New Delhi: From being a foreign service officer to a five-term MP and then a Cabinet minister, Meera Kumar has traversed a long way and a varied course that will come in handy to her in running the Lok Sabha that often throws itself into scenes of tumult.
Daughter of late Congress leader Jagjivan Ram, 64-year- […]

Aarti Dhar

If elected, she will be the first woman to hold this post in the Lower House

NEW DELHI: Senior Congress Member of Parliament Meira Kumar has emerged the front runner for Lok Sabha Speaker. If elected, she will be the first woman Speaker of the House.
— A. Maitra/Photo Division and V.V. KRISHNAN

Readying the […]

New Delhi Bureau

Road Transport for Kamal Nath; Commerce for Anand Sharma; Health for Azad; Labour for Kharge

NEW DELHI: Kapil Sibal will be the new Human Resource Development Minister and M. Veerappa Moily will be in charge of Law, while Ambika Soni will move to the Information & Broadcasting Ministry in the new governance arrangement […]

What influenced Verdict 2009? What roles did caste, leadership, party organisation, candidate selection, regional issues play in determining the overall result? A special eight-page supplement (in PDF format) based on a post-poll survey, the National Election Study 2009, by the Lokniti team of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies
                             Click here: How India Voted: […]

The outcome of this phase is linked to women. This is not merely because three major women leaders are in the fray, but also because of the way women vote, says Yogendra Yadav
The endgame in the 15th general election will be played out today in four corners of the country. On the eastern front […]

SANDEEP JOSHI
BJP-Congress contest in four seats; four-cornered race in Hardwar .
In the by-elections to the Garhwal (Pauri) Lok Sabha seat two years ago, T.P.S. Rawat — who quit the Congress and vacated his Assembly seat for Chief Minister B.C. Khanduri — won the seat for the Bharatiya Janata Party with a razor-thin margin. It was […]

Yes, if this means the absence of booth-capturing and direct physical coercion. But not quite, if we adopt a more expanded and more enriched concept of what constitutes voter freedom, says Yogendra Yadav
There is still a long way to go in ensuring a truly level playing field for parties and candidates
As we enter into the […]

Suresh Nambath, Chennai
In the absence of an electoral wave, the five-member AIADMK-led front should be able to press home the advantage
The Sri Lankan Tamils crisis dominated the campaign
When Tamil Nadu’s politicians are not talking about Sri Lanka, they are talking about water and rice and electricity. National issues have been pushed to the background in […]

T. Ramakrishnan
Does the party always back the winning alliance? Or does its presence make a winning combination? Whatever the truth, the PMK is a valuable partner in any electoral tie-up and here’s why
Doesn’t your party change alliance partners depending on which way the election wind is blowing, asked a journalist of Anbumani Ramadoss recently. […]

Vidya Subrahmaniam
Mohammad Azharuddin declares he will banish the sound of the generator, which symbolises power failure in the Moradabad constituency
Moradabad: Cricketer turned politician Mohammad Azharuddin’s election office is a sprawling guesthouse on the outskirts of Moradabad. At first glance, it seems comfortable enough. A winding marble staircase leads to a massive, well-appointed living area.
Mr. Azharuddin […]