Round The States

1 May 2014, New Delhi

FIR Against Modi, Media

ALL EYES ON GUJARAT, EC

By Insaf

All eyes are on Gujarat, Ahmedabad police and the EC. The BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi may well have scored a self goal! At least he has sparked off a major controversy, with the city crime branch having filed an FIR against him, following a direction by the Election Commission. The drama follows Modi displaying the BJP symbol and making a “political speech” outside a polling booth after voting, in violation of sections of the RPA, which states “no person can display any election matter or address a meeting in a polling booth on the day of election”. This apart, a complaint has been registered against the “media channels” for covering the event! The argument being that the actions would influence and impact poll results in constituencies going to the polls that day not only in the State but across the country. This, however, has been ridiculed by the BJP in a blog by its senior leader. The move, notes Arun Jaitley may “fall foul”, as “When Constitutional institutions react in haste and even anger, they miss out the larger vision.” He has particularly gone into the nitty-gritty of the words “polling area” and “public meeting”. The entire country these days is a polling area, and clarity was a must. Indeed, food for thought. The coming days should provide a good diet to the story whether Modi’s MLA or MP status would be in jeopardy.

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Telangana’s First Step

The first page in the history of Telangana has been scripted. A large voter turnout of 72 per cent in the 10 districts sealed the fate of 1,699 candidates for the constitution of the new State’s first Assembly. A clear mandate for the two main contenders, the Telangana Rasthriya Samiti and the Congress is however hazy for the 119 member House. While TRS is exuding confidence that its leader K Chandrashekhar Rao will be the Chief Minister, the Congress, taking credit for the bifurcation, says it’s not the case as per its calculations. In fact, political pundits predict there may be a hung Assembly and the two parties would eventually end up forming a coalition government, despite the bitter war of words during the campaigning. For the other contenders, YSR Congress and the TDP-BJP alliance it is no-go here but a close finish in Seemandhra which goes to polls on May 7. Will the pink party cross the magic figure of 60 in the new State or will the Congress, claiming at least 45 seats, extract its pound of flesh? For the people of Telangana, unlike the rest of the country, the results of which way the Lok Sabha seats went would be of little import. 

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TN Politics Over Blasts

Trust our politicians to go to any lengths at scoring brownie points, even using tragedies. The latest case is that of Tamil Nadu, where a twin blast in compartments of the Bangalore-Guwahati Express, at Chennai Central station, which killed on person and injured 14 others. While Chief Minister Jayalalitha has ordered an inquiry, the Opposition has indirectly held her government responsible for it by claiming “deteriorating law and order situation”. DMK leader M Karunanidhi insists that the blasts could have been averted on grounds that despite the arrest of an ISI operative, Zakir Hussai, the CM, who heads the Home department, did not take precautionary steps. The police, according to him was incapacitated as the CM was away! While one fails to see the logic, the AIADMK can at least thank its good fortune that the election in the State is over. If the incident had occurred during it, the opposition parties would have created merry hell. Worse, energies would have been lost in one-upmanship rather than dealing with the tragedy.  

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Women Power In 10 States

Three cheers to the country’s women. In as many as 10 States and Union territories they have outnumbered their male counterparts in the fourth phase of polling, which continued to be high, 66.20 per cent all put together in 89 constituencies. The States which should

Round The States….2

do thumbs up are: Manipur, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Chandigarh, Lakshadweep, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. At the same time, its balle balle to the Punjab voter too, as the State recorded its highest voter turnout-- 73 per cent. This should make the Congress hopeful of making a comeback and the ruling SAD-BJP combine a wee-bit worried as it battles the anti-incumbency factor. A higher voter turnout is always seen as a sign for a change. Likewise, Uttar Pradesh too saw a rise too in the voting percentage, 57.10 instead of 47.99 last time, perhaps a wake-up call to the ruling Samajwadi Party. However, the high-profile Sonia Gandhi constituency of Rae Bareli, which has been witness to daughter Priyanka’s hard-hitting campaign against Modi, saw only a marginal increase – 51.83 per cent against 48.32 in 2009. What should one make of this—seat safe and media hype?   

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Rajasthan Probe?

How soon will the BJP Government in Rajasthan start investigation into Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra’s alleged ‘land deal’, is a question doing the rounds. While the party has said that the probe into all ‘malpractices’, including the Vadra case, by the previous Ashok Gehlot government will start after polling is completed on May 16, the delay has raised many an eyebrow. Surely, the model code of conduct of the Election Commission cannot be a reason, as cited by the BJP. It so happens that the administration has already started functioning normally. On Wednesday last, it was quick to announce disbursing Rs 401 crore input subsidy to all farmers affected by the hailstorm in February in 22 districts. This follows EC’s instructions that all normal/administrative work/development activities in the State can be taken up as polling is completed. With the code lifted, the Vasundhra Raje government has no reason to wait till the next fortnight.     

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‘Unholy’ Order In Uttarakhand?

Many a political leader wanting to get the blessings of the Gods in Uttarakhand has reason to be peeved with the Chief Election Commission. With the State going to the polls on May 7, the EC issued an “unholy order” according to some. The directive to the Government was that leaders of all political parties and even Cabinet Ministers are to be forbidden from partaking the special prayers offered at the start of the Char Dham yatra--Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath, since Friday last. While the netas have even been barred from taking private helicopters to the four shrines, the administrative officers, who have been allowed to participate in the ceremony, would do so only after taking prior permission from the Chief electoral officer in Dehradun. Worse, the ban stays till not just the end of polling in the State, but all-India i.e. May 16! While the EC may seek to defend its decision on grounds that politicisation of religious/holy occasions should be discouraged, it would find few takers even amongst devout Hindus. ---INFA

(Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)