Pramod Mutalik calls “urgent press conference” on Love Jihad

Love Jihad may not bring the rosiest memories for the Bharatiya Janata Party, but some of its supporters are definitely in no mood ‘abandon’ the cause. Pramod Mutalik, chief of Sri Ramasene — the organisation that became famous for attacking women in a beer parlour in Mangalore — will address an “urgent press conference” on […]

Catholic Church attacks Kerala Muslim League in letter to Sonia

The Catholic Church has written to Sonia Gandhi alleging that certain communities have “hijacked” the education sector in Kerala in what is seen as a direct attack on the Muslim League, a Congress partner that is in charge of the education department. The education sector in Kerala has traditionally been dominated by Christians, who run […]

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 […]

TIME Poll – Onlookers wonder as Kejriwal beats Modi 4:1

Is upstart political campaigner Arvind Kejriwal more popular than Narendra Modi, the larger-than-life prime ministerial candidate of the Bhartiya Janata Party? UPDATE: TIME has rejected most of the votes as fakes in its final tally, but maintained Kejriwal as the winner. It would seem so, at least from the initial indications on the poll to […]

Consultants make a cool Rs 700-800 cr from general elections – study

Consulting firms that help political parties plan their campaign and media strategy are making around Rs 700-800 crore from the general elections, a study by industry body ASSOCHAM found. While releasing the ASSOCHAM paper on “LokSabha elections throw new biz opportunities” Mr. D S Rawat, Secretary General ASSOCHAM said, “the disaggregating of the poll data […]

Modi factor – Polling gets off to strong start in Kerala

Indicating the strong interest in the evolving scenario at the centre, polling got off to a strong start in Kerala, where nearly half of the population are Christian and Muslim. Nearly 14.3% of the registered voters have cast their ballots in the first two hours of voting, according to unofficial information from the election commission. […]

Trolls dominate online election commentary; BJP most favored

If elections were to be held on popular news websites like Firstpost.com, ZeeNews, Hindustan Times etc, the Bharatiya Janata Party would have a clean sweep – going by its total domination of the online comment space. According to an analysis of the top commenters on four of India’s top news websites, 61.4% of the top […]

Aam Aadmi streams live coverage of Arvind Kejriwal speech at Bangalore

With many TV channels deciding to “go easy” on covering the events of Aam Aadmi Party, the fledgling political outfit has taken to the Internet to take its live transmission of Arvind Kejriwal’s speech to its followers. Arvind Kejriwal is addressing Aam Aadmi supporters at Bangalore’s Freedom Park. He is expected to say whether he […]

Poll – Is Indian Media Intolerant of Criticism?

The last two days have seen media barons pour scorn and outrage on Arvind Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party for suggesting that the media is corrupt. The Editors Guild, a kind of industry lobby, seemed to be shaken by Kejirwal’s statement that an inquiry would be ordered into corruption in media and guilty journalists […]

Kejriwal says Modi will bring Gujarat model of corruption to India

Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal questioned the anti-corruption credentials of BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, claiming that he found rampant corruption in Gujarat on his recent visit there. “I was shocked by the situation there. Not one job gets done there without bribes,” he said. Kejriwal said a lot of people are buying […]

Aam Aadmi Party’s reservation policy – first educate, then dismantle

The Aam Aadmi Party has clarified its stand on the subject of caste-based reservations in government jobs, saying it is in favor of abolishing reservations after social equality has been achieved. Kejriwal said the Aam Aadmi Party was not in favor of discontinuing reservations in the current circumstance as caste-based discrimination, untouchability and injustice are […]

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 […]