'A majority in Parliament is not necessary to run the government,' says Constitutional expert Subhash Kashyap, explaining the legal options before the President once the election results are declared.

'If the Left can get its plans and policies in place and is able to influence the direction of the new government, then we will join,' says powerful CPI-M leader Biman Bose.

'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.

BJP spokeperson Ravi Shankar Prasad says, 'It is the time for the real Manmohan Singh, the economist Manmohan Singh, to show his mettle in stemming the rot of the manufacturing sector, the industrial sector, the agricultural sector.'

'I feel Rahul Gandhi's emerging influence may do good to the Congress.' Political analyst Cho Ramaswamy on the post-election scenario.

'It has everything to do with the West Bengal government's policies. They were too much in a hurry. They should not have hurried through with the land acquisition,' feels RSP leader T J Chandrachoodan.

'She did not push him nor did she push the party in his direction. If she had declared him a leader, that would have been her biggest mistake. She did not do that,' says political thinker Sanjay Kumar.

Election Commissioner S Y Quarishi on Election 2009 and the challenges many the Election Commission faced.

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.

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

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the Trump administration supports a plan to send checks to Americans, likely within the next two weeks, to mitigate household and business interruptions caused by the spread of the new coronavirus. Photo: Evan Vucci/Associated Press

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

With elections just weeks away, Child Relief and You asks that political parties to focus on issues that affect children.

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.

With a population of 170 million and with 403 Legislative Assembly seats up for grabs, political parties are baiting the the masses in U.P. Of course, masses do not include the approximately 78 million women of the state, reports Tarannum.

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.

Underneath the gloss of the UPA victory on 16 May lies a sober reality. Around the country, adivasi women are known for their leadership qualities, and yet, they do not get equal opportunities to contest elections, finds Manipadma Jena.

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.

The entire episode of BJP leader Lalkrishna Advani's resignation from the party and its subsequent meek withdrawal not only breaks the myth of his capacity for brinkmanship, but may also prove to be a spoiler for the party in the run up to the Lok Sabha, says B.S. Nagaraj.

The aggressive stance of Bihar CM Nitish Kumar in exiting the NDA is not really a big surprise, but whether that can lead to the formation of a viable government by an United Third Front at the Centre leaves room for scepticism, says B.S. Nagaraj.

Continuing the focus on how Members of Parliament from key urban constituencies have fared in the 15th Lok Sabha, Lavanya Donthamshetty shines the spotlight on the leaders from Chennai.

What should be the yardstick of performance for our leaders in the Lok Sabha? Should they be held accountable for issues of governance in their local constituencies, or their legislative record in parliament? Kishore Mandyam explains his stance.

If the cost of ecological damage and social deprivation are accounted for, Narendra Modi will only be half as tall as he is made out to be, says Ashish Kothari, issuing a grave warning.

The controversy over the Gadgil and Kasturirangan reports on ecological preservation in the Western Ghats has brought about a churn in politics in Kerala. P N Venugopal wonders if this will determine the decisions of the electorate in the Lok Sabha elections.

With the manifestos of all major national parties finally released, Himanshu Thakkar presents a comparative reading with a lens on environment and natural resource management.

Mainstream political parties do not give sufficient opportunity to women so that their representation has remained poor. Voters, however, view them as equal performers, as a recent survey has shown. Prabhu Mallikarjunan presents some interesting findings on the issue.

Atum Welly, a former Congress minister in Arunachal Pradesh who switched to the BJP, alleges that a fraudulent move threw him out of the election process, as the Election Commission of India accepted a forged letter of withdrawal. What’s more, he is not alone! Ramesh Menon reports.

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.

Combining provisional voter turnout data and the perceptions of MP performance based on the Daksh-ADR survey, Srinivasan Ramani attempts to make reasonable assessments about what could be behind the high turnouts in this Lok Sabha elections.

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.

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.

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.

'There is more introspection already going on on these web sites than in New Delhi and state capitals, and there is more loud thinking than in the endless debates on our television channels.'

Anees Bazmi is now the unlikeliest part of Dr Singh's political life, thanks to his blockbuster.

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.

If he shall not do so today, can Dr Manmohan Singh ever push reforms and infrastructure initiatives?

'If a scheme like the NREGA can yield such handsome dividends, imagine the likely impact of an initiative to provide universal healthcare, free primary education, safe drinking water, affordable housing and social security.'

Forget the first 100 days spiel about what Dr Manmohan Singh will do to kickstart the economy. That's just media hype and, in any case, the economy's on a recovery-path. As has been seen over just the last few days, despite the Congress getting 206 seats in the Lok Sabha and getting support letters from 100 more Members of Parliament, Dr Singh still hasn't been able to form his government -- just 19 ministers were sworn in with him.

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?

Phase IV: Most candidates from Rajasthan

Phase IV: BSP has most 'tainted' candidates

Phase IV: Cong fields maximum crorepatis

Congress has the most crorrepatis in the fray in Phase V of the polls.

Fifth Phase: BSP has maximum criminal candidates