For a long time in Bihar, the Muslims who constitute 16.5 percent of the 9 crore population, have been lulled into smugness by the relatively peaceful communal atmosphere in the State. This has been largely due to the unabashed pro-Muslim policy adopted by RJD Chief Lalu Yadav in all these almost 20 years that he [...]

There has always been a joke about bumping into Malayalis in any part of the world, why even in Moon and Mars. That credit (or is it discredit?) should now legitimately go to the Biharis, or atleast they should share it with the Malayalis. Why they have now become such a ubiquitous presence across the [...]

It’s indeed been a voyage of discovery, every time one travels in the hinterlands of Bihar, and the education continues. Much has been talked about criminals in politics and their nexus with politicians. One has to wander around Maharajganj and Siwan to understand this nexus. These are two places where criminals with records of murder [...]

Is Lalu Yadav losing hold over Bihar which he had ruled and ridden rough shod for 15 years? Or will he bounce back as he has done several times in the past ? Will he able to disprove the prophets of his doom once more?
For Lalu Yadav this is almost a do or die battle [...]

What do people of Bihar want in the present election? A one crore rupee question, indeed, if it was asked on Amitabh Bachchan or Shah Rukh Khan’s KBC(Kaun banega crorepati, for the uninitiated).
Having spent a little over 24 hours and travelling for over half a day into north west Bihar, through Hajipur, Chapra and now [...]

By Girish Nikam
A few months ago when the left parties were virtually out of the media gaze, following Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh dumping them, a non-congress southern satrap was in constant touch with the left parties hoping to revive the third front. The conversations would go on, with little hope of being able to cobble [...]

By Girish Nikam
Five years back when Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh was “hoisted” on the nation by the Congress President Sonia Gandhi after rejecting the demand for herself to occupy the throne, he had made it clear that the “mandate was for Sonia Gandhi, and not for me”. For some this statement was an act of [...]

By Girish Nikam
When the United Progressive Alliance was formed following the defeat of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in the 2004 general elections, many did not give the newly cobbled up alliance much time for survival. The BJP leadership in particular in fact gave it only six months and later kept revising the fall-date, only [...]

By Girish Nikam
The countdown for the next Lok Sabha elections has begun in right earnest, and for the first time probably in the Indian elections, we have a happy situation where the voters are faced with two clear alternatives for the Prime Ministership.
Despite the media’s penchant for creating confusion regarding the UPA’s choice, or rather [...]