Democracy

It is election season in India, and there are few places like Uttar Pradesh to get a feel which way the wind is blowingIt is election season in India, and there are few places like Uttar Pradesh to get a feel which way the wind is blowing

After it was sworn in as the ruling party at Delhi’s Legislative Assembly in December, 2013 following a vote brimming with anti-incumbent sentiment and popular disenchantment with corrupt regimes, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has had nothing short of a roller coaster ride. This photo essay offers a few glimpses of its rocky ride through their 49 days in office in the first two months of 2014.

The “rise” of regional political parties seems to be an eternal theme on the Indian political scene. The exponential increase in the number of parties contesting elections, particularly over the past two decades, and the shrinking margins of victory in parliamentary elections are direct results of the emergence of new regional power centers.

Emerged from an anti-corruption movement, the Aam Aadmi Party has made a spectacular entrance into Indian politics and challenged the rules of Indian politics.

In the late spring or the early summer of 2014 India will conduct its sixteenth general election. The battle lines between the two principal, national political parties, the Indian National Congress (INC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), are now being drawn. 

Mumbai - A group of concerned citizens gathered to discuss the verdict of the Allahabad High Court with regard to the Ayodhya dispute between Ram Janmabhoomi versus Babri Masjid in India. A number of perspectives were put forth.

The much awaited judgment of Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court in the title suit filed by Sunni Waqf Board, Nirmohi Akhara and others was at last delivered and has been welcomed by some and criticized by others, mainly by litigant parties. Those who want to see the controversy end for once and all are arguing that the judgment will help bring about resolution of the dispute as all three parties (Ram Lalla Idol has been treated by the judgment as a legal entity). Now Hindus can build a temple and Muslims a mosque, if they so desire and India can move on.

If left unamended by the Supreme Court, the legal, social and political repercussions of the judgment are likely to be extremely damaging. New Delhi: The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court has made judicial history by deciding a long pending legal dispute over a piece of property in Ayodhya on the basis of an unverified and unsubstantiated reference to the “faith and belief of Hindus.

Orissa, the richest state in terms of mineral wealth, remains the most backward state in terms of development. The benefits of development havenot trickled down to the poor. The fact finding team under Dr. K.S. Subramanian surveyed the districts and revealed the striking ground realitie

The election results of the Loksabha came as a surprise to all including the congress itself. The secularists were holding their breath. What is important to note this time is that percentage of vote got by the congress and that by BJP is much more decisive: ten per cent. There is one good lesson for all parties, regional or national. It does not pay to field candidates on the basis of caste, sub-caste and communities as all parties do