Put it to the vagaries of the first-past-the post system but the Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal(U)-Bharatiya Janata Party combine, which pulled off an incredible, winner-take-all four-fifths majority in the recent Bihar election, secured a vote share of only 39 per cent — just a three percentage point improvement over what it polled in October 2005. The ruling alliance won 206 seats, leaving the combined Opposition clutching at all of 37 seats...

The rural poor in Andhra Pradesh, a State showcased as a model for SHG-bank linkage, are caught in the vortex of microfinance. WITHIN a decade of their coming into operation, microfinance institutions (MFIs) have dealt a serious blow to the economy and the well-being of thousands of families in rural Andhra Pradesh. Harassment by their collection agents has allegedly driven at least 60 borrowers to death, and the number is...

There have been reports that as many as 150 persons including children reportedly died in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh in the last year. However, Minister of State for Agriculture KV Thomas in his reply to Parliament earlier this week claimed there were no starvation deaths in the country during the last year. “No state government, Union Territory administration has reported any incidence of starvation death during last three years,” he said...

The first tentative moves towards the formation of a representative body of farmers — the National Alliance of Farmers' Associations — were made by the Bharatiya Janata Party at a meeting here over the week-end. The BJP said it was of the view that efforts must be made to set up a farmers' organisation akin to the Confederation of Indian Industry and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry...

More than 200 tax investigators in India have searched the offices of a number of contractors used in the run-up to the Commonwealth Games. The raids in Delhi came as the main opposition party, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), demanded a parliamentary investigation. The Games, which ended last week in Delhi, were marred by spiralling costs and allegations of corruption. The BJP says it has evidence of wrongdoing at government...