Inflation could bring down the govt.
http://www.livemint.com/2008/09/01000558/P...A8217s.html?h=B
The advisory of RBI on the inflation front has sent alarm bells ringing in the ruling United Progressive Alliance government
Although inflation has marginally declined from 12.63% for the week ended August 9 to 12.4% for the week ended August 16, there still seems to be no respite from it.
The annual report of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released last Friday said that inflation risks have increased sharply and appear to be persistent. A realistic policy endeavour would be to bring down inflation from the prevailing level of more than 12% to a level close to 7% by 31 March 2009, the bank said in its annual report for 2007-08.
Owing to some downside risks to growth and upward pressures on inflation in the near term, RBI has reportedly informed the government that inflation is likely to rise further to peak levels of 13-14 %, and may ease off only in the second quarter of next year.
The advisory of RBI on the inflation front has sent alarm bells ringing in the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. Speculation has been rife in political quarters in the past few days that the Congress may advance Lok Sabha elections due in April-May next year to ward off the dangers posed by the worsening economic situation.
The UPA government, which has been preoccupied with the nuclear deal (Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement) over the past few months and euphoric about its grand victory in the July trust vote in the Lok Sabha, appears totally oblivious to the reality that the nationâs electorate has had it with the governmentâs inability to rein in soaring prices.
Usually, people do not blame the Union government alone for high prices and apportion some responsibility to state governments but this time, throughout the country there is an overwhelming perception that the UPA government has grossly failed to contain prices and is alone culpable for the situation.
Possibly, this perception is a result of the Union governmentâs direct involvement in increasing the prices of petroleum products. The issue of rising prices has acquired such dangerous proportions that it has the potential to vote out the UPA government at the Centre.
Consider this: In the poll-bound Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ruled states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, the sentiment against the Union government over price rise is overshadowing the anti-incumbency sentiment against the state governments. In states such as Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, where the BJP looked extremely vulnerable six months ago, the situation has turned around, thanks to the UPA governmentâs failure to contain prices.While the final outcome may depend on local and caste factors, the BJP has got a fresh lease of life in these states.
In the Congress ruled state of Delhi, where assembly elections are barely two months away, inflation has emerged a major issue and the party is likely to be voted out on this alone. If high onion prices in 1998 could push the BJP out of power in Delhi, one can imagine the scale of likely defeat for the Congress party in the ensuing assembly elections.
While the UPA government has failed to rein in prices, it is surprising that the Congress leadership is not even making the usual noises highlighting its concern. Even the usually articulate finance minister P. Chidambaram and the highly acclaimed economist-turned-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have gone completely silent on the issue.
The Congress is perhaps hoping that remaining silent would help the electorate forget the issue. The party plans to focus its campaign on the nuclear deal, which is proving to be a complete non-issue as far as voters are concerned.
Still, things could have been worse. Thatâs because even as people suffer the fallout of inflation and the government seems unable to contain rising prices, the BJP has so far failed to make the issue its central election plank. Even so, the BJP is likely to be the direct beneficiary as voters across the country believe the partyâs track record in controlling prices is much better.
If âprice riseâ indeed becomes the dominant issue in the general elections, as I reckon it will, the UPA will suffer reverses as the lower and middle income classes, an important political constituency, are likely to turn out in large numbers to cast their decisive vote against the ruling coalition.
Clearly, time is running out for the UPA government to act decisively against the unabated price rise. Every incremental rise in inflation will cause the UPAâs electoral prospects crash that much faster.
Congress is thinking that it will use the nuclear deal to get the rural votes. BJP has to counter that aggressively by pointing out the following:
1) The nuke deal limits India's sovereignty.
2) The power from the deal come a few years from now and even then will be a small % of total power.
3) Cost of power.
4) They should link the cost of power with inflation. BJP benefits if inflation is the the main election issue.
Congress bereft of any other achievment, has this nuclear deal as the only issue to go polls with.
Congress is behaving like it has won the election like it did after the trust vote. BJP has enough ammo to counter this and they should do it effectively.
<!--emo&:ind--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/india.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='india.gif' /><!--endemo--> The first time that a BJP national executive meet was held in Bangalore was in 1986 when Mr. Yeddyurappa was the lone MLA of the party and the second time when the meet was held in 1993 the party had four MLAs, and the third time in 2001 when the party had 44 legislators .
This time, the party has 111 MLAs, including the nominated Anglo Indian.
Sources in the Chief Ministerâs secretariat told The Hindu that all-out efforts would be made during the three-day meet to prevent any kind of inconvenience to the common people irrespective of the presence of nearly 25 VVIPs in Bangalore.
http://www.hindu.com/2008/09/12/stories/...330100.htm
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After 'India Shining', is it 'We must win" for BJP?</b>
Bangalore (PTI): After its 'feel good factor' and 'India Shining' slogans flopped in 2004, the BJP appears set to adopt the 'we must win' mantra for the coming elections.
The party's Prime Ministerial candidate, L K Advani told partymen at the national executive that the entire party must immediately come into a "must win" mode, with unity in "thought, strategy and action".
While Advani did not come out with any slogan for the next elections, he is credited with coining the "feel good" and "India Shining" catch-phrases.
Advani, a master in chalking out electoral strategies, has in the past asked partymen to inculcate the "killer instinct".
In the Gujarat polls last year, the slogan coined by Chief Minister Narendra Modi was "Jeetega Gujarat", which worked wonders for the saffron party.
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Cong. blames BJP for putting spanner in federal agency idea</b>
New Delhi (PTI): With the BJP demanding strong anti-terror laws, the Congress on Sunday sought to turn the tables against the saffron party accusing it of not cooperating in floating a federal agency to handle the menace.
Within hours of the BJP asserting that it would bring back POTA and enact other tough laws within 100 days of coming to power, the Congress charged it with not backing the UPA government in amending the Constitution for having an anti-terror agency.
"The real need of the hour is to have a Centrally coordinated anti-terror agency... for that we need Constitutional amendment for which the full cooperation of the BJP is required but they have not come forward," Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi, told PTI.
He claimed that "it is clear that they (BJP) want to keep the pot boiling for scoring cheap political points. Thus they do not want a real solution to the problem."
In his concluding remarks at the BJP's National Executive in Bangalore, the party's Prime Ministerial candidate L K Advani said, "If people give us a mandate to form the next government in New Delhi, we will bring back POTA within 100 days of assuming office."
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Advani lists five tasks before BJP</b>
Neena Vyas
The main task is to get into poll mode
BANGALORE: Bharatiya Janata Party leader L.K. Advani on Sunday advised his partymen to immediately get into the âmust winâ mode as the first in a list of five tasks that must be accomplished to win the Assembly election battles ahead and the Lok Sabha war looming large.
The second point that he mentioned, in his closing remarks on the last day of the three-day party conclave here, was the need to strengthen the National Democratic Alliance. In short, find new friends.
So far, only the Asom Gana Parishad â other than existing NDA allies, the Shiv Sena, the Janata Dal (United), the Akali Dal and the Biju Janata Dal â has shown inclination to accept a seat-sharing arrangement with the BJP. And general secretary Arun Jaitley has talked about the possibility of a tie-up with Ajit Singhâs Rashtriya Lok Dal in Uttar Pradesh.
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The third âtaskâ was to ensure that the party worked as a team, Mr. Advani said. In this context, he said he was âdeeply upsetâ by the tendency of some partymen to âspeak out of turnâ and make public statements about prospective alliances and other aspects of the partyâs election strategy. In fact, the party has issued a directive to all, including leaders, not to talk about prospective alliances when talks between the BJP and some other party may be at a delicate stage.</b>
It was felt public statements by leaders often spoilt chances of expanding the NDA, and BJP leaders admit in private that the key to winning the Lok Sabha election would be the alliances the party makes.
The next âtaskâ before the party was to come up with an agenda for good governance. The manifesto committee has already been set up and senior leader Venkaiah Naidu said anyone from the party was free to send in suggestions for the manifesto. In the context of the fifth task spelt out by Mr. Advani â reaching out to first-time voters aged 18 to 22 â Mr. Naidu said state units of the BJP have been asked to hold conventions for this group of voters.
Mr. Advani emphasised the need to fight the anti-incumbency factor in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan.
âWe must be attentive towards local-level anti-incumbency in certain constituencies,â he said, hinting that the BJP could adopt a strategy of bringing in new faces as candidates, as was done in Gujarat with success.
He indicated that Chief Ministers of these States would be given a free-hand in finalising candidates. âThe supremacy of chief ministerial candidates, under whose leadershipâ the party would go to the polls must be maintained, he said.
In these three States, the BJP has already made clear that existing Chief Ministers would lead BJP governments once again if the party wins in those states. However, in the case of Delhi, where the BJP hopes to wrest power from the Congress, a decision on a chief ministerial candidate would be taken by the partyâs Parliamentary Board at an appropriate time, Mr. Naidu told journalists.
Mr. Naidu announced that state units have been asked to complete the task of setting up election-related state committees by September and finalising possible candidatesâ lists by October.
Call for e-campaign
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi had suggested extensive use of an e-campaign through e-mail, e-posters and so on, Mr. Naidu said. And in Delhi, the task of re-starting the stalled process of candidate-selection would begin next month.
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âCongress scared of losing vote-bankâ</b>
Special correspondent
BANGALORE: The Bharatiya Janata Partyâs prime ministerial candidate, L.K. Advani, on Sunday said fighting terror would be high on the agenda of his government if the party was voted to power.
He was speaking to party delegates on the third and closing day of the BJP national executive committee meeting here.
Paying homage to those killed in Saturdayâs attacks in Delhi and the thousands affected by the floods in Bihar, Mr. Advani said: âTerrorists have no fear because the Congress party and its government are gripped with fear â the fear of losing vote banks â when it comes to uncompromising legal and administrative measures against terrorism.â
He clearly made a connection between terrorists and Muslims by indicating that the Congress was unwilling to fight terrorism for fear of losing Muslims as a vote bank. Yet, he added, it was the BJPâs adversaries, ânot usâ, who were misrepresenting that the fight against terrorism is a fight against Islam and the Muslim community.
In this context, he alleged that the Sachar Committee report had revealed how the Congress had treated its âmost loyal supporters,â the Muslims. If the Indian Muslim had been impoverished the finger of blame should point at the Congress, which alone ruled the country for decades after the Independence. And, again, he blamed the Congress for what he said was a âdangerous slide from special status to separatismâ in relation to Jammu and Kashmir.<b>
He charged successive Congress governments with losing all the strategic gains made from the 1971 war leading to the liberation of Bangladesh by ignoring large-scale âinfiltrationâ from the new country that had become a grave threat to security, especially in Assam and the North-East. This was part of the Congressâ âmyopic politics of minorityism.â</b>
âMega failureâ
Mr. Advani said he held Prime Minister Manmohan Singh responsible for the governmentâs âmega failureâ to curb terrorism and inflation, the âmega scandalâ of the cash-for-votes incident of July 22 related to the trust vote in Parliament, and the âmega fraudâ of the Indo-United States nuclear deal in violation of assurances given to Parliament.
<b>BJP demands revival of POTA</b>
Bangalore (PTI): The serial blasts in Delhi provided a fresh grist to the BJP mill to demand revival of the tough anti-terror law POTA at the national executive that provided a larger than life image for Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi campaigning for a similar law in the state.
However, at the end of the three-day conclave of top leaders, concerns over discipline in the party came to the fore especially against the backdrop of leaders speaking against possible alliances in the coming elections.
The meet finalised the election strategy with Advani asking the party to immediately come into a "must win" mode with unity in thought, strategy and action".
It wanted the party to take the lead in strengthening the NDA, and also "expanding it in the coming days".
Advani, who strongly backs Modi on the tough state law which is pending with the Centre, said in his valedictory address "if the people give us the mandate to form the next government in New Delhi, we shall bring back POTA, recommend Presidential assent for state-specific anti-terror laws and take other tough laws within the first 100 days".
A highlight of the deliberations was the growing profile of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who appeared to be projected as someone more than a party Chief Minister, and even Advani praising his administrative skills in the matter of development as also tackling terrorism.
Ahead of the elections, the party appeared worried over dissenting remarks made by leaders over alliances. The BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate said he was "deeply upset" over the tendency exhibited by some people to speak out of turn and even make public statements about prospective alliances and other aspects of the party's election strategy.
Dropping clear hints that indiscipline won't be tolerated, Advani said these and " other negative" trends that give rise to perception of disunity in the party must be firmly curbed.
"Internal democracy in the BJP is our strength. It should not be allowed to become a handicap".
On scouting for new allies, Advani said "it is the need of the hour, especially in those states where the BJP is yet to grow into a formidable force".
Seeking to disapprove certain leaders in states like Uttar Pradesh and Haryana who have spoken against alliances, he said: "Sound alliance politics requires a proper mindset, which is sometimes lacking".
The saffron party is in keen on securing allies to recapture power at centre and are in talks with INLD, AGP, Haryana Janhit Congress and is also looking for partners in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and some other states where it has a weak presence.
The way the BJP lost its allies ahead of the 2004 elections apparently weighed on his mind when he told the senior leaders that "let us remember that that the BJP's front-runner position in the coming Parliamentary elections will be greatly strengthend by our alliance building capabilities".
The BJP veteran also sought to remind the party leaders about the need to maintain ideological cohesion with the Sangh Parivar.
While he did not refer to the RSS or Sangh Parivar, his remark that "the costly mistakes we committed earlier, especially at the time of the NDA government, must not be repeated" was an indication enough.
09-16-2008, 03:13 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-16-2008, 03:14 PM by Bodhi.)
not to jinx, but looks like AGP may go with BJP, which will mean a rout of Congress-I in Assam, unless the bangladeshis have now got Voting Cards there. Next should be allying with Chiru's party, TRS, and Ajit Singh.
Modi to be launched as BJP's anti-terror icon
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The Bharatiya Janata Party is launching Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as its anti-terror icon by organising a public meeting on Friday evening in a park close to the site of the first bomb blast in Delhi weekend.
The public meeting will be also addressed by BJP's prime ministerial candidate Lal Krishna Advani and BJP president Rajnath Singh is to kick off the party's poll campaign for the Delhi assembly elections due in November.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
09-20-2008, 11:50 AM
(This post was last modified: 09-20-2008, 11:54 AM by shamu.)
Looks like missionary trouble has started in Jabalpur.
This seems like a Missionary/Congress strategy to spread disturbance to all BJP ruled states. This must be handled strategically by BJP instead of letting VHP/BD to handle them. Probably all BJP ruled states should pass law (or ordinance? to bypass governors) against insulting other religions. When these missionary/cong creates trouble, put them behind bars based on this law.
This plan must happen quickly before they spread problem to all places and Congress uses that an excuse to dismiss all BJP governments and execute other plans they have.
09-20-2008, 06:27 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-20-2008, 06:28 PM by ravish.)
The BJP Government's action in arresting the State Bajrang Dal leader in Karnataka is indeed deplorable. Such acts will only detract the true Hindu followers from supporting the Party in the next elections.
<!--QuoteBegin-ravish+Sep 20 2008, 08:57 AM-->QUOTE(ravish @ Sep 20 2008, 08:57 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->The BJP Government's action in arresting the State Bajrang Dal leader in Karnataka is indeed deplorable. Such acts will only detract the true Hindu followers from supporting the Party in the next elections.
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I think it is the right thing to do. Not sure what they expected, award? Violence cannot be the answer, not with the hostile media.
I think using police to kill Hindus in Jammu and Srinagar should be praise worthy.
Till Hindus are killed my Indian Muslims , Sadhus are killed by Christians and Hindus are hecked, butchered by communist, that should be sign of true Secularism.
After all these atrocities against Hindus; Muslims and hindu hater seculars still vote for Congress , Communist Party and SP. No surprise.
Mudiji, So far at election time, the Hindu voters mostly vote as per their party affiliation. Therefore, various anti Hindu parties get elected to parliament. The Hindu voters need to vote on communal line. This will nesure Government protection to the Hindus.
What do u say....
22 Sept 2008, Pioneer
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->BJP needs a spearhead in Delhi
Reporter's notebook: Sidharth Mishra
Delhi Police officials who are busy collecting accolades for the successful encounter in the Batla House area of Jamia Nagar in south Delhi also must express their gratitude to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. <b>I have my sincere doubts if the Ministry of Home Affairs would have ever ordered operations in the minority community dominated area had it no been for Modi addressing a rally against terrorism in Afzal Khan Park of Karol Bagh the same evening.</b>
The terror attack in the Karol Bagh and Connaught Place area areas of the Capital on September 13 last had left the Delhi Congress leadership rattled with Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit going over-board in demanding a tough anti-terror law to deal with such mayhem. Knowing full well the impact soft-peddling of terror issues by the Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre would have on the upcoming polls of Delhi Assembly, a sharp politician that Dikshit is, she raised the ante for fight against terror.
Her concerns found an echo in the sentiments expressed by former president APJ Abdul Kalam but unfortunately for her there were not many takers for her line within her own party. Her party colleague and Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil too came in under fire for laxity on the terror front.
But why blame Patil, he was toeing the line drawn by the leadership. If somebody needed an evidence it was there to see at the Cabinet meeting which followed the attack, where it was decided to not bring any tougher act against terrorist activities. Pandering to the minority votes of his Chandni Chowk constituency, Union Minister Kapil Sibal went to the extent to claim that tougher laws did not help the matter. He would have done well to check the statistics before going public with such a baseless statement.
If the Congress decided for its political compulsions not to initiate for a tougher act against terrorism, the BJP rightly decided to take advantage of this lack of resolve ahead of the Assembly polls. The Congress spokespersons went to town alleging the BJP of playing politics over the tragedy but then politics is about advocating policies which would find approval with people. The BJP today certainly has a mascot in Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for its campaign against the terror activities.
<b>But to have Modi as mascot for the Delhi Assembly poll campaign could very well be counter-productive for the BJP. With the Central leadership of the party dilly-dallying on declaring the Chief Ministerial candidate, whispers are already making rounds about the infighting in the ranks and the party lacking a State leader of stature. The people of Delhi are still to forget the squabbling Madanlal Khurana and Sahib Singh, when the BJP ruled the Capital between 1993-98.</b>
<b>The odds-may be in the favour of the saffron outfit but they certainly need a spearhead to take on incumbent Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. Despite the heavy odds that the Congress is facing, in absence of a leader the BJP has the potential to mess-up its chances.</b>
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Mahanta is now president of the AGP-Progressive, a party that he formed after he was unceremoniously expelled from the AGP for 'anti-party' activities. Mahanta, founder of the AGP, was earlier replaced as party president in 2001 on alleged bigamy charge. Mahanta was the only legislator to have won the 2006 Assembly elections from the AGP-P with analysts describing that the Congress party won the polls for the second straight term in 2006 as the regional party was fractured with two splinter groups fighting the elections.
Meanwhile, the new AGP president Patowary said that the party would soon forge a pre-poll alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to fight next year's parliamentary elections in Assam. "After formalising the tie-up with the BJP, we would go into the election mode across the State to defeat the Congress," Patowary said.
http://www.dailypioneer.com/indexn12.asp?m...t&counter_img=2
From my reading NDA will be back to power in the next elections. The math at this time is favoring BJP and its allies. The margin is dependent on three states namely AP, Maha and UP. AP is too close to call. Maha - need to watch how SS and BJP conducts themselves. NCP is also losing steam. As far as UP is concerned all BJP has to do is to work hard to get just 15 to 20 seats.
Muppalla, or anyone else have any projections or opinion polls?
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