pass the roti on the left hand side

The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday called for "a united fight to defeat Maoists" but accused the Congress of forging an alliance with the Leftist guerrillas for electoral gains - an allegation that triggered ugly scenes and disruptions in the Lok Sabha.

BJP and Congress MPs were caught in an ugly row over the April 6 Dantewada massacre by Maoist rebels, prompting repeated adjournments of the house.

Which brings us to another trend that many people claim to have noticed: a move away from extremism and a vote for moderation.

Certainly, there is a lot of evidence to support this view. The BJP’s mascot in this election, Narendra Modi, proved to be an over-hyped humbug. In most places where he campaigned, the BJP candidate lost. In those areas where he was not allowed to speak (Bihar for instance), the BJP won. And far from sweeping Modi’s Gujarat, the BJP actually suffered a slight drop in its vote share.

India's Supreme Court has ordered the release on bail of a leading public health specialist and human-rights activist, Dr Binayak Sen.

A Supreme Court notice to the Centre on 20 February and a critical report submitted in Parliament two days earlier may force the government to review a decision to suspend production at three state-owned units that made vaccines against tetanus, tuberculosis, measles and other infections.

IT WAS as if a burden had been lifted. I reacted to the news of the Supreme Court directive to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the role of the Chief Minister, his cabinet colleagues, members of the BJP, VHP, the Bajrang Dal and senior members of the bureaucracy and the police during the violence of 2002, with almost gleeful joy. There was finally a possibility of justice; victims, friends and NGOs fighting for justice stood vindicated.

Acknowledging that the UPA will be called by the President to form the next government, she told a meeting of party leaders that BSP has taken the decision keeping in view the present situation and in its objective of keeping BJP out of power.

Dr Binayak Sen, one of India’s noblest doctors, imprisoned by a cowardly Chhattisgarh administration because he exposed their crimes, might well speak to us in the manner of Thoreau were we to visit him. On May 14 it will be exactly two years since his unlawful arrest. There are times when jails become one of the few places of honour left in the world. After all, where would you like to find yourself if robbers and murderers were masquerading before the public as magistrates, judges and hangmen?

Naveen Patnaik is by nature a loner in politics. Also, one who takes his secular credentials and his image as a man of the people very seriously. So, it was not entirely a surprise when he snapped his electoral alliance with the BJP just before the elections, ostensibly over the communal bloodshed in Kandhamal.

Chief Minister Kumari Mayawati Das of Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, reportedly paid around 260 million rupees (US$5.2 million) in income tax for the fiscal year 2007-08, making her the highest taxpayer among India’s politicians. However, she is no businesswoman. She is a politician, and her capricious rise from rags to riches speaks for the kind of democracy and politics practiced in India.

The delusional fantasies of Varun Gandhi, the controversial BJP nominee from Pilibhit, came to the fore on Wednesday when he called himself "Shri Rama" in Aligarh. "I am Shri Rama," he said during an election rally at HB Inter College in Aligarh, when the people requested him to raise the BJP's slogan of "Jai Shri Rama".