ROUND THE STATES

4 March 2009, New Delhi

UP, W Bengal Bypolls

SIGNIFICANT INDICATORS FOR PARTIES

By Insaf

 Even as all manner of alliances are being forged for the Lok Sabha poll, beginning April 16, the results of two byelections are significant indicators for the parties across the board to rethink strategy. In Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati’s ruling BSP was routed in the Bhadohi Assembly seat, reserved for Scheduled Castes. Its candidate, Amar Singh Saroj lost to Samajwadi Party’s Madhubala by over 5,000 votes! This is the first time that the BSP has lost an Assembly seat since it was returned to power in 2007. Worse, when behenji had personally campaigned for the candidate and had five of her ministers camp there for nearly a month.

Clearly, the BSP would need to rethink its strategy as its Dalit-Brahmin-Muslim combination, didn’t work. Though the three constitute a majority of the voters, the BSP was able to win over a section of the Muslims, but lost among the Dalits and Brahmins. While the former were divided over the SP and BSP, the latter voted for the BJP candidate. As for the SP, doubts created by its teaming up with former BJP Chief Minister, Kalyan Singh were removed. He did not affect Mulayam’s Muslim vote bank. The Congress came seventh in the tally, worse than even an Independent, thereby hurting its bargaining position with the SP.     

Likewise, in West Bengal, the ruling CPM suffered a major blow in the Bishnupur Assembly byelection on Sunday last, when its candidate lost to Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress with a margin of over 30,000 votes. However, the Congress too took credit for the Left’s defeat by saying it had withdrawn its candidate in favour of the TMC. This unprecedented but impressive triumph helped to end weeks of suspense whether the two Congress’ would align. A reluctant PCC chief Pranab Mukherjee met Mamata soon after and the two announced they would be contesting the polls jointly. One hurdle however, remains: the numbers game regarding seat sharing.                  

*                            *                        *                                  *                                  

Third Front ‘Formed’

Meanwhile, Karnataka will be the launching pad of the much-talked about Third Front, an amalgamation of eight parties so far. Touting it as an alternative to both Congress and the BJP, former Prime Minister and the JD(S) chief Deve Gowda announced that the Front would be born on March 12 at a rally in Tumkur.  “This is the beginning and many may join till the elections…some after elections,” he said on Monday last. As of now, the CPM, CPI, JD (S), TDP, TRS, AIADMK, BSP and Forward Bloc were all in what is being described as a fresh version of a “secular conglomerate.”

Recall that the Third front was first formed in 1989 under Janata Dal’s VP Singh, and lasted only one year, till 1990. It was reborn as United Front in 1996, a brainchild of CPM’s Harkishen Singh Surjeet after neither Congress nor the BJP had the numbers to form the government. Its life was only two years-till 1998. A United National Progressive Alliance was announced just before the presidential election in 2008, to get President APJ Abdul Kalam a second term. But with the latter opting out, the front simply collapsed. Will the proposed Front survive? First, let’s see it take off.    

*                    *                                               *                                               *

Imam’s Good Chit For Modi

Gujarat’s Chief Minister Narendra Modi has got a glowing chit from the most unexpected quarters. Mufti Shabbir Ahmed Siddiqui, the Imam of Ahmedabad’s biggest mosque, Jama Masjid is all praise for Modi for having ensured peace after 2002 and also having  “lived up to expectations”. Muslims, says the Imam, too have an opportunity to prosper in the peaceful; environment that his government has created. Under fire from the hardliners, the Imam says that Islam has in the past befriended even bigger fundamentalists.

In fact, he blames the Congress as much as the BJP for the riots and goes on to plead: “It is time to move on.” He adds that seven years later, the people have already forgotten what had happened. At any rate “the projection of the riots was much graver than what had actually happened.” He also compliments Modi for checking the spread of Tablighi jamaat, which propagates Islamic religious fervour and conversion, in the State. The Imam has one other piece of advice for fellow Muslims: “Appreciate the performance of the chief minister, if he is good. Are the self-styled secularists listening?  

*                                   *                         *                                               *          

Bihar Poll ‘Cleaner’

Will elections in notorious Bihar be cleaner this time around? There is good news for starters. At least there will be three less “criminals’ vying for seats in the new Lok Sabha. The trio constitutes RJD’s Rajesh Ranjan, alias Pappu Yadav from Madhepura, Mohd Shahabuddin from Siwan and LJP’s Balia MP Surajbhan Singh. All three are convicted by trial courts on murder charges and sentenced to life imprisonment. While their respective party chiefs are in two minds over re-nominating them, the legal fraternity is divided over the law which prohibits any person convicted for more than two years from contesting.

Some noted lawyers opine that during the pendency of appeal in the higher court nothing bars a person from contesting elections. However, others point out that such a person can contest only if he is granted bail by the higher court and, importantly, his conviction is stayed. The case of Lok Sabha MP, Navjot Singh Sidhu’s conviction for a cognizable offence not amounting to murder is cited in support. He could seek nomination from Amritsar only after the Supreme Court not only granted him bail but also stayed his conviction.     . 

Waqf-like Board for MP Churches?

A controversy involving Christians, this time in Madhya Pradesh, could raise its ugly head if the State Minority Commission chooses to push for its novel idea. It is reportedly toying with the idea of seeking an enactment of a law wherein a waqf board-like body as in the case of Muslims should be constituted to monitor, regulate and control church properties across the State. The issue was first raised in mid-January by a member, who went on to propose that the law should also cover heritage churches, land gifted by the State government and cemeteries. The suggestion appeared to be broadly accepted as just and fair.

But a problem arose when the matter came up on last Tuesday for discussion in the Commission. Archbishop Leo Cornella firmly opposed it on the grounds that it would be tantamount to an infringement of the rights of the Christian community. He suspected that the idea was ‘politically motivated’ and that the Commission was seeking to prove its loyalty to the Shivaj Singh Chauhan’s BJP-led government. The Archbishop has gone a step further and warned that if such a law is framed he would not hesitate to move the higher court. The Commission’s next move is being watched with interest. --INFA

(Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)