UP, Gujarat, UT, Punjab- Election 2007

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<!--emo&:cool--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/specool.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='specool.gif' /><!--endemo--> In Elections on 18 April 2007, in the Muslim dominated 58 Assembly Seats of Rohilkhand the BJP led by Kalyan Singh, Rajnath Singh and Advani raced to win 30 MLAs in the Third Phase of Elections.

The BJP had won only 11 MLAs in the last Elections. Thus in the Three Phases of the 2007 U.P. Assembly Elections the BJP has won 89 of the 177 seats. This is a clear indication that the magic of Kalyan Singh is working wonders for the BJP. The entire Non-Yadav OBC Vote is combining with the Rajput Vote to create a wave for the BJP. If this trend continues then the BJP will benefit enormously in the Central and the Eastern Uttar Pradesh Regions in the next 4 Phases of Polling.

The BSP too is doing very well but is just behind the BJP. The BSP has won 50 of the 177 Seats in the Three Phases. Mayawati is getting a substantial section of the Muslim vote, enough to defeat Samajwadi Party Candidates but not enough to overtake the BJP. In the next three phases the shift of the Muslim vote away from a sinking Samajwadi Party to the BSP could be enormous, giving Mayawati big gains. If the shift of the Muslim Vote is not substantial, then Mulayam’s candidates will lose but Mayawati will not be able to overtake the BJP.

Mulayam Singh Yadav had won 25 MLAs in this region, during the last elections. In this Election Mulayam’s candidates will lose more than 16 of those 25 MLAs to register a single digit tally. Mulayam’s Goonda Raj, Excessive Yadav casteism, Pro-Capitalist, Anti-Poor, Anti-Farmers Image and horrible Governance have generated an unprecedented Voter Anger. Mulayam will be in a horrible Third Place. In the next Four Phases, Mulayam’s Yadavs will shift away from a losing Samajwadi Party to the upbeat BJP to ensure that Mayawati’s BSP candidates do not win.

The Congress had won 4 MLAs in the last election here. There is no improvement in the number of seats. The Sonia-Rahul bubble is just a manipulated Media Hype. The Congress candidates are not getting enough votes on the ground to win.

The Others have literally been wiped out, in this Election.

If the Trend in the Three Phases continues and accelerates in the next Four Phases, then the Results will be dramatic.
Congress will be hovering around a final tally of 20 MLAs.
Mulayam’s Samajwadi Party will fall to 40 MLAs.
Mayawati’s BSP will register 125 MLAs.
The Kalyan Singh led BJP will get a clear majority and secure 202 MLAs.

It is time to hail Rajnath Singh and Advani for uniting the BJP vote and strengthening the leadership of Kalyan Singh. Because of their effort the Magic of Kalyan Singh is working wonders for the BJP in generating an OBC Wave.

It is Time to say HELLO to Kalyan Singh, the next Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.

[Guest]

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<b>Rahul`s Varanasi roadshow hit with supporters, dull with voters</b>
Varanasi, May 02: The roadshow of charismatic Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in the holy city <b>yesterday drew an overwhelming response from party workers and supporters, but did not attract much response from the general public.</b>

The Amethi MP, perched atop an open jeep and flanked by Congress candidates was showered with rose petals and marigold garlands. Rahul Gandhi was also gifted keepsake photographs of Lord Kal Bhairav, besides a 'rudraksha' chain and a colourful 'dupatta' bearing religious slogans in old city coming under Varanasi (south) assembly segment.

Prior to that, the roadshow travelled through relatively empty streets only dotted with Congress workers and supporters in patches in Varanasi (north) assembly segment. The 23-km roadshow's last stretch --<b> through Varanasi (Cantt) seat -- was a disappointment for the Congress leaders who had worked round the clock for the last few days to ensure a memorable success for the roadshow that has drawn large crowds in other parts of Uttar Pradesh</b>.

''It is partly due to security restrictions and partly due to scorching heat that the roadshow seemed to be a dull affair in some parts of the city, especially parts of Varanasi (Cantt) constituency,'' said Milan Srivastava, the spokesperson for Mohammed Sheikh Shamim, the party candidate from Varanasi (North) seat.

The roadshow started from Hotel Radisson at 1010 hrs and ended at 1345 hrs at the Benia Bag ground after travelling through Muslim- dominated Peeli Kothi, Adampura, Madanpura, Shivala and Nai Sarak areas besides Maidagin, Chowk, Baansphtak, Sonarpura, Assi, Lanka, Sunderpur, Kakarmatta, Mehmoorganj, Rathyatra, Luxa and Godowlia localities.

While the roadshow was welcomed by a huge crowd of onlookers and Congress workers eager to catch a glimpse of their young leader in Muslim-dominated Adampura, Peeli Kothi (Varanasi North) and Madanpura (Varanasi South) there were only a handful of supporters waiting to welcome the Congress MP in Nai Sarak area, which partly lies in Varanasi South and Varanasi Cantt seats.
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Barring patches of support at Lanka, Sunderpur and Kakarmatta, the roadshow zoomed past the empty streets in Mehmoorganj, Luxa, Godowlia and Benia Bag localities which were jam-packed during the roadshow of Gandhi in the city just ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2003.

<b>''That time Congress won the Lok Sabha election from Varanasi, but this time Rahul's roadshow is only likely to affect poll result in Varanasi (South) seat and none of the other four seats,''</b> said Babu Ansari, a Banarasi saree trader of Madanpura locality.
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[Guest]

After the municipal elections the BJP dissidents backed off. With the Sohrabuddin case both the dissidents and INC is making a minor comeback. This is perhaps the last-ditch attempt by anti-Modi folks before elections. All Gujju newspapers, English newspapers, BJP dissidents, INC, babus and former babus pissed off at Modi are squarely aligned against Modi. D-company is having a ball too.

Modi's situation is tough. If he really goes after Vanzara&co then he will alienate the nationalistic machinery and even look bad in front of his own supporters and gujaratis for ditching good cops like Vanzara and helping to make martyr out of scumbags like Sohrabuddin. OTOH if he backs off his national position stands to suffer.

In any case, I think this is the last major challenge before the Guj elections.

For those who are unaware here is an article that gives a summary of what happened.

http://in.rediff.com/news/2007/apr/25spec.htm?zcc=rl

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>BJP: Why blame Modi, probe all encounters </b>
Pioneer.com
Rajeev Ranjan Roy | New Delhi
Party mounts strong defence of Gujarat CM
Throwing its weight behind Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who is facing flak from the UPA partners over the issue of fake encounters, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday challenged the rivals to take on their 'political bete noire' in the coming battle of ballots in the State. 

"Modi is a popular Chief Minister. His baiters should fight him in the election. For the pseudo-secularists, it has become a fashion to attack Modi on all counts. It is going to boomerang on them and Modi would romp home again," former BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu said on Wednesday.

Gujarat is scheduled to go to polls by the end of 2007 and the BJP leaders are confident of retaining power in the State under the leadership of Modi, given his appeal and performance.

Asserting that the party would not lie low to offset the Congress-Left orchestrated diatribe against Modi, <b>Naidu sought a 'full-fledged' inquiry into the incident of fake encounters across the country after the reports of the complicity of Andhra Pradesh Police surfaced</b>.

<b>"All possible angles have to be investigated. We cannot have one yardstick for Gujarat Police and another for Andhra Police," he said, reiterating that law would take its own course in the case of Sohrabuddin's killing in the alleged fake encounter. "All encounters should be probed," </b>he said.

<b>By demanding proper probe in all such killings, the BJP seems to have killed two birds with one stone. If there were an inquiry into the incident by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as being demanded by the Centre in the Supreme Court, the chorus for similar probe in other killings could not be ruled out. Such a demand has already been made in the case of Nandigram.</b>

<b>"The encounters have taken place in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka when the Congress was in power. Such incidents have taken place in UP too. The incidents of rape and atrocities against women were reported from various states under Congress regimes too. Everyone knows what had happened in Nandigram, where innocent people were killed and women were raped,"</b> Naidu said.

Responding to the demand of Modi's resignation from different opposition quarters, Naidu asked:<b> "Had Home Minister Shivraj Patil done so in the wake of numerous incidents of fake killings in Jammu and Kashmir? Has Lalu Prasad Yadav resigned after the incidents of rape and killings in the running trains? It is strange that a person out on bail is demanding jail for Modi for committing no crimes." </b>

The reported complicity of Andhra Pradesh Police in the fake encounter has come handy to the BJP to attack Modi's critics. According to the reports appearing in various sections of media, <b>the Gujarat Police acted on the tip-off received from the Andhra Pradesh Police. The team from Anti-Terrorist Squad of Gujarat Police had conducted a joint operation with the police of Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan in pinning down Sohrabuddin</b>.

<b>The specific input received from the Andhra Pradesh Police had indicated that Sohrabuddin was involved with the militant outfit Lashkar-e-Tayyeba and could attack top political leaders in the State. Based on this information the joint police team intercepted the bus from Hyderabad to Sangali, in which Sohrabuddin was travelling with his wife Kausar Bi.</b>

<b>Hyderabad Police Commissioner Balvinder Singh on Tuesday told the mediapersons that 'it was a normal practice to provide logistical support to other state police' in such situations.</b> His statement was, however, in stark contrast to that of Andhra CM YS Rajashekhara Reddy, who said that he was not aware of any such support given to the Gujarat Police. <!--emo&:thumbdown--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbsdownsmileyanim.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='thumbsdownsmileyanim.gif' /><!--endemo--> 
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[Guest]

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Observers felt Sibal's 'exposes' were likely to make little political impact on UP assembly elections at this stage. "The facts revealed by Sibal have been in the public domain for long. And in all the cases the issue is already before the Allahabad High Court or the Supreme Court," said a UP watcher.

<b>The shifting of gear reflected the Congress party's belated realisation that the BJP appeared to be the principal beneficiary of its strategy of isolating Mulayam Singh Yadav in UP assembly elections</b>.

<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>Successive exit polls have projected that the BJP's was improving its score after every phase. According to intelligence report, the pro-BJP sentiment was likely to get more pronounced during the last two remaining phases, when eastern UP districts go to polls </span>
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