'Why would the Bahujan Samaj Party nominate a Gujjar to fight from South Delhi and the BJP respond by nominating another Gujjar from the same seat?'

National Conference leader Dr Farooq Abdullah was not upset about being given the charge of the relatively unknown Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, according to his son, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.Dr Abdullah too denied reports about him being miffed with the low-profile portfolio. "I will make the ministry high-profile with my work and dedication. I am not angry. But my officers may get angry with me as I make them work," Dr Abdullah said.

Sources state that the proposal, which is likely to be voiced by President Pratibha Patil in her address to the joint Houses of Parliament on June 4 as one of the priorities of the government, is said to be the brainchild of Rahul Gandhi.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi looked and sounded pleased as punch at having outmanoeuvred her rivals and enacted a coup of sorts by bringing in the first woman Speaker of the Lok Sabha, and that too a Dalit.

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Karnataka Power Minister K S Eshwarappa has alleged that liquor had been used to woo voters to vote for Chief Minister B S Yedyurappa's son B Y Raghavendra, who won the recently-held Lok Sabha polls from Shimoga.Eshwarappa's comments come in the wake of Yeddyurappa's allegations about the senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader not doing enough to ensure that his won wins by a larger margin.

'Best Ramasamy', president of Tamil Nadu's newest party, says it is time that the state had a change in its leaders.

'If they get less than 150, they will be communal as far as the other parties are concerned. 150 will be a communal number and 150 and above will be a secular number!' Cho Ramaswamy on the 2009 Lok Sabha election.

'Today's national picture, where the power rests with the states and not with the Centre, is like the picture of India before the British took power in India,' says thinker Dr Ashok Mitra.

'A majority in Parliament is not necessary to run the government,' says Constitutional expert Subhash Kashyap, explaining the legal options before the President once the election results are declared.

'If the Left can get its plans and policies in place and is able to influence the direction of the new government, then we will join,' says powerful CPI-M leader Biman Bose.

'The Congress is the only party that can counter US imperialism and the Left Front has always attempted to put up a fight against imperialism. Logically, therefore, the Congress and Left must work together to battle against it,' says outspoken Bengal Minister Subhas Chakraborty.

BJP spokeperson Ravi Shankar Prasad says, 'It is the time for the real Manmohan Singh, the economist Manmohan Singh, to show his mettle in stemming the rot of the manufacturing sector, the industrial sector, the agricultural sector.'

'The BJP ran a miserable campaign and the Third Front, happily, was clueless. It also showed the disutility of a negative campaign where the BJP could not proffer any viable policy alternatives to Congress,' says Professor Sumit Ganguly.

'At the moment, we don't visualise any scenario where the support of the Left will be an indispensable factor. The Congress is comfortable with its present allies. We will add to their number in the coming days.'

'People of this state have suffered for long. Hence, their patience level is very low at the moment. We have to act double quick to improve the state of life in Bengal,' says senior Congress leader Krishnendu Narayan Choudhury.

'I feel Rahul Gandhi's emerging influence may do good to the Congress.' Political analyst Cho Ramaswamy on the post-election scenario.

'It has everything to do with the West Bengal government's policies. They were too much in a hurry. They should not have hurried through with the land acquisition,' feels RSP leader T J Chandrachoodan.

'She did not push him nor did she push the party in his direction. If she had declared him a leader, that would have been her biggest mistake. She did not do that,' says political thinker Sanjay Kumar.

'The demographics is that the majority of our voters and the majority of the population are youth, so we must make serious efforts,' says Biju Janata Dal MP 'Jay' Panda.

Election Commissioner S Y Quarishi on Election 2009 and the challenges many the Election Commission faced.

In a no-holds-barred conversation, Chandan Mitra, editor and managing director of The Pioneer, member of the Rajya Sabha and BJP supporter, tells Savera R Someshwar that the blame for the failure lies squarely at the party's door.

ABC of Voting is a no-frills publication that demystifies the voter enrollment and elections process in India.

A workshop on Citizen’s Participation in the Electoral Processes in Rajasthan culminates in an order by the Election Commission on short-term measures for electoral roll revisions.

In the run-up to the Rajasthan state elections, public audits of electoral rolls are beginning to payoff remarkably, says Nikhil Dey.

Two sections for voters all over the country and one section for Karnataka voters, prepared by the Karnataka Election Watch Committee.

A citizens' committee in Karnataka decides that the people can aid the Election Commission's efforts at reducing the presence of criminals in politics.

With elections just weeks away, Child Relief and You asks that political parties to focus on issues that affect children.

As India's massive election exercise begins, citizens watch committees have teamed up to help voters assess and make sense of the candidates' disclosures.

Jayaprakash Narayan on the famous verdict of May 2004 that saw the BJP-led NDA evicted from power. This feature includes a brief interview.

'God's own country' was at the polls earlier this month on May 10. A report based on the Kerala Election Watch committee's analysis of candidate affidavits and subsequent results.

In July the Chief of the Central Election Commission wrote to the Prime Minister outlining several proposals for further reforms in the electoral arena. Rasika Dhavse reports.

At least one controversial issue raging in the Karimnagar by-election race in A.P. has taken its toll. Union Minister Oscar Fernandes has assured the region's beedi workers of modifying a controversial New Delhi order that has mandated a skull-denoted warning on beedi packets. Kondal Rao reports.

With a population of 170 million and with 403 Legislative Assembly seats up for grabs, political parties are baiting the the masses in U.P. Of course, masses do not include the approximately 78 million women of the state, reports Tarannum.

He designed the general elections, India’s greatest gift to itself. It is time the Bengali mathematician-turned-civil servant got his due, writes Ramachandra Guha.

The the machinery and conduct of elections, is robust and intact. But the 'software' of democracy, the processes by which we are governed in-between elections, is corrupt and corroded, writes Ramachandra Guha.

A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court has referred the question of whether voters should have the option to declare their lack of confidence in all the candidates on a ballot to a Constitution bench. Kannan Kasturi reports.

It was once hoped that curbing election expenses would keep the process fairer. Today, the opposite is true, and neither the UPA nor the NDA wants to disturb this comfortable arrangement. Kannan Kasturi reports.

Water is a big local concern, but at the national level, it does not seem to figure very high up in the considerations of major parties, at least as seen in their pre-election promises. Shripad Dharmadhikary reports.

Underneath the gloss of the UPA victory on 16 May lies a sober reality. Around the country, adivasi women are known for their leadership qualities, and yet, they do not get equal opportunities to contest elections, finds Manipadma Jena.

The current national elections have set high standards in management, organization, transparency and fair selection of people's representatives. Now, the chosen representatives must understand that people have voted for governance, writes Arvind Verma.

The best of India must stop running independent side-shows, and bring their energy and vision to well-constructed political spaces, and let this be their contribution to changing India, writes Surendra Srivastava.

Voting is an important duty. But giving the state coercive power ostensibly in the name of saving the people from themselves is undemocratic paternalism, writes Pratap B Mehta.

The entire episode of BJP leader Lalkrishna Advani's resignation from the party and its subsequent meek withdrawal not only breaks the myth of his capacity for brinkmanship, but may also prove to be a spoiler for the party in the run up to the Lok Sabha, says B.S. Nagaraj.

The aggressive stance of Bihar CM Nitish Kumar in exiting the NDA is not really a big surprise, but whether that can lead to the formation of a viable government by an United Third Front at the Centre leaves room for scepticism, says B.S. Nagaraj.

Did you know that Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi has been among the topmost performers in the Lok Sabha and has been honoured with the Sansad Ratna 2014 award? Arpana H S compiles a quick snapshot of MPs from Hyderabad and adjoining urban constituencies.

Mainstream media may play up the parliamentary contest as a battle of Goliaths, but statistical analysis reveals the true diversity in the Indian party system and the inevitability of coalitions. Srinivasan Ramani brings us the real picture.

Continuing the focus on how Members of Parliament from key urban constituencies have fared in the 15th Lok Sabha, Lavanya Donthamshetty shines the spotlight on the leaders from Chennai.

What should be the yardstick of performance for our leaders in the Lok Sabha? Should they be held accountable for issues of governance in their local constituencies, or their legislative record in parliament? Kishore Mandyam explains his stance.

If the cost of ecological damage and social deprivation are accounted for, Narendra Modi will only be half as tall as he is made out to be, says Ashish Kothari, issuing a grave warning.

The controversy over the Gadgil and Kasturirangan reports on ecological preservation in the Western Ghats has brought about a churn in politics in Kerala. P N Venugopal wonders if this will determine the decisions of the electorate in the Lok Sabha elections.