THE remarks made by driver of the taxi we had boarded set the tone. “Saab why are you going to that Muslim locality” was his refrain, once we informed him of our destination. This is what Varanasi has been turned into. A communal cauldron. Deep runs the mistrust. The BJP’s decision to field Modi from Varanasi is only going to widen this divide.

Ever since this 56-inch Vikas Purush has been chosen as the prime ministerial candidate of the right wing communal party, there has been a very strong and coordinated overpowering of the social media and social networking outlets with the NaMo's "manufactured growth."

Below are the excerpts from an interview with Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member, taken by Atanu Saha.

THERE are just two days left in the first phase of elections in the state. The whole state is geared up for the current elections. What, according to you, are the most important issues for the election campaign?

BANK Employees Federation of India (BEFI) in its central committee meeting held at Bengaluru on March 8 had a thorough discussion on the present political scenario of the country in the wake of the 16th Lok Sabha elections. The general secretary while initiating the discussions briefed about the vulnerability of the banking industry and the dangers faced by the public sector banks due to the faulty policy of the successive governments at the centre be it the Congress government or Congress led UPA government or BJP led NDA government.

A number of prominent intellectuals of the country issued the following statement on March 26, criticising the vindictive moves of the Modi government against social activists Teesta Setalvad and Javed Anand.
WE are shocked and outraged by the continuing attempt of the highly vindictive Modi government and the Gujarat police to somehow implicate activists Teesta Setalvad and Javed Anand, along with three victim-survivors of the state-sponsored Gujarat carnage in 2002 on patently trumped-up charges.