<!--QuoteBegin-rajesh_g+Jan 1 2008, 02:41 AM-->QUOTE(rajesh_g @ Jan 1 2008, 02:41 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->Talked to a relative from MP recently (urban area). He was aware of the Guj elections intimately - he is prob 60 years of age and not at all a political person. He seemed to have noticed some kind of ads that INC put out on 'national' TV. Question for guroos -> is it common to show ads on national TV during assembly elections in a state ? If its not common then who were those ads for ?[right][snapback]76659[/snapback][/right]
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During Lok Sabha elections it is common to air ads on private and public TV channels. There are even free airtime provided by Doordarshan (National Carrier) during prime time.
But during state level elections it is rare to find ads by any political party but this trend in the Gujarat elections could well be seen in other states in next elections, afterall Gujarat is the most progressive state in the country.
There is an major growth in TV and Radio stations in India with nearly 200 TV channels available today and in the coming years it is expected to rise to 700 channels. Most of the news channels are free-to-air i.e. you dont have to pay money to view them and rest consist of channels dedicated to sport,entertainment,etc.
At the state level there are more than 4-5 news channels run by different news organisations in every state. Major organisations being Zee, Star, Etv, Sun network and not to forget Doordarshan which also has the most number of regional TV Stations covering all the major languages of the nation from Kashir to Tamil and Gujarati to Assamese.
Regarding the political line that these news channels follow can be classified as follows.
1)Doordarshan News - Doordarshan has the largest terrestrial network in the world and reaches more Indian homes than any other TV channel.
By and large neutral and even if there is a tilt towards any political party it is always towards the ruling party. Sometimes the party ruling the centre and the state are different like today in M.P. BJP is ruling while in centre Cong(i) is in power. In such cases the Doordarshan regional news stations tilt towards the ruling party in the state.
By the word tilt i mean that if a particular news item can be damaging towards a party Doordarshan will air the clip but provide an official response with it rather than totally censor such news which is done by foreign TV chanels like FOX in USA.
In today's age of 24X7 news channels Doordarshan is always reliable as it does not sensationalise news events but tries to portray the reality as it is rather than mix some masala in it.
2)Star News- Staffed by pro-congress buffons. If anybody wants to get mad in a short time they should regularly watch this channel. The news carried on this channel is not even worth watching. A few days back they were airing an video clip of an dog killing a snake.
These StarTv morons classified it as Breaking News and kept on repeating the one-minute clip of the dog v/s snake fight and made it into an 30 minute live program with running commentary provided by an brain dead zombie anchor. The dog was portrayed as an hero which saved human life by killing the snake. But what the buffon news anchor failed to notice and mention was that the snake was an non-poisonous rat snake which cant harm humans.
Daily you get to view either such news items or news praising congress ruled states while state governments not ruled by cong(i)'s are portrayed negatively. example: MP, Bihar, Raj are portrayed as lawless states.
3)Zee TV - Credible and neutral news organisation. Whatever be the situation does not side with any political party.
4)Etv - Same as Zee.
5) Sun network - Owned by the Marans who are/were with the DMK. Need i say more about it <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->
And the coming days Congress is trying to launch it's own channel called JaiHind TV in Karnataka.
<!--QuoteBegin-rajesh_g+Jan 1 2008, 02:41 AM-->QUOTE(rajesh_g @ Jan 1 2008, 02:41 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->BTW what is the situation like in MP/Rajasthan ? The relative above mentioned that BJP was doing good in MP but as mentioned above the person is not at all a political person so cant be trusted. If BJP can retain MP/Raj then that would really drive INC into a corner. So whats the sitation like in MP/Raj ?[right][snapback]76659[/snapback][/right]<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The situation in MP and Raj can be best described as fluid since no major pro or anti wave is seen.
The main opposition in MP is cong(i) is busy fighting among themselves and bending over backwards to lure the influential fundamentalist elements in muslims. In Raj the cong(i)'s are sleeping like Kumbhakaran.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Om Mathur appointed Rajasthan BJP chief</b>
New Delhi, Jan 1: Mr Om Mathur has been appointed as the President of the Rajasthan BJP in place of Mr Mahesh Chandra Sharma.
A party release said that BJP President Rajnath Singh had made the appointment, after accepting the resignation Mr Sharma.
The new appointment is a reward for<b> Mr Mathur, a RSS Pracharak turned BJP leader </b>is the party's General Secretary and incharge of Gujarat where, party retained power in the high-profile battle for the fourth succession under the leadership of Chief Minister Narendra Modi. --- UNI
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> linkGujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has accused the Election Commission (EC) of double standards, pointing out that while the notice against him referred to the ECâs âdispleasureâ, the notice against Sonia Gandhi merely âcautionedâ her. <b>Initially, the legal adviser to the commission, S.K. Mendiratta, had prepared the same notice for all three leaders show-caused in the Gujarat campaign â Modi, Gandhi, and Digvijay Singh. But later it was reframed</b>. Modi and Singh received a more strongly-worded note, because they were charged for violation of provisions of the election code which concern creating mutual hatred or causing tension between different castes and communities. Sonia, however, was reprimanded for violation of a milder section of the code, which talks about top leaders making unverified allegations against rivals. Of course, that does not explain why the EC took so long to take cognisance of Gandhiâs remark.
When the ECâs decisions are finally announced, they are usually termed as unanimous. <b>But behind the scenes there is often a tussle between Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami and Election Commissioner Navin Chawla, who generally hold opposing viewpoints. Which is why, often, the way the third commissioner, S.Y. Qureshi, swings decides the outcome.</b>
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<!--QuoteBegin-Mudy+Jan 2 2008, 12:23 PM-->QUOTE(Mudy @ Jan 2 2008, 12:23 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> linkGujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has accused the Election Commission (EC) of double standards, pointing out that while the notice against him referred to the ECâs âdispleasureâ, the notice against Sonia Gandhi merely âcautionedâ her. <b>Initially, the legal adviser to the commission, S.K. Mendiratta, had prepared the same notice for all three leaders show-caused in the Gujarat campaign â Modi, Gandhi, and Digvijay Singh. But later it was reframed</b>. Modi and Singh received a more strongly-worded note, because they were charged for violation of provisions of the election code which concern creating mutual hatred or causing tension between different castes and communities. Sonia, however, was reprimanded for violation of a milder section of the code, which talks about top leaders making unverified allegations against rivals. Of course, that does not explain why the EC took so long to take cognisance of Gandhiâs remark.
When the ECâs decisions are finally announced, they are usually termed as unanimous. <b>But behind the scenes there is often a tussle between Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami and Election Commissioner Navin Chawla, who generally hold opposing viewpoints. Which is why, often, the way the third commissioner, S.Y. Qureshi, swings decides the outcome.</b>
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Navin Chawla is the same person who under Indira Gandhi enforced the emergency by ruthless jailing her political opponents by not following the laws.
There is a legal challenge against him being appointed the election commisioner in the Supreme Court as he was part of the human and political rights abuse.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Gujarat polls: The assertion of entrepreneurs
Jan. 2, 2008 (DNA)
<b>The community wants its rightful place in national politics, and will get it</b>
The election results of Gujarat have been analysed by the losers, namely the poll forecasters and other assorted media experts, most of whom had egg on their face. The real loser, namely the Congress Party, as usual declared victory for Sonia and Rahul. Then there was a cacophony of voices regarding inane things like Hindutva/ Moditva, etc.
Most of the analysis missed out an important point â that Gujarat is asserting and claiming its well-deserved role in the national scheme of things. Gujarat has the most entrepreneurial and risk-taking group of communities and individuals, with a Diaspora spread far and wide, in East Africa, Europe, USA and East Indies. In post-Independence India, their tallest leader, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was not given much importance -in a sense, he lost the prime minister's chair due to Gandhi's decision regarding Nehru. Not many national schemes/ monuments are named after him and another leader from that state, Morarji Desai, is completely forgotten.
The contribution of Gujarat to our economy is mind boggling and it continued with its entrepreneurship even during the Nehruvian era of license quota-raj. But, unfortunately, in the peak planning era of the fifties and the sixties, policy formulation was undertaken by experts who can be broadly classified as liberal and vaguely progressive. A significant number of them belonged to the Bengal province. The Mahalonobis model adopted during the Second Five Year Plan gave a boost to their ideas and ideology. We find that very few experts from the western part of India, particularly Gujarat, were involved in the economic and planning affairs of our country during that time.
This got strengthened in the post-Nurul Hasan period - he was education minister in the early seventies - wherein most of the social science institutions were filled with progressives of various hues.
Entrepreneurship was derided and treated with contempt. It was considered as "bania mentality" and the by-now infamous Nehruvian thunder of "hang the traders from the nearest lamp post" became a part of intellectual folklore. Indian thinking and worldview was appropriated by a small but vociferous group of progressives who cheered re-naming Dharamtala in central Calcutta as Lenin Sarani. Risk-taking was considered as blasphemy and getting government jobs became the ultimate human achievement.
Then came the major impetus in the form of liberalisation, after the catastrophic foreign exchange crisis of the early nineties. Before that, the ultimate Gujarati businessman and risk-taker, Dhirubhai Ambani, had shown that the government was extortionist and hence, rather than bend rules, entrepreneurs needed to formulate government rules to get ahead in business. That is a major breakthrough in entrepreneurship in our country. Coupled with liberalisation, this slowly brought about the decline of the progressives.
It is another thing that many children of these arm chair revolutionaries of the sixties and seventies have since graduated from management schools to enter investment banking and other fields with six-figure monthly salaries.
But the press and the electronic media still have the "progressive boomer" generation babies who cannot comprehend what is taking place. It is the assertion of the "bania" or entrepreneur against the State. Ironically, it is the Centre which has been putting shackles on these risk-takers, for they also want a place in the high table of politics, not just business.
This assertion of Gujarat has to be distinguished from the complaints of say West Bengal. West Bengal has a huge grievance industry that believes it was wrong on the part of the British to shift the capital from Calcutta to Delhi. The grievance industry talks about price equalisation, imperialism, etc. In other words, Bengal asserts that all its problems are due to â imaginary or real â enemies who are outside the state, when it has itself destroyed all entrepreneurship in chemical/ engineering and computer industries, where it was a leader in the forties and fifties.
The assertion of Gujarat is different. It is based on achievements rather than grievances. It wants its rightful place in the Delhi durbar since it has been growing in double digits, has spectacular achievements on the electricity and water fronts, and is the only state with courage to make stealing electricity a criminal offence. In a sense, the assertion of Gujarat is a logical culmination of the process of liberalisation and the emerging global entrepreneurship of Indians. The idiom and the contours of the debate are changing from that of caste, socialism and imperialism to water, electricity and small business. The three pillars - non-alignment, socialism and secularism - of the Nehruvian era, which are the prime mantra of the progressives, are all dead.
Gujarat did not talk the language of caste and it is a tectonic change from the identity politics so much the favourite of the progressives. Gujarat is enthusiastic and does not want to be ignored in this era of business and risk-taking. Gujarat wants to occupy its role in national politics. That is the message this election has served.
When the economy liberalises and business flourishes, it is but natural that entrepreneurs would like a major role in running the affairs of the country. The two-sector socialistic planning model of the fifties handed over political power to one group and now the liberalised, entrepreneur-worshipping economy will give importance to another set of people, who will occupy the Delhi chairs. Nothing to be surprised.
R Vaidyanathan
Professor of Finance & Control, IIM-Bangalore<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Navin Chawla is the same person who under Indira Gandhi enforced the emergency by ruthless jailing her political opponents by not following the laws.
There is a legal challenge against him being appointed the election commisioner in the Supreme Court as he was part of the human and political rights abuse. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
He was Sanjay Gandhi buddy, whole world know his character but still Congress had nerve to appoint him and calling other fascist. This is disgraceful act and just tells what kind of ruling class is imposed on 1.1 Billion Indians.
Election commission is laughing stock, they are as good as Pakis.
Thanks guys. I have a feeling that despite all bravado INC had given up on Guj elections from the word go and this giving national ads on national TV was just part of that. Maybe not.
If not then this move can easily backfire. This relative was so enamored of Modi it was unbelievable. His words were -> not exactly like Modi but bhajpa kafee kaam kar rahee hai.
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Re Rajasthan does anybody know how will the reservation issue play up in the coming elections ?
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Re Rajasthan does anybody know how will the reservation issue play up in the coming elections ? <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Yesterday I was talking with someone in Rajasthan, according to him people are fed up with Congress, in Rajasthan they don't want any change. Lot of people are regretting why they voted for Congress in 2004. Highway construction is zero after BJP, infrastructure growth is zero, only Muslim appeasement and free hand to Christians had gone up 1000 times. Majority are sidelined. This view is common among middle class.
But he is educated person and his views may be different from rural population. He is one of those who moved back to India and now seriously planning to return back to US. He is not an Indian citizen.
For rural population, reservation may play role but religion may unite them.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Boost for Nitish, setback for Maya
Pioneer News Service | Patna/ Lucknow
In what is seen as a major boost for Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and a setback for his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Mayawati, the Janata Dal (U)-BJP surmounted heavy odds to retain the Bikramganj Lok Sabha seat while the <b>Bahujan Samaj Party suffered a jolt losing the prestigious Ballia seat to its arch rival Samajwadi Party</b>.Â
The JD(U) retained its hold on Bikramganj Lok Sabha constituency when its candidate Meena Singh, the widow of former local MP Ajit Singh, defeated her nearest RJD rival Ashok Kumar Kushwaha by 31,258 votes. While Singh secured 1,65,664 votes, Kushwaha polled 1,34,406 votes.
<b>In West Bengal, the CPI(M) renewed its influence on Balaghar Assembly seat with its nominee Bhuban Pramanik defeating his nearest Trinamool Congress challenger Ashim Majhi by 8,410 votes. </b>The CPI(M) victory margin went down by 10,000 votes compared to last polls.
In Ballia, SP Neeraj Shekhar, cashing in on the sympathy for his father Chandrashekhar, former Prime Minister who died last year, romped home by a margin of over 1,30,000 votes over his nearest rival BSP's Vinay Shankar Tewari. Neeraj polled over 2,95,000 votes while Tewari secured more than 1,64,000 votes. This was the first major setback for the ruling BSP in the State.
BJP's Virendra Singh and Congress' Rajiv Upadhya polled over 22,000 and over 10,000 votes respectively losing their deposits.
In Bikramganj, where <b>RJD chief Lalu Prasad had placed his prestige at stake and forged a formidable caste combination and banked on the support from disgruntled JD(U) Rajya Sabha member Bashisth Narayan Singh, Anand Mohan Singh and expelled party leader Upendra Kushwaha.</b>
The RJD boss camped at Bikramganj for well over a week. To make up for his drifting minority vote base, <b>Lalu Prasad even stayed at jailed party leader Akhlaque Ahmad's residence</b>.
With Yadav and Kuswahas making up for nearly 28 per cent votes, Lalu hoped that Upendra Kushwaha, a one -time right hand of Nitish Kumar, would be able to make a major dent in the Kurmi-Koeri combination forged by the Bihar CM in the last Assembly polls. While this did not happen, Lalu even failed to effectively divide the Rajput votes despite support from Basisth Narain Singh and Anand Mohan Singh, who was recently convicted in the murder of former Gopalganj District Magistrate.
Ever since the RJD had lost power in the State two years ago, Lalu Prasad had been desperately looking for an opportunity to galvanise his party leaders and workers to prove he was not yet politically finished. However, t<b>he result has come as a major setback for him, with clear indication that people have risen over caste lines to repose their faith in development-oriented leadership of Nitish Kumar</b>.
<b>Out of total 13.87 lakh votes, the Yadavs constitute 17 per cent, Rajputs 15 per cent, Scheduled Castes 16 per cent, Koeris 11 per cent, Kurmis and Brahmins together constitute 10-15 per cent, Muslims 8 per cent while other castes 3 per cent in Bikramganj constituency. </b>
Nitish also did not leave anything for chance. He had launched a whirlwind campaign for three days there while pressing State's senior NDA leaders to make extensive tour of the area highlighting development and good governance of his Government.
"The victory of JD(U) candidate has again made it clear that people have voted for development and not in the name of caste. It's a victory of people who had voted for JD(U) candidate breaking all shackles and social barriers," reacted Nitish Kumar over his party's win in the by-poll.
The visibly ebullient Chief Minister also said that the Opposition has made all kinds of bad publicity in the poll and has also made it a prestige issue for the. "They had declared to teach us a lesson in the by-poll but fell flat on their faces", said he.
Though, the LJP had declared to support the CPI(ML) candidate Arun Kumar Singh but the party leader Ranjan Prasad Yadav's appeal to the Yadavs through his newly formed <b>Yadav Jagran Manch </b>not to support Lalu-led RJD candidate seems to have its own impact in facilitating the JD(U) win.
With the RJD having lost the Bikramganj by-poll, the political observers of the State, believe that the party boss Lalu Prasad now has lost all his hope for a comeback in the State's political firmament. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Caste equation is over, enjoying company with criminal muslim is now out of fashion, Lalu should find some other way to fool voters and away from Jail time.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Mamata's folly </b>
The Pioneer Edit Desk
If only she had aligned with the BJP...
The result of the Balagarh Assembly constituency byelection in West Bengal clearly shows that the CPI(M) has paid a steep price for its gross abuse of power and the violence unleashed by its cadre in the villages of Nandigram. <b>In 2006, the Marxists had won this seat by 17,500 votes; this time, the margin has been reduced to 8,410 votes. But a heavier price has been paid by Trinamool Congress president Mamata Banerjee for stubbornly treading a path that will not lead her to electoral victory: Her party would have won the byelection had she not cussedly refused an alliance with the BJP. For, the combined voteshare of the Trinamool Congress candidate and that of the BJP, who has bagged 8,833 votes, is much more than that of the CPI(M)'s nominee</b>. Even a political novice knows that the Opposition cannot win in West Bengal unless it contests from a common platform; Ms Banerjee is no novice in politics. Her party has been repeatedly trumped by the Marxists in the absence of a united Opposition front, but she has failed to forge a rainbow coalition. She has the option of aligning with the Congress, for which she would have to snap all relations with the NDA. Since she has virtually broken free of the NDA and has no relations with the BJP, there is no reason why she can't go along with the Congress. Unless, of course, she believes that the Congress in West Bengal will never put up a genuine fight against the CPI(M); this perception is not without merit. This leaves her with no other option but to join hands with the BJP and replicate the NDA model by roping in smaller parties. But she refuses to do this either. The 'grand coalition' forged by her along with non-descript organisations -- ranging from the IUML at one end of the spectrum to Maoist factions at the other end -- that do not matter in the State's politics is at best a laughable exercise adding up to nothing.
The so-called 18-party 'Progressive Democratic Secular Front' launched by her on New Year's eve is an apology of a political alliance; its members will no doubt cheer her, but they cannot fetch her votes. Ms Banerjee should know this better than anybody else, yet she is unwilling to adopt a more pragmatic strategy. Two points need to be made in this context. The first pertains to <b>Ms Banerjee chasing the elusive 'Muslim vote' by exerting to be more 'secular' than the 'secularists', namely the Marxists, who are her political rivals. This is a wasted effort. Muslims in West Bengal have consistently voted for either the CPI(M) or the Congress</b>; this voting pattern is unlikely to change in the foreseeable future. <b>Just because Ms Banerjee has some clerics rooting for her does not mean Muslims will en masse vote for the Trinamool Congress. Nor will Ms Banerjee's silence on Muslim communalism, for instance as manifested during the November 21 riots in central Kolkata, convince the community to switch allegiance.</b> The second point is to do with Ms Banerjee's presumption that despite her spurning the BJP in West Bengal, the NDA will keep its doors open for her in New Delhi. In politics there are no certitudes. Instead of experimenting with amateur politics, Ms Banerjee would do well to get real. It would be a pity if she were to continue to squander her tremendous potential by pursuing a disastrous policy of keeping her natural allies at bay while embracing those who care for neither West Bengal nor her.
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Fool is written all over Mamta's forhead, she should spend time cooking Machi, some good recipe may come out, other wise she will be tossed from one place to other.
B@stard psec Lord Desai shares his most esteemed opinion with ToiLet readers.
"Modi is evil, but he is smart. Congress will have to become smarter"
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LEADER ARTICLE: The Time Starts Now
4 Jan 2008, 0119 hrs IST,Meghnad Desai
Print Save EMail Write to Editor
The Gujarat elections were pretty decisive. The 'right-minded' people who are secular and progressive are appalled at the verdict. Something, they say, must be wrong with the people of Gujarat.
How could they vote back a man they think is a monster? On TV, people asserted that a man who had just won a second election in a row with a two-thirds seat count was a dictator. He had to be just because he was not one of them.
I know the feeling well. I had similar feelings - as a member of the British Labour Party - as my party lost election after election to Margaret Thatcher. All the 'right-minded' people like myself and my friends thought she was authoritarian, strident and more or less fascist.
Yet the Great British Public went on voting for her and we kept losing. It was only after three defeats that we began to ask whether we had not got something wrong and whether the public was trying to tell us something.
After a fourth defeat even without Margaret Thatcher, the Labour Party decided to change. It adapted to the positive kernel in the Tory package. Thatcher, far from being reviled as an authoritarian monster, is now recognised as one of the greatest British prime ministers of the post-war period.
Analogies are never exact and the Great Indian Public has not yet spoken on Modi; only the Great Gujarat Public has done so. But Congress would do well to study the Labour Party's experience.
As it is, the party may shout its secularism from the rooftops, but it fought the Gujarat elections as a BJP B team. It fielded BJP dissidents despite their record during the riots in the hope that they would topple Modi.
Having stayed away for four and a half years, Congress woke up to Gujarat in the last six months and thought that by reminding Gujaratis about Godhra and the riots, it would win. But by taking on BJP rejects and depending on the old warhorse Keshubhai Patel to deliver the Patidar vote, Congress behaved shamefully.
It had no principles, no alternative and Sonia Gandhi by herself was not enough despite the stunning 'maut ke saudagar' phrase. Muslims were not given enough seats, and, except for being used as reminders of the Godhra riots, they were largely dumped.
Congress has clearly no grass-roots organisation left in Gujarat. It has not had a leader from Gujarat since Morarji Desai who could command national attention. At this rate Congress cannot win the next general election whether it is in 2008 or 2009. For the past six months the UPA government has been paralysed by its CPM 'friends'.
The poor prime minister, perhaps the last honest man in Indian politics, has been marginalised and abandoned by Sonia Gandhi. She knows that Rahul baba is not yet ready for the job and until then there can be no mid-term election. The contrast with a PM who has been sidelined is Advani who the BJP shrewdly projected as PM-in-waiting: not to outdo Modi, but to show it had a strong candidate to run the country.
Narendra Modi is a shrewd political operator and those who hate him would do well to study him. He did fight the election on a development agenda, but Congress wanted to talk about the riots. So he did, but about terrorists. <span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>He may be evil but he is no fool. </span>He was stung by 'maut ke saudagar' and brought out his communal agenda. Now Modi will be Lakshman to Advani's Ram.
I know some people think the idea is hateful but they better get used to it. If Congress goes on like this - with no grass-roots organisation, no policy distinct from the usual casteist rubbish - and if all the workers hang on outside madam and baba's offices rather than work, then it will be in a sorrier state than it is now. Modi is on the
fast track to becoming India's PM but after Advani wins the next election whenever it is called.
The only politician who has any new ideas now is Mayawati. Her pitch for economic deprivation rather than jati labels as a way of defining affirmative action is a genuine innovation. BJP has suddenly discovered that helping Muslims is against India's unity.
Why did it not oppose Mandal which is equally divisive? For that matter why did the Congress succumb to Mandal? How can any party claim to be for either Hindutva or secularism if it supports every caste vote bank? Mayawati has offered a way out and she has UP in her bag to prove it.
Right now Congress is a hollow shell. It needs reorganisation and some discipline. Rahul is too young and visibly too disinterested to fight Modi. Sonia has tried and failed.
The only way out is that the three wannabe PMs - Modi, Mayawati and Rahul - will have to think strategically. Perhaps Mayawati can take Rahul under her wings and along with the bits and bobs of UPA sans the Left yet delay Modi's ascent. But time is short.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The only way out is that the three wannabe PMs - Modi, Mayawati and Rahul - will have to think strategically. Perhaps Mayawati can take Rahul under her wings and along with the bits and bobs of UPA sans the Left yet delay Modi's ascent. But time is short. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This I call under influence views.
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<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'><b>This link is best summation of the mechanics of the Gujarat election I have seen. </b> </span>
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Opinion poll predicts BJP Govt in Karnataka </b>
Pioneer.com
PT Bopanna | Bangalore
There is good news for the Bharatiya Janata Party as an opinion poll conducted jointly by the prestigious Loyola College, in Chennai, and the St. Joseph's College of Arts and Sciences, Bangalore, has found that the BJP will emerge as the single largest party in the forthcoming Karnataka Assembly election and BS Yeddyurappa will be the Chief Minister.
The result of the State-wide poll was released here by the Principal of St. Joseph's College Ambrose Pinto.
The poll conducted between January 11 and 20 in 24 districts of Karnataka was designed and guided by S Rajanayagam, Director, People Studies, Loyola College and employed the convenience-sampling technique.
<b>Of the 2,580 people interviewed, 40 per cent said they would vote for the BJP, whereas 25.8 per cent favoured the Congress, while 10.7 per cent stated they would vote for the JD (S), the party headed by former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda.</b>
According to the survey, 62 per cent of the respondents felt that a single party would win a majority on its own in the coming Assembly election, while 25 per cent expect a coalition Government and 13 per cent said a single party would rule with external support.
On the question of the next Chief Minister, 49.1 per cent predicted it was BJP's Yeddyurappa, and 37.6 per cent thought it would be JD (S) leader and former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy. Present Maharashtra Governor SM Krishna, who is planning to return to Karnataka politics and head the Congress campaign, polled 5.7 per cent.
The survey concluded that while the present political climate favoured the BJP, it was stated the situation could change depending on the strategy adopted by the Congress and the contestants each party fielded.
<b>Of the people interviewed, 40 per cent were from the urban areas and 60 per cent from rural Karnataka. Religion-wise, the sample contained 83.5 per cent Hindus, 11.1 per cent Muslims, 1.3 per cent Christians and those from other religions, including Jains.
Caste-wise, the sample included, 19.7 SC/STs, 13.8 Lingayats, 12.7 Vokkaligas, 7.2 per cent Brahmins, 1.2 per cent Kurubas. The samples also included 9.5 per cent first time voters. </b>
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<b>Lotus blooms in bypoll at red den</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The election was significant for the BJP in many aspects. While it would bear a direct impact on the state polls, due in November 2008, the victory of the saffron brigade in the red bastion would boost cadresâ confidence, especially since workers in most rural pockets spend sleepless nights.
<b>To win this bypoll, the ruling party pulled all strings to bag votes. Ministers campaigned extensively in the constituency despite the fact that most had previously preferred to not spend a night in the Maoist strongholds in the past four years, ever since the BJP came to power in the state. More than six ministers stayed in the red bastion and supervised the electioneering this time.
On the other hand, the Congress candidate was more cautious. Its leaders preferred to keep away and senior leaders spent only a few hours before rushing back to the capital, some 200km from Keshkal, in the evenings.</b>
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<b>Bhopal/Raipur, Feb. 7: The BJPâs huge victory margin (21,886 votes) in the Keshkal Assembly bypoll bang in the heart of Naxalite infested Chhattisgarhâs Dantwada district (the results of which were declared on Thursday) comes as a compelling piece of evidence that the state sponsored anti-Naxalite drive, "salwa judum", may have begun to yield positive results at the ground level.
Significantly enough, the poll percentage had been a record 72 per cent despite a stern Maoist call for a boycott.</b> The bypoll became necessary following the death of the sitting BJP MLA in a car accident. Both the winning candidate (Sevakram Netam) as well as the Congress runners-up (B. Markam) are relative greenhorns. The BJP had won the seat by about 10,000 votes in 2003 with just 40 per cent votes cast.
<b>Chhattisgarh DGP Vishwa Ranjan told this newspaper that the successive raids on Naxalite dens in the state capital and elsewhere coupled with the determination of the tribal populace in the affected districts not to be cowed down by the Maoist menace had ensured a heavy turnout.</b>
"It is a good sign, and will strengthen the salwa-judum movement." More than 80 per cent of the area in the Keshkal Assembly segment is Naxalite affected, he informed.
The CPCC sources were inclined to feel that the party had paid dearly for the internal squabbling between the factions of former CM Ajit Jogi and Mr V.C. Shukla following the latterâs readmission into the party. In reality, however, the Congress which was the dominant force in the region till 2003 seems to have lost votersâ confidence primarily because of Mr Jogiâs policy of striking an unofficial poll pact with enemies of the state.
<b>Those in the know say that even this time the Congress had the "blessings" of the Naxalite commanders. But yet again the deal did not pay off. In fact, it only ended up further alienating the adivasis in the area from the party.</b>
<b>Cash in hotel room, panel glare on Cong</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->
OUR CORRESPONDENT
Alva in Shillong. Telegraph pictureÂ
Shillong, Feb. 24: <b>Election Commission observers found Rs 24 lakh on Margaret Alva and two other Congress officials in a hotel room here last night,</b> bringing the partyâs spending under the scanner ahead of the Assembly polls.
The poll officials, who had gone to Hotel Pinewood on a complaint, questioned the three Congress leaders but did not seize the money after being told the sum was meant for candidates and VIP visits.
Yet, the questioning of a leader of Alvaâs stature in such a case would be an embarrassment for the party ahead of the March 3 polls.
Alva, the All India Congress Committee general secretary in charge of Meghalaya, and her colleagues, both AICC secretaries, told the poll officials they had Rs 23.8 lakh with them.
Of this, <b>Rs 20 lakh was to be divided among four candidates </b>(the maximum a contestant can spend in Meghalaya is Rs 5 lakh), and the rest spent on visits by leaders such as Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh.
Last nightâs events prompted returning officer B. Dhar, who is the East Khasi Hills deputy commissioner, to order an inquiry into the Congressâs expenditures.
It revealed that Alva had brought Rs 3.35 crore from Delhi. Of this, the 60 candidates were given Rs 5 lakh each and another Rs 11 lakh had been set aside for Soniaâs visit.
The remaining Rs 24 lakh, too, would be accounted for, Congress leaders have assured poll officials. âNot a single rupee of election expenditure can go unaccounted for,â Dhar said.
Alva later told a news conference that the complaint about the money had been lodged by political rivals. âThey are frustrated over the large turnout during the rallies of Sonia at Tura and Jowai.â
Election officials refused to reveal who the complainant was.
The poll observers for East Khasi Hills had gone to the room of one of the AICC secretaries, Pravin Davar, and said they wanted to verify how much money he was carrying. Alva and the other secretary, who is in charge of accounts, were in the room.
<b>State election officials termed the matter sensitive and said that whoever violated the code of conduct would be punished.</b>
The BJP member of Parliament from Arunachal Pradesh, K. Rijiju, said his party would complain to the poll panel in Delhi about the Congressâs use of âmoney powerâ.
Nationalist Congress Party state president W.R. Kharlukhi said his party would meet soon to work out its strategy on the controversy.
The Congress today lodged a complaint against police for pulling down party flags and banners which, Alva said, had been put up with permission from the house owners
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