Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• The Keshpur Line

  2 June 2009, by Meher Engineer

  Here is a “Result Declared”. It is taken from the website of the Election Commission of India. S.No.NamePartyVotes 1 GURUDAS DASGUPTA CPI 625923 2 NARAYAN CHANDRA SAMAT BSP 12065 3 NURE ALAM CHOWDHURY AITC 478739 4 MATILAL KHATUA BJP 35004 5 ARUN KUMAR DAS JMM 5333 6 AHITOSH MAITY RDMP 3515 7 LIYAKAT KHAN IJP 9355
  It is for West Bengal’s Ghatal Lok Sabha seat = Panskura West, Sabang, Pingla, Debra, Daspur, Ghatal (SC) and Keshpur (SC) Assembly segments. The seat grew out (…)

• Grassroots Issues and Elections

  2 June 2009, by Bharat Dogra

  At a time when there is widespread concern over the neglect of grassroots issues in the election campaign, efforts of activists to secure the commitment of (generally) reluctant politicians for protection of livelihoods and environment deserve wider appreciation.
  Such an effort was made in the ecologically crucial Western Ghats region. This region is spread over five States (Maharashtra, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka) and includes 32 parliamentary constituencies. The ‘Save (…)

• Twenty Years After

  2 June 2009, by Nikhil Chakravartty

  In the sultry summer morning of May 27, 1964, when Jawaharlal Nehru left the land of his birth and its people whose affection he earned in abundance, nobody in this wide world of India had any idea how this country would look twenty years later, how the life and living of its toiling millions would change, how the nation would conduct itself in the comity of nations. As his funeral cortege wended its way through the vast humanity wrapped up in tearful mourning, the one thought that hovered (…)

• Jawaharlal Nehru : excerpts from his speeches and writings

  2 June 2009

  On May 27 this year falls the 45th death anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru. On this occasion we are carrying some relevant excerpts from his speeches and writings for the benefit of our readers. We are also reproducing a speech by our former President, R. Venkataraman, who passed away earlier this year, and a contribution made by former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao in a volume brought out in 1989 on the occasion of the Nehru birth centenary. We are further publishing a piece on Nehru that (…)

• Nehru, the Parliamentarian

  2 June 2009, by R Venkataraman

  It is a privilege for me to address this distinguished gathering of parliamentarians, authors, scholars and journalists, assembled here today to honour our first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, on his 96th birth anniversary. A little over twentyone years ago, he left us in deep desolation. But he has handed over to us a priceless legacy of his thoughts and writings which continue to live with and inspire us. Nehru dominated the post-war world scene as an outstanding visionary, humanist, (…)

• Nehru and Non-alignment

  2 June 2009, by P.V. Narasimha Rao

  We are presently celebrating the birth centenary of Shri Jawaharlal Nehru, one of the greatest sons of India. He was a multi-faceted personality. He was first and foremost a patriot, a great freedom fighter who bravely faced personal privation and misfortune during the struggle, was chosen by Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation, as his second in command to lead the nation after Independence, was India’s first Prime Minister, builder of modern India, and initiator of the policy of (…)

• Is Nehru Coming Back?

  2 June 2009, by Girish Mishra

  Looking at the ongoing worldwide economic crisis and serious attempts at exploring ways and means to overcome it now and prevent it from recurring in the future, the return of the Nehruvian approach seems to be a strong probability. Jawaharlal Nehru’s return from exile after more than a quarter of a century has been forecast by none other than the greatest living historian, Eric J. Hobsbawm, in an article ‘Socialism has failed. Now capitalism is bankrupt. So what comes next?’ (The Guardian, (…)

• Collapse of Leftist Front

  2 June 2009, by Balraj Puri

  The election to the fifteenth Lok Sabha is a landmark in the politics of India in more than one sense. Each of its aspects is being discussed or will be discussed by political analysts. In particular, the contribution of Dr Manmohan Singh’s personality and the policies of his government, Rahul Gandhi’s role, specially in UP, weaknesses of the main Opposition, the BJP, and confusion in the Third and Fourth Fronts are being held responsible for the spectacular victory of the Congress. (…)

• Why Fool Yourselves?

  2 June 2009, by Ashok Mitra

  In a country where three-quarters of the population are poor by any criterion, and at least one-quarter live below the level of subsistence, the Left cannot but be acutely relevant. What is perhaps of equal relevance is an adequate parliamentary presence on their behalf; otherwise the victims of persistent deprivation may seek advice and counsel from such armed bands as are roaming the forests of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. The extremely poor performance of the Left in the Lok Sabha (…)

• Unfair Representation to Fair Sex in Lok Sabha from Haryana

  2 June 2009, by Ranbir Singh

  Although women had made a significant contribution in the development of Haryana during the period 1966-1977 through their role in the Green and the White Revolutions, they failed to enter the Lok Sabha from the State in the 1967 and 1971 parliamentary elections. This was primarily due to the failure of the major political parties—the Congress and Jan Sangh in 1967 and the Congress, Congress-O, Vishal Haryana Party and Jan Sangh in 1971—to field any woman candidate. It was only in 1977 that (…)