Word: uttar
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...image dripping with symbolism - and cake crumbs. When Mayawati Kumari, Chief Minister of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, turned 52 in January, aides and civil servants took turns to finger-feed her scoops of a 115-pound (52 kg) chocolate birthday cake at a party in the state capital Lucknow. The image of mostly high-caste men feeding a Dalit (formerly "Untouchable") woman was an incredibly powerful one in a country where discrimination based on caste has been banned for more than half a century but where many of the old barriers and prejudices endure. Just in case Mayawati...
...next general election. Given the fractured nature of Indian politics, that poll, due by early 2009 at the latest, is unlikely to produce any single winner. If Mayawati and the BSP can win 40 or 50 seats in the 552-member lower house - a real possibility given that Uttar Pradesh's 110 million voters elect 80 of those members - she would be well placed to decide which of India's two big parties, the Indian National Congress and the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, should lead a new government, or perhaps even wangle the premiership for herself...
...progress. That's not a problem confined to Asia, but seems particularly acute in the region. In India, the otherwise rational Congress Party recently elevated Rahul Gandhi to general secretary - a potential stepping stone to Prime Minister - even though he had just led the party to defeat in the Uttar Pradesh state election and has articulated few fresh policy ideas. In the Philippines, one study has found that more than half the members of Congress hail from a political family. Even in China, where Mao Zedong rose to power demonizing feudalism, a class of "princelings," sons of former revolutionary cadres...
...while these new supermarkets still only account for less than 5% of the industry, opposition to their presence is growing louder. In the past few months there have been protests in Uttar Pradesh in central India and the communist-ruled Kerala and West Bengal, including violent demonstrations last September that forced Reliance Fresh, the food stores arm of Reliance Retail, to shut their shops and lay off staff. "We want the government to stop large corporations from entering the retail segment until it puts in place a national policy that is agreeable to all the stakeholders including small traders, shopkeepers...
...supporters over a contentious nuclear deal with the U.S., elections could be called any time now. An issue like organized retail helps rally millions, and opposition parties have been quick to latch on to it. More mass protests and populist moves to clamp down on big retail - like the Uttar Pradesh government's order to shut down Reliance Fresh - can be expected in the months to come...