|
FEBRUARY 8
25 per cent of Congress budget for Sonia's tour
Congress sources said her whirlwind election campaign will cost the party approximately Rs 70 million. Due to an acute funds crunch, they said the star campaigner is being flown in a small aircraft.
Sonia launches first frontal attack on BJP
Accompanied by her son Rahul, she told a cheering 100,000-strong gathering, with a visibly large Muslim attendance, that they should not get carried away by the sudden softening of the BJP's Hindutva stand.
'We need a generation revolution'
In an expansive interview, elder statesman C Subramaniam dwells on the present political situation.
'I can't see the BJP and its allies getting 270 seats'
Arun Nehru surveys the election scene.
Naveen Patnaik proving more than a one-poll wonder
Biju Patnaik's son is adapting to his newfound political role in Orissa.
'Secularism is not the answer to all of India's problems'
'But a solution to India's problems is dependent upon it being a secular democracy. A country of India's diversity can be kept united only by strengthening the bonds of commonality amidst this diversity. And not by imposing a uniformity on this diversity.'
CPI-M ideologue Sitaram Yechuri blasts the BJP on the Rediff Chat.
'As long as Kesri and Vijayabhaskara Reddy are in the Congress, it has no future'
Nizamabad MP G Atmacharan Reddy, an NRI who switched to the BJP after the Congress denied him a ticket, in an exclusive interview.
'Laloo has gone mad'
So says Rajiv Ranjan 'Pappu' Yadav, friend-turned-foe of the former Bihar chief minister.
Pre-poll violence very much a possibility in Nagercoil
Although statistics is still on the side of the DMK-TMC combine, the BJP hopes to open its TN account in the constituency.
Bombay's Muslims confused by SP's tie-up with Congress
Having voted the SP in 1996 to defeat the Congress, this time round the community is caught between a rock and a very hard place.
'India is reverting to the slavery of 500 years ago'
Dr Claude Alvares fears for the country's sovereignty.
OTHER NEWS REPORTS:
CBI shuffle sparks speculation about Biswas's fate
The agency has asked Special Director Trinath Mishra to investigate the Rs 9.5 billion fodder scam, involing former Bihar chief minister Laloo Prasad Yadav. The move has set the rumour mill agog that Joint Director U N Biswas has been stripped of his responsibility in the case.
Pak should be declared a terrorist state: Joshi
India should launch a diplomatic initiative at the international level to get Pakistan declared a 'terrorist state' says BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi.
Poonamallee jumps with joy as Rajiv trial ends
For over six years now, the residents of Poonamallee have been fretting and fuming. The Rajiv Gandhi assassination case has given them a harrowing time.
J&K: NC files writ against EC order
Madhya Pradesh:Dramatic decline in number of candidates
Maharashtra: Anti-graft body nabs Buldhana literacy drive officials
Uttar Pradesh: State to seal districts going to polls
FEBRUARY 7
'Videshi dhan, videshi man, videshi bahu!'
That will be the BJP's slogan in coming weeks to counter Congress star Sonia Gandhi. With Sonia invoking the Nehru family legacy to get votes for the Congress, her saffron opponents also plan to raise a name the masses recognise and revere -- Ram.
Security to be beefed up for UP, Bihar elections
The Rapid Action Force is being deployed to contain caste and communal violence in sensitive areas.
BJP's opponents divided in Bihar
The two broad fronts -- one led by the RJD and the other by the UF -- may end up fielding more than one candidate in many constiuencies. All this can only help the BJP.
'My detractors have run out of issues. So they are raking up old issues'
'One cannot judge the poll outcome by the crowds one draws at public meetings,' says Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu.
Election fever yet to strike Tamil Nadu
Frequency of elections, and the possibility of another hung Parliament put off voters
Muslim tactical voting can mar fortunes
Muslim voting patterns reveal that the community has been gunning for the most anti-Islamic force.
Fund-crunch will take the fizzle out of Kerala campaigns
A slump economy, an annoyed liquor lobby and crashed
rubber prices will ensure that poll campaigns
in the state are straight and simple.
Sonia blames AGP for Assam situation
Defying the United Liberation Front of Asom ban, she addressed a well-attended rally in
Nagaon on Friday.
Kashmiri youth stones Farooq's son
It was his first public appearance in Lal Chowk, the city centre,
where joyful thousands once greeted his great-grandfather and
father.
Allahabad may witness fierce contest
Among the 22 candidates contesting the Allahabad seat is
former BJP president, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi who is pitted against his student and SP candidate Shyama Charan Gupta.
Bhatia looks for sixth win from Amritsar
The former Union minister is involved in an eight-corner
contest, his main rival being state BJP unit president Daya
Singh Sodhi.
BJP attempts to storm Congress citadel
Oscar Fernandes has won the Udupi seat five times. Jayaram Shetty vows that, this time, the constituency will return a BJP representative.
AICC, DPCC fight about Delhi's statehood
CWC leader R K Dhawan says Delhi should be accorded full statehood.
But state unit chief Prem Singh doesn't agree.
Sonia didn't interfere in ticket distribution: Kesri
The Congress president said it is unconstitutional to project someone as the prime ministerial nominee.
EC rejects BJP nominee's candidature
Chhatar Singh Darbar, the BJP nominee for Dhar in Madhya Pradesh, is the man in
question.
'Healthcare is as important as roads and ports'
Dr Pratap Reddy on the issue of healthcare.
OTHER NEWS REPORTS:
30 kids killed, 21 injured in mishap
The incident occurred in Sagar, near Bhopal, in Madhya Pradesh when
a tractor trolley plunged into a rivulet on Thursday night after colliding with a
truck.
Missing children found dead in freezer
Five-year-old Ruksar, his sister Minu (3) and friend Tinu (5) had been
missing since January 31.
Bangla rights body moves to stop Chetia's extradition
The ULFA leader is being 'mistreated' in jail, says the Bangladesh Human Rights Commission which plans to move court on February 8 to stop his extradition to India.
Assam: EC appoints 56 observers
Bihar: JMM expels Mahato
Orissa: Parties slug it out to claim Biju Patnaik's legacy
•
And they lived happily ever after...
In a unique event combining traditional
ritual and piety, a four-year-old neem was ceremoniously
given away in marriage to an eight-year-old banyan tree.
FEBRUARY 6
'Out of the 1 billion Indians and 6 million voters, you can't find 543 good people? Are you joking?'
'...In the last six weeks, we have sacked from field duty many collectors, commissioners and deputy inspector generals of police in six states. Wherever we had the slightest doubt, out he goes.' Chief Election Commissioner Dr M S Gill, in an exclusive interview.
UF upset over Mulayam's dreams
The Samajwadi Party's decision to project Union Defence Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav as the United Front's prime minister-in-waiting has put the fragile combine in disarray.
'Chidamabaram has turned out to be a third-rate failure'
'The BJP cannot say their devotion to Ram is higher than the Constitution. If their devotion is so much, let them go and build a temple at Dhanushkodi which is lying in ruins. If they are such great bhakts of Shiva, let them go and fight with China and bring back Mansarovar.' Gadfly politician Subramanian Swamy, in a typically feisty interview.
JD manifesto extends Mandal to educational institutions
The Janata Dal hopes to move forward with an eye on the backwards; manifesto promises 33 per cent reservation for women, and disagrees with the UF on allowing foreign entry into insurance.
No Congressman has read Jain's report, says Gujral
'I will quit the Lok Sabha elections if any one has read the report,' prime minister challenges Congressmen.
BJP reaches out for a constituency no one really wants
Having won just 43,000 votes in the 1996 election, the BJP is expecting a windfall this time round, thanks mostly to the communal riots of November.
BSP leads the pack with 14 Muslim candidates in UP
Although the total number of candidates from UP's 85 seats has fallen this time, the number of Muslim candidates is unchanged at 108.
Delimitation freeze distorts constituencies sizes
Changing urban population patterns and population growth have made some constituencies huge and others small.
Sonia favours Christians, charges Thackeray
She will have to face the music now that she is in politics, says the Sena chief.
'What will we do with roads, railways and ports if we do not have industries?'
R H Patil, managing director, National Stock Exchange, believes that competition will bring out excellence in Indian industry.
Secularism and the middle-class
'The middle-class is touted as non-secular only because it has seen through the power-grabbing schemes of the various political parties,' says Shalabh Kumar.
The young voter
Young voters, A Ganesh Nadar discovered, make up their minds easily as their choice is based on emotional issues.
OTHER NEWS REPORTS:
Governor says there is no evidence against Mahanta
Vindicated, the Assam chief minister claims the chargesheet was the result of a conspiracy involving former CBI director R C Sharma and the Congress.
Lata Mangeshkar scores as politicians squabble
After the Union law minister accused the Congress of going slow on making Marathi an official language of Goa, the visibly upset nightingale of India appealed to the people to keep away from such battles and see the national interest. To no avail...
China-Pak nuke nexus worries US law-makers
The US president is seeking a Congressional approval to sell nuclear reactors to China, but many law-makers doubt China's bonafides.
Andhra Pradesh: RBI team to study cotton farmers's problems
Maharashtra: Ex-MP Purohit joins Congress, to work for BJP's defeat
Madhya Pradesh: CM Digvijay's Singh's proxy war
FEBRUARY 5
'Why has the blame been transferred from those who destroyed the structure to those whose responsibility it was to protect it?'
'What could I do? Do you expect any prime minister, be he a fool
or a wiseman, to ignore the advice of his governors? Imagine the consequence if I had stepped in, against the governor's advice, and the situation had gone
out of hand!' P V Narasimha Rao speaks out at last!
Sonia steals BJP's thunder
"Sonia has waited six years, studying party affairs and listening to its leaders. Now she seems to have realised that, if the family does not take the plunge, the Congress will be reduced to nothing," a former MP, who is close to Sonia, told Rediff On The NeT.
Performance will help DMK, RJD, TDP
The ruling parties in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Tamil Nadu may do well as more than 40 per cent of the voters feel the state governments are 'good'.
Manifesto shows BJP is 'shaky'
The party's manifesto betrays its nervousness, say the Left, highlighting the saffron brigade's dichotomy: whether to strengthen its base by playing up the Hindutva agenda or woo the minorities by going 'secular'.
BJP to follow Japanese style on consensus
The BJP is particularly impressed by how the Japanese government
co-operates with industry.
Cong-RJP divide clears way for BJP
The saffron brigade stands to regain lost ground after the allies differed over allocation of seats.
Unfair, says JD of RJD manipulation of administration
Laloo allegedly using both carrot and stick to keep district officials in line.
Chandra Swami launches proxy war against Pilot
The Congress leader is locked in a fierce contest with state Transport Minister and BJP nominee Rohitashwa Kumar, tantrik Chandra Swami's childhood friend, in Dausa, Rajasthan.
Several Congress MPs complete hat-tricks
G Venkataswamy from Siddipet and Pedapalli, Kotla Vijayabhaskara Reddy from Kurnool, A Saipratap from Siddipet, Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy from Cuddapah, Mallikarjun from Mahabubnagar, Kamaluddin Ahmed from Hanumakonda and M Baga Reddy from Medak have completed 'hat-tricks' in Andhra Pradesh.
BJP banks on family ties in Rajasthan
Family ties continue to play an important role for the in the allotment of tickets.
'I am ready to resign as Sena chief'
Thackeray tells Chief Election Commissioner Dr M S Gill.
The BJP will be disastrous for India
Television personality Sashi Kumar feels if the BJP comes to power, it will assert its main ideology -- religion.
Sonia looks nice;... but who are Vajpayee, Khalap, Rane?
Satyawan Nipanikar, shoeshine man, in Goa on leaders and politicians.
OTHER NEWS REPORTS:
Two inquiries initiated into Marwah firing
One by the army and the other by the state government.
Further action sought against TADA judge
Law Minister Ramakant Khalap follows up the issue of alleged misuse of power in a murder case.
US ready to work with India, others to resolve Iraqi crisis
A US state department official made this statement while responding to Prime Minister I K Gujral's letter to President Bill Clinton, which opposed the use of force against Iraq.
Gujarat: Congress releases assembly list
Goa: Alemao spoils Khalap's pitch
Karnataka: Shanappa quits JD to join Lok Shakthi
Maharashtra: Congress confident of regaining Nagpur, Beed from BJP
Maharashtra: Rebellions souring Pawar's grand alliance
Rajasthan: Ex-bureaucrats versus politicians
Tamil Nadu: TNMMK to boycott polls
Uttar Pradesh: Two-thirds fall
in number of candidates
•
The evergreen candidate
Presenting Kaka Joginder Singh, the Dev Anand of Indian
polls, who is contesting his -- hold your breath! -- his 301st election!
FEBRUARY 4
Manifesto punctures BJP's 'secular drive'
Despite its multiple marriages of convenience for electoral purposes, the Bharatiya Janata Party's stand on various contentious issues has changed little.
Vajpayee halts rumours on BJP's PM nominee
The BJP leader said he would be the prime minister -- and not party president Lal Kishinchand Advani as was made out by the detractors -- even as the saffron brigade dumped the earlier strategy of 'going soft on Sonia'.
BJP promises to keep Pakistan in check
The party says it will take 'active steps to persuade Pakistan to abandon its present policy of hostile interference in India's internal affairs' if voted to power.
BJP manifesto promises a nice time to 'good' movie-makers
No sex, no violence... The party will also let movie-makers raise resources from financial institutions.
The road from MP to PM is now crossed with hazards
Sunil Sethi joins Atal Bihari Vajpayee on the campaign trail.
Muslims 'soften' stand as saffron gets secular hue
The BJP's secular designs seem to be 'paying off' as the Kalyan Singh government in Uttar Pradesh tries to 'resurrect its secular credentials'.
Amma begins campaign in style
No gargantuan cut-outs, no ostentation, just undiluted chaos as Jayalalitha hits the trail.
'I hold the BJP responsible for the murder of my great-grandfather'
'The people who want to redivide India on the lines of religion would first try and finish off the memory of someone who they are scared of from beyond his funeral pyre.' Tushar Gandhi, Samajwadi Party candidate from the Bombay North-West constituency, sounds off on Mahatma Gandhi and the forthcoming election on the Rediff Chat.
Sonia's outburst lands TMC in tight spot
The Tamil Maanila Congress is running for political cover, with Sonia raking up the Jain Commission issue.
No Sena ticket for Seshan
Maharashtra Chief Minister Manohar Joshi says the former CEC's popularity did not extend to rural areas.
Chhindwara, where elections are an annual affair
It's former Union minister Kamal Nath's constituency.
The Congress gave five PMs in 45 years; non-Congress parties gave seven PMs in five years
The Congress unveils its manifesto for the 12th general election.
'People need jobs for livelihood, not roads and electricity'
Ganpat Patil, assistant to a pujari, on what he expects from leaders and politicians.
How the North voted
A ready reckoner.
OTHER NEWS REPORTS:
'By making liberation conditional on accession Kashmiris are going for a hug with the bear'
Jammu and Kashmir Liberation
Front chairman Amanullah Khan has conceded
that the 'liberation movement' in
Kashmir has 'faded' and 'Dr Farooq Abdullah heads a people's representative government.'
NHRC to start Wandhama probe on Wednesday
A high level team led by Director General (investigations) Sankar
Sen will spend three days on the investigation.
Indrajit asks Kalyan Singh to save Gujjar community
The tribals are allegedly being harassed and beaten up by the Rajaji
national park authorities.
Punnapra Vayalar uprising recognised as part of freedom struggle
The Union government has also recognised the Kayyur,
Kavumpayi, Arivelloor, Morazha and Malabar special police struggles.
One of every 200 Bangladeshis will be HIV positive by 2000: experts
They all know about AIDS and safe sex. But ask them if
their clients use condoms and the answer is a bewildered
look and a whispery 'No'.
Andhra Pradesh: A question of Telugu pride
Bihar: 'Mohammed Shahabuddin should not contest poll'
Bihar: Damn alliances, it's everyone for himself
Gujarat: Violence-prone Saurashtra awaits D-day with bated breath
Gujarat: Congress puts up former DGP against Advani in Gandhinagar
Karnataka: Another MLA quits JD
Madhya Pradesh: Six killed as aircraft crashes
Rajasthan:Many stalwarts, fewer candidates in fray
Rajasthan:Royal affair
Tamil Nadu:CPI-M patches up with DMK-TMC
Tamil Nadu: TMC promises Cauvery waters, protection from Article 356
FEBRUARY 3
'We can't stay, and we don't want to move...'
There are 6,500 Pandits, living in nearly 200 villages across the
Valley. "We simply cannot allow them to live in their villages, with no security, we have been ordered to shift them to a secure, sanitised zone in Srinagar," says a police officer.
'We are prepared to sit in the Opposition'
'Nobody can finish off anyone else. No political party can finish off another
political party. Neither will we finish off anyone nor will the others finish us off. It is all a wrong notion.' Former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, in a rare encounter.
Govt shielding Rajiv killers: Sonia
The former prime minister's widow also launched a veiled attack on the Tamil Maanila Congress for aligning with the DMK.
Sonia promises quota for women in Parliament
She today virtually unveiled a 'parallel agenda', saying if her party was voted to power it would extend reservation for women in both Houses of Parliament and the state assemblies.
Coalition govt even if BJP wins majority says Advani
If the Bharatiya Janata Party-led multi-party alliance gets a majority in the general election, it will be a coalition government involving all partners of the alliance, with a common minimum programme.
Gujral flays Congress, spares BJP, BSP
The prime minister blasted the Congress but was mum on the BJP and the BSP while campaigning in Jalandhar.
Vajpayee steals the show as BJP unleashes star power
The BJP had lined up a battery of stars to steal Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu's thunder.
Congress-RJP part ways in Gujarat
Shankarsinh Vaghela says his party will support 'friendly' individuals in the Congress and the BJP .
The Battle of the Yadavs
The Madhepura constituency is witnessing a major fight between friends-turned-foes Sharad Yadav, president of the Janata Dal, and Laloo Yadav, president of the Rashtriya Janata Dal.
Former minister, Rajiv aide quit Congress
Thara Devi is upset at being denied a ticket, while her husband Siddhartha Reddy,
an associate of Rajiv Gandhi, has offered no reasons.
'The poor have nothing to gain from the electoral exercise'
Rajni Desai, director, Research Unit for Political Economy, Bombay, on why the issue of poverty does not find a place in election manifestoes.
In a country of 900 million people, can't we have an Indian as our prime minister?
Dr Kamala, on what she expects from leaders and politicians.
OTHER NEWS REPORTS:
Karthikeyan is new CBI chief
The Bureau, he says, will not be used to settle scores against anyone.
'Paedophile' Arthur C Clarke sparks protests in Lanka
Protesters demand action, deportation against the science fiction writer who is to be knighted on Wednesday, after he reportedly told a London tabloid, "Once they have reached the age of puberty, it is OK... It doesn't do any harm.''
Rising sea level threatens over 6,000 km of Indian coast, say experts
Worst hit will be the Lakshwadweep archipelago, which will submerge, and the east coast which will suffer from even worse storms...
Hope for the girl child
When 14-year-old Akhari first stepped into
the school, she did not know there was a
world beyond cooking, cleaning and washing clothes.
Bihar: Request for more central forces to tackle poll violence
Bihar: Number of candidates nosedive
Maharashtra: Samajwadi Party fields ace defector Chandrika Kenia in Thane
Maharashtra: Former addl CP joins JD, to contest from Bombay North-West
Orissa: Jayanti Patnaik gets Rao's seat
Punjab: It's a straight fight between the Akali-BJP and Congress-BSP combines
Sikkim: Gill suspends CEO
Rajasthan: Expelled BJP legislators join Congress
Uttar Pradesh: SJP to support Mulayam
Tamil Nadu: Jayalalitha not allowed to hold rallies in Madras
•
'Let Madhuri, Tabu and Raveena come... then we will see'
If Vinod Khanna is here, can the rest of the Bollywood be far behind?
•
Swamy and his plans
Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy wants to abolish the income tax when he comes to power.
Archives
|
