A Ganesh Nadar And Saisuresh Sivaswamy

Stories by A Ganesh Nadar And Saisuresh Sivaswamy

How the RSS will get voters out in Varanasi

How the RSS will get voters out in Varanasi

Rediff.com   12 May 2014

'We will go to every home and ask them to vote. We will go back once in 3 hours to check if they have voted. If not, we will ask them again... We will not rest till the final vote is cast,' RSS worker Chandramohan Seth tells A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com

Garam chai pe garam charcha in Banaras

Garam chai pe garam charcha in Banaras

Rediff.com   10 May 2014

A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com records a heated discussion on NaMo at one of Varanasi's best-known locations.

'For the BJP this seat is meant for political tourism'

'For the BJP this seat is meant for political tourism'

Rediff.com   10 May 2014

The Congress campaign is muted in Varanasi, but the party is hoping that anti-Modi votes and caste combinations will help Ajai Rai, the only local candidate in the fray. A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com reports from the Congress campaign headquarters.

'I wish the damn election is over and we can go back to our lives'

'I wish the damn election is over and we can go back to our lives'

Rediff.com   10 May 2014

'If an election could be won only by canvassing then the AAP candidate will easily win. In canvassing they have let all the parties behind. They have met every voter in the villages many times and they have come from so far.' A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com travels to the rural hinterland of Varanasi and finds that only the BJP and AAP are active here.

A day at the BJP's Varanasi headquarters

A day at the BJP's Varanasi headquarters

Rediff.com   9 May 2014

A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com checks out the steady stream of leaders and party workers flowing in and out of the party headquarters in Varanasi, including the candidate's elder brother.

'Modi 1st, Ajay Rai 2nd, Kejriwal 3rd'

'Modi 1st, Ajay Rai 2nd, Kejriwal 3rd'

Rediff.com   8 May 2014

Dr Kaushal Kishore Mishra, the prime accused in the assault case against Somnath Bharti, says he never attacked the AAP leader. He then explains the polarisation politics of Varanasi.

The people who run Modi's campaign in Varanasi

The people who run Modi's campaign in Varanasi

Rediff.com   7 May 2014

'Varanasi has seen elections for ages, but this one is different. Different, in the sense, that it is like an invasion.'

Why an ex-UPA minister is fighting on a BJP ticket

Why an ex-UPA minister is fighting on a BJP ticket

Rediff.com   5 May 2014

Daggubati Purandeswari is the only Union minister to have joined the BJP this election. 'Everybody knows Dr Manmohan Singh is a man of great integrity and I consider it an honour to have worked with him,' Purandeswari, the BJP candidate from Rajampeta, Andhra Pradesh, tells A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com

'We didn't see anyone planting the bomb'

'We didn't see anyone planting the bomb'

Rediff.com   5 May 2014

'We have given the authorities our bank details; hope they give us something since we won't be able to work for some time.' A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com speaks to passengers injured in the terrors blasts on the Bangalore-Guwahati Express.

12 lakh poll funds were hidden in the car's air filter

12 lakh poll funds were hidden in the car's air filter

Rediff.com   24 Apr 2014

Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar spent Wednesday night -- the night before the Lok Sabha election in Tamil Nadu -- roaming the streets of a village, to discover the role money plays in getting the vote out in rural Tamil Nadu.

'We have got only Rs 100. That is too less to go and vote'

'We have got only Rs 100. That is too less to go and vote'

Rediff.com   23 Apr 2014

'Everybody knows Baalu and all the trouble he caused in UPA-I. The AIADMK thinks it can win with the distribution of money. It may work in some parts, but not everywhere.' Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar visits Tamil Nadu's rice bowl where a former Cabinet minister is fighting for political survival.

'Why stop candidates from giving money to voters?'

'Why stop candidates from giving money to voters?'

Rediff.com   22 Apr 2014

'We have created fear in the minds of villagers so that they don't indulge in wrongdoing. We have already seized Rs 1 crore of bribe money,' Madurai Superintendent of Police Vijayendra Bidari tells Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar.

Election Sketch: A 14-hour campaign for Rs 500

Election Sketch: A 14-hour campaign for Rs 500

Rediff.com   17 Apr 2014

A lone ranger braves the summer sun to get the party's message to voters in a small town in Tamil Nadu.

Sonia in Tamil Nadu: The BJP is a one-man party

Sonia in Tamil Nadu: The BJP is a one-man party

Rediff.com   16 Apr 2014

Sonia Gandhi spends just 30 minutes in Kanyakumari to promote 39 candidates in Tamil Nadu. A Ganesh Nadar listens in.

For Jaswant, technology, music and family fill the gap left by BJP

For Jaswant, technology, music and family fill the gap left by BJP

Rediff.com   16 Apr 2014

Seventy-six is not an age to be plowing a lonely furrow in the heartless electoral fields of India, especially in Rajasthan, given the heat in summer, but Jaswant Singh, the expelled Bharatiya Janata Party veteran, is not exactly alone, says Rediff.com's Saisuresh Sivaswamy.

'In Tamil Nadu, people are always ready to accept money'

'In Tamil Nadu, people are always ready to accept money'

Rediff.com   2 Apr 2014

In one village, a woman asks, "They are always showing cash seizures on television, you think some of it will escape and we will get money as usual?" "Only 1 percent of cash is actually seized, the rest has arrived, you don't worry," a party worker assures her. Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar reports on the election in the southern-most tip of the country.

'If they arrest me, they will make me a martyr and a winner'

'If they arrest me, they will make me a martyr and a winner'

Rediff.com   11 Mar 2014

'I don't think we will need to support or get support from the Congress. I hope there is no such political exigency. The Congress will be gone from the political scene. There is no lesser evil. The BJP and Congress are the two sides of the same evil coin,' anti-Koodankulam nuclear plant activist and new AAP member S P Udaykumar tells Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar.

'Balu Mahendra's death will leave a void in the Tamil film industry'

'Balu Mahendra's death will leave a void in the Tamil film industry'

Rediff.com   13 Feb 2014

'In Tamil Nadu where film stars are treated as gods, Balu Mahendra was an institution by himself,' Actress Radhika Sharatkumar pays rich tribute to the filmmaker, who passed away on Thursday, February 13.

'We have been treated well in India, this is the best model of refugee welfare'

'We have been treated well in India, this is the best model of refugee welfare'

Rediff.com   12 Feb 2014

65,000 Sri Lankan Tamil refugees still live in Tamil Nadu. Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar discovers the challenges for the refugees to return home.

Tamil Nadu health helpline: Medical advice is just a call away

Tamil Nadu health helpline: Medical advice is just a call away

Rediff.com   10 Feb 2014

A Ganesh Nadar visits the bustling centre that hosts Tamil Nadu's health helpline that answers more than 100 medical queries an hour.