Katju is an affront to Press Council norms; must go
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Posted on
February 27, 2013 by
G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, under
Politics
What would you call it when the chairman of the media’s watchdog panel, the Press Council of India, brazenly violates the ‘Norms of Journalistic Conduct’ enunciated by the very same body? [...]
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Why the BJP should not bother about 'secular' allies or the Muslim vote
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Posted on
September 01, 2012 by
G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, under
Politics
DOES THE BHARATIYA Janata Party (BJP) need a ‘liberal’ leader to present a softer image to the Muslims?... [...]
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CEC Quraishi the consensus candidate for President?
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Posted on
May 10, 2012 by
G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, under
Elections
THERE IS INTENSE speculation about the choice of the country’s next President. Two names have been mentioned prominently as the possible nominees of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) for the office of President: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Vice President Hamid Ansari. [...]
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Congress party crumbles, but BJP will need a leader to gain advantage
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Posted on
March 14, 2012 by
G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, under
Politics
The fundamental reason for the below-par performance of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh is lack of clarity as to who would lead the party in the event it came to power. [...]
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SP frontrunner in UP poll battle, BSP in struggle for 2nd place
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Posted on
February 07, 2012 by
G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, under
Elections
AS THE BATTLE for Uttar Pradesh enters the final stages with the first phase of election beginning on February 8, there is much confusion as to who will win or lead the race. There are (opinion) polls and polls but there is little clarity as to the nature of the outcome and what factors are contributing to this outcome. [...]
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Distortions of Democracy: Money power unleashed to win polls
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Posted on
February 04, 2012 by
G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, under
Politics
The inducement of ‘money for votes’ is an age old phenomenon but it was earlier confined to some economically weaker sections. Today, it is an all pervasive phenomenon as parties and candidates are vying with each other and upping stakes to win elections through unfair means of bribing voters. [...]
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Regime Changers: Emergence of OBCs as a decisive factor in polls
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Posted on
January 20, 2012 by
G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, under
Politics
OTHER BACKWARD CASTES (OBCs) are the largest voter bloc amongst the Indian electorate. They constitute 40% of India’s population according to the 62nd round (2005-06) survey conducted by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO). [...]
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With a fractured mandate, Uttar Pradesh is voting for President's Rule
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Posted on
January 10, 2012 by
G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, under
Elections
After five years of a stable government under Mayawati, ensuing elections to Uttar Pradesh assembly are likely to throw up a highly fractured mandate with no party or pre-poll alliance expected to garner a legislative majority in the 403-member assembly. [...]
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Desperate Congress muzzling media to stay afloat
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Posted on
December 09, 2011 by
G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, under
Politics
The Congress party’s crude attempts at censoring the social media are not isolated, mindless actions of overzealous ministers, but are part of a well calibrated... [...]
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The UPA government is losing the support of its allies
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Posted on
November 16, 2011 by
G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, under
Politics
The UPA in its second edition after 2009 polls has only a few allies, namely, the Trinamul Congress, DMK, NCP, National Conference etc. [...]
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As Telangana burns, there’s a reason for Congress’s cold indifference
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Posted on
October 19, 2011 by
G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, under
Politics
A few days ago, some friends actively involved in the Telangana agitation visited me to find out my perspective on why the Centre is not yielding on the longstanding demand. Anxiety was writ large on their faces as they seemed worried about the sustainability of the agitation involving all sections of the Telangana populace. [...]
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Why Narendra Modi is BJP’s best PM candidate
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Posted on
September 27, 2011 by
G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, under
Politics
The LensOnNews Poll results are revealing. With Narendra Modi as the prime ministerial candidate, the poll showed that the BJP would gain nationally an additional 5.4 percentage points in votes and an additional 65 seats. The BJP’s campaign would get a huge thrust with Narendra Modi’s projection as the prime minister. With such strong credentials and support, Narendra Modi’s prime ministerial candidature should have been a settled issue. But there are many myths in circulation about imaginary risks in projecting Narendra Modi as the prime ministerial candidate. [...]
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Congress’s habit of squandering ‘easy’ mandates
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Posted on
September 02, 2011 by
G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, under
Politics
Corruption scandals like the 2G scam and Commonwealth games scam in the past year have seen a precipitous fall in the standing of the Manmohan Singh led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre. The UPA government is experiencing a midlife crisis. These developments are reminiscent of the political situation in the country in the mid-80’s when Rajiv Gandhi was the country’s prime minister. [...]
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Is UPA Surging or Crumbling? Two Polls, Two Projections
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Posted on
August 17, 2011 by
G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, under
Politics
Two polls, one styled as the State of the Nation Poll by the CNN-IBN and another titled as the “Mood of the Nation” poll by the India Today over the past week have left everyone confused, if not about the real mood of the nation, then certainly about the ability of pollsters to gauge it correctly. [...]
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Who says Rahul Gandhi’s image is on an upswing?
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Posted on
August 09, 2011 by
G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, under
Politics
The latest State of the Nation poll published by The Hindu-CNN-IBN says that Rahul Gandhi leads the prime ministerial rankings with 19% of voters rooting for him as prime minister, three times the number he got in 2009. Is it right to conclude from this poll that Rahul Gandhi’s popularity is rapidly rising? No. [...]
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Congress party’s cynical politics of Terror
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Posted on
July 16, 2011 by
G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, under
Politics
A new thinking has dawned on the Congress party after 26/11 Mumbai attacks. In Delhi and Rajasthan assembly elections held in the immediate aftermath of 26/11 Mumbai attack broadcast 24x7 by television channels, the Congress party has performed creditably. [...]
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Desperate Congress pressing all levers to arrest Narendra Modi before October
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Posted on
July 04, 2011 by
G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, under
Politics
There is a sinister plan hatched by the Congress party to implicate Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi in a web of legal cases relating to 2002 communal violence and some alleged police encounter cases. [...]
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Congress’s dangerous communal game: Will it cause a Hindu backlash?
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Posted on
June 29, 2011 by
G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, under
Politics
The recent ‘Mood of the Nation’ poll by this website has revealed that the Congress party is perceived to be utterly corrupt by all sections of the electorate, the lone exception being that of Muslims. (Read the Poll here) http://bit.ly/lKwpdf [...]
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Trust gone, UPA's defeat in next poll is inevitable
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Posted on
June 18, 2011 by
G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, under
Elections
In the life cycle of elected governments, a time comes when the public support decisively swings from one of enjoying inherent trust to one in which people have lost implicit trust. [...]
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Hindus voting strategically? An analysis of the Hindu vote in Kerala and Assam
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Posted on
June 03, 2011 by
G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, under
Politics
The commonly held notion is that caste based voting is common among Hindus but not bloc voting as a community, while Muslims tend to vote as a monolithic group. Media reports and our field reports suggest that Hindus have indeed voted as a bloc and tactically in recent state elections in Kerala and Assam. In the post-Ayodhya Rathyatra era, this is a discernible trend in voting patterns of Hindus and has significant portents for the future. What is more significant is the fact that this tactical voting and reverse mobilsation of Hindus was observed in a state like Kerala, a state associated with high levels of literacy and social development and hardly a candidate for consolidation of Hindu votes along religious lines. [...]
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Why Narendra Modi’s Gujarat is the least corrupt, best rated government
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Posted on
May 09, 2011 by
G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, under
Politics
Nationwide there is a buzz that Narendra Modi’s Gujarat has achieved a lot of progress and has made rapid strides in development and industrial progress largely on account of Modi’s inspiring leadership, unquestioned integrity and good governance. No wonder, 40 percent of the people interviewed in urban India in the LensOnNews poll have voted for Modi’s Gujarat as the state with least corruption and best record in governance. [...]
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Congress decline: How BJP can benefit
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Posted on
June 29, 2012 by
G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, under
Politics
THERE IS NATION-WIDE anger against the Congress party for misgoverning the country and shamelessly celebrating three years of its misrule at the Centre. When the time comes to face the national electorate, in 2014 or earlier, it is certain to suffer a humiliating defeat. [...]
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Negative voting is a negative idea
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Posted on
February 04, 2012 by
G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, under
Elections
Negative voting refers to rejecting all the candidates in an election instead of choosing any of the contesting candidates. If the number of negative votes is higher than that secured by any contesting candidate or is beyond a prescribed level, a fresh election shall be conducted and that too with the earlier candidates not being allowed to contest again. [...]
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Verdict 2011: Southern discomfort for the Congress
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Posted on
June 03, 2011 by
G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, under
Elections
The outcome of the 2011 elections will largely be interpreted as a decisive vote against the corruption and family rule of the DMK, a vote for change in West Bengal, but overall a reprieve for the scam struck Congress party which has retained Assam and wrested Kerala from the Left Democratic Front. A major insight that might however be missed is the signal from the present round of elections that the Congress party is headed for major reverses in the electorally crucial southern states that had given a rich harvest of seats for the Congress party and its allies in the 2004 and 2009 Lok Sabha elections. [...]
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Fading appeal of Rahul Gandhi
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Posted on
May 09, 2011 by
G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, under
Politics
Six months ago, Rahul Gandhi was billed as a prime minister-in-waiting who could choose his own timing to take the country’s top job either before or after 2014 elections. As the Congress party led government is mired in a series of scandals, Rahul Gandhi’s image has suffered a serious setback. [...]
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Can Money & Machines influence the Tamil Nadu election outcome?
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Posted on
May 09, 2011 by
G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, under
Elections
Tamil Nadu elections have been confounding pollsters of late. In 2006 assembly elections, most pollsters predicted that Jayalalithaa led AIADMK would get another term in office. Similarly, in 2009 polls, the DMK-Congress combine swept polls surprising poll observers. The reasons for the confounding poll outcome weren’t psephological. They are the result of widespread occurrence of poll malpractices. [...]
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India needs to treat its whistleblowers well, not harass them
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Posted on
May 09, 2011 by
G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, under
Politics
"Simply put, the church members had the right to be where they were," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote on behalf of the majority. "Westboro alerted local authorities to its funeral protest and fully complied with police guidance on where the picketing could be staged. The picketing was conducted under police supervision some 1,000 feet from the church, out of the sight of those at the church. The protest was not unruly; there was no shouting, profanity, or violence." [...]
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Why it is necessary to make ‘Paper Trail’ work for India’s EVMs?
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Posted on
August 20, 2011 by
G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, under
Elections
"Simply put, the church members had the right to be where they were," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote on behalf of the majority. "Westboro alerted local authorities to its funeral protest and fully complied with police guidance on where the picketing could be staged. The picketing was conducted under police supervision some 1,000 feet from the church, out of the sight of those at the church. The protest was not unruly; there was no shouting, profanity, or violence." [...]
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G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, -G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, 45, is a leading election analyst and a political commentator.