Courtesy: Gateway House
The most significant election of the five states going to the polls in India in April is that of West Bengal. The state, once India’s trading hub and entrepreneurial centre, now lags its counterparts. The big battle is between the regional Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party, both of which have pulled out their big guns and are wooing the state’s voters as never before.
Courtesy: Manjeet Kripalani
There is much dissatisfaction with the status quo in India’s largest state, where bribery and corruption are endemic and leaders with a national identity hard to find. A six-day trip through eastern UP offered insight into the state’s changing mindset
Courtesy: Al Jazeera English/Flickr
In India, there are some powerful forces now in play in the election-bound states – and the 2014 general elections. Manjeet Kripalani, who toured the states during the polls, blogs about the increasing focus on issues such as job creation, sanitation, nutritious food, and technological innovation, among the electorate