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Polls - Karnataka '08 - Guest - 05-30-2008
some commie-xitian fora
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->I happen to be originally from Karnataka so I have been keeping track of developments there. I used to tour the State, particularly its tribal areas regularly till I came to the Northeast. So I have some understanding of the situation there though I do not consider myself an expert there.
What one could notice even in the 1990s is the effort the BJP was making to build a base at the grassroots level when the Congress was depending on the leaders. Its grassroots base was getting very weak. The BJP base took two forms. One was the VHP-Bajrang Dal and other alliance. One found both good and bad elements in it, including some criminal ones. This section was linked closely and openly to the party. The second was the number of NGOs particularly in the tribal areas. In fact, <b>I was instrumental in putting some of them in touch with church-related funding agencies before I came to know about their RSS-BJP links. </b>Some of them did sincere work and others were there for party purposes alone and for Hindusing the tribals. In fact, a couple of them came to the Northeast and got in touch with me here. These two groups together and a few others, built up a strong base for the party. So I am not surprised that the BJP has won so many seats in the tribal areas.
One cannot deny that what has happened in Karnataka is an anti-incumbency vote but one has also to admit the combination of other factors such as building a strong grassrots level base through the VHP and other groups and by using development as a tool. So there are both good and bad elements among them. I have not kept in touch with them for a few years. So I would not be able to say today how they will behave. I can only speak of the manner in which a grassroots level base was built and that from first hand experience of frequent journeys and discussing these issues with the people in their own language.
Walter<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Polls - Karnataka '08 - acharya - 05-31-2008
Congress and its allies fail to check saffron brigades: Deepankar
Patna, May 30 : The result of Karnataka Assembly election bore an ample testimony to the fact that the Congress and its so called secular allies were incapable of containing the growing influence of the BJP and other saffron brigades across the country.
General secretary of the CPI(ML) Deepankar Bhattacharya told newspersons here today the verdict of the people in the Karntaka Assembly election had exposed the pseudo-secularism of the Congress and political opportunism of the JD(S) as both political parties had to lick dust in the recent electoral hustings there.
Mr Bhattacharya announced that his party would launch nationwide agitational programme from June 25 to July one to expose the failure of the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre and assault on democracy by the vested interests.
Referring to the thrashing of BJP MLA by state Food and Civil Supply Minister Narendra Singh during a function in Jamui recently, he described the incident as the most unfortunate and blot on democratic society in the country.
''How Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar claims to provide good governance in the state when a senior minister of his Cabinet was himself involved in such ugly incident, '' he wondered and said the NDA government in Bihar only indulged in making tall claims and doing nothing to fulfill it on ground level.
Mr Bhattacharya dubbed the claim of the Nitish Kumar government on providing succour to 'maha-dalits' as a ploy to divide the oppressed section of the society.
On ground level, nothing was being done to improve the lot of the oppressed section as most of the people belonging to this category had been exluded from Below Poverty List (BPL) during the present dispensation, he claimed.
The CPI(ML) leader claimed that his party was organising issue -based rallies and conferences like price rise and floods at different places in the state, while other political parties were organising caste-based rallies to exploit these for political gains.
--- UNI
Polls - Karnataka '08 - Guest - 05-31-2008
Commies are crying and now they are worried about Kerala.
Polls - Karnataka '08 - shamu - 05-31-2008
Do you mind directing us to that forum?
Polls - Karnataka '08 - Guest - 05-31-2008
<!--QuoteBegin-shamu+May 31 2008, 10:31 AM-->QUOTE(shamu @ May 31 2008, 10:31 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->Do you mind directing us to that forum?
[right][snapback]82200[/snapback][/right]
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
check your email.
Polls - Karnataka '08 - Guest - 06-01-2008
<b>The rurban mind</b>
Shekhar GuptaPosted online: Saturday, May 31, 2008 at 0033 hrs
<i>The village and the city are increasingly thinking alike. Congress, trapped in the old, ignores this new idea of a new India </i>
Polls - Karnataka '08 - Guest - 06-01-2008
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Yeddyurappa asked to prove majority again </b>
Pioneer.com
UNI | Bangalore
Putting the Bharatiya Janata Party in a piquant situation, Karnataka Governor Rameshwar Thakur has asked the B S Yeddyurappa Government, which assumed office on Friday, to prove its majority in the Assembly before his customary address.
The BJP delegation, accompanied by Advocate General Uday Holla, met Thakur on Friday night to invite him to address the joint session.
However, the Governor asked the party to prove its majority in the House as it had not won a majority on its own. He would then address the joint session, the Governor told them.
The Yeddyurappa-led Government had obtained the support of all the six Independent legislators to form the Government. The BJP had fallen just three seats short of a simple majority, winning 110 seats in the 224-member Assembly.
A top party functionary told that the Governor was bound by the Constitution, which made it mandatory for him to address the joint session whenever a new Government was installed or on the first day of the first session during a year. The vote of confidence would come next.
''We are absolutely comfortable with the numbers. We have also proved it in front of the Governor himself, before he invited us to form the Government. If he insists, we are not averse to prove it again. But Article 176 of the Constitution clearly states that the Governor's address comes first,'' he said.
The Yeddyurappa Government had called for a three-day special session from June 4 to seek the vote of confidence.
<b>The BJP leader said Advocate General Uday Holla tried to convince the Governor, quoting from the Constitution.</b>
However, Thakur reportedly insisted that the BJP should take the confidence vote before he addressed the House.
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COngress is back to its dirty trick, they are just plain morons. They don't know how to behave?
Polls - Karnataka '08 - Guest - 06-01-2008
T V R Shenoy: The arrogance of political dynasties
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->A certain Congressman -- I refrain from naming him for obvious reasons -- put it to me very succinctly, "Our leaders treat us like bonded labour!" He pointed out that after winning Bellary, and then leaving it for one of the family seats in Uttar Pradesh, Sonia Gandhi hadn't set foot in the place for close to nine years. (I am not quite sure if that is true but what is important is that he was voicing a popular opinion.)
Incidentally, Sonia Gandhi's BJP opponent in Bellary all those years ago was none other than Sushma Swaraj. Rather than snap all links with Karnataka after 1999, the BJP leader actually nurtured her links with the state to the extent of learning Kannada. So much so that Sushma Swaraj was much in demand as a campaigner in the 2008 polls! What does that say of the relative importance in which the two major national parties hold Karnataka?
If there is one lesson that comes out loud and clear from Karnataka it would be: <b>Respect the voters and respect the local leaders who represent them!</b>
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Tailpiece: <b>I understand the Congress is now making much of the fact that there is not a single Muslim among the 110 newly-elected BJP MLAs in the Karnataka Assembly. I find the tokenism slightly silly, but running through the list of victorious candidates, may one ask how many women there are in the Congress ranks?</b>
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Polls - Karnataka '08 - acharya - 06-02-2008
<img src='http://www.hindu.com/2008/06/02/images/2008060255131102.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
<img src='http://www.hindu.com/2008/06/02/images/2008060255131101.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
Karnataka: the BJP victory in perspective
Parvathi Menon & V. Sridhar
While the BJP may have won the Karnataka Assembly election, it is by no means the end of the road for the Congress and the JD(S).
There can be little doubt that the Bharatiya Janata Party has achieved an electoral breakthrough and that its win in the recent elections in Karnataka marks a watershed for the politics of the State and country. After all, its victory is the fulfilment of the partyâs long-cherished goal of forming a government on its own strength in a southern State.
The jubilant saffron party now regards itself as a frontrunner in the Lok Sabha contest that is due in a year. However, a closer reading of the results would indicate that the partyâs euphoria is misplaced.
In terms of the seats won, the BJP is the clear winner bagging 110 out of the 224 Assembly seats, an increase of 21 from its 2004 tally. The Congress has won 80 seats, 15 more than last time. Significantly, the Janata Dal (Secular) is the only party to lose ground in terms of seats in what was basically a triangular contest. Its tally in 2008 was lower by 30 seats when compared to 2004. (See table 1).
The BJPâs improved performance, it would appear, is largely due to the manner in which vote shares of the three political parties have stacked up in a closely-fought three-way contest. In particular, vote shares across the four broad regional divides show that while the BJP may have won, it is by no means the end of the road for the Congress as well as the JD(S). The analysis has important political implications for each of the three main parties.
Despite its loss, the Congress remains the single biggest political force in the State, while maintaining a marginal lead over the BJP in terms of vote shares across the State. It won 34.60 per cent of the popular vote in Karnataka, a lead of a little less than one percentage point over the BJP. In fact, the Congressâ share of the popular vote has fallen only marginally in 2008 from its level of 35.3 per cent in 2004. In terms of overall vote shares, the BJP has registered significant gains. Its share has increased from 28.3 per cent in 2004 to 33.9 per cent in 2008.
The JD(S) too has not lost its popular base. Its share of votes polled has fallen only marginally â from 20.8 to 19.1 per cent. So, where have the BJPâs gains come from? The table shows that the votes polled by independents and smaller parties have fallen sharply â from 15.64 in 2004 to 12.44 per cent in 2008. In fact, 60 per cent of the gains registered by the BJP in these elections have come at the expense of the smaller parties and independents, while 28 per cent has been wrested from the JD(S).
The disaggregated picture, presented in table 2, shows that the Congress has polled more than one-third of the popular vote in each of the four regions in the 2008 elections. In contrast, the BJPâs popular support base suffers from a geographical bias. In particular, its poor performance in the southern districts, barring Bangalore urban agglomeration, highlights this weakness. As for the JD(S), its support base is concentrated in the southern districts, precisely in the area where the BJP has a relatively weak support base. Its vote share in this region is almost 10 percentage points below not only the Congress but the JD(S) too. In fact, its overall lead in terms of seats won has largely been due to the over 5 percentage point lead over the Congress in Bangalore Urban and in the coastal districts. In the northern districts, the balance is almost even between the Congress and the BJP.
What are the implications of the election figures for the politics of the region? The figures highlight a quirk of the first-past-the-post Indian electoral system. In a closely-fought triangular contest, a small shift in vote-share can often result in a significant change in seats won by parties. This is what has happened in Karnataka, and the BJP reaped the gains.
Secondly, the arithmetic of electoral politics poses the obvious question of an alliance between the two avowedly secular parties, the Congress and the JD(S). Such a coalition in the next Lok Sabha elections would result in the BJP being a distant second rather than the frontrunner that it imagines itself to be.
It is important that the Congress not take the JD(S) for granted in such an arrangement because the JD(S), despite being the weakest of the three main parties, retains almost one-fifth of the popular vote. This may not fetch it many seats if it is on its own. But a coalition with the Congress could dramatically change the political landscape in Karnataka.
Polls - Karnataka '08 - shamu - 06-03-2008
<!--QuoteBegin-Mudy+Jun 1 2008, 05:43 AM-->QUOTE(Mudy @ Jun 1 2008, 05:43 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Yeddyurappa asked to prove majority again </b>
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Can BJP prove majority and cancel Governor's address?
Polls - Karnataka '08 - Guest - 06-03-2008
Yes, they can cancel Governor's address.
They should do.
Polls - Karnataka '08 - acharya - 06-03-2008
http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.p...&pid=240&page=2
BJP makes HISTORY
Big win in Karnataka
From Bhavanishankar in Bangalore
The BJP got a head start over the Congress and the Janata Dal (S) when it named Shri Yeddyurappa as its chief ministerial candidate who, immediately after resigning as the Chief Minister on November 20, started a dharma yuddha against the politics of betrayal.
âI will ensure that the government performs well, we conduct ourselves in a dignified way, enhance the image and credibility of the party and the government, win the faith, confidence and goodwill of the people, and win all the 28 Lok Sabha seats so as to make Shri L.K. Advani the Prime Minister of India.ââB.S. Yeddyurappa
BANGALORE: âIt is an historic and momentous occasion,â said two emotionally-charged top Karnataka BJP leaders, Shri Ramachandra Gowda and Shri D.H. Shankaramurthy, unable to control tears rolling down their eyes, as thousands of EVMs declared a near-clear majority for the BJP. âA half-century dream is coming true,â they told Organiser, outside the information department media centre where they had arrived to speak to the waiting TV channels.
For those who are aware of the trials and tribulations of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh and then the Bharatiya Janata Party, not to mention of the electoral ups and downs, their joy and emotions for winning 110 seats on their own are quite understandable. These two leaders are associated with the BJS since late 50s and are part of its growth.
Equally understandable is the âsilenceâ of those forces and elements who are opposed to the BJP, including political parties and so-called intellectuals. They are yet to realise what hit them and come to terms that the days of hypocrisy and double-standard, betrayal and skullduggery, arrogance and indifference are over. As rightly said by Shri L.K. Advani, the Karnataka verdict is against the politics of opportunism of the Congress and the betrayal of the Janata Dal (S).
The victory of the BJP has not come easy. It is the service and sacrifice of thousands of cadres, who championed national issues and pro-people causes with dedication and dignity that has taken this once peripheral party to the centre-stage and then to the number one position.
The BJP has polled 34.89 per cent of votes, and won 110 seats, 30 more than the Congress.
The BJP got a head start over the Congress and the Janata Dal (S) when it named Shri Yeddyurappa as its chief ministerial candidate who, immediately after resigning as the Chief Minister on November 20, started a dharma yuddha against the politics of betrayal.
It would be too simplistic an analysis and unfair to the Sangh parivar cadre as well as BJP workers to attribute the BJPâs victory only to the sympathy factor generated in the aftermath of the withdrawal of support by Shri H.D. Kumaraswamy. Sympathy factor has played a contributory role and the main reason is that the BJP had been successful in projecting itself as an alternative to both the Congress and the Janata parivar. The BJP and in its erstwhile avatar as the BJS had struggled for decades to earn the goodwill of the people, which resulted in winning 110 seats in 2008 elections.
Shri Ramachandra Gowda, an RSS-bred leader, gave an apt analogy: âIt is like a football or hockey match. The man who hits the goal from âDâ position is important, no doubt, but the role of other players is no less significant and important who brings the ball dribbling to the âDâ position after avoiding numerous hurdles. We remember the sacrifice and service of all our leaders and cadre who have struggled since day one. The only way we can pay our true respects to them is by performing well and bring good name to the party and the government.â
The BJP managed to sell itself as a viable alternative to the Congress, which, on the other hand, had no clue of what was happening on the ground. It was so clueless and lost, it is still not been able to find out why it lost so badly, despite placed in an advantageous situation.
The geographical and social reach of the BJP is near total in Karnataka. While it has members from all communities, it is yet to open its account in five districts. Nevertheless, the achievement of getting 110 seats, amidst adverse media reports and the internal understanding between the Congress and the Janata Dal (S), is no mean achievement as it has reached out to new areas, when compared to the 2004 elections.
For the 2008 elections, the BJP got its priorities right in all respects, including preparing a âfocussedâ manifesto meant to cater to all sections of society and all regions of the state. The cutting edge for its campaign came in the form of projecting an undisputed leader Shri B.S. Yeddyurappa as its chief ministerial candidate. Given the fact that the Lingayat community was angry against the Janata Dal (S) for betraying one of their man from becoming the Chief Minister, it was quite logical on the part of the BJP to project Shri Yeddyurappa as its CM candidate.
However, the BJP leaders, who have their moorings in the RSS, told the media that left to himself he would not like to discuss caste issues. âIt is the media that makes us to come out with information as to how many communities are provided tickets, etc, etc. Left to myself, I would not like to discuss these caste issue at all,â he told Organiser.
After having struggled hard for decades to come to power, the road ahead is not a bed of roses. It has to confront many forces inimical to nationalist forces, represented by the BJP. The Left and kept intellectuals, who are actually pseudo-intellectuals, would make life difficult for the BJP government. There is no doubt that these forces inimical to Hindutva ideology would come together on one pretext or the other such as social justice, secularism, pro-minorities and make attempts to pillory the BJP.
The BJP leadership needs to muster all their skills and tenacity, intelligence and shrewdness to counter the designs of these forces in the interest of the state. Since, it is imperative to defeat the Congress-led UPA in the interest of the country, the BJP has to perform and conduct exemplarily so as to win the maximum of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state. The Karnataka BJP unit cannot afford to fail the party at the national level.
It is not that Shri Yeddyurappa is unaware of this. In an interview to Deccan Chronicle, he said, âI will ensure that the government performs well, we conduct ourselves in a dignified way, enhance the image and credibility of the party and the government, win the faith, confidence and goodwill of the people, and win all the 28 Lok Sabha seats so as to make Shri L.K. Advani the Prime Minister of India.â A noble objective indeed. But no great task is easy. We can trust the ability, wisdom and capability of the BJP leadership, both at the Centre and Karnataka units.
Karnataka was for long a Congress fortress and a bipolar polity with the politics polarised between the Congress and the erstwhile Congress (O), which was the main anti-Congress force. Though the BJS leaders were respected by their opponents for their dedication and commitment, the party, however, was regarded as town-centric.
True to the descriptionâand not really trueâthe BJS used to win only the graduate constituency elections to the upper house and the first such victory was that of G.S. Ullal, from Mangalore graduates constituency in 1962. Later it was Y.S. Patil from Dharwad in 1967. For the first time, these two districts, Dakshina Kannada and Dharwad came to be considered as the âstrongholdâ of the BJS.
However, the BJS tasted its first victory in the direct elections from the Muslim-dominated Bidar in 1965 when its candidate, Narayana Rao Manhalli won purely on nationalist issues that the party was championing. âIn fact, the people started speaking the issues we had taken up such as cow slaughter, Article 370 and Uniform Civil Code. We were pleasantly surprised,â said, Shri Manahalli from Bidar, recalling the first victory of the BJS, 42 years ago. He named his son Deepak, to mark the victory of the BJS, the election symbol being lamp, who was born in that year.
Though the BJP came to be recognised as a viable alternative to the Congress at the national level within a short span of six months from the day of its inception, in April 1980, it was not so in Karnataka till it polled 27 per cent of votes and won four Lok Sabha seats in 1991. Before that, however, the party had won 18 seats in the 1983 elections, but lost heavily in the 1985 elections by winning only 2 seats. In 1989 Assembly polls, it won four seats by polling 3.17 per cent of votes.
With the polity heavily polarised between the Congress and the Janata Party, which is nothing but the bulk of the Congress (O), the BJP had to wait for its day patiently but persevering the cause of the people.
When the BJP, after having come to be described by no less than a person like Shri M.C. Chagla, as the only real national alternative to Congress, lost heavily in 1984 elections in the aftermath of the assassination of Smt Indira Gandhi, the cadre was disappointed. However, top leaders like the late Jagannatha Rao Joshi, the late Bhavu Rao Deshpande, the late Karambally Sanjeeva Shetty, the late G.M. Rajachar, the late Jyothi Prakash Salunke, the late Srinivasa Saralayya, the late Dr N. Rajappa, the late K. Venkatappa, the late Manohar Dhammurkar, the late Dr M.R.Tangaâthis is only illustrative as the list is exhaustiveâstrived to keep up the morale of the party workers.
Shri B.S. Yeddyurappaâs taking-over as the party president in February 1983 marked a new turning point in the BJPâs career graph. He championed the cause of farmers vigorously and took the organisation to hitherto unchartered course. The collapse of the Karnataka Rajya Ryot Sangh, due to its internal contradictions as well as ego-centric leadership, was rightly exploited by the BJP, which came to be recognised as the sole political party to strive for the cause of farmers.
Along with the farmers cause, Shri Yeddyurappa planned series of programmes aimed at reaching out to various sections of society, such as weavers, women, SCs/STs, backward classes, youth and minorities. In a way, the BJP started to become a cadre-based mass party in the real and true sense of the word.
The BJP in Karnataka maintained its distinct ideological character by championing the cause of Ayodhya starting from Ram Jyoti Yatra, Shila Poojan and later Shri Advaniâs Somnath-Ayodhya Rath Yatra that passed through Humnabad in Bidar district. It evoked a mammoth response. The Kanyakumari-Kashmir Ekta Yatra undertaken by Dr Murli Manohar Joshi also evoked spontaneous response as well as galvanised the organisational machinery.
The efforts put in by the party leadership and the cadre paid off, albeit in a small way when the BJP won 40 seats, for the first time in the 1994 elections. That was the beginning of the rise, as the party had crossed the threshold. In the 1999 elections the party won 44, though it had the potential to win much more. Perhaps, entering into an alliance with the discredited Janata Dal (U) was a strategic mistake.
The BJP took advantage of the collapse of the Janata parivar by weaning away many pro-Hegde leaders who had a good electoral base and managed to give them tickets. The gamble paid off in 2004.
The 2004 election was yet another turning point in the partyâs history when it won 79 seats with 28 per cent of votes. For the first time, it emerged as the single largest party, dislodging both the Congress and the Janata Dal (S)âwhich had managed to become the rump of the Janata parivarâfrom being number one and number two positions. The BJPâs moment had arrived.
But the lust for power of the shameless Congressâwhich had been rejected by the people by sizing down its strength from 165 to mere 65âand Janata Dal (S) prevented the BJP from becoming a ruling party despite having the mandate, though not a numerical majority. Karnataka saw an âerectedâ government of losers and not an âelectedâ government of the winner.
âThe decision of the BJP to join hands with the Janata Dal(S) was correct as it enabled us to get an insight into the intricacies and nuances of governance,â said Shri Ramachandra Gowda. He also defended the decision on the ground that both the BJP and the Janata Dal (S) were anti-Congress parties.
âThe coming together of the Congress and Janata Dal (S) in 2004 on the issue of secularism is unjustifiable. Secularism has become a <span style='color:red'>convenient tool for the pseudo-secular and unscrupulous parties to defend and justify the politics of harlotry and debauchery,â Shri Ramachandra Gowda explained.</span>
The refusal of Shri H.D. Kumaraswamy to effect a smooth change of guard was nothing but treachery and betrayal. As rightly said by Shri Arun Jaitley, it is the absence of political morality in public life. But purely from the electoral point of view, it was a blessings in disguise for the BJP to exploit the situation for its advantage. Shri Ramachandra Gowda later proved prophetic when he had said then on November 20 after Shri Yeddyurappa resigned as Chief Minister of eight days, âWe will emerge stronger in purpose and clearer in mind.â
Polls - Karnataka '08 - shamu - 06-03-2008
One important thing Yeddyurappa should do is to crush the maoists trying to gain foot hold in Karnataka
<img src='http://images.businessweek.com/mz/08/20/pop_0820_44indep.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
Polls - Karnataka '08 - acharya - 06-06-2008
Moving on from Karnataka
June 04, 2008
There is plenty of good news about the BJP's rise to power in Karnataka, and I hate to rain on the parade, but there needs to be some introspection as well.
I am delighted that the BJP has finally made its inevitable inroads into the South, but there are a few caveats. First, there is no massive mandate for the BJP; second, entire sections of the state have rejected it; third, Karnataka is a different animal from the rest of the South. There is no room for complacency, or for Pollyannaish extrapolations to the 2009 general election.
It would be fair to say that the BJP ran a disciplined and sensible campaign, sensing the mood of the people and providing them with a cogent vision, instead of the tired, oh-so-1970s 'bread, clothing and housing' and 'destroy poverty' slogans that the Congress has been recycling over and over. And the BJP did win, which is the important thing, and kudos to them, in particular to Arun Jaitley; but there are some clouds on the horizon.
The first issue is the size of the mandate. Given that the UPA government has been an absolute disaster in every possible way -- be it rampaging inflation or the debacles in foreign affairs or widespread terrorism or apartheid against Hindus -- this should have been a comprehensive rout for the Congress. The BJP should have, by rights, won a thumping majority. The fact that it did not is food for thought.
The biggest issue is inflation, especially in food items: The BJP was handed a gift on a platter, because, despite the desperate fudging of numbers by the UPA to say it is 7.8%, the actual inflation on the ground is in the vicinity of 20% to 100% in the price of essential items. Considering that food accounts for 60% of the consumption basket in India, this is an enormous hardship for the average household, and it is hitting them in the pocketbook and is enforcing belt-tightening, literally.
Some years ago, there was a similar price rise in just one essential commodity -- onions -- and the chattering classes crucified the NDA for that. Oddly, the same glitterati seem blas� when the price of every food item has shot through the roof. They argue that this is related to global warming, and that there are food shortages everywhere. True, but on the other hand, the Indian State has been criminally negligent in ensuring food security. For instance, the US has just passed the Farm Bill 2007, which once again subsidises large commodity farmers with billions of dollars --- and this directly leads to the bankruptcy and suicides of Indian cotton farmers. Yet India has done or said nothing about this.
If only the Congress, seduced by the siren-song of Soviet-style heavy industry, had not under-invested in agriculture for fifty years (see my old Rediff column Indian farmers can't just fade away), India would by now have been a leader in that major global power, the Organisation of Food Exporting Countries (OFEC), raking in outrageous export earnings and turning away supplicants with derision. So it really is the fault of the Congress for compromising the nation's food security and competitive advantage. Considering this, the Congress should have been trounced: Oddly enough, it increased its tally.
The BJP went from 79 to 110 (a 39% increase), and the Congress went from 65 to 80 (a 23% increase). That is not so bad, and I don't have the numbers in the popular vote, but it was probably a swing of some 5% to 6% there at the expense of the feckless JD-S. So it's not as though there's a tsunami of support for the BJP: I expected better.
But I do acknowledge that the key thing is to gain power. Look at the Congress at the Centre: They got just about the same number of seats as the BJP in 2004, but they have been able to wrest power and wreak absolute havoc. A friend who's an economist with an investment bank in ASEAN commented that before the UPA and the Communists came to power, India was about 5 to 10 years behind China on all sorts of criteria. Now, four years later, he said India has slipped to 15 to 20 years behind China on all those measures. Surely this must count as a great achievement for certain vested interests, and you know who they are -- such is the value for you and friends from gaining political power.
Second, it appears that the BJP's rise is confined to certain areas, and it has not made any progress in Dakshina Kannada. This is odd, considering that those in South Kanara surely had the same problems -- poor governance, lack of development, a free hand for terrorism -- that their cohorts elsewhere in the state had. The conventional explanation has to do with caste equations. This may not be a satisfactory explanation, as it is not clear that castes vote as monolithic votebanks. Caste-as-monolith had been the rationale behind the confident assertion that Mayawati and the BSP would be a spoiler or king-maker. As it turned out, the BSP was no factor at all.
What does that mean? Is the old calculus of caste breaking down? It is taken as an axiom that Mohammedans and Christians vote as vote banks, but are Hindu castes getting away from that? Where are all the pundits who proclaimed the virtues of the BSP? They must have gone back to the same woodwork as the tea-leaf readers and soothsayers and television pontificators who so confidently predicted a Congress sweep.
It appears that, instead of being undifferentiated vote banks, the common people, as they become more politically aware, vote rationally for those they think will actually bring them some benefits. This happened in Gujarat, for instance: in spite of the pseudo-secularist brigade shrieking like banshees, even the Mohammedans saw that Narendra Modi [Images] was bringing development, investment, and water to them, and so they voted accordingly.
In Kerala [Images], I have observed a similar phenomenon, alas, in a negative way: The Ezhavas, once they became politically aware, ceased to vote as a caste group, but began to vote for ideology. The fact that they started voting en masse, even blindly, for the Communists, is tragic, but ideology counted for more than suggestions from 'tribal' leaders. Unfortunately, the Mohammedans and Christians are still in this 'tribal' stage, where the padres and mullahs lay down edicts on how to vote. And that may well explain the BJP's loss in South Kanara where there are large numbers of Mohammedans and Christians.
The third issue is that Karnataka is not representative of the South. There are some similarities between Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, not only in the arid and starkly beautiful, boulder-strewn, Deccan terrain but also in the geo-politics and geo-economics.
Tamil Nadu is quite different, in particular because of two things: The prevalence of the so-called 'Dravidian' ideology that in essence is an imperialist perspective; and in the pattern of development -- there are several centers of power in the state, and it is not dominated by the capital city to the same extent that AP and Karnataka are.
Kerala, of course, is a strange animal, partly because the entire state is a gigantic city (although it looks deceptively rural) in terms of consumption patterns, the way marketing and distribution happens, and the way information is handled: From that perspective, Kerala is more like New York City than like Iowa. Besides, the money-order economy, the knee-jerk Communist ideology and the fact the Christians and Mohammedans together are a majority make Kerala very unusual indeed.
Thus, while there is no doubt that coming to power in Karnataka is a signal achievement for the BJP, laying to rest forever the canard that they only appeal to the Hindi belt, there needs to be a lot of thought put into how this beach-head can be used to expand to the rest of the South.
Rajeev Srinivasan
Polls - Karnataka '08 - acharya - 06-06-2008
Karnataka victory a verdict against Sonia: Swaraj
Posted online: Sunday , May 25, 2008 at 06:23:19
Bangalore, May 25: BJP leader Sushma Swaraj described the party's victory in Karnataka as a âverdict against Sonia Gandhi's leadershipâ.
"This is the 11th defeat of Congress in succession in the country and is nothing but a verdict against Congress president Sonia Gandhi's leadership," she said.
Taking a swipe at the Congress manifesto which offered âfreebiesâ for the poor like colour television sets and rice at Rs 2 a kilogram, she charged that the Congress never had shown concern for the poor when they ruled.
She expressed confidence about BJP winning the Lok Sabha polls also and L K Advani becoming the Prime Minister.
Venkaiah Naidu attributed the party's victory to the âinjustice meted out to BJP by its coalition partner JD-Sâ.
"It is this which influenced the people in the party's favour," he said.
"People have given their verdict and there is no doubt B S Yeddyurappa will become the Chief Minister. However, a meeting will be convened and he will be chosen there," he said.
He said BJP's victory in the state will definitely impact the national political scene.
BJP national general secretary Ananth Kumar said, âit is a verdict of the peopleâ, adding, the credit should go totally to the people.
Polls - Karnataka '08 - acharya - 06-06-2008
Karnataka BJP government to seek trust-vote Friday
Posted June 5th, 2008 by Tarique Anwar
By IANS,
Bangalore : The first Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Karnataka is bracing to seek a vote of confidence in the state legislative assembly Friday, with the support of six independents.
Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa will move a one-line motion in the lower house late afternoon after Governor Rameshwar Thakur addresses a joint session of the legislature around noon.
With 110 legislators in the 225-member assembly, the ruling party has the firm support of the six independents to cross the halfway mark of 113 and prove that it enjoys the confidence of the house to run a stable government.
Of the six independents, five were inducted in the 30-member ministry May 30 when the BJP government assumed office after the assembly elections last month saw it win near majority.
"We have the support of 116 legislators to sail through the trust-vote that may be taken up at the end of the debate on the confidence motion after the chief minister's reply. It is left to the new speaker to decide whether to put the motion to voice-vote or press for voting by the members of the house," party spokesperson and cabinet minister Suresh Kumar told IANS Thursday.
Of the 224 elected members, 80 belong to Congress and 28 to the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S). The 225th legislator will be nominated later by the governor on the advice of the government from the Anglo-Indian community as per the constitutional provision.
Exuding confidence of winning the trust-vote, Yeddyurappa told reporters that he was looking forward to the important session where he would present the programmes and policies of the new government for making Karnataka a model state.
"As I said on the day I took oath as chief minister, we will work for the socio-economic development of the state and provide a stable government to ensure regional balance in growth across the state," Yeddyurappa asserted.
To seek the support of the opposition parties, Yeddyurappa called on former prime minister and JD-S supremo H.D. Deve Gowda, his son and former state chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, Congress legislative party (CLP) leader Mallikarjun Kharge and Samajwadi Party's state unit president and former chief minister S. Bangarappa over the last two days.
Yeddyurappa defeated Bangarappa at the hustings from Shikaripura in Shimoga district, about 330 km from here, in the assembly polls.
Incidentally, it will be the second time when Yeddyurappa will be seeking a trust vote. He aborted a similar attempt in November after he was forced to resign as chief minister of the week-old BJP-led coalition government following the withdrawal of support by its then ally JD-S.
Meanwhile, BJP candidate Jagdish Shettar was declared elected unopposed to the post of assembly speaker. When nominations for the speaker's post were closed Wednesday, neither Congress nor the JD-S fielded any candidate.
Two motions moved by Yeddyurappa and senior minister K.S. Eswarappa were taken up for consideration by pro-tem speaker K.G. Bhopaiah and approved unanimously by the lower house.
Shettar, a four time legislator from Dharwad in north Karnataka, had earlier refused to accept the speaker's post, as he was keen on a ministerial berth. His supporters staged protests and burnt a bus in his home town over his exclusion from the ministry last week. He however relented after the party's central leadership persuaded him to take up the key post.
Polls - Karnataka '08 - acharya - 06-06-2008
Karnataka's BJP government to seek trust vote
IANS
Tuesday, June 03, 2008 17:55 IST
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BANGALORE:Karnataka's newly elected assembly begins its first session on Wednesday, and the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) first government in the south will seek the confidence of the house on Friday.
Governor Rameshwar Thakur on Tuesday relented from his insistence on not addressing the joint sitting of the legislature till Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa proved his majority in the house.
Yeddyurappa met Thakur on Tuesday morning and convinced him that under the constitution he has to address the session when a new government takes office.
The governor's refusal had angered the BJP. Its Karnataka unit chief D.V. Sadananda Gowda had accused the governor of acting at the behest of the Congress.
"The governor has agreed to address the joint sitting of the legislature on the morning of June 6," minister S. Suresh Kumar, who accompanied Yeddyurappa to the meeting with Thakur, told reporters.
"Under article 176 of the constitution it is mandatory for the governor to address the joint session when a new government assumes office," Kumar said.
The legislators will take oath on the first day of the session on Wednesday. The speaker is to be elected the next day. Yeddyurappa will move the one-line confidence motion on Friday after the governor addresses the joint sitting.
The discussion on the motion and the voting is likely to conclude the same day.
The BJP won 110 seats in the 225-member house in last month's three-phase polls and secured the support of six independents to achieve the majority. Yeddyurappa leads a 30-member ministry, which includes five of the six independents. The ministry was sworn in May 30.
Yeddyurappa has not allotted portfolios to his ministers in view of the rumbling in the party over denial of ministerial berths to a few senior leaders.
This includes Jagdish Shettar, a four-time legislator from Dharwad in north Karnataka.
Shettar had refused to accept the speaker's post but appears to have softened his position following talks with party general secretary and Karnataka unit in-charge Arun Jaitley in New Delhi on Monday.
"I have explained my position to my party leaders and will abide by their decision," he told reporters in New Delhi after meeting Jaitley in the presence H.N. Ananth Kumar, also a general secretary and a former central minister from Karnataka.
Another reason holding up the portfolio allocation is the demand from several ministers for key ministries like home, power, mines, urban development and irrigation.
The party's dependence on the independents, dissidence in the party over denial of ministerial berths and lobbying for key ministries have forced BJP to put off the allocation of ministries until after Yeddyurappa wins the trust vote.
Polls - Karnataka '08 - acharya - 06-06-2008
Portfolio allocation in Karnataka deferred to next week
Bangalore, June 1 (IANS) The new Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Karnataka continued to face problems over cabinet composition Saturday. The 29 cabinet ministers who took oath Friday will now get their portfolios only by the end of next week.
"The portfolios will be allocated only after the ministry wins the trust vote in the assembly June 6," Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa and state party chief D.V. Sadananda Gowda told reporters here.
They declined to give reasons for the delay but party sources said the problem created by denial of a ministerial berth to Jagadish Shettar, a senior leader from north Karnataka, was one of the causes.
Another reason is the demand from those already sworn in for key portfolios like home, public works, energy, mines, irrigation and urban development, the sources said.
The ministry making problem is likely to be discussed with BJP's central leaders in New Delhi Sunday by Yeddyurappa and Sadananda Gowda who will be there to attend the party's national executive meeting.
Shettar, a four-time legislator from Dharwad district, is insisting on a ministerial berth and has rejected the assembly speaker's post offered to him.
His supporters in the twin cities of Hubli-Dharwad Friday set on fire a bus and damaged several others protesting denial of a minister's post to him.
Shettar has rebuffed efforts to persuade him to accept the speaker's post and stuck to his stand Saturday.
Besides Shettar, at least two other legislators, Shankaralinge Gowda from Mysore and Narayanaswamy from Anekal on Bangalore's outskirts, are also upset at denial of a place in the party's first ministry anywhere in south India.
Shankaralinge Gowda's supporters demonstrated in Mysore while Narayanswamy backers organised a shutdown in Anekal Saturday. Both have been elected to the assembly for the fourth time.
Sadananda Gowda was, however, confident that the crisis created over denial of ministerial berths to these three leaders would be resolved in a couple of days.
In another development, Governor Rameshwar Thakur declined to address the joint session of the legislature till Yeddyurappa wins the trust vote.
A delegation of the newly sworn in ministers and newly appointed advocate general Uday Holla met Thakur late Friday night requesting him to address the joint session but he declined to do so, the party sources said.
Sadanada Gowda Saturday criticised Thakur for his refusal. "The governor is constitutionally bound to address the session called after a new government takes over," he told reporters.
At its first meet after taking oath, the cabinet decided to convene the 225-member assembly June 4 for a three-day session.
The first day will be devoted to newly elected members taking oath. The speaker's election will be on June 5 and the last day Yeddyurappa will seek the trust vote.
The BJP was against seeking the trust vote but is doing so on Thakur's insistence.
"We have the majority with us and election of the speaker will prove it. Where is the need for another trust vote?" Sadananda Gowda asked.
Yeddyurappa, however, said he decided to seek the trust vote June 6 and will stick to it.
On the second day in office Yeddyurappa announced a compensation of Rs.200,000 to the families of 25 people killed in an accident near Arakalgud in Hassan district, about 180 km from here, on Thursday.
Yeddyurappa went to Hassan Saturday to console the bereaved families and meet the injured. The accident took place when the lorry in which over 100 people were travelling for a wedding feast overturned and fell into a 20-foot-deep ditch.
IANS
Polls - Karnataka '08 - Guest - 06-06-2008
BJP govt in Karnataka has won the trust vote!
Now it will be much easier to split the JDS. And it will be worth its weight in roses to watch the painful grimaces on Governor Thakur's face.
Polls - Karnataka '08 - Capt M Kumar - 06-11-2008
<!--emo&
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /><!--endemo--> BANGALORE: True to the adage, politics makes strange bedfellows, Congress may forge a tie-up with sworn enemy JD(S) for the ensuing biennial elections from the Karnataka assembly for filling up the four Rajya Sabha and seven Legislative Council seats on June 26. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/P...how/3118562.cms