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Resentment against hike in bus fare mounting in Bhopal

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NK SINGH Though a Govt. directive has frustrated the earlier efforts of the MPSRTC to increase the city bus fares by as much as 300 per cent, the public resent even the 25 per cent hike. It is "totally unjust, uncalled for and arbitrary", this is the consensus that has emerged from an opinion conducted by "Commoner" among a cross-section of politicians, public men, trade union leaders, and last but not least, the common bus travelling public. However, a section of the people held, that an average passenger would not grudge a slight pinche in his pocket provided the MPSRTC toned up its services. But far from being satisfactory, the MPSRTC-run city bus service in the capital is an endless tale of woe. Hours of long waiting, over-crowding people clinging to window panes frequent breakdowns, age-old fleet of buses, unimaginative routes and the attitude of passengers one can be patient only when he is sure to get into the next bus are some of the ills plaguing the city b...
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Bhopal, Hindutva's new lab

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NK SINGH The BJP has made Bhopal the epicentre of its Hindutva ideology by fielding terror-accused Pragya Singh Thakur as its candidate for Bhopal Lok Sabha seat. A BJP bastion for the past 30 years, Bhopal has suddenly become the venue of one of the most interesting electoral and ideological battles in the country. Thakur’s candidature took even many by surprise. The BJP has no dearth of tall leaders in Madhya Pradesh to challenge Digvijaya Singh, the Congress candidate from Bhopal who was the state’s chief minister for a decade. They have hugely popular Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who ruled MP for a record 13 years.  Charismatic Uma Bharati, who trounced Singh 15 years ago, is still around.  So is former CM Babulal Gaur, who holds the enviable record of representing Bhopal in the state assembly for 10 terms, winning the seat every time with an increased margin. Yet, the BJP chose Thakur, facing trial in a case of terror bombing aimed against religious minorities....
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Resilience in difficult times

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NK SINGH Bhopal has emerged as the epicentre of BJP’s Hindutva ideology. And the new mascot of this ideology is the feisty Pragya Singh Thakur, an accused in Malegaon bomb blast case who has now become the BJP MP from Bhopal. With the BJP recapturing power with a thumping majority on ultra-right nationalist plank, how do Muslims feel about the election results? I talked to a number of Muslims in confidence, on conditions of anonymity. These included serving and retired civil servants, corporate honchos, businessmen, architects, journalists and social activists. These are powerful people with influence in the society. These are people whom others, both Hindus and Muslims, approach to solve their problems. I found a sense of despair. But I also found a belief in the resilience of India’s composite culture. The response was probably not surprising in a community that has gone through it all - post-Partition trauma, resurgence of fanaticism in early 90s and a history of dev...
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