-The Hindu While an increased turnout in Assembly elections is not an indicator of the same in Lok Sabha elections, aggressive campaigning points toward a higher turnout in this poll If the pattern of turnout in the Assembly elections held over the last couple of years are of any indication, the turnout in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections should significantly increase. Almost all the Assembly elections held in different States between 2012-13...
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Only 120 winning candidates in 2009 got over 50% votes
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Is our democracy truly representative? Election Commission (EC) data on percentage of votes secured by winning candidates in various constituencies show it may not be so. In the 2009 general elections, only 120 winning candidates out of the 543 could secure 50 per cent or more votes polled in their respective constituencies. This meant that on remaining 423 seats (nearly 78 per cent of seats), the...
More »Bihar, Gujarat low on spending inequality: study -Chetan Chauhan
-The Hindustan Times As parties gear up for polls, India's two most talked about non-Congress ruled states - Gujarat and Bihar - have been rated as having lesser spending inequality as compared to most other states of the country. A new government study ranks Gujarat as the state having least inequality in urban areas except four north-eastern states of Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Mizoram. For rural areas, Bihar earns the top slot...
More »Everybody’s loss-Jyotika Sood
-Down to Earth Delisting fruits and vegetables from APMC Act in Congress-ruled states will not benefit farmers Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi last December said fruits and vegetables will become affordable if states allowed farmers to directly sell their produce to consumers. He also directed the chief ministers in Congress-ruled states to delist fruits and vegetables from the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Act. The Act makes it mandatory for farmers to sell...
More »Parting gift: wage hike and road relief -Basant Kumar Mohanty
-The Telegraph New Delhi: The UPA has hiked wages for national job scheme workers by 4-18 per cent in what appears to be a "parting gift" before the elections, but failed to match "arbitrary" revisions in minimum wages for agricultural labourers in 12 states, including Bengal. According to the new wage rates under the Mahatma Gandhi National Employment Guarantee Act, an MGNREGA labourer in Haryana will get Rs 236 a day, the...
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