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Bursting out
The ministerial berth, once one of the most respected of positions, has been pitifully reduced. It is now the most widely distributed perk of public life. In Uttar Pradesh, Kalyan Singh has managed to expand an already record-breaking jumbo cabinet. Meghalaya is setting a record of sorts as well.
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Wheels within wheels
This time's electoral mandate was clearly in support of a coalition government which is sensitive to regional aspirations, of that there can be little doubt. The success of parties like the Biju Janata Dal in Orissa, the Lok Shakti in Karnataka, the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu and the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal testifies to this phenomenon.
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Doing an Enron on Pepsi
No matter how much one may be outraged by various statements by the BJP's electoral ally George Fernandes on issues like sending select multinationals packing or on the government hiking its stake in the auto venture Maruti-Suzuki, he is unlikely to cause lasting damage to the BJP's image as an economic reformer.
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The private Sonia Gandhi
The country has been fascinated by the awakening of the Sphinx, the thawing of the Iron Woman. Till now, they had nothing but negatives for her -- `unsmiling', `unfriendly', `unapproachable'. But today she's become the most positive crowd-puller and vote-catcher for the Congress party.
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