Two Winners And A Photo Finish
According to the INDIA TODAY-ORG-MARG opinion poll, there will be clear winners in two states, but a tight finish in a third.

The Last Rampage
To offset
J. Jayalalitha's slight edge, a pugnacious M. Karunanidhi gives it his all in what is his final electoral campaign.

The Sixth Sense
A mercurial Mamata Banerjee vs a dependable Buddhadev Bhattacharya. The mismatch leaves the Left Front with a premonition of victory.

Secular Stake
Even as the Church makes a blatant move to play a more political role in the state, the CPI(M) nominates a priest to woo minorities.

One Man Barmy
India's apex social sciences facilitating body is rocked by civil war: the chairman says he is being opposed by both RSS ideologues and leftist academics.

Changing Order
An ageing profile and a frustrated officer corps leads the force to consider VRS and restructuring.

Liquid Asset
The Rs 700-crore industry has attracted many players. Now, purity will decide who stays in business.

Board Of No Control
Tax authorities say the BCCI spends more money on meetings than on matches.

COVER STORY: ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS 2001

Every election in the state is accompanied by the hype of imminent change. This poll may not necessarily see the demise of the cadre raj but it could witness the CPI(M) losing the status of a single majority party. Mamata Banerjee has made deep inroads but she hasn't succeeded in breaching the rural bastions of the Left. There is still a significant 3 per cent separating the lf from the trinamool-Congress alliance. The BJP's 8 per cent vote, with a stronger showing in north Bengal, could end up making all the difference. For the lf, Buddhadev Bhattacharya's image seems to be a major asset. He seems to have blunted the groundswell of resentment against the lf in the final months of Jyoti Basu's tenure. Today, Basu is the fading star.

Performance Of State Government

Voting Pattern

Quality Of Life

Issues That Will Determine Voting

All figures in per cent. The responses may not add up to hundred because of multiple responses or elimination of insignificant categories.

MetroScape

Bond Free
The Savoy in Mussoorie must be the only hotel, apart from the Raffles in Singapore, to have a thing about writers. So, it was quite kismet when publisher Pramod Kapoor of Roli Books and author Namita Gokhale, who has an imprint with him, hosted the Ruskin Bond Festschrift—a Writers' Retreat in honour of that gentle Indian Roald Dahl, Ruskin Bond.
more...

Looking Glass

Delhi Cinema:
Canadian film festival

Delhi Art Fest:
Documenta

Bangalore Play:
Little Theatre