Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• Language and Politics

  26 April 2009, by Sharad Rajimwale

  Why is it that as the date of polling gets closer, the politicians’ tongues tend to break all bonds of decency within which they have long been tutored to remain? It is indeed disturbing for us to witness all this day in and day out. To say that ‘it is disturbing’ may perhaps not convey the full extent of those responses which arise deep within every common Indian and overpower his or her senses. It is even possible that no word in the language is capable enough to express our emotions which (…)

• Clean Politics demands No Corporate Funding to Political Parties

  26 April 2009, by Rajindar Sachar

  Recently there has been a heated public debate on TV about donations being made by the corporate sector to various political parties for elections, mainly to the Congress and BJP and to some others—depending on which area a particular company has more stake. Previously there used to be somewhat hesitancy in admitting the corporate-political monetary axis. But no longer, one industrialist unashamedly boasting that he gave donations to both the parties but of equal amount. Another donor was (…)

• Tibet and Indian Diplomacy

  26 April 2009, by Nikhil Chakravartty

  In the hurly-burly of day-to-day politics, Tibet has receded quite a distance in our horizon. Even when we talk about the political environment in our neighbourhood, Tibet rarely figures in it.
  In the discussions with the Chinese, whether in official or non-official capacity, at the governmental or political level, we have practically ceased to raise the question of Tibet and the Tibetan people. But the Chinese always make it a point to impress upon us the benefit of Chinese rule for (…)

• Elections: Trends and Projections

  26 April 2009, by Nikhil Chakravartty

  In the midst of a general election, it is obviously unfair to predict who or which party is going to emerge victorious or be in a position to form the next government. This is doubly true in a situation facing us today in which no party can claim to win outright the majority of seats in the Lok Sabha. The absence of a ‘wave’ or a definite issue round which the election campaign has centred makes all forecasts mere guesswork. However, there are certain trends which are noticeable that may (…)

• Election Titbits, Sad Absence of Ideology

  26 April 2009, by Shree Shankar Sharan

  This must be one of the dullest elections held and the most uncertain in terms of the outcome. People have walked in and walked out of parties. Winnability and notoriety have been equated. Past performance has ceased to matter. Ideology has been thrown out of the window. The dividing line between parties has been changed to the uniting line of ticket-seekers who like an army of mercenaries are willing to cross to any side that accommodates them. Coalition politics has made the walkover (…)

• Electoral Kaleidoscope of India 2009

  26 April 2009, by Ranbir Singh

  The forthcoming elections to the Lok Sabha have witnessed the emergence of a kaleidoscopic pattern of electoral competition which is baffling the Indian voter. The pattern of frequently changing political alignments has made her/his confusion all the more confounded. The old alliances are cracking and new alliances are mushrooming. Besides, their constituents keep on changing alignments. Moreover, they are present in separate alliances in different States.
  The alliances that emerged (…)

• Politics of Alliance in Bihar

  26 April 2009, by Subodh Kumar

  Bihar politics continues to be full of surprises. The 14th Assembly elections in Bihar created history since Bihar is the only State in India’s electoral history where polls have been conducted twice in the same year (2005). The economy and governance became issues in a manner that is unusual for a polity more accustomed to personalities, caste and minority concerns. The referendum for development and good governance (susasan) encouraged the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) State (…)

• Letter from Kolkata: Decadence of Bengali Intelligentsia

  26 April 2009, by Amitava Mukherjee

  As the general election campaign is coming to a close, there are increasing signs that the Bengali intellectual life is at a crossroad, often exhibiting signs of terrible decay and partisanship, a direct result of penetration of Left ideas in the Bengali social life after independence.
  Every election since 1967 has brought to fore the bankruptcy of the Bengali middle class. Remember the 1967 general elections when the two Communist Parties, dominated by middle class intellectuals, (…)

• Congress, Left Must Get Together Again

  26 April 2009, by Arjun Sengupta

  It is high time the Congress and the Left got back together in national politics, which has degenerated into a fissiparous mess. All kinds of obscurantist, communal, and casteist forces have risen to the surface, pushing to the background the debates on real national issues. Only the rejuvenation of the Congress-Left alliance can alter these trends.
  Both the Congress and the Left must realise that they are natural allies in spite of the differences in their ideology and numerical (…)

• Reservation and Sustainable Development of Muslims

  26 April 2009, by N Jamal Ansari

  At the outset, I wish to make it clear that the subject I have chosen is a sensitive subject, as it deals not only with the dream of development within the Muslim society of India but also the relationship with the country‘s power elite. I am not an authority on the subject and the attempt to analyse the issue is purely due to the concerns for the community. In this context, I have to examine their present socio-politico status and ways to uplift them from ghetto existence.
  It is now (…)