-The Indian Express The current crackdown on the pulses trade may do more harm than good in the long run. The government has reasons to be concerned over spiralling dal prices — even more so when arhar at Rs 200 per kg has become a major campaign theme in the ongoing Bihar Assembly Elections. But that does not justify the kind of desperate measures it has resorted to. Not only have...

-The Hindu Forced dietary restriction has no place here. In the current battle for Bihar, caste has emerged as a more potent weapon than religion. There may be some churning among urban youth on caste-based quotas, their stated views depending not just on whether they have benefited from the present system but also on how they wish to be perceived — as pragmatic or forward-looking?. But cutting across the urban-rural divide, slicing through...

-Hindustan Times Bikramganj/Nokha (Rohtas): On both sides of the highway that cuts through eastern Bihar, yellow patches have started appearing amidst acres and acres of lush green farmland, signalling the ripening of the crop. But in the state’s rice bowl, straddling at least 16 assembly constituencies, nature’s visible bounty hides the harsh reality – about failing crops due to erratic weather earlier and a paddy procurement scam which has seen the government...

-Hindustan Times One of the closest electoral battles for Bihar, where PM Narendra Modi and CM Nitish Kumar are playing out their old rivalry, begins with the first phase of polling in 49 of a total 243 seats on Monday. Strategies by alliances to bite off each other’s caste pie and focus on issues such as beef, detached from ground realities, have arguably made Mandate 2015 the toughest ever with BJP desperate...

-The Times of India ATRI/ WAZIRGANJ (Gaya): For 50-year-old landless farmer Ramchandra Yadav, alias Sadhuji, voting is the last thing on his mind, as he looks at his dry farm in Tetua village in the Atri assembly segment. All he can think of is how he will make ends meet, because this season's harvest will be extremely poor due to the depleted monsoon in Gaya and in many other parts of...