'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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

In a first, the Lok Sabha Election this year has at least four candidates from the traditionally under-represented transgender community. Prabhu Mallikarjunan looks at their participation, as well as the challenges that lie ahead.

'Shashi Tharoor and the Congress party coming together was a recipe for success. If Shashi had chosen to contest on his own on the basis of his personal accomplishments, he could have presented an agenda for change and made a splash, but like some of the other Independent stars, he would have made a point, but not gone any further.'

'There is more introspection already going on on these web sites than in New Delhi and state capitals, and there is more loud thinking than in the endless debates on our television channels.'

The choice for the last remaining Communist party on this planet is clear. It either reinvents itself, as its brethren around the world have repeatedly done. Or it walks off into the JNU sunset.

M Karunanidhi, who is keen on ensuring that all his children are well settled before he passes into the ages, needs to learn from President Kalam's example.

This does not sound like a ministry that is all set to revive the ailing Indian economy in a hundred days flat, as Dr Manmohan Singh vowed, does it?

Congress vs BJP in Delhi

How Delhi voted in 2004

Graphic: Women in Lok Sabha

With the tide in favour of Narendra Modi, his shift to Delhi is inevitable. Aditi Phadnis examines

Instead of a steamrolling 150 seats tally, terrifying the Bharatiya Janata Party high command into an abject surrender and hailing him as a prime minister-in-waiting, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra got 115 seats, 2 short of his 2007 score(117), enabling his party rivals to deny him what he covets the most, says Arvind J Bosmia

Now that the numbers are out and it is nowhere near as spectacular as expected/feared by some or hyped by many -- it is Narendra Modi's lowest in three elections -- it is a sobering thought. Is this the best he can do, wonders Saisuresh Sivaswamy.

To assume that Narendra Modi chose Hindi only to reach out to a national audience because he had prime ministerial ambitions was more than a stretch, says Mahesh Vijapurkar.

Narendra Modi, who posted a resounding victory in the assembly elections, will be sworn in as Gujarat Chief Minister for the fourth time on December 26.

The iconic London Eye has been turned into a social media "mood ring" for the Olympics games, portraying in a light show the mood of the British people during the games, as interpreted through data analysis of Tweets. WSJ's Andy Jordan reports from London.

If you’ve read a book in a car, you probably know what motion sickness feels like. WSJ’s Tim Higgins visits Massachusetts-based ClearMotion, which is betting its suspension technology could provide a solution as we move closer towards a future with driverless cars. Photo: Max Esposito/WSJ

More and more women in Tripura are participating in NREGA works, ensuring success of the scheme. The challenge lies in involving the menfolk too and implementing NREGA in insurgency-hit regions. Ratna Bharali Talukdar reports.

The second attempt of the NDA government to create a market for farmers' produce may not fare much better than the first one, for the same reason - it fails to address the asymmetry of power between the farmers and buyers, writes Kannan Kasturi.

Kanchi Kohli reports from the public meetings on a Hydro Electric Project that involves diverting a river tributary near Manali in Himachal Pradesh.

Kerala's electricity board is preparing to build the seventh dam across the 144-kilometers-long Chalakudy river. The fate of the picturesque Athirappilly waterfalls hangs in the balance, with locals battling against the project. Sudhirendar Sharma has more.

Beyond planting trees, what do we need to be really doing that makes for the difference we seek in use and abuse of resources? Chandrashekar Hariharan presents some directions that consumers, citizens, businessmen need to be taking.

The construction of dam-related tunnels in the hills of Sikkim has led to questions about their potential impact on the fragile ecology of the region. Ratna Bharali Talukdar reports.

It is often believed that coal-based power plants near the coast, by virtue of their proximity to the sea, do not create any pressure on water resources. Shripad Dharmadhikary’s visit to Krishnapattanam in Andhra Pradesh and parts of Tamil Nadu exposes the fallacy in that.

The idea of women as autonomous and equal citizens is sanctioned in our public sphere through the media, even as the media also endorses the idea that women are around to be gazed at through advertisements, films, contests, and the like. Shoma Chatterjee says that our women are paying a price for this contradiction.

The proverbial casting couch has been a reality over the years since women made their foray into the world of films and entertainment. As the industry joins in celebrating Women’s Day, Shoma Chatterji explores if  more of its women remain victims, rather than complicit 'sinners'.

In the recent history of development in India, examples of interconnected success -- in local autonomy, forest rejuvenation and agriculture -- such as this, are rare. For Nagaland, it all started under the stewardship of Achyut Madhav Gokhale. Surekha Sule has it all.

Public attention must focus on what Pakistan's options are, both in battlefield tactical terms, and in the face of India's military resurgence, says Firdaus Ahmed.

While the argument for building in efficiency in the system appears to have some substance, the appointment of a CDS will impact other domestic sectors that rely as much on national resources says Firdaus Ahmed.

The recent award of life sentences to the army personnel involved in the 2010 Macchil killings in J&K sends out a positive message, but there are deeper layers in the justice system that need introspection and overhaul in the pursuit of reconciliation. Firdaus Ahmed explains.

Illegal dumping of industrial waste around Raigarh takes the life of 7-year-old Twinkle Thakur, raising familiar troubling questions about the trajectory of 'development' in India. Kanchi Kohli reports.

The media's coverage of a young girl's humiliation in her school is totally devoid of objectivity or even plain common sense, making things even worse. Shoma Chatterji reports.

The Integrated Child Development Services scheme was launched to address the nutrition, health and learning needs of all children below six years of age. Ankita Aggarwal shares findings from a survey that point to the huge variations in implementation and effectiveness. 

Towering pylons and high tension wires seem to discourage any idea of resistance to environmental destruction in Tehri Garhwal, but the villagers persist. Bharat Dogra reports.

What is the right compensation for forest lands that are converted to non-forest use? How can this be calculated? Increasingly, one finds that project proponents are mounting a range of arguments to plead for the reduction of, or outright exemption from bearing such costs. Kanchi Kohli reports.

Chandi Prasad Bhatt said that for him every river was a Ganga, a source of life and renewal, abused or ill-treated at one's peril. His work has been an education for others, writes Ramachandra Guha.

The 2013 rejection of the bauxite mining plan in Odisha’s Niyamgiri Hills by the local tribal gram sabhas is hailed as the first successful environmental referendum in the country. Meenal Tatpati and Rashi Misra visit the region to find out what led the people to oppose the proposed ‘development’.

The media today -- print and television -- reflect little active awareness of the fact that they have an important role to play in enabling children to learn about the highly complex world they live in. Children's voices are missing even in reports and articles on matters directly related and relevant to them, says Ammu Joseph.

As Uttarakhand reels in the aftermath of devastating floods, Ammu Joseph underlines the need for greater awareness of the gender dimensions of such calamities and recognition of the special and diverse needs of women and other disadvantaged sections of society.

The pressure of ill-informed popular sentiment coupled with a retributive judicial system may lead to an award of capital punishment for rapists, as it has in the Delhi 2012 case, but that does very little to address the much larger problem of VAW in all its dimensions. Ammu Joseph explains.

The pressure of ill-informed popular sentiment coupled with a retributive judicial system may lead to an award of capital punishment for rapists, as it has in the Delhi 2012 case, but that does very little to address the much larger problem of VAW in all its dimensions. Ammu Joseph explains.

We need to reflect on the political and social possibilities that India has contributed to the modern world. The Indian experience offers new interpretations of key modern concepts such as nationhood, democracy, citizenship and individual freedom, writes Rajesh Kasturirangan.

There is a dichotomy between the normative, rational principles enshrined in the law and the actual practice of public morality. We can overcome this only if we co-locate physically and mentally with fellow citizens, says Rajesh Kasturirangan.