t it?
The Commission underscored that it expects that “all political parties, their leaders, workers and supporters as well as their candidates shall scrupulously observe the Model Code of Conduct in letter and spirit”.
And that “it sincerely hopes that they will be guided by the advice of the Honourable Supreme Court of India in conducting their electoral campaigns and set high standards of electoral morality.”
“Violations of the Model Code of Conduct and, in several instances, the law of the land, seem to be turning into something of a trend, which if unchecked, is bound to seriously damage the election process and set a deplorable precedent for future elections,” the Commission warned.
Alka Pande & Ravish Tiwari in the Indian Express give the low down on the Amar and Azam saga.
“While the Kishanganj administration booked him for his verbal attack on BJP leader Varun Gandhi, the second FIR was filed at Garhwa town in Jharkhand over his chopper skipping the helipad and landing at the venue of his rally. His arrest came in a similar offence - landing his helicopter at the venue of his meet in 2005 - but he was released on bail.”
From http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Lalu-booked-in-two-cases-arrested/articleshow/4369272.cms
“Besides the two currently held constituencies, Kanyakumari (earlier Nagercoil) and Madurai, the CPI(M) will contest from the Coimbatore constituency.”
“The AIADMK is continuing talks with the MDMK, the only ally with which it is yet to reach an understanding on sharing of seats.”
The article also claims that “The talks between the two parties were prolonged because the CPI(M) insisted on the Tirupur constituency. It, however, agreed to settle for Coimbatore.”
