Lok Sabha polls decoded: A reading list of 10 pieces on key issues, rows

Apart from covering the entire spectrum of the Lok Sabha elections from across the country over more than two months, a team of reporters and editors of The Indian Express also examined key issues and major rows threadbare in order to simplify them for readers. Here is a list of 10 such pieces to read amid the poll results scheduled for Tuesday:

1. The Model Code of Conduct (MCC) immediately came into force following the announcement of the Lok Sabha poll schedule by the Election Commission (EC) on March 16. This article looked into the evolution of the MCC – a consensus document which political parties have themselves agreed upon to keep their conduct during elections in check, and to work within the Code – over the decades.

2. Once among the country’s longest-lasting political allies, the BJP and Akali Dal’s efforts to re-unite ahead of the Lok Sabha polls did not bear fruit eventually. Exploring its reasons, Raakhi Jagga also cast a spotlight on its impact on the two parties as well as other players in the Punjab fray.

3. The arrest of AAP leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal less than a month before the elections opened up the door for several possible scenarios and raised crucial questions for the AAP and the larger anti-BJP Opposition bloc. Vikas Pathak dissected these issues to explain the development and its ramifications.

4. Union minister Parshottam Rupala found himself in the eye of a storm soon after launching his campaign as the BJP’s candidate in Gujarat’s Rajkot over his purported remarks that Kshatriya rulers married their daughters with the British. Various Kshatriya organisations reacted angrily and held protests in various parts of the state. Despite Rupala’s apologies, the protests continued