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From The Editor In Chief
Elections,
it is said, are one of the few things Indians do well and a bit too frequently.
Of course, there is no substitute for the real thing. But since politicians
tend to bandy phrases like "people's will" and "national
sentiment" quite freely, there is a natural interest in the popular
mood as gleaned through opinion polls. In 1999, a period of intense political
turmoil, India Today commissioned three exhaustive pre-election opinion
polls. The final one (August 23, 1999) accurately forecast a clear majority
for the NDA. Last year, there was no real occasion for a national opinion
poll as the country settled into a period of relative political stability.
Now that the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government is into its 15th month, the
time was opportune to gauge its political standing and performance.
The exercise
has been extremely instructive. The poll reveals many subterranean currents
and subtle political shifts that are often not apparent in the hurly-burly
of the immediate. The fluctuations in the popular mood are important to
monitor because it requires only minor swings in votes to effect major
political changes. Moreover, this being an age of coalitions, the fortunes
of even a bit player can have a profound effect on the whole team. Indeed,
a rigorous poll with a representative sample can tell us much more about
the mood of the nation than many thousand words of impressionistic writing.
Which is why this seems the right time to revive our earlier practice
of conducting bi-annual national opinion polls in association with ORG-MARG.
The findings
of our polls have inevitably offended many politicians who emerge from
them in an unflattering light. During the past few election campaigns,
there has been an increasing tendency to shoot the messenger and ignore
the message. The polls have often been rubbished by questioning their
credibility and imaginary political designs have been detected in the
findings. Politicians will do well to remember that polls have, more frequently
than not, been right in the past. They can ignore the voice of the people
at their own peril.
(Aroon
Purie)
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METRO TODAY |
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MetroScape |
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MetroScape
Writer's
Residence
Mirza Asadullah Beg Khan, aka Mirza Ghalib lived here. The
250 sq yard in Ballimaran, an architecturally mutating cluster, has the
facade of an upstart townhouse with spindly, post-1980s balusters and
neo-Moorish brickwork from a prosperous factory in Haryana.
more...
Looking
Glass
Delhi:
Festival
Chennai:
Entertainment
Pune:
Night Club
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Exclusives |
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COLUMNS |
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 As
the Government brings in more people and mops more money in taxes, it
must be seen to be rewarding those who come forth and pay up, writes India
Today Associate Editor V. Shankar Aiyar in
Au ContrAiyar.
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DESPATCHES |
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The
BJP in Madhya Pradesh and Chhatisgarh is in the throes of a trying leadership
crisis, giving the largely unchallenged ruling Congress more reasons to
be smug. INDIA TODAY Special Correspondent Neeraj Mishra takes
a look in
Despatches.
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