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.

With the manifestos of all major national parties finally released, Himanshu Thakkar presents a comparative reading with a lens on environment and natural resource management.

Mainstream political parties do not give sufficient opportunity to women so that their representation has remained poor. Voters, however, view them as equal performers, as a recent survey has shown. Prabhu Mallikarjunan presents some interesting findings on the issue.

They make an appearance before every election with a basket of promises and some patchwork to impress the electorate, only to disappear later. Chennai residents tell Lavanya Donthamshetty how tired they are of such politicians, wishing for a leader with vision and the commitment to turn it into reality.

Gujarat bucks the urban trend when it comes to identity voting, while cities in the prosperous northern states place high emphasis on choice of MP candidates. Srinivasan Ramani discovers several interesting facts on urban choice, through GIS mapping of data obtained from a voter perception survey.

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.

Atum Welly, a former Congress minister in Arunachal Pradesh who switched to the BJP, alleges that a fraudulent move threw him out of the election process, as the Election Commission of India accepted a forged letter of withdrawal. What’s more, he is not alone! Ramesh Menon reports.

Days before the much-hyped showdown between Narendra Modi and Arvind Kejriwal in Varanasi, Prabhu Mallikarjunan pays a visit to the holy city to know more about the loyalties and concerns of people on the ground.

Any election campaign and process needs money, and as long as the exercise of money power is well-regulated, it can never thwart the power of the people, feels P V Rajeev.

Combining provisional voter turnout data and the perceptions of MP performance based on the Daksh-ADR survey, Srinivasan Ramani attempts to make reasonable assessments about what could be behind the high turnouts in this Lok Sabha elections.

How strong was the Modi wave? Did recent state elections impact voter choice in parliamentary elections? Did better performing MPs necessarily augur well for their parties? A statistical analysis by Srinivasan Ramani finds interesting linkages between these and the UPA drubbing.

While the entire country appeared unimpressed by the Aam Aadmi Party and its promises, Punjab not only sent four of its candidates to the Lok Sabha, but also overcame the rural-urban divide in its mandate for the party. Srinivasan Ramani explores why.

In the 2014 elections, the BJP won 66 out of 131 seats reserved for SC/ST candidates, which is the highest for any single party since 1991. Prabhu Mallikarjunan looks at the statistics and tries to decipher what this says for voting behaviour in these constituencies.

The Election Commission of India is introducing The National Electoral Roll Purification and Authentication Programme (NERPA) with a view to eliminating duplication and erroneous deletions in electoral rolls across the country. Chinmayi Shalya reports.

Why have the media bought the view that EVMs are infallible when some experts – and the Supreme Court – disagree? Ravikiran Shinde dissects the issue.

'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 2009 election will mark the rapid decline of India.

Anees Bazmi is now the unlikeliest part of Dr Singh's political life, thanks to his blockbuster.

'Perhaps it is too much to expect the channels which run on celebrity content and arrogance to say that they had to eat crow. But because television news networks are arbiters of the moral and the political right and who dare ask them questions?'

The verdict of the 2009 general election has once again brought the 'centre' in Indian politics to centre-stage. India has returned to an even keel.

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.

Not conducive for independents at all. It is unfortunately so because the political system frowns on these people because they would not fit in into it and if they were allowed in, it would cause huge embarrassment. They are outsiders and would be kept out while a even a rebel can return home and be embraced for he is one of 'them'.

If he shall not do so today, can Dr Manmohan Singh ever push reforms and infrastructure initiatives?

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.

'If a scheme like the NREGA can yield such handsome dividends, imagine the likely impact of an initiative to provide universal healthcare, free primary education, safe drinking water, affordable housing and social security.'

'The chips are down for the BJP today, it doesn't show that the issues have been rejected or defeated. People have supported it because it is perceived as the only party that doesn't feel embarrassed to protect the Hindu ethos.'

Forget the first 100 days spiel about what Dr Manmohan Singh will do to kickstart the economy. That's just media hype and, in any case, the economy's on a recovery-path. As has been seen over just the last few days, despite the Congress getting 206 seats in the Lok Sabha and getting support letters from 100 more Members of Parliament, Dr Singh still hasn't been able to form his government -- just 19 ministers were sworn in with him.

It was clear that with its preponderant numbers, the Congress, is not going to be the same old diffident, submissive push-over that it was in the lean days of the first term of the United Progressive Alliance. The DMK, in particular, needed to be circumspect in making its demands, not only to avoid giving the impression of having its eye only on 'juicy' ministries, but also because it had a weak suit.

By fixing a minimum tenure for secretaries in key ministries, Singh can ensure continuity of policy.

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?

Phase IV: Most candidates from Rajasthan

Congress vs BJP in Delhi

Phase IV: BSP has most 'tainted' candidates

Independents galore in Phase IV

Phase IV: Cong fields maximum crorepatis

Details of Fourth Phase Polling

Congress has the most crorrepatis in the fray in Phase V of the polls.

Fifth Phase: BSP has maximum criminal candidates

All about last phase of LS election

Graphic: Women in Lok Sabha

The proactive engagement with business and corporate leaders and the reciprocation in turn indicate Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's ability to exploit the superficiality and lack of ideological depth on part of those preoccupied with profit and business isolated from a larger world view, feels Jatin Bhatt

BJP vice-president Purshottam Rupala tells the media, "The initial results are in favour of the BJP, I am sure of our victory. Though we expect a lot more seats, still there is an hour to go before the final results are declared."

Invincible as he appears in his western stronghold, can Narendra Modi sweep forth from it and take New Delhi for an insurgent BJP? The good news for Modi's rivals in his party is that these results don't even begin to suggest he can.

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

If the Bharatiya Janata Party's own chances of returning to power are so weak, where is the question of Narendra Modi assuming its leadership and becoming the next Prime Minister. B Raman examines

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 of 2002 couldn't change Hindustan into Modistan; it is Hindustan which has changed Modi of 2002 into Modi of 2012, notes Sajid Bhombal.