The Congress chief in Uttar Pradesh - Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who finds herself in the midst of a raging political controversy, found support from an unexpected quarter on Monday. Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh held a video conference in New Delhi (he is admitted in a hospital in Singapore) to pledge...

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPM is involved in some serious introspection about the Left's debacle at the hustings in the recent election. Senior politburo member Sitaram Yechury, in an interview on a television channel telecast on 24 May, reiterated the party's acceptance of this...

Congress general secretary and Gandhi family scion Rahul Gandhi's recent enthusiastic overtures to the Left were rebuffed with equal fervour by the latter. Attributing Gandhi's ‘Left Turn' to desperation among the Congress ranks, the Left parties issued various statements snubbing these advances...

If you see women wearing the traditional mangalsutras with symbols of various political parties etched on them, admiring themselves in hand mirrors bearing party stickers, don't be surprised. This is just Indian politics at its imaginative best! Political parties in the country have found new, innovative...

Unnao, a small town tucked away in central Uttar Pradesh, 60-odd kilometers from Lucknow went to polls on Thursday, with one chief concern - the lack of safe drinking water. After the delimitation exercise, the Unnao parliamentary constituency has the largest number of voters in India. Linking the two...

With barely two days to go before polling for the 2009 Lok Sabha election takes place in Lucknow, one would expect the city to be abuzz with election activity, with the colours of democracy in full display. Lucknow's pre-election atmosphere, however, comes as a complete disappointment. The city is...

23 April I GO TO JAIL Morning’s come early to Bhagalpur. By 5 am, households are fully awake. I am going to meet the candidates fielded by various parties. Bhagalpur has a significant number of marriage halls, which are encashing on the room demands created by the party cadre accompanying the candidate...

An update on the NEW study of the second phase of the Lok Sabha election. As expected, the all-India figures are as gloomy. In this phase, the total number of candidates with criminal records is 288 (17.63 % of 1633 candidates), compared to 222, i.e. 16% of 1425, candidates in phase I. Most major political...

The second phase of the Lok Sabha election 2009 kicks off on 23 April, when twelve states (while some face their first phase, others their second) would go to polls. National Election Watch (NEW), an umbrella group of more than 1200 NGOs, on Sunday released details of candidates contesting in the second...

"Do you believe in the Congress and its ideology? Do you think Congress is the most deserving party to lead the country? Be a part of network of friends and well-wishers of Congress...Log on to http://www.friendsofcongress.com to join HANDS," a message in my cell phone inbox read. Sent out...