Round The States

New Delhi, 1 May 2009

Mumbai Disappoints

CRUCIAL THIRD ROUND FOR BJP

By Insaf

Braving the blistering hot sun, voters in nine States and two Union territories exercised their franchise for 107 Lok Sabha seats in the third phase of polling on Thursday last. But the exercise was not good enough. The turnout was no more than 50 per cent, which was far less than the 60 per and 55 per cent in the previous two phases. However, this round, which completes voting for two-thirds of the total 543 seats, is crucial for the BJP as it is defending 43 seats against 25 of the Congress. With Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, UP and Bihar in play, the stakes for the BJP are definitely higher for it in its stronghold, where it holds office. It could be either make or break for the saffron party. The Congress, however, needs to hold on to its seats in Maharashtra with the NCP, make gains in West Bengal with the help of Trinamool Congress and hopefully make a dent in BJP’s Gujarat.    

Meanwhile, all eyes were on how the country’s financial capital, Mumbai, with six constituencies going to polls fared with its date with democracy. Against the backdrop of the bloody terrorist siege of 26/11 and some 10,000 citizens’ vociferous protests against the polity that followed, the turnout clearly is a major disappointment. It was a mere 43.5 per cent compared to 2004’s 47.15 per cent. The only saving grace, if one could say was that the Who’s Who of Bollywood did show up in full strength. Some like Aamir Khan and Shahrukh Khan flew back from abroad to exercise their franchise. Heat, humidity and a long weekend came in as a handy excuse for the poor show. Reason enough for 50 lakh voters to keep away? Sadly, months of awareness by leading Bollywood stars and prominent social activists coaxing people to vote went waste!

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Bizarre Tamil Nadu Drama

The race for winning the electoral battle in Tamil Nadu went bizarre last fortnight. Both the DMK and AIADMK went all out in their bid to protect themselves as champions for the suffering Tamils in Sri Lanka. On Saturday last AIADMK supremo Jayalalitha surprised one and all with a U-turn in her stance. A virulent critic of the LTTE, the former Chief Minister said her party would strive for setting up an independent “Tamil Eelam” as it was “the only lasting solution” to the decades-old ethnic crisis. Clearly, her earlier demand for equal status for the Tamils and devolution of powers to them was not good enough to rival, the DMK’s campaign. The latter has made the ongoing war a major poll issue and sought to pressurize its ally the Congress to demand an immediate ceasefire. However, Jayalalitha’s u-turn did rattle the Chief Minister and the DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi who felt compelled two days later to suddenly go on a fast proclaiming he was “prepared to sacrifice himself” to protect the Tamils in Lanka! As luck would have, the fast ended before lunch as soon as the Lankan Government announced its decision to halt heavy firing.

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Madhya Pradesh Rap For Sonia

Madhya Pradesh’s progress and achievements cannot be wished away lightly. Not even in an election campaign. This is what Congress President and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi would have learnt the hard way. In a letter to her last week, the Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan has set the record straight and asked her to distance herself from the “slander” that he had stolen the Dhanalakshmi scheme going on in Delhi and Haryana for a long time and renamed it Laadli Lakshmi.. The scheme, he told her was much older than Dhanalakshmi and there was no such scheme in the two States. This apart, he “educated her” by asserting that it was launched by the Central Government in Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. This was followed by a knock-out blow: “While you complain that we stole your scheme…our complaint is that you haven’t even stolen our scheme properly”.

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 Congress’ Caste Problem In Rajasthan 

The Congress in Rajasthan has found a novel way to balance the caste factor and keep its flock together. Particularly, those who have been left out in the ticket distribution. The party has sought to accommodate as many castes in the 25 Lok Sabha constituencies as possible. Over half the tickets have been given to Jats, Rajputs and Brahmins. However, there are many less prominent castes, including the Vishnois, Malis, Rawats and Yadavs who have not been represented. But they shouldn’t have reason to sulk, if the party’s election observer for the State and Rajya Sabha member, Virendra Kataria, keeps his word: “If anybody is left out, they will be given positions in the State government. The interest of these communities would be fully taken care of.”

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Post-Poll Game In Andhra 

Andhra Pradesh has already set the ball rolling for trading in government formation. With both the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls over, the Telengana Rashtriya Samithi (TRS) has declared that it would go with whichever political party or coalition supported statehood for Telengana. The TRS chief, K Chandrasekhar Rao apparently means business. On Sunday last he made it known that he would meet Congress President Sonia Gandhi, BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Advani and NCP’s Sharad Pawar to discuss his post-poll plans. While the announcement is bound to disappoint his Grand Alliance partners-- the Telugu Desam Party and the Left parties --- it offers a ray of hope to the Congress, which is worried that it may not be able to retain power on its own. In the ensuing numbers game, the BJP too may stand to gain as it has championed the cause of a separate State. 

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The BJP appears to be in for a rude shock in Gujarat from none other than its hard core supporters, the Patel community. Comprising 20 per cent of the State’s population and an overseas major diaspora which funds the party, Patels no longer want to be taken for granted. They would rather vote for a Patel candidate irrespective of party affiliations. Or in the absence of a Patel candidate, the community leaders will refrain from issuing a diktat. Indications in Central Gujarat are that while one of the biggest Patel Samaj will support BJP’s Deepak Patel, in Kheda they will vote for Dinsha Patel a Congress candidate and Union Minister of State for Petroleum. Likewise, in North Gujarat, the Patels will choose their candidates this time and the votes will be divided between the Congress and the BJP. In Saurashtra, 30 per cent votes are expected to shift in favour of the Congress. ---INFA

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