GUJARAT ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS 2012

Narendra Modi fancies himself as a poet, and his website refers to this as one of his talents. The Gujarat CM follows in the footsteps of AB Vajpayee, but is his verse any good. Aakar Patel does a review of his poetry.

The BJP is caught in a political crisis and the party may well be forced to turn to Modi, provided he can demonstrate the ability of landing a decisive victory; of achieving a hat-trick and maintaining a two-thirds majority. Harinder Baweja writes.

Hindu-Muslim issues haven't been settled, but Gujarat is far less likely to have a riot today. Narendra Modi hasn't apologised for 2002 but he has taken steps to make minorities feel safer, writes Ashok Malik.

The BJP is in a spot after allegations against Nitin Gadkari. The party's anti-corruption plank has been weakened and Narendra Modi can provide it with a good alternative. But Modi's very strengths may work against him if he moves to New Delhi, writes Varghese K George.

Arvind J Bosmia explains how people of farm tillers became one of the most prosperous and powerful communities of the state in a matter of decades. Plus, who will the Patels vote for in this election.

The BJP has not only won four Gujarat assembly elections in a row since 1995 it did so with a lead of over 10% against the Congress. The Congress will need to perform exceptionally well to win the 2012 elections, writes Sanjay Kumar.

The BJP seems to set for power again in Gujarat. How should Muslims deal with a party, which has again denied them tickets to fight elections?  Raheel Dhattiwala writes about the community's tough choices.

The Gujarat chief minister once again becomes the first Indian politician to use a technological innovation to promote himself.  He needs technology because he won't let any other BJP leader deliver the BJP's message, argues Mahesh Langa.

Closure and justice for 2002 riots victims will be a difficult task but they must keep faith in Mahatma Gandhi's words: all through history the ways of truth and love have always won, writes Shabnam Hashmi.

The pariah tag that the chief minister has is the biggest stumbling block for his ambition to be the prime minister. By moving to do business with him, Britain has made Modi acceptable, writes Vinod Sharma.

UK’s decision to make up with Narendra Modi has been governed by economic and political considerations. Going by exclusive and detailed accounts of the normalisation process, the real surprise is that it took Britain so long. Dipankar De Sarkar reports. The fall and rise of Narendra Damodardas Modi

Those who believe that the Gujarat CM should become leader of the BJP at a national level challenge the very foundations of the BJP’s leadership policy. Not unnaturally, BJP leaders are quick to point out that Modi has not demonstrated that he is a great vote-winner in other states. Vir Sanghvi writes.