Convict Queen
Though AIADMK leader Jayalalitha was debarred from contesting the elections on grounds of her conviction in a corruption case, she was sworn in as chief minister of Tamil Nadu. Will her aggressive game plan work? And should popular mandate overrule judicial verdicts?

Great Call Of China
Indian entrepreneurs are eagerly joining the swiftly growing queue to set up shop in China.
The land once considered forbidden has suddenly become
the hottest destination for Indian businessmen.

Looking East
Atal Bihari Vajpayee's visit to Malaysia may have achieved little on Quattrochi's extradition and India's greater ties with ASEAN, but it showed there is more to their bilateral relations than these two issues.

Mother's Day
Stalinist methods played a vital role in the humiliating finale of M. Karunanidhi's dynastic ambition.

Readying For Nukes For the first time after India became a nuclear power, the Army stages a nuclear war game to check preparedness.

STATES: KERALA

Cabinet Formation Was The Real Challenge

Antony's real challenge was the formation of the Cabinet. He did not face difficulty in giving representation to various factions within his own party. But the nominees from other UDF constituents caused Antony much agony. At least four of the eight new ministers who took office are involved in various cases, ranging from graft to sexual harassment. Obviously Antony, the so-called Mr Clean, the man of morality and convener of the AICC Ethics Committee, is faced with a serious image crisis. R. Balakrishna Pillai, chairman of the Kerala Congress(B), who has actually been convicted and has spent a week in jail, opting himself out of the ministerial race was small consolation. The other tainted ministers include K.M. Mani of Kerala Congress(M), T.M. Jacob of Kerala Congress (Jacob), M.V. Raghavan of the Communist Marxist Party and P.K. Kunhalikkutty of the Muslim League, all of whom were ministers in the previous UDF ministry too.

Both Mani and Jacob are accused in a graft case related to the unauthorised sale (while they were ministers) of power to a private firm. Kunhalikkutty was an accused in a sensational sex racket case and against whom women's organisations made a spirited but futile campaign in this election. There are more than one case against Raghavan. A judicial commission has found him personally responsible for the death of five Marxist youth who were killed in a police firing while he was minister in the previous UDF ministry. The case is pending in the state high court.

"Most of these cases were politically motivated and fabricated by the LDF government. Many have now the popular mandate too," says Antony. "However, we will not meddle with the judicial process and the law will take its course." He also questions CPI(M)'s moral right to raise the morality issue, an oblique reference to the communists' alliance with Jayalalitha's AIADMK in neighbouring Tamil Nadu. But the Congress too is Jayalalitha's alliance partner.

What are the new chief minister's priorities? "Correcting the wrongs of the LDF government is my Government's first priority," says Antony. "The wrongs are too many to narrate." Re-building the economy which is in ruins on account of the LDF rule will be high on his agenda. "Unlike the LDF we will give maximum priority to private-sector investment and reap the benefits of liberalisation." He says doors will be opened to large-scale private investment in sectors like education, health, tourism and information technology. "While other south Indian states surged ahead in these sectors, Kerala lagged behind owing to the Left's ideological obscurantism." But what about the development of morality in the UDF house, Mr Clean?

MetroScape

Delhi Cinema:
"Flicks Down Under"

Mumbai Restaurant:
Karma

Kolkata Restaurant:
Teej

The Madhya Pradesh governor orders a CBI inquiry into a land allotment by the chief minister to the Nai Duniya group, kicking off a constitutional crisis. INDIA TODAY Special Correspondent Neeraj Mishra reports in
Conflict Of Interest.