A survey by the West Midnapore administration has found that over two lakh voters, three fourths of them in Maoist-affected areas, are afraid of voting. District officials said the survey of nearly five lakh people to identify “vulnerable voters” had been carried out following instructions from the Election Commission. “As West Midnapore has the largest Maoist-affected area in the state, the commission had asked us to find out about the fear factor...

In a veiled attack on non-government organisations (NGOs) that supported Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption campaign, senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Tuesday suggested the Lokpal Bill should also cover “corporates and NGOs”. He also supported the idea of social activists, who are in the joint committee, declaring their assets. The Congress general secretary took a dig at Hazare for his controversial remarks that people vote for Rs 100 or a sari or a...

Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Tuesday suggested widening the scope of the Lokpal Bill by also going into the issue of corruption in the corporate sector and NGOs as part of a comprehensive package against graft. “The anti-corruption law in the U.S. can look into the functioning of the corporate sector and the NGO sector and it should be considered,” he told journalists here. Describing anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare as a...

A court on Wednesday put on trial the first set of officials and businessmen indicted in the country's biggest corruption case, a multi-billion dollar telecoms scandal that has weakened the government and put off some foreign investors. The graft scandal is one of several to have emerged in the past few months, tarnishing the reputation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, whose government has gone on the defensive against an emboldened opposition. While...

Anna Hazare made an odd statement. He explained that he would never seek to contest an election because he would lose — indeed, forfeiting his deposit, as the “ordinary voter does not have awareness. They cast their vote under the influence of Rs 100 or a bottle of liquor or a sari offered by candidates. They don’t understand the value of their vote.” The line between this disdain for the...