Since much of the voting was on religious lines, Mamata's rural focus became irrelevant.
Restricted by state government orders, the ownership of such land could not be formally registered, so the advances made continued to be reflected in the accounts as 'advances against land'.
... And sometimes, that's enough, says Sreehari Nair.
Known for railing up controversies, Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi was back in the game again on Wednesday evoking sharp criticism after he charged the Centre with ignoring the interest of the state and said seven union ministers from the state would not be allowed entry if they failed to bring desired assistance for the region.
If purists are surprised as to why and how people are not demanding prohibition or not talking about past promises, both in the election manifestos five years back and even those made to the courts, the answer lies in how the state has been evolving and changing these past few years, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Away from limelight, Jeevika Didis are silently fighting the coronavirus in rural Bihar.
Almost 3.3 million houses awaiting completion under the IAY will be built by the end of 2016-17.
Sushil Reddy took a seven day trip to spread awareness on solar power.
'I am here to look after people's needs.' 'I am not bothered about who is a Maoist or who is not.'
Over 7.24 lakh displaced people have been sheltered in 5,645 relief camps dotting the state, they said.
'The worst affected is the electricity supply. A huge number of poles, some 6,000 to 8,000 poles have been damaged completely. That will take a lot of time for restoration.'
Official figures say 1.8 lakh workers have returned home to Bihar. Unofficially, however, that figure is said to have crossed 3 lakhs. Can Bihar cope?
India is in the midst of its biggest crisis since Independence. It is a national emergency and begs to be dealt with. Politics can wait. Lives need to be saved. We need to vaccinate India at a pace faster than any country in the world, asserts Ramesh Menon.
Amid India slipping to 134th spot in the ease of doing business ranking of 189 nations, Planning Commission member Arun Maira on Tuesday said "merely making comparisons" is not enough to improve business conditions.
Amid rising coronavirus cases in India, the government has asked people not to panic, saying no community transmission of the virus has been observed and there has only been a few cases of local transmission so far and that it is "not a health emergency" in India at present.
A limited number of activities will remain prohibited across the country, irrespective of the zone, including travel by air, rail, metro and inter-state movement by road, running of schools, colleges, and other educational and training/coaching institutions.
'The prime minister did not think that COVID-19 was a serious challenge as late as March 20.'
Aseem Chhabra watched some great films and some huge disappointments in 2020.
Most women are searching for freedom within families, not freedom from families. They want to find the 'I' within the 'We' as they navigate the world inside and outside their homes, says Deepa Narayan.
The desecration of Vidyasagar's statue during Amit Anilchandra Shah's rally, which the TMC projected to be a 'Bhojpuri' and 'Dhokla' invasion on West Bengal's culture, may help her gain some favour with middle-class and erudite Bengalis in the last phase of the polls.
Maharashtra has reported 31 positive cases, Kerala 19, Uttar Pradesh 11, Delhi and Karnataka six each, Ladakh three, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan and Telangana two each; and Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab one case each. The total number of confirmed cases also includes 17 foreigners -- 16 Italian tourists and a Canadian, it said.
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday reiterated that his government is committed to enforce liquor ban or prohibition in the state. M I Khan/ Rediff.com report from Patna.
More than 3,000 squads under health and local self-government departments have started the process of cleaning houses and public places, official sources said.
It would certainly help if in the first five or ten years the new state had a Telangana United Front government which included all political parties and which then would dedicate itself to bringing about fast development for the neglected region, says Gautam Pingle in the final part of a two-part series on the new state.
'The entire rescue operation was very dangerous, and something we have not experienced before.' 'It was different from what we experience on the seas.'
'These people are living on the edge of starvation and governments need to show much greater compassion towards them.'
"On the one hand he says I was a 'yachak' (somebody pleading) and on the other hand he accuses me of having arrogance. It's very contradictory. I am willing to plead with the Centre for the cause of Bihar. He is the prime minister and can say whatever he wishes.
If the presentation made by the Commission to the chief ministers is followed in letter and spirit, central sector and sponsored schemes will no longer be the domain of central ministries alone.
Is Shivraj Singh Chouhan paying the price of being in the wrong camp? Aditi Phadnis and Shashikant Trivedi find out.
Commercial banks are also expected to be soft on loan repayments and restructure the loans, if not write them off.
Justifying the United Progressive Aliance government's decision to bring the food security bill through an ordinance, Union Food Minister K V Thomas on Thursday said the Centre is confident that it will be ratified in the monsoon session of Parliament commencing on August 5.
Union Law Minister Sadananda Gowda asked the Karnataka government to form a special squad to keep a watch on foreign students, in the wake of the Sunday incident.
Farmers find it difficult to source quality seeds or fertiliser on time from government agencies at subsidised rates.
Minister of State for Shipping Pon Radhakrishnan said the vessel had more than 32,000 tonne of oil and has been emptied.
Following the Supreme Court ruling against liquor being sold within 500 metres of state and national highways, the infamous Indian jugaad is in play once again. Veenu Sandhu, Nikita Puri, Ranjita Ganesan & Avishek Rakshit find out how India is coping.
India has built two top-secret facilities in Karnataka to enrich uranium in pursuit of its hydrogen bomb dream.
The new government has to make conscious efforts to rebuild social equality and bring the people together.
The average land given to the rural landless is small and falling, from 0.95 acres in 2002 to 0.88 acres in 2015 - a 7.4 per cent drop over 13 years-and a slowdown is evident in the process of taking land away from rich landlords, the RTI data reveal.
In villages in Palghar district -- in Mumbai's backyard -- more than 254 children have died from malnutrition.
Industrialist Naveen Jindal, fighting to win the Kurukshetra Lok Sabha seat for a third time, has more than just Narendra Modi to contend with. Joel Rai reports.
