Of the nearly Rs 4,000-5,000 crore total advertisement and publicity spend, the digital platforms can expect to garner at least Rs 400-500 crore, given the fact the internet penetration is limited to about 30 percent of the voters.
After ten years in office, the Congress party is trailing in opinion polls. Thanks to its failure to check corruption, cool inflation and spark an economic revival, it is widely expected to be defeated in the election that begins on April 7.<br />
The Aam Admi Party's tumultuous seven-week tenure in New Delhi might have left doubts about AAP as a party of governance but it's clear that when it comes to the campaign, noone can rule AAP out
Four months later, it seems IIT Bombay also has joined the 'Help AAP' bandwagon as some students from this prestigious institute are now developing data analytics tools and interactive apps for Facebook, iOS and the Android platform for the AAP.<br />
While the Aam Aadmi Party, which was believed to be a firm follower of Left principles, sprang a surprise by saying that it is not against privatsation, it now seems it is the BJP now against this policy.
Congress's 4th candidate list mentions his son Karti as contesting from Sivaganga contituency in Tamil Nadu
Crony capitalism is the inevitable fallout of an endlessly expanding state - especially a state that is weak and lacks authority. But state bankruptcy may be helping reverse this trend
Despite the deposit loss, there is no stopping the independent candidates
If Arvind Kejriwal's success is anything to go by ( AAP won 28/70 seats in its maiden outing), promises to fix civic amenities, like interrupted water and power supplies, and battle corruption can go a long way to get urban voters to actually cast their ballot.<br />
A Credit Suisse report points out that the elections will have no effect on the Indian economy and it won't restart investments
Close to 70 percent of all the candidates fielded by the Congress Party and up to 50 percent of the candidates of the Bharatiya Janta Party are Indian rupee millionaires (crorepatis)!
The Association for Democratic Reforms and the National Election Watch combed the declared financial assets of 188 candidates to be fielded by the Congress and the BJP, as announced until 8 March, 2014.
Comparing the current political scenario to two wheelers, Rajiv Bajaj, Managing Director of Bajaj Auto, has termed the Aam Aadmi Party as the Pulsar, the BJP as the Hero Splendor ( the fuel efficient motorbike) and the Congress as the Bajaj Chetak( the scooter was a bestseller in its prime days but was discontinued five years ago).<br />
Most opinion polls are showing a BJP-led NDA gaining ground and market returns have been positive in the run-up to the general election.<br />
"It's hilarious that Congress, which can't find candidates, is claiming to win more than 200 seats. (There is) anti-Congress wave in country, no one wants Congress ticket," Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said in an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana'.<br />
India is not the only country gearing up for polls this year. Some other important emerging market governments head to crucial polls this year too.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the toddler among big parties in Gujarat, has decided to go ahead with a low-profile political campaign for the Lok Sabha polls using unconventional ways to woo voters including street plays and youth internships, due to fund crunch.
When there is overwhelming evidence of changing food preferences, should an elaborate and inefficient architecture of procuring and distributing food grains continue to be nurtured? Is the enormous fiscal cost justified? Could the money not be put to better use?
If elections are the biggest festival of democracy, it can also be turned into a tourist attraction, for festivals are manna for a globetrotter. And that is what a few travel and tour operators have done in India.<br />
Weary after 16 hours of campaigning in Mewat, which is a part of his Gurgaon constituency, AAP's chief policy maven Yogendra Yadav sat down to speak with Firstpost, and offered an exclusive take on his party's achilles heel.
Whichever government comes to power will land neck-deep in an economic crisis, thanks to the UPA's scorched-earth policy of the last 3 years. It will have to do out-of-the-box thinking to fix the economy.
The comments may be aimed at wooing the fence-sitters among the business community
So while Panagariya is batting for Narendra Modi as the next Prime Minister, he has cautioned that without 220 seats, the economic reforms agenda cannot be duly implemented<br />
What this essentially means is that the expectation of a Modi win is high, which is why the payout is lower on the odds on him.