Round The States

New Delhi, 10 December 2008

Poll In Five States

Voters Positive, Show Maturity

By Insaf

Excitement generated by the Assembly polls in five states is over. Thoughts are now turning to the object lessons to be learnt from the elections, viewed widely as the semi-finals to the next general election to the Lok Sabha, due sometime in April-May. What is it that enabled Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit in Delhi to score an unprecedented hat-trick, surprising one and all, especially the BJP High Command? What is it that helped Chief Ministers Shivraj Singh Chauhan and Raman Singh to win handsomely in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh respectively, proving all the pollsters and the Congress High Command wrong? What upset Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje’s applecart in Rajasthan, enabling the Congress to come within a whisker of winning a clear majority on its own, with 96 seats in its kitty out of a total of 200 seats? Again, what enabled the Congress and its former Chief Minister, Lal Thanhawla, to dislodge the Mizoram National Front, founded by the Mizo icon, Laldenga, by winning a record 32 out of 40 seats!

India’s voters clearly want dedicated and accessible leaders and a better quality of life. At the same time, they maturely want good, honest governance, which takes care of their day-to-day needs. This is the message that comes out loud and clear from the election results in the five states. The BJP’s attempt to build a national campaign around the issues of terrorism, inflation and a deepening agricultural crisis as a run up to the Lok Sabha election, largely failed to click, at best working only partially. Local issues of governance won the day hands down, as reflected in Shiela Dikshit’s record crushing victory which gave her as many as 42 out of 69 seats. BJP’s hope of capitalizing on the anti-incumbency factor too failed. Shiela Dikshit’s accessibility, caring motherly image and record of governance over the past ten years gave her an unrivalled popular image. Commented Ajay, son of BJP’s Chief Ministerial candidate, V.K. Malhotra: “The people of Delhi have voted for Sheila Dikshit. Anyone would have lost against her!”

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All the five north Indian states saw a positive vote for or against the Chief Ministerial nominee, over-riding familiar talk of anti-incumbency as the most important determining factor. If in Delhi, it was a stand-off between Sheila Dikshit and Vijay Kumar Malhotra, in Chhattisgarh it boiled down to a choice between the soft spoken Raman Singh and the controversial Ajit Jogi. In Rajasthan, the Congress successfully concentrated on Vasundhara Raje’s alleged imperious style of functioning while in Madhya Pradesh, the unassuming and humble Shivraj Singh Chauhan became a match-winner against the Congress’ Suresh Pachauri, hand-picked by Sonia Gandhi for leading the Pradesh Congress. In Mizoram, it was a head-on fight between the MNF Chief Minister Zoramthanga and former Congress Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla. The Congress won 32 of 40 seats, routing the MNF and creating electoral history. Each leader stood from two constituencies. Zoramthanga lost from both while Lal Thanhawla won from both.

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Corrupt MNF Rule

Zoramthanga has described the party’s rout as the result of a “strong anti-incumbency wave.” He argues: “In Mizoram, the people always want a change in Government after one-party rule in the State irrespective of whether it performed well or badly. Since we stayed in power for ten long years, the anti-incumbency factor crept in”. Yet the truth is otherwise, as spelt out by Lal Thanhawla as the PCC Chief and former Chief Minister. Describing the party’s landslide win as “the peoples’ victory,” Lal Thanhawla told the media that the people of the state wanted an end “to corrupt rule of the MNF” and therefore voted the Congress back to power…. During the last ten years, the poor became poorer and there was no development as funds provided for development were swindled.” In 2003 Assembly polls, the Congress won 12 seats and the MNF 21 seats. Zoramthanga then stood from Kolasib and Champhai constituencies and won both.

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“Chawal Baba” Scores

What has specially helped both Shivraj Singh Chauhan and Raman Singh, an Ayurveda graduate, are their clean images, genuine and transparent humility and their commitment to serving the downtrodden at the grass roots with dedication. Raman Singh’s master stroke was his “food security scheme”, launched earlier this January. The scheme provided 35 kg of rice at just Rs.3 per kg to 34 lakh families below the poverty line and earned him the nickname of “Chawal Baba.” As Raman Singh predicted, the scheme became the party’s “lifeline” in the elections, especially since he ensured that the rice actually reached the masses, instead of being siphoned off by corrupt officers. (The Centre and various states are eager to get a blue print of his scheme.) Another thing that helped “Dr. Clean”, as he is popularly called, was his tough stand against Naxalism and, over the past three yeas, his full support to the anti-Naxalite movement, Salwa Judum, openly showing solidarity with the Congress veteran Mahendra Karma over the armed campaign led by the villagers.

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Mayawati And Her Elephant

One question remains. What about Mayawati and the BSP’s elephant? Will they have to wait before the party becomes a major player outside UP?  Mayawati and her elephant have not done as badly as many of her critics would have us believe. She has improved her performance in Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, though she will have to wait until the next elections to play kingmaker in these states. The party has doubled its vote share in Delhi and opened its account for the first time in the capital. It has also registered its presence in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. It won seven seats each in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and two seats each in Delhi and Chhattisgarh. Moreover, it has increased its vote share in Delhi by 8.5 per cent to nearly 14 per cent, in Rajasthan from 3.9 per cent to 8 per cent and in Madhya Pradesh from 2 per cent to 8.35 per cent. The BSP failed to win any seats in Chhattisgarh. However, its poll per centage went up from 2.5 to 6 per cent. The elephant is surely progressing!

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Kerala To Promote Monitor Boats

Wiser by the tragic experience of Mumbai, the Kerala Government has decided to ensure better monitoring of sea-going vessels. It has proposed fixing tamper-proof number plates on all such vessels, chiefly fishing boats registered in Kerala. The decision to fix “high security registration plates (HSRP) initially was prompted by warnings from intelligence agencies that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) was sourcing small sea-going vessels from Kerala for possible use as light gun boats. Urgency to the proposal has now been lent by reports that Pakistani terrorists responsible for the Mumbai mayhem hi-jacked a fishing boat to reach their destination Cost Guard had earlier reported that unregistered fishing boats and those displaying fake registration numbers, often scrawled in paint on the hull, were being used for criminal activities. HSRPs will be uniform in pattern and will be designed to protect against counterfeiting. ---INFA

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