A primer on state of Indian Politics - Part 2, a few articles.

Guys,

In my second email I'd like to show a few articles. You'll notice they're all from the same newspaper. That's because that's the only Indian newspaper I read :) But even otherwise, everyone will admit that The Hindu is one of the very few non-sensational newspapers in the country. They lean very so slightly to the socially conservative side but are fairly secular and even-handed in their analysis.

However, these articles aren't really point-of-view articles as much as they are informative. So the leaning shouldn't be an issue.

The Hindu : Opinion / Editorials : The great Indian election
This is a rather dry facts and figures of the election. Very informative however and should be a good read to get the bigger picture.

The Hindu : Opinion / Editorials : The third as an alternative
This is a very good piece on the strengths and weaknesses of the Third Front as a viable opposition to the UPA and the NDA. The biggest point to take away from here is that should the election be close, the Big Two could easily lure members from the Third Front because they were previous partners.

The Hindu : Opinion / Leader Page Articles : Ambition and power play in the time of elections
This is an excellent piece on the details of the coalition politics and the dispositions of the Big Two toward these politics. It does a good job of detailing the tough situation that all these parties are facing and how their stubbornness or other attitudes might cost them a chance to form the government.

In addition there was another piece on the complexities of this election brought about by the rise of the regional and caste-based political parties. About how these parties make the voice of the smaller groups heard, more of then than not they end up being too narrow in their scope and vision, and push their agenda for their group at the expense of the nation. That was the best piece of the lot but damn it all, I can't find it.

Hope this gives you guys some good reference points. My third email will be me writing about some of the horrible electoral practices that are gaining strengths. This will be the main email since I hope to get the discussion I initially wanted to get going through that email.

Kalyan