Rahul Gandhi seeks Parliamentary probe into ‘leak of information’ ahead of demonetization

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi dismissed charges that the opposition was not speaking in one voice on demonetization and said the entire opposition is united in their demands. Asked whether the opposition parties wanted a roll-back, Gandhi said there were only two demands — one that Modi should speak in Parliament, and the secondly that […]

Chidambaram says Congress didn’t demonetize because it was costly

Former finance minister P Chidambaram said the previous Congress governments had also considered attacking black money by swapping currency notes, but decided against it as it was considered too costly. Talking to mediapersons, Chidambaram said the cost of swapping the notes would be between Rs 15,000-20,000 cr and the benefit should at least be equal […]

Will currency ban hit non-BJP parties in UP elections?

The currency ban could give the Bharatiya Janata Party an upper hand in the upcoming UP election by denying funding to opposition parties. The Congress has already attacked the move to ban 500 and 1000 rupee notes with effect from midnight today. Since nearly the entire money used to fight elections in India is in […]

KERALA ELECTION: Why BJP is in as much trouble as the Congress

On the face of it, things went well for the Bharatiya Janata Party yesterday in Kerala. After decades of efforts at break into a two-party system, the saffron outfit finally managed to win its first seat in the state legislative assembly this time with party veteran O Rajagopal finding luck, and votes, in Nemom constituency near the capital […]

Left likely to form next govt, leads Kerala Assembly Election Results, BJP ahead in 2 places

The Left Democratic Front is indeed likely to form the next government in Kerala going by initial trends that give it a slight edge. According to official results, LDF is ahead in 88 out of 140 seats, followed by UDF or Congress in 50 seats and NDA in 1 seat. See the chart below: LEADS […]

BJP to triple Kerala vote share as Hindus leave Congress in droves – prepoll survey

A survey conducted by Asianet News and C-FORE polling agency ahead of upcoming assembly elections has revealed a dramatic shift of Hindu votes away from the Congress-led United Democratic Front towards the Bharatiya Janata Party. The BJP is set to triple its vote share to 18% from 6% five years earlier, the survey found. The […]

‘Hindu unity’ not working, BJP goes after Christians in Kerala

The Bharatiya Janata Party, which has been struggling to break into the two-front political scenario in Kerala for over a decade seems to have decided to move away from ‘Hindu unity’ plank and on to ‘development politics’ after the Left Front put up a stronger-than-expected fight in recent local elections. Before the local elections held […]

Chandy imbroglio offers Sonia Gandhi a chance to set communal equations right, counter BJP

With a vigilance court directing the filing of a First Information Report against Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Congress President Sonia Gandhi may move to address some of the nagging concerns about ‘communal imbalance’ in the state government. Almost ever since the Chandy-led government took over, the Bharatiya Janata Party has tried to fuel its […]

Court orders FIR against Kerala CM Oommen Chandy; Sonia Gandhi seeks report

A vigilance special court in Kerala hearing the solar scam has ordered that a first information report (FIR) be lodged against Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and another minister Aryadan Muhammad. The direction came after an explosive revelation by Saritha Nair, accused in the scam, that she paid Rs 1.9 cr to persons to be passed […]

BJP set to win first ever seats in Kerala Assembly next year – Asianet opinion poll

A survey by Kerala’s biggest broadcasting group, Asianet in association with agency C fore, has predicted rising influence for the Bharatiya Janata Party among young voters in Kerala and predicted that the party will send its first ever representatives to the Kerala Assembly in 2016. UPDATE: Asianet has published a new survey as well. The […]

Congress tries to ensure Modi reaps no benefit from Swaraj’s troubles

While political pundits have been busy speculating whether or not Narendra Modi is responsible for the current Lalit Modi-related troubles faced by Sushma Swaraj, main opposition party Congress is busy trying to ensure that Modi does not reap any benefits from the weakening of Swaraj. Sushma Swaraj was seen as one of the three probably […]

Is Narendra Modi the new OBC Messiah?

It must be one of the great ironies of Indian politics that it was a party known for its staunchly upper caste base that finally brought OBC wave to national politics. While many political observers have praised the BJP for “destroying the caste politics” of backward leader Mulayam Singh Yadav and dalit leader Kumari Mayawati, […]

Kejriwal Tops Time Magazine’s Global Top 100 People of 2014 Poll

Just hours after he emerged as the most popular nominee from India, Aam Aadmi Party founder Arvind Kejriwal has beaten a slew of American celebrities to emerge as the candidate with the most ‘yes’ votes on Time Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People” in the world in 2014. UPDATE: TIME has rejected most of the votes […]

General Elections 2014: Minority consolidation to help Congress retain Kerala seats

The vote share of the Congress Party-led United Democratic Front will fall by 3% in the upcoming general elections 2014 in Kerala, while that of the Left Democratic Front will remain the same compared to 2009 – according to an opinion poll by Asianet News network and research firm C Fore. The Bhartiya Janata Party […]