The mask is off. Team Anna and his lieutenants are batting for the BJP On 30 October last year, when Mohan Bhagwat claimed that Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption movement was actually supported by the RSS, the remark conveyed palpable nervousness and attracted criticism from Team Anna. Three months later, as Team Anna launches its voters’ awareness campaign in UP, there is not even an attempt to keep its secular mask intact. The mask,...

Justice A K Ganguly, who was part of the bench that monitored the CBI probe into the 2G spectrum scam and retired soon after pronouncement of the explosive judgment ordering cancellation of telecom licences, wants the Supreme Court to follow what it has prescribed for the high courts - no judgment should remain reserved for more than three months.  Justice Ganguly said litigants develop a grudge against the justice delivery system...

“It never reached anywhere except in the pockets of the officers, contractors” “Bundelkhand package? It never reached anywhere except in the pockets of the officers and contractors.” This is the standard reply one gets on queries over the ambitious Rs. 7,266 crore special package announced by the Planning Commission for this backward drought-prone region of Uttar Pradesh. Announced in 2009, the package was meant for the overall development of the region spread...

All social communities have a history that is experienced, or perceived, or both. Communities survive and sustain themselves on these histories. When political forces try to mobilise these communities, they usually do so by exploring their history and then giving it a political meaning that suits their agenda. In the beginning, when the political party is new, it gives space and respect to the small histories of each community that...

After 4,000 deaths and 19,000 victims over seven years, encephalitis has made it to the election manifestoes of most parties in Uttar Pradesh in 2012. On ground zero in eastern Uttar Pradesh, however, it is still to figure in the candidates’ campaign. Voters are angry and frustrated but say they are not surprised. Some are determined not to vote at all on February 8 and 11, when the seats in these...