Fingers Crossed on Karnataka

Fingers are crossed on what will happen in Karnataka elections that has witnessed intense drama and intrigue. Both Bharatiya Janata Party and ruling party in the State Congress indulged in a no holds barred fight leveling acquisition after acquisition on each other.
As the state prepares for tomorrow's assembly polls, the Election Commission has issued guidelines to political parties and media for strict compliance with the Model code of conduct till the election is over. The Election Commission has also imposed the ban on public opinion programmes in the media. 
The high-voltage campaigning for the Assembly polls concluded last evening. Polling for 223 assembly segments will be held tomorrow and counting will take place on 15th of this month, i.e. Tuesday. 
The election in Jayanagar Assembly constituency has been postponed following the death of BJP candidate B N Vijay Kumar. Total 2636 candidates are in fray out of which 617 are women. BJP has fielded 223 candidates while Congress has fielded 222 candidates. JD(S) is contesting in 201 constituencies. 
More than 58000 polling booths have been set up for over five crores six lakh voters. The young voters' size has also doubled compared to the last assembly elections in the state. It was 7 lakh 22 thousand in 2013 and now 15 lakh 72 thousand young voters were added in the electoral roll.
There are 58008 polling stations set up, including 1312 auxiliary booths. The Election Commission has identified 12001 of them as critical or sensitive booths The Election Commission has deployed 585 companies of Central forces comprising of 45000 personnel for the poll duty. Over 3,50,000 polling personnel are put on poll duty in the booths. 
Before reaching a standstill, Political parties and leaders made last ditch efforts to woo the voters. 
BJP National President Amit Shah and Congress President Pameshwaran addressed a press conference in Bengaluru yesterday. 
Shah accused Congress of adopting unfair means to rig the election. The BJP President said, there was 173 percent increase in the suicide of farmers in Karnataka and law and order situation has taken a nose dive. Shah alleged that 24 BJP and RSS workers were murdered in the state. 
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said, his party fought a very good campaign, it stood together, raised fundamental issues and laid down a vision for the development of Karnataka.

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Congress Allowed Loot of Banks : PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today accused the successive Congress governments at the Centre of allowing a handful of people to loot banks while denying loans to poor. 

Begining his election campaign in Karnataka, Modi addressed several public rallies. He said, despite the nationalisation of banks poor remained out of the banking system until his government started helming the country. 

Modi said, there was a time when the poor had no bank accounts, they could not even think of going to a bank. He said, the poor were out of economic mainstream and banking system. 

Modi said, his government started the Jan Dhan scheme for them. 

The Prime Minister told the gathering that 28th April got a momentous day in the history of the country when all un-electrified villages were connected with power lines. 

He said, the NDA government will embark on a task of connecting 4 crore households which do not have electricity even after 70 years of independence.

The Prime Minister dared Congress President Rahul Gandhi to speak in any language for 15 minutes about the achievements of Karnataka's Siddaramaiah government without referring to a piece of paper. 

Mr. Modi said, he is a person from the working class and any criticism by Naamdhar, a person from famous family, will not deter him from taking up the development work. 

He assured people of Karnataka that all the pending projects in the state will be speeded up when BJP comes to power. Mr. Modi claimed over two dozen BJP workers were killed under the Congress government in Karnataka in political violence. 

He also spoke about his government promulgating an ordinance to pave the way for providing stringent punishment, including the death penalty, for those convicted of raping girls below the age of 12 years.

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Karnataka Election : Amit Shah Ups the Ante

Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah has established himself as a fearsome strategist not for nothing. He comes with newer moves and counter moves with every poll. It is as if he especially relishes the electoral battles that bring to forth his unfathomable mastery in the poll strategies.
The newest salvo comes as he slough it out in the scorching sun of Karnataka. Shah has said that his  party will give account for the money spent during the 2019 election to  the Lok Sabha.
  "NDA Government led by Prime Minister Narendra  Modi will give account for the money spent during its five year term in  office," he said  addressing a  public meeting at Hungund.
In the same breath, he challenged Congress President Rahul Gandhib as well.
"Since it is a Assembly  election, he (Rahul) should give details of Siddaramaiah  government's performance during the last five years in office," he said.
Asserting that the BJP will form  the next government in Karnataka, Mr Shah said that Congress has already  lost Assembly elections in 12 States and in May 12 election also same  thing will happen and Congress will lose power.
The move is a smart one as it allows BJP to project itself as a transparent party. At the same time, it puts Congress in a tight spot as the latter is married by corruption scandals.
With this announcement, Amit Shah has upped the ante and now one waits for the response from Congress camp.

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Amit Shah Begins Karnataka Expedition

BJP chief Amit Shah began his two-day visit to election-bound Karnataka with a visit to Suttur Matt in Mysuru today. He took the blessings of Suttur Shivarathri Deshikendra Mahasamiji’s blessings and appreciated the efforts of Swamiji in spreading the values of Indian culture and traditions.
Later, he paid a visit to Amba Vilas Palace and met erstwhile Mysore royal family. Union Minister Ananth Kumar, BJP state President B S Yeddyurappa and Member of Parliament Pratap Simha were present on this occasion. Amit Shah thereafter visited the house of Kyathamaranahalli Raju, an RSS activist who was hacked to death in 2016.
Speaking on the occasion, he said, 23 BJP workers were murdered in the state under Siddaramaiah Government and people have decided to end his rule. He assured the family members of those killed, that the culprits will be booked and punished when Yeddyurappa comes to power.
BJP national President Amit Shah did not reveal the details of his meeting with Mysore royal family. But this visit is considered important in the political circle. Speaking at the Navashakti samavesha in Mysuru he said Congress has lost many elections under Rahul Gandhi and the same will happen in Karnataka.
Later in the day, BJP President will interact with Dalit leaders today. This is the fourth leg of his tour in the state after his visit in north, central and coastal Karnataka regions. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah too is campaigning in the Mysuru district today which will continue till April 2nd.

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EVMs : The Liberals Are a Loser Lot

Ever since the results for the Uttar Pradesh and four other states were announced, the liberal camp has gone hysterical against the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). The EVMs were introduced in India in 2003 and since then, en number of governments have been removed or voted back in power - all with EVMs. At the central level alone, Vajpayee government lost the power in 2004 while Congress-led UPA retained and lost the power each once. It is true that Lal Krishna Advani protested against EVMs in 2009 and asked them to be removed. But wait, who was the adviser of Advani in 2009?
Sudhindra Kulkarni, the same commie Left Rasputin on whose insistence Advani toured Pakistan and made that unfortunate statement praising Jinnah. That brought doom on poor leader's career who had spent decades in serving BJP - nay, the party is seeing today's glory thanks to his untiring crusades against the pseudo-seculars (actually it was he who minted and popularized the term). The point is, in Kulkarni's company, Advani became a loser and cribbed against everything that went against him - a characteristic trait of the liberal imposters; they are always okay with anything until it goes in their stride. Not surprisinly, Advani cribbed even when Narendra Modi was given charge of leading BJP's campaign in 2014 and thereafter too.
When Advani made these allegations against EVMs, the Election Commission of India had put up 100 EVMs in open and challenged all to demonstrate how they could be hacked. Obviously, nobody took up the challenge. It was easier to shoot in the dark and play victim than prove the credentials of one's allegations. However, the issue was meaty enough for some souls to feast on it. Subramanian Swamy, a perpetual litigation-monger, took up the issue. He went to Supreme Court to seek relief with Lady of Irony standing smilingly behind him as hardly anybody remembered him standing in electoral fray ever and winning with a large vote share or say - losing with a thin margin.
Now, the crucial part. The SC, after pondering over the matter and giving due hearings, ordered that EVMs should be supplemented with the printed receipt of the vote being given. The court never said that EVMs were vulnerable or that they were useless. Like Kulkarni and his Red tribe, the entire spectrum of liberal ideology is bereft of any real liberalism or progressivism. This ilk is sustained on an inherited legacy of struggle, strife and sanity. The sustenance on which they survived till now is exhausting very fast and as they say, shallow water is always noisier.
That is why while crying hoarse about the fallibility of EVMs in UP and Uttarakhand, they forget that three states have thrown up results that sounded music to their ears. One only hopes all the best to the selective color-blindness of the liberals because that is the sure shot remedy of their removal.

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Will Prithviraj Prove His Mettle In Budget Session?

Chief Minister of Maharashtra Prithviraj Chavan is facing the budget session of state legislature first time since taking over charge of his post over 100 days ago. The timing is not so right main opposition party Bharatiya Janata Party is roaring with rants against the rule of Mafias in the state. On the other side of political spectrum, Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena are preparing themselves for the impending elections of Zilla Parishads and municipal corporations. The quadrangle is completed by Nationalist Congress Party which does not let go any chance of showdown against its ruling alliance partner.

Even though Congress enjoys the most MLAs and MPs from Maharashtra, it is still groping in dark because of lack of able leadership. CM Chavan, even though a good hand at the administration, has no nose for politics. Former CM Ashok Chavan was a seasoned politician who talked in same language with NCP when he lead the cabinet. However, he had to part with chair because of one of the worst scandals that hit the state.

Ashok Chavan resigned after it was surfaced that his relatives owned flats in the now infamous Adarsh Society. With this background in mind, it was completely obvious that Prithviraj chosed to play it safe. He ensured to create an image of Mr. Clean and reigned over the builders' lobby.

However, in his endeavour to mend the administration, he forgot to make it move. The administration came to a standstill. Now, the Congressmen themselves started to blame own government. On February 3, some 25 Congress MLAs held a meeting at former minister Baba Siddiqi's house. Those who attended the meeting criticised the tardiness of administration. Interestingly, Chavan was present in the meeting. 

 

Even as Prithviraj steered clear of corruption allegations and scandals, he could not evade the controversies. The state government first faced the ire of media and public when additional collector of Nashik,was burned alive by oil mafia Popat Shinde in Manmad on January 25. Last week, CM Chavan again found himself in thick of fire when Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh named him as culprit for appointing P. J. Thomas as Chief Vigilance Commissioner. Chavan, thanks to his academic skills and graciousness of PM, could avert the allegations. 

 

These chain of affairs has not helped the Congress party in view of impending civic bodies elections. Matters are made worse because CM Chavan is not elected to any house of legislature. Sanjay Dutt, the member of Legislative Council has shown readiness to vacate his seat for CM. But a definite course of events is still far away.

With Congree in search of impressive leadership and opposition's armoury full with weapons, the budget session is sure to prove a hard nut to crack for CM.

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End of an epoch in Maharashtra politics?

With Diwali over, every politician, journalist and gossip mongers were behind the results of the assembly elections. While all major surveys and exit polls had gone in favour of the ruling Congress and Nationalist Congress Party alliance, they are still seen with a suspect given the impeccable track record of such surveys in the past. Opinion and exit polls are considered fickle next only to the forecasts by meteorology department in India. With large numbers of rebels, new enfant terrible like Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, Jan Surajya Party and Republican Left Democratic Front, the fight was sure to be most difficult of all times. but even than that, this election will go down in the history of Maharashtra as one bringing an epoch to close.

That epoch of course being the political rivalry and influence of two personalities who have influenced the politics of state for over three to four decades. Yes, you guessed it right. After the result, Bal Thackerey, the Shiv Sena chief and Sharad Pawar, the NCP chief will not hold the sway like before in this election. Thackerey, who founded Shiv Sena in 1966 and headed single handedly since then is now an old tiger. He is credited with bringing the first non-Congress government in state which worked its full term. That this government was formed in alliance with Bharatiya Janata Party does not make any dent in his contribution. On the contrary, he was the only acceptable mascot of the alliance in state.

Bal Thackerey was the chief pioneer of Marathi son of soil agitations. An entire party was built on this issue but he had to relegate the issue to give it a broader ambit, that of Hindutva. But such was his clout that not a finger was raised towards him for navigating to other waters. He had built a dedicated supporter base and those supporters were ready to follow him wherever he lead. No questions asked, no questions permitted either. For years on years, media watched him addressing rallies at Shivaji Park in Mumbai . People thronged in hordes, growing in numbers each year. Media used all sorts of words to downplay his cult following, ranging from rhetoric to venom. But he grew in clout. He grew manifolds. Soon, Shiv Sena was seen ruling in the Mumbai Municipal Corporation , next only perhaps to legislature assembly in terms of political and administrative importance. The power in the MMC also gave access to immense resources to the party. Within 25 years from the formation of the party, Shiv Sena was seriously challenging the hegemony of Congress rule. In 1990 assembly elections, the SS-BJP alliance missed political power by whiskers. Within a year, it got its biggest shock till then.

Chhagan Bhujbal left Shiv Sena in December 1991 since he was miffed after being ignored for the post of leader of opposition in state assembly. His expectation was justified as he was party’s lone knight in the assembly since 1985. Still, Thackerey, who was now called Balasaheb with an appreciative accent by even his detractors, did not mend his fences. He still kept his hold on the party, dictated his terms and reigned over Mumbai. With some favorable developments and vigorous campaigning, he managed to what he called, “Furl the saffron flag on assembly.” Even though SS-BJP combine suffered losses in later years, in terms of seats and human capital also, that Bal Thackerey is a catchword in the Maharashtra’s political scene is a foregone conclusion. From trade unions to Bollywood, from students to the average middle class person, from women to activists, there is no as mesmerizing thing as a call  from the octogenarian leader.

On his part, Thackerey has seldom missed a chance to show that he is a truckload of fire in his belly. For a party constantly harping on Chhatrapati Shivaji’s name for its livelihood, it is nothing less than a blasphemy to denounce the project of Shivaji memorial which is coming up in Arabian sea off Mumbai coast. It was not without nothing that the party telecasted a long interview of the Old Tiger recently on all major Marathi channels. It is a last ditch effort to encash its most successful brand in an era when the party is desperately missing the aggressive frontmen. This interview also proved that for Marathi audience, there is nothing as entertaining, as enthralling a presentation as a direct speech oratory of Thackerey.

Now with Shiv Sena losing the election, then it is over for Thackerey who pledged last time that he will not remove the beard unless the party is voted back in power. With his frail health and lost hopes, he is not expected to guide the party in next elections, let alone lead it. His struggles against the Congress will be recorded as a crusader who showed that David can fight the Goliath while becoming Goliath himself. We should see his latest outbursts against his nephew Raj for betraying the Marathi cause. At this age after so many decades, it is always hard to digest the bitter truth.

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Raj Charges Up the Scene-2

Spreading the Foothold


Shiv Sena started to spread its wing in the late 1980s. At that time, Raj was heading the Bharatiya Vidyarthi Sena (BVS), student wing of the party. He was also looking after Marmik, the weekly mouthpiece of party, chiefly drawing cover cartoons for the same. His grooming was done clearly by Balasaheb himself which was evident by the fashion in which he talked, spoke. His body language and mannerisms were just a replica of the original leader. Millions of party workers saw in him the next avatar of their beloved leader.

But the original leader thought in different ways. After the party shared power with BJP in 1995 to 99, he started promoting his own son Uddhav, who preferred his artistic hobbies over politics. A man of reclusive habits, he was seldom found in gatherings which was a hallmark of SS. This anchored a split in the party with Raj having no other option but to found his own. He waited for almost 10 years before giving birth to MNS.

That Raj opting for Son-of-the-Soil politics was less a choice than a logical conclusion. After following the same line for almost 20 years, he could have done little otherwise. A U-Turn over the policies was out of question. He bid his time before plunging into full stream. Also, by opting to pursue a hard agenda over the Marathi Manoos issue, he also took the game in the Shiv Sena’s court itself. This is the reason why Uddhav is targeting Raj more during the campaigning instead of ruling alliance in the state, which is his natural political enemy. He is well aware that in terms of oratory, pull and dedicated workers, he is no match to Raj. While Uddhav has given a new, sophisticated and mellowed image to SS, a vacuum was left for a party with stern activism. SS workers were fed on this mentality and they could not shed their aggression in trade of a corporate politics, which was never their cup of tea. SS was no longer a party of rioters and hoodlums. Raj capitalized on these elements.

To be fair to Raj, he did not chose violence as his primary recourse. Before the infamous agitation in early 2008 against North Indians, MNS had organized several programs encouraging Marathi literature and culture. Many instances can be given like organizing a book exhibition in Mumbai, drama festival in Pune. When MNS was in incubation mode, he personally visited all Ganesh Mandals all over the state. MNS had even sent letters to many government departments as a form of protest. Very few of those activities actually were reported by the media. Raj entered on first pages of print media and prime time of electronic media only when he raised his voice against Abu Azmi, whose credentials as a cultured politician is always in question. Before that period, even local periodicals thought it unnecessary to give enough space to the man. Whatever came related to Raj was either making a mockery of his activities or criticism.

By the time that agitation had come to an end, media had carved out a new Hitler and general Marathi public had got a redeemer. Polarization followed day by day, MNS was persecuted with each passing day. No stone was left unturned in demonizing the man and with each attempt, MNS and its leader become dearer to the public.

It came to such a passé that no Marathi channel could afford to bypass a rally addressed by Raj. No channel could throw a press release of MNS in the dustbin. There was a race between them to telecast the developments live to garner more and more TRP. OB vans from all channels waited outside Krishnakunj, Raj’s residence in Dadar area whenever there was a significant developments. Press conferences by Raj began to turn out into a houseful shows. Even then, he was seen someone who filled the need of a superstar in a entertainment deficient state. “yes, t’here is a crowd for him. But can he fight an election,” was a popular refrain from media quarters who in this age think it a kind of status symbol to keep their ears away from the ground.

The jolt came in parliamentary elections five months ago. MNS had put 12 candidates out of 48 in the state. Each candidate of the party, barring one in Pune, pulled up more than one lakh (0.1 million) votes. This was an eye opener for every player. In an era when the winning margin of a candidate does not generally crosses 25,000, the number of votes received by MNS was nothing less than a thunderbolt. It upset the ambitions of SS-BJP alliance in the state whose tally of seats remained just 21. These statistics are the basic foundation on which the duel between Thackerey cousin is going on currently in the state.

(To be Continued)

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Raj Charges Up The Scene

He enters the place where a grand stage is erected. As he put his foot on the ground towards the direction of the stage, whole atmosphere comes alive with the sound of crackers and bursting of fires in the sky. To top this lighting, a cumulative voice soars new height with each passing moment hailing the young leader. As he comes to the microphone, there is a pin drop silence. Next one hours, the crowd of at least over 50 thousands hears to the leader. He minces no words in deriding his opponents and steals the show by hitting a cord with each member of the crowd.

This is Raj Thackerey for you.

The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief has taken centrestage in the ensuing assembly elections in the state. He is the clear winner of this political game, at least for now, even before the assembly elections are over. Every party leader is on his backfoot while coping with the popularity of Raj. This has led them to go into denial mode. Surprisingly, each one expects that MNS will eat away share of other party?s votes. After affecting the election results in the parliamentary elections just six months ago, nobody is ready to undermine MNS as far as electioneering is concerned. His party is seen as a potential Shiv Sena in the making

It is ironic that foremost among Raj?s opponents turned out to be Shiv Sena of which he was a prominent leader just three years ago. After being sidelined in SS by his uncle and SS chief Balasaheb Thackerey, who favoured his own son over Raj, he chose to trade his own path. He formed MNS in May 2006 and chose Marathi pride as its main plank. This was the same agenda on which SS worked on for four decades. It did not afford to lose his issue. Adding fuel to fire, Uddhav, the heir apparent of SS did not have the charisma or following which Raj inherited from Balasaheb.

Just yesterday, there were three rallies in Pune: that of Rahul Gandhi, Sharad Pawar and Raj Thackerey. Political analysts unanimously agreed that the most lively and most crowded of all these meeting was addressed by Raj. This when he held three successive rallies in the city on a single day. How many candidates of MNS can be elected is not that important. What is important is the relation he establishes with the youths-his core voters. No other leader in the state is able to charm the youths like Raj does. This is the reason why Ajit Pawar today said that NCP will not shy away a government with the help from MNS. Since he knows that the clout Raj enjoys is surely going to tore apart political equations, made by Congress-NCP as well as Sena-BJP.

(To be continued)

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A Bad Advice

It is too late too odd

Do Indian leaders have to follow every act by their American counterparts? Why I am asking this? Because latest missive from Salman Khurshid, minister of company affairs smacks of nothing less than following the US steps. It is in a way bizarre way to propagate the austerity drive, pursued by the Congress party, even when its fruitlessness has been pointed out by media.

Khurshid has directed that CEOs of big corporates should not take the salaries which might appear as shameless. His obvious reference might be Anil Ambani, who just last week emerged as the most earning person in India. The reason why Khurshid did not take Anil's name publicly perhaps was Anil has not taken any salary at all this year. It was his arrears from year 2007 which made him the highest salaries person in India. Taking into consideration Anil's connection with Samajwadi Party, bête noire of Congress in Uttar Pradesh, it is hardly surprising that Khurshid has targeted the CEOs.

Why his act appears misplaced is that situation in India and US are quite different. When Barack Obama appealed to bosses of big companies not to take high salaries, the US economy was really in bad shape. It still is. Relatively speaking, corporates in India made more noise about recession that the actual losses. Government of India announced two big packages for corporates which largely eased the state of affairs. Profit margin of companies never went so low as to initiate a damage control exercise. Luckily enough, during the onslaught of melt down, political scenario in the country was hotted up by general elections at central level. Those who are familiar with Indian election system, know very well how much it ignites the economy. In Maharashtra alone, it is estimated that at least Rs 500 Crores (50 million) changed hands during the elections.

The elections for state assembly are currently underway in Maharashtra. A policeman on election duty told me each corporator is asking for Rs 50 lakh to the candidates for campaigning. There are 288 constituencies in the state and more than 250 serious candidates. If each of them spends at least Rs one crore (10 million) there will be exchange of Rs 250 Crores. Isn't this sufficient to infuse running spirit in the economy which is already going fit, if not strong.

Therefore, the statement by Khurshid appears more through the 'loyal than king' syndrome. Without really taking course to austerity, he wants to become messiah of poor and labourers at the cost of corporate culture.

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Party time for rebels-2

State in a In-fighting state

Apart from Pune, the scene at the state level is also dismal. The biggest news of rivalry this time is that in the Amravati constituency. Sunil Deshmukh, a Congress minister in the state cabinet has accused President Pratibha Patil of misusing her position to get a ticket for her son Raosaheb Shekhawat. The party has denied a ticket to Deshmukh in favour of Shekhawat. Deshmukh has solace in the fact that various non-partisan organisations, including Vanrai have supported him. But he had little option to jump in the fray as a rebel candidate which he did.

In fact, Congress-NCP combine deliberately delayed announcement of candidates' list so as to avoid rebellion. Dilip Sopal, former NCP minister has filed his nomination from Barshi in Solapur distric against the official nominee. Another former NCP minister, Digvijay Khanvilkar is also standing in Kolhapur as an independent candidate. He was defeated in Kolhapur (South) by Satej Patil, then an independent candidate. In a twist of fate, Satej aka Bunty Patil is now official Congress nominee while Khanvilkar is his independent rival.

Most bizarre incident of rebellion occurred in Jamkhed in Ahmednagar district. Sharad Lokhande, sitting MLA from BJP was again given a ticket from the same constituency. But he rejected the ticket and made headed towards Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. The two time MLA is a MNS candidate now from Kurla. In a new low of part politics, chief minister Ashok Chavan's cavalcade faced footwear just yesterday. Chavan was at Loha near Nanded to address a rally in support of NCP candidate Shankar Dhongde. It is suspected that supporters of Pratap Patil Chikhlikar, sitting independent MLA from Loha did throw the footwear at CM. Chikhlikar is a supporter of Vilasrao Deshmukh, former chief minister and now union minister of heavy industries. He has supported the Congress-NCP government for last five years but does not have cordial relations with Chavan.

In Shiv Sena, the number of rebel is equally high. Sada Sarvankar, sitting legislator member of party has joined Congress. To top it, he has alleged that Uddhav Thackerey, executive president of Shiv Sena was behind the attack on Manohar Joshi's house which happened last week. That attack itself was indicative how widespread the discontent was in the party. For NCP, Udayanraje Bhosale, the descendant of Chhatrapati SHivaji is busy giving NCP a run for its money. He has already declared that he will field his own candidates in Satara district. The NCP MP from Satara has made enough statements to damage to standing of party in Western Maharashtra.

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The Talks for The Seats

Poltical parties in Maharashtra are entangled in the parleys for seat sharing. Can this be a reason for the deadlock?

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Confusion Party of Maharashtra

Even as the assembly elections fever is yet to catch up with public, political parties are finding it difficult to manage the unbearable tension. On the one hand, no party is sure as to whom it should align to. Secondly, the political atmosphere is so divided and obscure that no one has any idea of clicking it big this time. This is the most confusion times in Maharashtra.

Congress and Nationalist Congress Party, ruling for almost ten years in the state, are still entangled in the seat sharing war. Congress wants NCP to blink first and it has justification for its demand. It has garnered most seats in the recently held Lok Sabha elections. At the same time, NCP has suffered huge losses due to various factors. One of the major failures of NCP is in Satara district. Sharad Pawar, national chief of NCP chose Udayanraje Bhosale, 13th descendent of Chhatrapati Shivaji as party's candidate to consolidate Maratha votes. Even though Bhosale was elected, and he was destined to be as his leadership is unchallenged in the Satara constituency, he refused to align himself with the party's stand. Right from the campaigning, Udayanraje acquired a posture which more or less eroded party's position in Satara and eventually Western Maharashtra.

Unable to bargain for more seats, NCP is now trying its hard to hold on to existing seat sharing formula. But it is unlikely that it will get 124 seats. Congress leadership in the state was forced to eat many bitter pills in last ten years due to NCP's better position. Now, all the side effects of those pills are spilling out. Even if the sharing takes place, there will be much internal manoeuvring for the detriment of each other. A meeting of both parties is to take place at Varsha, the official residence of Chief Minister Ashok Chavan.

Opposition parties do not have a much unenviable position. While Shiv Sena has suffered losses in the urban belts in Lok Sabha elections, Bharatiya Janata Party has to put its own house in order before plunging in elections. The only solace these parties have is that they have an alliance in place and their seat sharing formula is almost finalised. Shiv Sena even though accepted to give same number of seats to BJP, but is yet to be convinced that its ally will be able to stand on its feet what with recent drama in the party. There was talk in the inner circle of BJP that Lal Krishna Advani will not be invited for the campaigning in the state. Neither will be Narendra Modi. This puts the onus on Gopinath Mundhe only.

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, the new enfant terrible on Maharashtra's political scene is in the eye of discussion over the period. But it is still unclear whether the party will go it alone or will fight the election with others' help. Raj Thackerey, party's chief has made it clear that the party will not field candidates in all constituencies in the state. Besides, in some recent interviews to local newspapers and news channels, he has made it clear that his party will not share power with anyone. “My plan is to assume full power and never until then,” he has said. This effectively takes wind out of MNS' ship. The only thing now the party will achieve is eating in of the votes of Shiv Sena. Since both parties claim to address the same voter base.

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Election Preparation in Full Swing

The district administrations of Pune has completed process of removing banners and political ads from the public places, claimed district collector Chandrakant Dalvi today. Dalvi held a meeting of officers related to election work after which he addressed the media.
This is the first sign of election process coming into full swin g in Pune. Dalvi informed that a quick response team has been formed to look into the strict implementation of election code of conduct. He said that data entry of the voter's list has been prepared. All the lists will be made available on internet. In addition, two helplines will be started for the voters.
It is interesting here to note that Chief Election Commissioner Navin Chawla yesterday had admitted in Mumbai that the voters' list in the state are ridden with mistakes. However, EC has rejected the demand that ration cards should not be allowed as a proof of identity. Maharashtra Navnirman Sena had made this demand with state election commission.

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Politics is family business in Maharashtra

State legislature assembly elections in Maharashtra are scheduled for October 13 in Maharashtra. All major parties in engaged in finalising the list of candidates. While the electoral clashes are heading towards theatrical and interesting, one bit of the polling is prominent. In each politicl party, the election is a family business. Leaders across the board have their offsprings or kins in the fray without a trace of remorse.

Leading the way is Congress which makes an obvious choice for hereditary politics. Since the time of Indira Gandhi, Congress workers are accustomed to bow before their anointed leader on the single virtue of coming from an influential family. This time around, party will have little space to take newcomers on board while struggling to make justice with sons and daughters of its leaders. Chief minister Ashok Chavan himself is such a politician who happens to be son of Shankarrao Chavan, the late Congress leader. Having graced posts of home minister and finance minister at New Delhi as also CM of Maharashtra twice, Shankarrao passed on his legacy to Ashokrao. He first tasted political water in 1987 by becoming Member of Parliament from Nanded, the seat was vacated by his father to become CM of Maharashtra. Ashokrao's brother in law Bhaskarrao Patil Khatgaonkar is now MP from Nanded.

Another prominent politician is Vilasrao Deshmukh, former CM of Maharashtra and now union minister for heavy industries. While his son Ritesh is making waves in Bollywood, his second son Amit is sure to solicit votes from Latur constituency. District Congress committee of Latur has 'unanimously' recommended Amit's candidacy. Dilip Deshmukh, brother of Vilasrao is already in the state cabinet coming from State legislature Council. Vilasrao's junior in union cabinet Pratik Patil is grandson of Vasantdada Patil who won recently from Sangli parliamentary constituency. Madan Patil, another son of Vasantdada is minister of employment guarantee scheme in state cabinet of Maharashtra. Another heavyweight of Sangli, Patangrao Kadam, who holds the empire of Bharati Vidyapeeth in Pune, is trying to field his son Vishwajit Kadam in the race. If elected, he is sure to bag a post in cabinet as Patangao is himself revenue minister currently. Towering all them all will be Raosaheb Shekhawat, president of India Pratibhatai Patil's son. He want a ticket for himself from Amrawati constituency. Praniti Shinde, union power minister Sushilkumar Shinde's daughter is in tipped to be a candidates from the Solapur assembly constituency. She will be the third member from Shinde family second being ….... Vandana Shinde, wife of Sushilkumar. She contested the seat in 2004 when Sushilkumar was CM and still lost the election. Present school education minister in Maharashtra Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil is son of veteran leader Balasaheb Vikhe Patil. Likewise, higher education minister Rajesh Tope is son of veteran Congress leader Ankush Tope.

If the list above seems exhaustive, it is not. It gives only a glimpse of what how political space is full of dynastic endowments. After Congress, Nationalist Congress Party has also turned democracy into a kind of baton relay. NCP's chief has kept two parliamentary seats with him as well as his daughter Supriya Sule. Ajit Pawar, state's water resources minister and guardian minister of Pune is his nephew. Thus, decision making in NCP is controlled by the Pawar family. Besides him, Padmasingh Patil, who is brother in law of Sharad Pawar was elected from Usmanabad recently to Lok Sabha. He was later accused of murder of his cousing Pravinraje Nimbalkar. Though, Padmasinh's son Rana Jagjitsinh Patil is a minister in the state cabinet and sure to get a ticket from NCP. State's tourism minister Vijaysinh Mohite Patil has sent his son Ranjitsinh Mohite Patil to Rajya Sabha. Ganesh Naik, who has a large following in Navi Mumbai area, was in Shiv Sena earlier but later switched to NCP. He is bringing his son to front now. Chhagan Bhujbal, another heavyweight who shifted from Shiv Sena to NCP, is now deputy CM. His nephew Samir Bhujbal was recently sent to Lok Sabha from Yewala constituency.
Shiv Sena and BJP are also not free of this element. Truth of the matter is that Shiv Sena split twice because of dynastic tendency of its chief. So much so that Balasaheb Thackerey was not ready to part with leadership other than his son Uddhav. His nephew Raj Thackerey and a stalwart like Narayan Rane left the party because of this reason. It is another matter that Rane himself has sent his son Nitesh to Lok Sabha while keeping minister's post with himself. He has openly expressed his desire to become chief minister and it is to be seen whether Nilesh Rane, his another son throws his towel in the ring.

In BJP, Dhananjay Munde, nephew of Gopinath Munde, who is member of parliament from Beed now, is willing to contest from Beed for 's assembly seat. His daughter, Pankaja Palwe is said to be ready to jump in the fray. Poonam Mahajan, late leader Pramod Mahajan's daughter was enraged when she was denied a ticket in parliamentary elections. Munde, who is brother in law of Pramod Mahajan, also expressed his dissatisfaction over the denial. This time round, Poonam is tipped to get a ticket from Ghatkopar West constituency. Some other minor leaders will also try to pass on the baton to their kins.

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The theater that is Maharashtra-Part 2

All these parties are already in the propaganda mode. While Congress-BJP alliance is harping on the development works in its ten year tenure, which is a classic case of self-eulogy, its rival alliance is also bent on giving prominence to Hindutva agenda. For a change, Shiv Sena under Uddhav Thackerey has really well etched out a role for itself in the sad series of farmer's suicide. The party is also taking up the load shedding issue, easily overlooking the fact that it can help little in the issue even if it comes to power.

Having set its target audience, MNS has little to present than the sorry state of Marathi people in their own state. Bad management of affairs by ruling alliance has made sure that MNS does not run out of fuel in its campaign. If MNS becomes a major power in the state after the election, it should thank more the ruling alliance than the voters.

As things stand out today, any of these parties can strike a partnership with any of the parties before or after the elections. It was rumours about Shiv Sena joining hands with NCP that is said to be a reason behind both the parties' debacle. It is after all only a question of convenience for the leadership of respective parties. One, NCP is fed up of living on the favours of Congress and want to have own rule. Second, Shiv Sena must have a partner to come to power as it is way short of winning the number's game. Third, both NCP and Shiv Sena thrive on the same electorate which mainly consists of rural, semi-literate youths and both the parties have same mentality. It is said about NCP that it is a party of fiefdoms. Shiv Sena is more than vocal in expressing its inclination towards the ancient way of politics. Fourth, Shiv Sena and BJP do not have the same cordiality that was 20 years ago. After passing of Pramod Mahajan, real connecting line between them has been cut. Present alliance is only a relic of two decades for amity. In fact, Shiv Sena thinks BJP more as a liability than the asset. Recent bickering in BJP at New Delhi only compounded the crisis. That is why Samana, Shiv Sena's Marathi mouthpiece daily recently compared BJP with the dead parrot while describing itself as an eagle. State leadership of BJP does not take it lightly but their hands are really tied. The party does not have a dedicated workforce to ensure smooth ride on its own. In its desperation, leaders like Gopinath Munde and Nitin Gadkari had even went further to suggest that their alliance should take in MNS as partner. The suggestion was naturally turned down by Shiv Sena because its rivalry with MNS is necessarily a clash of personal egos.

The world is a theatre, said Shakespeare. Now, Maharashtra has become an interesting theatre with a month long drama being enacted here. Let's applause the actors because without them, we would be left without any entertainment.

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The theater that is Maharashtra-Part 1

All kind of political manoeuvring is taking place in Maharashtra. With assembly election barely a month later and code of conduct in force, most of the dealings are taking place in back room discussions. This time the theatre is set in so fashion that one is having a feast of drama. There all players of all hues and colours as well as numbers in the fray. So nobody actually knows what will be the ending of this play.

In the Lok Sabha elections, it was expected that ruling Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) will get a drubbing and Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will come out handsomely. But the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena played a perfect spoilsport to the Sena-BJP alliance. The result was that Congress emerged as frontrunner with 17 seats out of 48. Even though it shares power with NCP in state, Congress was in cloud seven when NCP suffered heavy losses managing to get only eight seats. Buoyed with this victory, Congress is bargaining for more seats this time for assembly elections. NCP being at receiving end is finding it hard to preserve its quota of seats at the level of year 2004. Interestingly, even though NCP had contested less seats last time, its tally of winning candidates was more than Congress in the assembly. Obviously enough, Congress does not want a repeat of that episode. Therefore it is trying to browbeat its rival-turned-ally in conceding more seats.

Upto now, elections in the state were limited to these four parties. But this time around, there are two-three more players who can give these parties a run for there money. Actually, MNS has already proved its mettle by eating up a large chunk of votes in Lok Sabha elections in April. However, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) could not prove to be a worthy threat to the main players. Its political TRP was no doubt high but the performance on ground was almost invisible. Even in constituencies like Pune, where it touted its social engineering formula as its main plank by fielding D. S. Kulkarni and every political analyst was putting his bet on the candidate, it failed miserably to prove up to expectations. MNS has a large base of Shiv Sena activists and its Marathi Manoos agenda is already making waves in the people. I have seen it in places like Marathwada that people are ready to trust MNS and anticipate a good performance from the hitherto new party. However, the people also have too many complaints about the party not living to the expectation. It is not uniform in its activities and it seems as going into a slumber at times. Moreover, some recent incidents have put the party activists in a bad light. Accusations like extortion, kidnapping, rape and threatening have been levelled against the partymen, cases being already filed against them. Raj Thackerey, chief of MNS has shown no clear sign of dissociating himself or his party from the dirty elements. How this will affect the prospect of the party in election is better left to the people. I am never ready to make a pronouncement in this matter, because the Indian public is very tolerant when it comes to electing their representative. There is no surety that a person with heaps of criminal records or corruption charges will not get elected.

As for BSP, failure is not new to the party. It is contesting elections for over two decades in the state and has yet to make any mark. Still, it has an appreciable endurance which can help it win a handful of seats. In the October elections though, BSP's ship might sail in rough weather as various Dalit parties with splinter Left groups have joined hands against Congress_NCP as well as Shiv Sena-BJP. This new front is to address the same audience to that of BSP hence there might be a clash of interest between them. Major constituents of new front come from various groups of Republican Party. The reason for their coming together was defeat of candidates like Ramdas Athavale and Rajendra Gawai, who have hitherto earned their bread and butter by aligning themselves with Congress or NCP leadership. A main drawback of this new front is that it has only leaders and no workers. Even the front is planning to contest all 288 seats, it has hardly any chance of winning at more than a dozen seats. That a leader like Dr. Prakash Ambedkar is not in the front further limits the prospects of the front.

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Should BJP levy entertainment tax?

The only way to bring a sense in the drama

Almost all of last fortnight in media was consumed by the Jaswant Singh drama in Bharatiya Janata Party. Headlines were so full of his name that for the time, one could forget that there existed many grave problems in the country which required more attention than this matter. Scarcity of rains, issue of price rise...so many of them were left to be incorporated in the internal pages of print media or to fill the vacuum space in electronic media. Jaswant Singh, one may say confidently, is a lucky man. The man who has one of the least mass bases in the country always manages to hog the limelight which is very disproportionate to his standing. You might have observed that after the expulsion episode, little noise was made by the Jaswant supporters or voters, for to make noise there should have been some. There are none. So this lack of support seemed to have been filled up by the outcry in media over the justification of expulsion and apparent injustice meted out to the fallen leader. Continuous diatribe in which he is engaged since the day he has been prevented to attend BJP's meeting at Simla itself shows that Jaswant had a different agenda. He has clearly chosen right time to release his book to coincide with the meeting at Shimla. The entire sequence is portrayed as if the book on Jinnah was responsible for the expulsion of Jaswant from BJP. But he was relentlessly trying to bring it about since May 16 when the results of Lok Sabha elections were announced.

What amazes me is the kind of theatrics going on in BJP. Media is speculating and accumulating too much from the happenings in the beleaguered party. Every minor development in the party is being conveyed to public as if that is going to change the course of history for India. And public is least concerned with whether BJP is controlled by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or whether Advani is replaced by someone elese. Who cares if Murli Manohar Joshi assumed presidentship of the party? Was not the same Joshi a failure in 1991 elections when he was the president of the party? Can Arun Jaitley become leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha? Is he able to pull out at least 50 members in the house on his own? If not, how can it be a discussion point whether he is a frontrunner for the post?

It is only a lethargic mediamen who gallop for such stories because then they spared of working on the real stories. If BJP is serious on putting its house in order and helping the Indian democracy towards betterment, it should first levy en entertainment tax on the reporting of its happening. Because what we are seeing and reading is nothing short of the daily soap, going on without any sense. This is the only way to introduce some sense in the farce that is current politics.

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Maharashtra Govt. Opens Vegetable Shops

Price Hike raises the fear of backlash

With rising cost of vegetables and State Assembly elections round the corner, state government is at its toes. In one of the bold attempts to woo the voters, it has come out to the last standing post of appeasement: kitchen. As scarcity of rains has hit vegetable production in the country, prices are going up. In a bid to thwart dissatisfaction among general public over the issue, Maharashtra government started selling vegetables at low prices in some places. One such centre was inaugurated in the Colaba in Mumbai on Tuesday at the hands of chief minister Ashok Chavan.

At the function, Chavan told the public that state government is doling out a subsidy of Rs 150 crores to make the essential commodities available through reasonable rate shops across the state. However, his other claim that government has provided 9 metric tonnes of Toor pulses in market stands to be tested. Local media is running full of stories how the pulses and other commodities are lying in waste in the state godowns. According to him, onion which is being sold in the market at Rs 14 per kilo will be sold in government shops at Rs 9 per kg. Potato which is being sold at Rs 20 per kilo will be available at Rs 15 per kg.

On the other hand, opposition parties are grinding their axes for election with same issue in mind. Main opposition parties, Shiv Sena and BJP have decided to raise issue of price rise for assembly elections. Shiv Senaexecutive president Uddhav Thackeray recently told mediamen about the plan.

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FLight to Popularity

Maharashtra Govt Tries to Make Hay While Sun Shines

Ahead of assembly elections, the Maharashtra government seems to be in a hurry. Barely a day after announcing some major decisions, the state cabinet yesterday decided to open its coffer for more spending. Prominent among these decisions was to privatise five airports in the state. The government might have thought that people will fail to notice the significance of choice of these airports. Three of these airports fall in the assembly segments of three prominent leaders of ruling party.

According to cabinet decision, privatisation of airports at Latur, Baramati, Osmanabad, Nanded, and Yavatmal, which are currently operated by Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) will be done by Reliance Airports Developer Ltd. (RAD) For airports at Yavatmal, Nanded and Latur, RAD had quoted Rs 27 Crores while for other two airports it was Rs 36 Crores. In lieu of this amount, RAD will get custody of land measuring 601.56 hectares with additional properties for 95 years.

"Reliance Airport Developer bid of Rs 27 crore for Nanded and Latur and Rs 36 crore for Baramati and Osmanabad airports were highest and MIDC was granted permission to accept it," an official release said.

It is to be noted here that Nanded is home constituency of chief minister Ashok Chavan. Likewise Latur is home to former chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and Baramati is home to union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar. While Chavan and Deshmukh belong to Congress party, Pawar heads Nationalist Congress Party. That these airports were chosen for the privatisation points to the ploy of the state leadership as much as possible to appease their vote bank. The announcement for state assembly elections is expected any day. Once it is done, no leader will be able to make new announcement. Hence everybody is in hurry to declare sops.

As regards Nanded, barely two months ago, Chavan had organised a meeting with the farmers near Nanded city who were protesting against the acquisition of their lands. When Deshmukh was chief minister, government had tried to acquire the lands but failed in doing so. Farmers were demanding a much higher price and had even resorted to pelting stones at the MIDC officers went for the discussions. Facing a stiff opposition, Deshmukh had discarded the move but Chavan, being from Nanded himself, was confident of resolving the issue.

At present, the air service from Nanded reaches to Latur and Mumbai. But reportedly the service attracts not much response.

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