Indian election 2014: your interactive guide to the world's biggest vote | World | The Guardian

Indian election 2014: your interactive guide to the world's biggest vote | World | The Guardian



NEWSPAPER HEADLINES



"Greatest show on earth kicks off today" reads the Times of India headlines. With weeks of hectic activity coming to an end yesterday, 76 lakh voters from five constituencies in Assam and one in Tripura will begin the country's Nine Phase general election this morning.

There is a beautiful photograph in the Indian Express of a polling official crossing the Bhramaputra on a fragile boat in Assam, to report to the call of duty.

The Economic Times informs us that the most politically charged elections in recent times are being closely and methodically studied by the most politically experienced  president of recent times. President Pranab Mukherjee has appointed a special advisor to work with him on legal and constitutional matters, should post-election scenarios call for his involvement as an arbiter.

Ending weeks of suspense, The Telugu Desam Party and the BJP finalized their Pre-poll alliance in Hyderabad yesterday, highlights the Press. The Hindu headline reads "After a decade, Naidu back in NDA".

"Team India let T20 Cup slip away". Mail Today writes that  the law of averages finally caught up with India on Sunday. Having been unbeaten throughout the ICC World Twenty20, it was amazing to see just how off colour the Indian team seemed in the final yesterday.

"Maoists ready for conditional truce" writes the Hindu. In a statement, a day ahead of Phase One of the Lok Sabha election - the outlawed party said it was not against peace talks with the Govt, if five conditions laid down by it were met.

The Statesman writes that a sprawling bungalow in Delhi on Moti Lal Nehru road is being readied for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's retirement home and The Times of India writes that former American President George Bush has painted a portrait of Dr. Manmohan Singh which is to be displayed in a Dallas Exhibition.

And finally, The Asian Age writes that a 13 year old girl in Scotland Eva Wedderburn has entered the genius club Mensa, after scoring an incredible 160 on an IQ test -making her just as intelligent as Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking.