Say Hello to Another
Scam
The raging corporate war over the introduction of limited mobility telephone services has turned political, with the Prime Minister's Office being charged with subverting the regulatory system and favouring a few business houses. An INDIA TODAY investigation looks at the conflict between the sanctimonious claims and the grim reality.

Ballot Boxwallahs
The approaching assembly elections have brought to life five states which are set to witness a stiff fight and whose results can have a big impact on all major parties. A profile of the prime contenders who could tilt the balance either way.

Fall From Grace
Despite a triple-digit growth in net profits of Infosys Technologies and Satyam Computers, the stock prices of the two companies have plunged. Is it the gloomy forecast for software companies that's hammering down the prices?

Unnatural Alliance
The CNG controversy has taken a new turn, with doubts being raised about the propriety of the Delhi Government's selection of Nugas as the sole supplier of the conversion kit.

The Doon Boom
The city that houses Doon School is now playing host to a whole array of new education barons--with big money and even bigger ambitions.

ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS 2001

Assam
INNOCENTS GROW UP

Two decades ago, he was considered infallible as leader of the anti-foreigner uprising in Assam. Not any longer. As chief minister-both during his euphoric first term in 1985 and the present one which began in 1996-he has erred on many fronts. Yet, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, 49, is the Asom Gana Parishad's (AGP's) best bet. Not because he has taken the AGP from strength to strength but because he is the regional party's undisputed leader, having sidelined all potential rivals.

UNDERDOG: Gogoi (right) is quite confident of upstaging Mahanta (above)

The son of a schoolteacher, Mahanta has transformed himself from a successful student leader to a politician with tremendous staying power. His government was dismissed in November 1990 as ULFA rebels wreaked havoc in the state, killing, kidnapping and serving extortion notices on tea planters. Then the AGP lost the 1991 polls. When the party romped home in May 1996, Mahanta was a changed man, demonstrating clearly that his government would take on the ULFA.

Mahanta survived an assassination bid by the ULFA but not the stigma of the Rs 200-crore veterinary scam. He also sent his highly ambitious wife, Jayashree Goswami Mahanta, a zoology teacher, to the Rajya Sabha. Now, by tying up with the BJP, he could have ensured her a Central ministerial berth.

On his part, Assam Congress President Tarun Gogoi is used to political families, having grown under the patronage of the Nehru-Gandhi clan. Ever since this young lawyer from the eastern tea-growing district of Jorhat was hand-picked by the Assam Congress stalwart Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed in 1971 to contest the Lok Sabha polls, there has been no looking back. He has been elected an MP six times.

Yet, Gogoi, 65, is not overtly ambitious. The party's chief ministerial candidate doesn't like to talk about it, "My job now is
to ensure my party's victory and we are confident of winning."
His colleagues are pinning hopes on his non-controversial image.
The only controversy he has been dragged into is the accusation by Mahanta himself, of a nexus with the ULFA. A Union minister
in the early 1990s, Gogoi is used to pressure. "I manage 20 minutes of exercises daily to beat the stress," he says. Can he beat Mahanta too?

-Wasbir Hussain

MetroScape

Wealth Of Art
April 8 saw an unabashed get together of Mumbai's Who's Who when the annual Harmony Show, well known as "Tina Ambani's baby", celebrated its sixth showing at the Nehru Centre.
more...

Looking Glass

Bangalore Hotel:
Park.hotel

Mumbai Store:
Regent Watch and Jewellery Boutique

A war of words is on at the Jammu border where India is trying to build a fence to stop infiltration, much to Pakistan's dislike, reports
INDIA TODAY's Special Correspondent Ramesh Vinayak in Despatches.