Sonia Gandhi's election campaign: It is a spectacle from start to end

Supporter of R.K. Dhawan mixes politics with tobacco, forgets to print warning about the stuff being "injurious to health".

Politicians in Madhya Pradesh trust nobody these days, not even their own parties.

Narendra Modi fell casualty to the intense factionalism which gripped the BJP's Gujarat unit in 1995.

With its constituents pulling in different directions, the dilemma before the front's managers is whether to support a Congress-led government or not.

Changing tack mid-way through the poll campaign, the party begins attacking Sonia in right earnest.

Is the decline in the number of candidates standing for the 1998 general election good news? Changes in the Representation of the Peoples' Act have resulted in a considerable reduction in the number of Independent candidates campaigning for seats in the Lok Sabha. Yogendra Yadav and Alistair Mcmillan challenge the conventional belief that the presence of "frivolous" candidates is cluttering up the electoral process.

Ever since Indira Gandhi and 1980, the price of onions has been fair game as an electoral issue. J. Jayalalitha certainly thinks so.

The 129 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala were consistent in endorsing the Congress or its allies till 1996.

I entered politics because I could not see the sacrifices made by my family go in vain. - Sonia Gandhi, at Hanamkonda in Andhra Pradesh.

Newly-appointed (acting) vice-chancellor of the violence-ridden Lucknow University drives out the much-despised Provincial Armed Constabulary from the campus saying it was an eyesore.

After months of overstaying in the VIP bungalow, T.N. Seshan has finally moved out - lock, stock and mridangam.

The Jaipur Police was taken aback recently when Nalini Singh's widely-acclaimed programme Aankhon Dekhi, telecast on Doordarshan, showed clippings of illegal arms being assembled in the city to create disturbance during elections.

The Queen's Necklace - the long row of neon lights that has for decades adorned Mumbai's famed Marine Drive - is about to lose some of its glitter.

Till last year, he was much sought-after in Gujarat's turbulent political arena. He went on to become a favourite of Rashtriya Janata Party leader Shankersinh Vaghela during the infamous September 1995 Khajuraho rebellion.

West Bengal has 57 per cent of its rural population living under the poverty line - higher than any state in the BIMARU region.

There is but one activity in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) these days - calculating political odds and speculating who the new bosses will be.

True to its image, led with 28 deaths, clashes and booth-capturing. The Laloo-Sharad battle ended in a re-poll in Madhepura.

They may have buried the hatchet temporarily but the war of nerves between Chief Election Commissioner M.S. Gill and his colleague G.V.G. Krishnamurthy continues.

Run-up to polls sees major issues confronting the nation being studiously ignored by the key players.

The 700-page report apparently censures the then Congress government as much as the Shiv Sena for the violence that left 850 dead and thousands homeless in December 1992 and January '93.

Western powers are no less responsible than developing nations as they profit from weapons trade.

So just who stands to gain when a foreign aircraft flies over the country dropping weapons allegedly for insurgents? As far as the unsolved Purulia arms-dropping case is concerned, it is the police.

It might be 50 years late, but Partition seems to have finally caught up with the national anthem.

Models Mehr Jessia and Arjun Ramphal are making it all official. Yes, yes, yes, they're getting married. But know what? They're avoiding publicity.

Where would you go on Valentine's Day? To a restaurant? A temple?!! Or both?!!! That's precisely what Sanjay Dutt did when he popped the question to his true love, Rhea Pillai, over dinner with friends.

A tabla lesson from Zakir Hussain, cricket by Sachin Tendulkar - couldn't get better now, could it?

The stage is set for a three-cornered fight for power and prestige in the backdrop of possible violence.

Sukh Ram's 'third force' threatens to cut into Congress votes - to the advantage of the beleaguered BJP.

The popular bottoms up gang is back with another satirical take-off on the idiosyncracies of modern Indian living.

The usual suspects dominate political talk shows and debates.

Another countdown show? The latest in a list that includes such veterans as Superhit Muqabla and BPL Oye! is the Coca-Cola Poppadum Show on Sony (which incidentally already has Hum Aapke Hain Kountdown).

An urban poet soldiers on with his desolate themes.

Citibank's tribute to armed forces with affinity card

So, it's official now. After months of speculation, Chandraprakash Dwivedi's departure from Zee is now a matter of record.

How do you teach an MTV generation about a man called Subhas Chandra Bose? Easy. You make a short film with lots of music.

The show explores home-grown abstractions and symbols.

Cashing in on its youth image, MTV hosted a youth marketing forum in Mumbai.

Latest new releases: Divide & Quit, The Royal Bengal Mystery and Other Feluda Stories, Microwave Cooking for the Indian Palate.

Social realism that reflects two centuries of turmoil

A drooling book which masks many truths in an attempt to canonise a decadent prince.

A seriously watchable film.

A messy plot and sketchy characters mar the film.

Two friends make a pact that if they aren't married by the age of 28, they will marry each other. Shortly before D-Day, he finds a bride and she realises that she's been in love with him all this time.

After nearly two years of successive flops and press obits, Madhuri Dixit has returned to the top.

Sonia Gandhi seems to have made a habit of surprising people. She baffled political pundits by deciding to campaign and then astounded them by the crowds she drew. It would have been enough if she left it at that.

The turf war between DOT and TRAI must not jeopardise MTNL's business plans.

No other state participates in the democratic process with such unhindered passion and electoral frenzy as Bihar. Come voting day, and polling booths and ballot papers become the focus of attention all over the state as rival political parties battle for the hearts and minds - and limbs and heads - of the voter.

Narayanan thrives on a weak PM and a feuding UF.

A successful democracy need not be a mature one.

Travel through India's villages, through the land where nothing ever changes.