Anil Bairwal of ADR released their “Updated Analysis of Lok Sabha MPs” – Criminal, Financial,Educational Background yesterday in which I found this nugget of information:

Total number of crorepati MPs in the present Lok Sabha – 300

I realise being a crorepati is no big deal in India today (e.g. read India home to fastest growing number of millionaires) but still…
Sadly, ADR’s report reveals in spite of all the talk about “change” and clean, value-based politics, the BJP has the maximum number of MPs having criminal cases against them – 43 (out …

A beautiful parable for our times, courtesy Sh Anand Sharma who sent this to me in an email. Extracts follow.
*** The Importance of Small and Power of Insignificant ***
Those Hindus who have studied Ramayan or listened carefully to the particular episode of construction of Setubandh Rameshwaram, may recollect that there is one instance when the big monkeys were carrying in big stones from far away places to the site and then after getting touched by hands of Nal and Neel, arranging them to make the floating bridge.
A monkey saw a …

From a pre-election interview with Priyanka Gandhi in Outlook (Issue dt. May 11 ’09) by Sheela Reddy (emphasis mine):
Why is politics not drawing you?
Politics does not draw me because I’ve been through a whole introspective process about it before.
I was drawn to it earlier, thinking that is what I wanted to do, because it came naturally to me and for various other reasons. And I would even say-although I didn’t realise it until I was much older-for all the attention and all that. But it’s such a trap because it …

*** India decides on Congress led UPA – is it a default, surprise or strategy? ***
Guest Post by Ashwin Kumaraswamy
Knowing very well, this post is a tad too early; the largest democracy of the world has thrown up very decisive results for Congress and its allies. These results are particularly sweet for Congress and its first family. They had a lot of personal stakes in these elections. State after state the Congress party had to get accustomed to coming of Rahul Gandhi. Be is going alone in Bihar & UP, …

Hurried post starting with some highlights from the results/early indications of 2009 Lok Sabha polls.
Left’s nationwide tally might be reduced to 25, scripts worst performance in West Bengal
Lok Janshakti Party supremo and Union Minister Ramvilas Paswan trails behind nearest ruling JD(U) rival and former chief minister Ramsunder Das . Sad considering Paswan’s earlier record of win by the largest margin in history of Indian elections.
Shashi Tharoor wins in Thiruvananthapuram. This is good news (in spite of my ideological differences with Sh Tharoor)
The BSP was the only party to have contested …

…for saying it like no one else does*…

Rajnath Singh is like my elder brother and I have no enmity with him…

and

Pranab Mukherjee is like an elder brother…

.
Also read: Start your day with a smile! and Quote of the week
* Both the quotes from this PTI report.