India is about to go to the polls. 788 million people are eligible to vote in the world's largest democracy. The role of regional, local and caste-based parties is important in Indian politics where Governments tend to rule by coalition, but this election is being represented as an epic struggle between the Indian National Congress party and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by the controversial figure of Narendra Modi, a Hindu Nationalist.

Joining Ernie Rea to discuss the role of religious nationalism in Indian politics are William Gould, Professor of Indian History at the University of Leeds, Atreyee Sen, lecturer in Contemporary Religion and Conflict at the University of Manchester, and Zoya Hasan formerly Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University and currently National Fellow of the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR).

Producer: Amanda Hancox, Rosie Dawson.

A new word has entered into our common vocabulary recently. Fracking is the process whereby shale gas can be released from beneath the earth's surface. On the one hand, it's argued that fracking could give us enough gas to meet our short to medium term energy needs; on the other hand, there are those who fear it will do lasting environmental damage. How do you balance short term needs with long term environmental priorities? Western Christianity has been accused of promoting an exploitative relationship with the environment. Has Religion anything to contribute to the debate?

Producer: Rosie Dawson.

The Spring equinox falls on 20th March. A few dozen pagans and Druids will mark it with ceremonies inside the famous circle at Stonehenge. The summer solstice in June, on the other hand, will see thousands of people converge on the site. Why do they come? To connect with the ancestors? Celebrate nature? Rave? Does what they do bear any relationship to what happened at Stonehenge thousands of years ago, and can we ever know?

The Christian season of Lent is a time for recalling the forty days and nights spent by Jesus in the wilderness at the beginning of his ministry. In other faiths too the wilderness is a place of refuge, self- discovery, temptation and joy.

Joining Ernie Rea to discuss the idea and experience of the wilderness are the Anglican Bishop of Chelmsford, Stephen Cottrell, the Buddhist writer Vishvapani, and Laura Feldt, associate Professor in the Study of Religion at the University of Odense in Denmark.

Ernie Rea discusses the impact of Pope Francis' first year in the Vatican with journalist Paul Vallely, academic Tina Beattie and parish priest Marcus Holden. The Pope is still enjoying a media honeymoon but what is his programme for change? Can he do more than change the atmosphere in the Church?

He has appointed eight Cardinals from outside the Curia as his key advisers - what fresh perspectives might they bring to the Vatican? And he's been consulting priests and laity ahead of a Synod on the family in October, but will the Church's position on matters such as contraception change as a result?

Producer: Rosie Dawson.

The former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey, recently suggested that the Church of England may be extinct within a generation unless it learns to connect with young people. The Church of England is the most obvious example of a religious institution in serious decline, but it's certainly not the only one. Why is this happening? If our major religious institutions die, who will notice? And what might take their place?

Producer: Rosie Dawson.

As the Sochi Games enter their final week, William Crawley discusses the role of religion in Putin's Russia with Xenia Dennen, chairman of the Keston institute for the study of religion in the former Communist bloc, Vera Tolz, Professor of Russian Studies at the University of Manchester and Fr Andrew Phillips, a priest with the Russian Orthodox Church abroad.

Yoga is big business. Its worth $10bn a year in America alone. Does the growth in yoga's popularity, particularly in the West, mean that its spiritual content and religious roots are being neglected? Can yoga be practised aside from these roots? Are there even dangers in doing so?

Ernie Rea is joined by Jim Mallinson from SOAS, University of London, Suzanne Newcombe from the charity Inform and Ramesh Pattni from the Hindu Forum of Britain.

Officially anyone who declares that "There is one God and Muhammed is his prophet" is a Muslim. But many Muslims argue that the beliefs of the Ahmadi community mean they cannot be part of the faith. There are about 12 million Ahmadi worldwide and their headquarters, originally in Pakistan, are now in London. Their founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, claimed to be a prophet, although a lesser one than Mohammed, and it is this claim that critics say put his followers outside the fold of Islam.

Last year Sir James Munby, president of the Family Division, gave a speech in which he said the law of this country is secular, and that Christianity no longer informs its morality or values." Happily for us," he went on, "the days are past when the business of judges was the enforcement of morals or religious beliefs."

Ernie Rea is joined by Sir Mark Hedley, Joshua Rozenberg and David McIlroy to discuss the relationship between Christianity and the Law.

Producer: Rosie Dawson.