Sources state that the proposal, which is likely to be voiced by President Pratibha Patil in her address to the joint Houses of Parliament on June 4 as one of the priorities of the government, is said to be the brainchild of Rahul Gandhi.

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Karnataka Power Minister K S Eshwarappa has alleged that liquor had been used to woo voters to vote for Chief Minister B S Yedyurappa's son B Y Raghavendra, who won the recently-held Lok Sabha polls from Shimoga.Eshwarappa's comments come in the wake of Yeddyurappa's allegations about the senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader not doing enough to ensure that his won wins by a larger margin.

'Best Ramasamy', president of Tamil Nadu's newest party, says it is time that the state had a change in its leaders.

'Today's national picture, where the power rests with the states and not with the Centre, is like the picture of India before the British took power in India,' says thinker Dr Ashok Mitra.

'The Congress is the only party that can counter US imperialism and the Left Front has always attempted to put up a fight against imperialism. Logically, therefore, the Congress and Left must work together to battle against it,' says outspoken Bengal Minister Subhas Chakraborty.

'The BJP ran a miserable campaign and the Third Front, happily, was clueless. It also showed the disutility of a negative campaign where the BJP could not proffer any viable policy alternatives to Congress,' says Professor Sumit Ganguly.

'The demographics is that the majority of our voters and the majority of the population are youth, so we must make serious efforts,' says Biju Janata Dal MP 'Jay' Panda.

In a no-holds-barred conversation, Chandan Mitra, editor and managing director of The Pioneer, member of the Rajya Sabha and BJP supporter, tells Savera R Someshwar that the blame for the failure lies squarely at the party's door.

Therese Tucker, founder and chief executive of BlackLine Inc., tells WSJ's Veronica Dagher how she got her big idea and advanced in the technology industry, and what she's learned about wealth.

Cash is often viewed as a safe, but boring investment. But lately, it’s looking shinier than it has in a while. WSJ explains why investors are piling trillions into money market accounts, even as stocks reach new highs.

In 2019, many large tech firms announced plans to offer financial products and services. WSJ’s Liz Hoffman explains why Google, Apple, and others are offering products that might someday replace your wallet.

A modern, 7,500 square-foot home connects owner Elizabeth Grossman to the nature and ‘spiritual vortex’ that drew her to Lanikai, a neighborhood on Oahu. She gives us a tour, and explains why it’s time to sell. Photo: Adam Falk/The Wall Street Journal

U.S. employers shed 701,000 jobs in March, in the worst month for job losses since the 2007-2009 recession. But these losses still don't show the pandemic's full impact on the labor market. WSJ's Eric Morath explains. Photo: JOHN MINCHILLO/ASSOCIATED PRESS

At the beginning of the year, college seniors were preparing to enter the strongest job market in decades. Now, as more than 25 million people have filed for unemployment, they face a newly competitive search. Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

ABC of Voting is a no-frills publication that demystifies the voter enrollment and elections process in India.

Two sections for voters all over the country and one section for Karnataka voters, prepared by the Karnataka Election Watch Committee.

As India's massive election exercise begins, citizens watch committees have teamed up to help voters assess and make sense of the candidates' disclosures.

'God's own country' was at the polls earlier this month on May 10. A report based on the Kerala Election Watch committee's analysis of candidate affidavits and subsequent results.

In July the Chief of the Central Election Commission wrote to the Prime Minister outlining several proposals for further reforms in the electoral arena. Rasika Dhavse reports.

At least one controversial issue raging in the Karimnagar by-election race in A.P. has taken its toll. Union Minister Oscar Fernandes has assured the region's beedi workers of modifying a controversial New Delhi order that has mandated a skull-denoted warning on beedi packets. Kondal Rao reports.

It was once hoped that curbing election expenses would keep the process fairer. Today, the opposite is true, and neither the UPA nor the NDA wants to disturb this comfortable arrangement. Kannan Kasturi reports.

Water is a big local concern, but at the national level, it does not seem to figure very high up in the considerations of major parties, at least as seen in their pre-election promises. Shripad Dharmadhikary reports.

The best of India must stop running independent side-shows, and bring their energy and vision to well-constructed political spaces, and let this be their contribution to changing India, writes Surendra Srivastava.

Did you know that Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi has been among the topmost performers in the Lok Sabha and has been honoured with the Sansad Ratna 2014 award? Arpana H S compiles a quick snapshot of MPs from Hyderabad and adjoining urban constituencies.

Mainstream media may play up the parliamentary contest as a battle of Goliaths, but statistical analysis reveals the true diversity in the Indian party system and the inevitability of coalitions. Srinivasan Ramani brings us the real picture.

They make an appearance before every election with a basket of promises and some patchwork to impress the electorate, only to disappear later. Chennai residents tell Lavanya Donthamshetty how tired they are of such politicians, wishing for a leader with vision and the commitment to turn it into reality.

Gujarat bucks the urban trend when it comes to identity voting, while cities in the prosperous northern states place high emphasis on choice of MP candidates. Srinivasan Ramani discovers several interesting facts on urban choice, through GIS mapping of data obtained from a voter perception survey.

In a first, the Lok Sabha Election this year has at least four candidates from the traditionally under-represented transgender community. Prabhu Mallikarjunan looks at their participation, as well as the challenges that lie ahead.

Days before the much-hyped showdown between Narendra Modi and Arvind Kejriwal in Varanasi, Prabhu Mallikarjunan pays a visit to the holy city to know more about the loyalties and concerns of people on the ground.

Any election campaign and process needs money, and as long as the exercise of money power is well-regulated, it can never thwart the power of the people, feels P V Rajeev.

The results of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections apparently point to an abysmal failure of new politics as championed by the Aam Aadmi Party, but a deeper look by Himanshu Upadhyaya suggests all may not be over just as yet.

Did corruption as an issue only create noise, or did it really impact voter choice in the 16^th Lok Sabha elections? Prabhu Mallikarjunan finds that the answer may not be very straighforward or simple.

How strong was the Modi wave? Did recent state elections impact voter choice in parliamentary elections? Did better performing MPs necessarily augur well for their parties? A statistical analysis by Srinivasan Ramani finds interesting linkages between these and the UPA drubbing.

While the entire country appeared unimpressed by the Aam Aadmi Party and its promises, Punjab not only sent four of its candidates to the Lok Sabha, but also overcame the rural-urban divide in its mandate for the party. Srinivasan Ramani explores why.

The Election Commission of India is introducing The National Electoral Roll Purification and Authentication Programme (NERPA) with a view to eliminating duplication and erroneous deletions in electoral rolls across the country. Chinmayi Shalya reports.

Why have the media bought the view that EVMs are infallible when some experts – and the Supreme Court – disagree? Ravikiran Shinde dissects the issue.

'Shashi Tharoor and the Congress party coming together was a recipe for success. If Shashi had chosen to contest on his own on the basis of his personal accomplishments, he could have presented an agenda for change and made a splash, but like some of the other Independent stars, he would have made a point, but not gone any further.'

'Perhaps it is too much to expect the channels which run on celebrity content and arrogance to say that they had to eat crow. But because television news networks are arbiters of the moral and the political right and who dare ask them questions?'

The verdict of the 2009 general election has once again brought the 'centre' in Indian politics to centre-stage. India has returned to an even keel.

The choice for the last remaining Communist party on this planet is clear. It either reinvents itself, as its brethren around the world have repeatedly done. Or it walks off into the JNU sunset.

Not conducive for independents at all. It is unfortunately so because the political system frowns on these people because they would not fit in into it and if they were allowed in, it would cause huge embarrassment. They are outsiders and would be kept out while a even a rebel can return home and be embraced for he is one of 'them'.

It was clear that with its preponderant numbers, the Congress, is not going to be the same old diffident, submissive push-over that it was in the lean days of the first term of the United Progressive Alliance. The DMK, in particular, needed to be circumspect in making its demands, not only to avoid giving the impression of having its eye only on 'juicy' ministries, but also because it had a weak suit.

By fixing a minimum tenure for secretaries in key ministries, Singh can ensure continuity of policy.

This does not sound like a ministry that is all set to revive the ailing Indian economy in a hundred days flat, as Dr Manmohan Singh vowed, does it?

With the tide in favour of Narendra Modi, his shift to Delhi is inevitable. Aditi Phadnis examines

Instead of a steamrolling 150 seats tally, terrifying the Bharatiya Janata Party high command into an abject surrender and hailing him as a prime minister-in-waiting, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra got 115 seats, 2 short of his 2007 score(117), enabling his party rivals to deny him what he covets the most, says Arvind J Bosmia

To assume that Narendra Modi chose Hindi only to reach out to a national audience because he had prime ministerial ambitions was more than a stretch, says Mahesh Vijapurkar.

Narendra Modi of 2002 couldn't change Hindustan into Modistan; it is Hindustan which has changed Modi of 2002 into Modi of 2012, notes Sajid Bhombal.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is yet to congratulate Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and refused to say anything on Modi's hat-trick victory on Friday.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's march towards a two-third majority was halted by the presence of Keshubhai Patel's party in Saurashtra and the saffron outfit suffered reverses in Chief Minister Narendra Modi's own backyard of north Gujarat.