Indrani Dutta, Kolkata
Villagers are affected by poverty, malnutrition, high infant-mortality rates and chronic ailments
“The vote season has come,” exclaims the unlettered Rokeya Bibi giving a knowing smile as she shows us the way to a cluster of huts in a village in the interiors of Jangipur. We reach a courtyard where about five women sit […]

Ananth Krishnan, Mumbai
It remains to be seen whether promises made to 10 lakh residents are kept
For the 10 lakh residents of India’s most famous slum, elections are often incidental events. For them, not a lot changes in the five years between changes in government. They hear impressive promises every election — better infrastructure, improved sanitation, […]

K. Balchand
ARARIA: “We are in a ditch, left with nothing but the curse wrought by the river of sorrow…..” The Kosi belt covering six Lok Sabha constituencies of Supaul, Madhepura, Araria, Purnia, Kishanganj and Katihar is a dreadful sight of lakhs of people continuing to battle misery even after eight months of the nightmare on […]

Rahi Gaikwad, Mumbai
Voter loyalty, not party agendas, holds the key in Thane, Kalyan, Bhiwandi and Palghar
The areas neighbouring Mumbai have doubled their political strength with the erstwhile constituencies of Thane and Dahanu (ST), after delimitation, being split into Thane, Kalyan, Bhiwandi and Palghar (ST). With a high population density, the size of the electorate in […]

By Marcus Dam in Darjeeling
The political hills-plains divide in West Bengal’s Darjeeling Lok Sabha constituency could not be sharper as the State readies for polls: the issue of a separate Gorkhaland State, a demand raised by the principal political party in the hills, is vehemently opposed by the one in the plains.
Protracted deliberations were held […]

By Meena Menon
If Mumbaikars overcome their apathy, their desire for change could be a decisive factor

Congress president Sonia Gandhi holds a sword at an election rally in Mumbai on Sunday. Photo: PTI
Five months after the terror strike on Mumbai, the city goes to the polls on April 30. The November 26, 2008 attacks, and […]

Manas Dasgupta, Gandhinagar
BJP leader is all set to win a fifth term from the Gujarat capital of Gandhinagar
Gandhinagar is a keenly watched constituency even if there is a total lack of suspense about who will win it. No one believes that BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate L.K. Advani — who has won four times from here […]

Indrani Dutta, Jangipur
Jangipur was just a speck on the country’s map until senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee won his first Lok Sabha seat in 2004, defeating Abul Hasnat Khan of the CPI (M).
Since then, this predominantly rural and semi-urban constituency, some 60 km from Baharampur in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district, has been much in the […]

Meena Menon
On the otherwise deserted road from Natepute to Pimpri village, women sit around tallish cement pillars, with steel and plastic vessels near them. They are waiting to collect water from leakage in the pipes. A closer look shows that water comes erratically through a pipe on top of the pillar, a curious arrangement. But […]

Prafulla Das

This coastal Orissa parliamentary constituency, going to the polls on April 23, has a businessman-turned politician and a cricket administrator pitted against each other. High-flying Biju Janata Dal Rajya Sabha member Baijayant “Jay” Panda is facing a tough challenge from cricketer-turned politician and Congress nominee Ranjib Biswal.
The U.S.-educated Mr. Panda, who possesses a private […]