A historic turnaround

A psephologists’ nightmare, pollsters’ quagmire and pundits’ waterloo, Mandate 2004 is probably the most dramatic turnaround ...

A psephologists’ nightmare, pollsters’ quagmire and pundits’ waterloo, Mandate 2004 is probably the most dramatic turnaround in the history of post-independence politics. Predictions have gone awry and calculations have fallen by the wayside. Instead, the Indian voter has roared out his message: never take the electorate for granted.

It’s been an election of surprise winners and losers, of mind-numbing routs and unexpected victories, non-performing MPs have been thrown out, inexperienced film stars have been given a vote, through it the voter’s voice has emerged: clear, mature, unaffected by hype, thirsting for change, striking out for development and the basic amenities of dignified life such as water and electricity.

Fate of the big guns

Polls ’04 saw many Union ministers bite the dust

• Murli Manohar Joshi
HRD, lost from Allahabad

• Manohar Joshi
Speaker, lost from Mumbai North Central

• Yashwant Sinha
External Affairs, lost from Hazaribagh

• Brij Kishore Tripathi
Steel, won from Puri

• Mamata Banerjee
Coal, won from Calcutta South

• George Fernandes
Defence, won from Muzaffarpur

• Jagmohan
Tourism, lost from New Delhi

• Sharad Yadav
Food and Consumer Affairs, lost from Madhepura

• Nitish Kumar
Railways, lost from Barh, won from Nalanda

• I D Swami
Minister of State for Home, lost from Karnal

• Vijay Goel
MoS Youth and Sports, lost from Delhi Sadar

• B C Khanduri
Surface Transport, won from Pauri Garhwal

• Sahib Singh Verma
Labour, lost from Outer Delhi

• Vinod Khanna
MoS External Affairs, won from Gurdaspur

• Ram Naik
Petroleum, lost from Mumbai North

• S S Dhindsa
Chemicals and Fertilisers, won from Sangrur

Govt cancels foreign funding licence of Sonam Wangchuk’s NGO amid Ladakh protests

India5 min ago

The Union Home Ministry has revoked the FCRA licence of Sonam Wangchuk's NGO due to violations of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act. The decision was made following a protest in Leh that resulted in four deaths, with the ministry citing Wangchuk's controversial statements as a contributing factor.

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