What is and what should be the nature of relationship between the civil society and state? This gnawing question has been troubling the students of political science for quite some time. It is only in the last decade, after the liberalization process was initiated, that the debate on the relationship between the state and civil society has come to occupy considerable space in the public discourse.

align="left">In many ways the 2004 Lok Sabha election verdict is an expression of discontent by the poor and dispossessed. But the verdicts are not against economic reform; they are for a more inclusive growth process that meets the aspirations and basic needs of the underprivileged.