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JANUARY 25-26
Senior Congressmen shocked as Kesri denies ticket to Rao
As the party president blurted out that the former prime minister would not be given a ticket to contest the Lok Sabha poll, Congress Working Committee member Pranab Mukherjee said a final decision has not yet been taken.
Unjust, unfair to blame me for Babri demolition: Rao
Rao's reaction came hours after Kesri held him morally responsible for the incident.
Congress promises stability, secularism and new economic agenda
The party's manifesto promises a special package for the minorities -- including the setting up of a ministry for minorities -- to woo the Muslims.
'I don't think Sonia will contest the election'
Sharad Pawar, in a brief encounter.
'Making Kesri Congress president was like giving a knife to a monkey'
'In the Congress, every day it was an effort to be close to Rao, Kesri or Sonia Gandhi. For instance, if you are not on Sonia's side in the Congress now, your marketshare is gone. This stooping down before different leaders is not there in the BJP.' Aslam Sher Khan, in an exclusive interview.
Khalap denies BJP's Bofors charges
Union Law Minister Ramakant Khalap has denied that the United Front government was deliberately withholding the findings of its investigation in the Bofors gun deal.
45 per cent of polling booths declared sensitive in UP
About 54,000 of the 123,074 polling stations have been declared as sensitive and hyper-sensitive in Uttar Pradesh.
Congress apology won't convince TN Muslims
The Tamil Nadu Muslims are more concerned about their own security and insecurities. It is these fears that need to be attended to, and a mere apology for the Babri mosque demolition -- given by the Congress -- will not satisfy them.
Vajpayee vows to settle Hindu-Muslim disputes
Addressing a rally in Kanpur, the BJP's prime ministerial nominee woos the Muslims again.
V P Singh defends Sonia
It is not fair to draw her name into the contentious
Bofors issue, the former prime minister said.
'It is wrong to assume that the DMK-TMC combine can do a repeat of 1996'
The CPI-M is adamant on going it alone in Tamil Nadu.
Travels with the Millennium Man
The chief minister is beleaguered by the "widow syndrome"
of Indian politics -- he is required to ward off not one but two.
Sunil Sethi hits the campaign trail with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister
N Chandrababu Naidu.
'The BJP thinks it can sell Vajpayee in the market. But nobody is there to buy that commodity'
'Parliamentary democracy in India has entered into a new phase or new era, in which coalition governments have come to stay at the Centre. In this era you have to project policies, programmes and manifestos of the political parties. Not individuals.' CPI national secretary Doraiswamy Raja tells The Rediff Election Chat.
BJP will snatch a sensational victory
K N Rao resumes his astrological forecasts.
THE REDIFF SPECIALS
Boys 2 Men
Out here life is tough. Plenty tough. You are here for just 42 days -- but man, those 42 days are sheer torture... Chindu Sreedharan and Jewella C Miranda report from the army's commando training camp in Belgaum.
Boys's Day Out
Today, after all, was Adam day, their holiday. Today they would have the
pleasure of changing
into civilian clothes and going out for their first brush with
society in 30 days. Maybe they would paint Belgaum red...
OTHER REPORTS:
Kochi espionage accused allowed to go home
But the two Frenchmen, held in the ocean survey
case, will have to return by May 10 to face trial.
Tribal govt in Bihar beats official one hollow
Though the Naxalite-run parallel government in various parts of Bihar has earned itself a bad name, another 'popular government', established to aid the development of its citizens, has not.
Religion a major cause of conflict in India: US report
"In India Hindu nationalists attacked Muslim shrines in a
campaign partly motivated by the electoral struggle of the Hindu
nationalist party against its political competitors," it says. The reference, obviously, is to the Babri Masjid demolition.
JANUARY 24
India heads for hung Parliament: CMS poll survey
The BJP will get between 235 and 245 seats. Sonia Gandhi's appearance on the campaign trail will improve the Congress tally. The United Front will hover around the 120 mark.
Govt not disclosing even what it can on Bofors, says BJP
The BJP's two top election campaigners today carried the battle over the Bofors payoffs scandal into the Congress and UF camps.
Reject Gujral's nomination from Punjab: Shanti Bhushan
The prime minister, alleged the former Union law minister, was trying to bribe voters by waiving off a Rs 21.14 billion loan to Punjab.
Sonia relives the Indira image at Maharashtra hamlet
For the largely adivasi crowds at Nandurbar, Sonia Gandhi's rally brought the dynasty just that much closer.
Vajpayee promises to change governor's role
The BJP's prime ministerial nominee, however, skirts all controversial issues, though the disputed shrine was just a few kilometres from the venue of his rally in Varanasi.
Verdict on Rajiv assassination just five days away
All eyes are now on the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act court in Madras. Hearing the case for nearly five years, the court is scheduled to pronounce its verdict on January 28.
EC gives observers teeth, simplifies
expense-filing method
They can now halt vote-counting or the declaration of results.
And the candidates need present their accounts for inspection only
once every three days.
BJD-BJP alliance runs into rough weather
The much-publicised political alliance between the Biju Janata Dal and the Bharatiya Janata Party in Orissa is in trouble.
Samata manifesto wants foreign-borns kept off high office
George Fernandes justifies the proposal by saying that it is not directed at any one person, and anyway all developed nations have such laws.
Gujral continues his Akali affair despite UF criticism
The prime minister shared the dais for the second day
with ruling Akali Dal leaders at election meetings in Jalandhar's Kartarpur and Nakodar.
Andhra Pradesh: Naidu demands 'wages for good work' as crowd turns restive
Andhra Pradesh: Talks with NTR-TDP break down, BJP to go it alone
Andhra Pradesh: Minister, film-maker in TDP's second list
Andhra Pradesh: Vijayawada airport to be expanded
Bihar: SP announces 14 candidates
Karnataka: Deve Gowda to contest from Hassan
Karnataka: Patel rules out dissolution of assembly
Madhya Pradesh: BJP denies ticket to Sakhlecha
Maharashtra: SP chief joins BJP
•Delhi's high-sitting man comes down to earth
Ashraf Jamal Khan, the man who had been staying atop a 200-feet
microwave tower in New Delhi for the last seven days, finally decided
to call it quits -- for the time being, at least.
JANUARY 23
Corporate poll fund set up to end slush money
Senior Supreme Court advocate Dinesh Vyas, who heads the trust, refutes rumours that the Tatas are behind the bid to clean up electoral funding by corporates. All major political parties, barring the Left Front, welcome the move.
Sonia unhappy over Laloo giving peanuts to Congress in Bihar
In the battle of Yadavs, Sonia would rather be allied with Mulayam than Laloo.
Make Bofors papers public, Vajpayee tells PM
The BJP's prime ministerial candidate launches his election campaign.
BJP's star move: Vinod Khanna from Gurdaspur
The actor says his decision to join politics came about when he decided, "It was time that people like us made a stand and took
part in things actively."
Sex scandal hits Congress campaign in Orissa
The Congress, already facing a stiff challenge from Naveen Patnaik, has suffered a further erosion in its credibility with a sex scandal erupting in the coastal town of Kenderapara.
'What was Kesri? A lackey who became party treasurer through sheer sycophancy'
Narasimha Rao supporter Bhuvanesh Chaturvedi tears apart Sitaram Kesri's style of functioning.
BJP 'creates history' by lifting ban on Muslim processions
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttar Pradesh not only lifted the 21-year-old ban on the Azadaari procession in Lucknow, but also ensured that it was taken out peacefully.
Sonia sells Congress to Ranchi crowds, even as Kesri fails to join her
Only the Congress has the solutions to the nation's problems, she tells Ranchi crowds.
Vaghela's HAMDOST no patch on earlier KHAM votebank, says Keshubhai Patel
The former Gujarat chief minister pooh-poohs claims that the BJP would not form the government this time.
Congress facing trouble on all fronts in Kerala
The party finds itself under a state of siege.
Gujral woos Christians
The prime minister reiterates his commitment to preserve the well-being of
India's minorities.
Naidu seeks to revive NTR's pet theme
The ruling Telugu Desam Party has begun harping on atma gauravam (Telugu self-respect) to counter the Sonia Gandhi factor at the hustings.
Famous Kuchipudi couple take up formidable task
''We wanted to show the world that the children with special needs are not inferior to others in any way. Given a chance, they can perform and even excel in arts like dancing,'' say Raja and Radha Reddy who are training handicapped children to dance at the Republic Day parade.
The brave children of India
She sat there lost in thought, tears rolling down her face.
The function was bringing back painful memories -- memories of
her 13-year-old son Meghraj who died saving his friend from death near
the Elephant falls in Shillong.
The Left Manifesto
The Left parties say they have presented an alternative vision of India, one that will make it a vibrant and equitable democracy.
Arunachal: Only three voters in India's smallest booth
Assam: Split in AGP
Bengal: Aiyar meets Sonia, sparks speculation on Trinamool-Congress ties
Gujarat: RJP releases second list
Gujarat: Atmaram Patel joins JD
Jammu and Kashmir: 16 killed, arms cache recovered
Tamil Nadu: CPI-M to contest six seats
Orissa: RJD to contest 13 seats
Tamil Nadu: Blast rocks Jehad committee office
•Congressmen
draw blood for Sonia
In Rajasthan's Jodhpur. By the litre.
JANUARY 22
Sonia to decide Rao's fate
The Congress has decided to leave the decision to nominate its controversial leaders P V Narasimha Rao and Balram Jakhar to the party's star campaigner.
Miffed Rao under pressure to turn to Sonia
Another battle seems likely in the Congress.
BJP in fix over web site
The only Indian political party present on the
Internet, the BJP site
has got publicity for all the wrong reasons. And its prime ministerial candidate Atal Bihari Vajpayee is hard put issuing statements to get out of the mess.
BJP will contest 375 seats
Ranga Kumaramangalam, Som Pal and Ram Dhan, who joined the party recently, get tickets from Tiruchirapalli, Baghpat and Lal Ganj respectively.
'We must look after the Muslims and treat them as part of us'
Bal Thackeray tells Pritish Nandy.
EC slaps curbs on opinion polls
Chief Election Commissioner M S Gill says no result of opinion polls should be published or telecast after 1700 hours on February 14 up to half an hour after the close of polling on February 28.
SP fields Muzzafar Ali against Vajpayee in Lucknow
The man who made Gaman and Umrao Jaan will take on the BJP leader who is seeking re-election to the Lok Sabha from Lucknow.
I did not betray Quit India movement, says Vajpayee
The former prime minister says he is pained at the attempts being made by some to paint him as a British collaborator.
Film star Gautami joins BJP
Gautami, who has acted in 95 films in Telugu, Tamil,
Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi, will not contest the election.
Nominations open in 13 more states
Nominations opened on Wednesday in 13 more states
besides five Union Territories, including Delhi, for the election
to the 12th Lok Sabha and five state assemblies.
Kashmiri pandits to reiterate demand for separate homeland
They would back any political party in the coming election which
supported this demand.
'I believe no government can change my life'
Baloo Anand Gole on what he expects from this election and the politicians.
Polar Music Prize for Ravi Shankar
US entertainer Ray Charles shares the prize with the Indian sitar maestro.
Andhra Pradesh: Suicides force banks to reschedule cotton growers's loans
Andhra Pradesh: Lakshmi Parvathi launches her campaign
Assam: 5 dacoits lynched, 4 killed in Dhurbi
Assam: Mahanta asks for additional security forces
Bihar: No surprises in Samata Party's first list
Gujarat: BSP to contest six assembly seats
Karnataka: Ex-ministers will return to JD if Deve Gowda is expelled
Manipur: NSCN threatens govt officials against poll duty
Maharashtra: 15 drown
near Satara
Maharashtra: Two killed in Muslim clashes
Meghalaya: UDP announces third list of candidates
Orissa: BJD, BJP finalise seat-sharing
Tamil Nadu: Karunanidhi tells Left to settle for two seats
Uttar Pradesh: No unity with BSP, says Mulayam
•Ahoy, man atop!
A distraught youth, demanding President K R Narayanan's intervention to
get his 'abducted' wife released, remained atop the 200-foot microwave tower at
the New Delhi railway station for the fifth day.
JANUARY 21
He wants to be prime minister!
The dimunitive defence minister who until a few years ago could not comprehend anything beyond his hometown, Etawah, has begun to look beyond his horizons. And as a pragmatic politican, he is trying to do away with every hurdle in his path.
Congress will go full throttle on reforms: Sonia
But her party, she says, will keep the interests of the poor and downtrodden in mind.
Counting of votes to begin on March 2
Counting of votes in the entire country, except three parliamentary constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir and two in Meghalaya, has been advanced by six days.
Rao missing from Congress's second list
The party's second list of 48 candidates does not include the former prime minister.
J B Patnaik lobbies for Rao
The Orissa chief minister may lobby Sonia Gandhi to clear Rao's name for the Behrampur seat.
Front partners to have common as well as separate manifestoes
The United Front's common manifesto will list the 18-month-old government's achievements and its unfinished agenda.
Jaya springs a surprise with her list
The AIADMK supremo's decision to field over-the-hill film star Ramarajan for the Thiruchendur parliamentary constituency has taken political circles by surprise.
Nominations open in two states
Poll notification issued for first phase, nominations open in Tripura and Meghalaya.
Presidential form is best for India, says Farooq
India, which no longer has charismatic leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, should go in for the Presidential form of government, says the J&K chief minister.
Gujral to start campaign on Thursday
From Jalandhar with BSP chief Kanshi Ram's blessings.
UP govt revokes BSP MLAs's postings
The Election Commission had taken a serious view of the appointments which were in violation of the Model Code of Conduct.
'The accident was not unexpected'
The villagers of Karimpur are waking up painfully to last Tuesday's tragedy which
claimed 62 of their teenagers when a bus fell into the Padma river. And with the agony comes anger... at the 'irresponsible government' which failed to check the cause of the accident: river bank erosion.
Bengal is unique
It is the only state in which the non-Congress party has captured more seats than the Congress in each of the last seven Lok Sabha elections.
'We need a secular dictator for a few years'
What do Indians want from this election? What do they expect from their leaders? Today: Shihan Hussaini, karate instructor from Madras, 40
Assam: Showcause to EC over debarring 400,000 voters
Assam: AGP fields Mahanta's wife
Bihar: State JD chief protests over 'unfair list'
Haryana: 19 villages in Sirsa to boycott polls
Karnataka: Patel seeks trust vote as three ministers quit
Karnataka: Jalappa quits Union Cabinet
Karnataka: Advani, Hegde joint meet in Bangalore on Jan 31
Karnataka: Bangarappa ties up with BSP
Manipur: Search on for kidnapped CJM
JANUARY 20
Sonia shocks Congress
Panic seems to be spreading in the Congress after Sonia Gandhi raked up the Bofors and the Babri mosque issues at her election meetings. As worried Congressmen assert that the issues would boomerang on the party, Congress president Sitaram Kesri summoned an urgent meeting.
Bofors papers won't be made public: Gujral
The prime minister has asserted that his government would not fall prey to the Congress's ploy or the Bharatiya Janata Party's pressures to make the Bofors papers public.
Congress not to apologise over Babri demolition
The wily Congress president has struck again. The party will not apologise to the Muslims over the Babri mosque issue, but accept responsibility for its demolition. Kesri feels this would seal former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao's fate -- who was in power when the mosque was razed -- besides bringing the community to the party fold.
BJP takes stock of Sonia effect on campaign
The Bharatiya Janata Party is officially not willing to make much
of Sonia's campaign. All the same, the party feels that her
presence in the electoral arena should not be underestimated.
'The Indian Congress has turned into Italian Congress'
On the first day of his campaign, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray lashed out viciously at the Congress and its star-campaigner Sonia Gandhi, saying the party should be 'ashamed' of itself for bringing in an 'Italian woman'.
Pestilence drives Andhra farmers to suicide
More than 44 cotton growers have committed suicide in Andhra Pradesh, landing media-savvy and hi-tech Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu in an embarrassing situation on the eve of Lok Sabha election.
Sonia's second lap of campaign from Tuesday
Sonia will cover Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Assam, Bihar, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Gujarat during the three-day tour.
Kanshi Ram decides not to contest
Instead, he will devote himself fully to campaigning. And strive to get 'maximum BSP candidates elected'.
Gujral sets up committees to help Sikh NRIs
The two liaison panels would ensure the speedy issuance and
renewal of passports and visas to Punjabis living abroad.
Stalwarts meet their Waterloo in Madhya Pradesh
Several giants, including former president Shanker Dayal Sharma, BJP leader Vajpayee and BSP supremo Kanshi Ram, have lost Lok Sabha elections from Madhya Pradesh.
CPI-M announces candidates
Bar seven members of the dissolved Lok Sabha, the
Communist Party of India-Marxist has renominated all its former Parliamentarians for the coming election from Assam, Kerala and West Bengal.
TDP announces first list of candidates
Four Union ministers and two film personalities included with second list around the corner.
Bihar: Advani promises separate state of Vananchal
Gujarat: Parikh to contest from Dhandhuka
Karnataka: Hegde no threat to JD: CM
Kerala: Antony confident of victory
Maharashtra: 2 killed, 4 injured in community clash
Orissa: Biju Janata Dal, BJP differences may help Congress
Tamil Nadu: AIADMK to contest 23 seats
Tripura: Kidnapped MLA released
Uttar Pradesh: EC orders UP govt to cancel BSP MLAs's appointments to state corporations
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