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BJP gains in LS, Assembly poll Bangalore, May 13 The state saw the BJP make dramatic gains in the Lok Sabha elections. It has emerged as the single largest party in a hung Assembly, even as former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda’s JD (S) positioned itself as the key factor in who will form the next government in the state.
Modi was Achilles’ heel of
BJP
BJP sweeps
Rajasthan
BJP wins 25 of 29 seats in MP
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LDF routs Cong, BJP in
Kerala
BJP a poor third in UP
Andhra spoiled the party for NDA
NDA stalwarts lose to first-timers
DMK-Cong alliance sweeps Tamil
Nadu
Congress ascends in Mumbaiy, Goa
All the best, Rahul to Vajpayee
Left to play crucial
role
SP pins hopes on
Left
Mulayam calls meeting today
BSP
ready to support ‘secular’ govt
Mamata gets a drubbing in
WB
BJD voted back in Orissa, but with a
warning
SDF retains
power in
Sikkim
Sangma only victor among ‘Speaker community’
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Krishna loses ground in Karnataka
Bangalore, May 13 With a small but significant swing in its favour, likely to be around 4 per cent, the BJP won 18 of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state, with the Congress getting eight, down from 18 in 1999. Mr Gowda’s JD (S) won two seats, including his own in Hassan, (he lost the second seat which he contested at Kanakapura by a big margin.) BJP state President and former Union Minister Ananth Kumar won from his long held Bangalore South Lok Sabha constituency. The real surprise came from the Bangalore (North) constituency, where debutant and former police commissioner of Bangalore H.T. Sangliana of the BJP defeated six time MP and Congress giant Jaffer Sharief. This turns the IT/aviation/science capital of the country into an all BJP city as far as the Lok Sabha poll goes, but in classic vote splitting, the Congress won seven of the eight assembly seats in Bangalore South, and picked up four in the North, down from five. In the 224 strong Assembly, of which the Congress won 132 last time, the BJP emerged as the single largest party with 79, the Congress 64, and the JD (S) turning in a better than expected performance with 58 seats. Mr S.M. Krishna, who won his Vidhan Sabha seat in Chamarajpet by around 10,000 votes, submitted his resignation to the Governor. “As I was not ready for this verdict, I cannot tell you what went wrong,” he told reporters. “I now have plenty of time to analyse this,” he said. On the crucial question of an alliance with the JD (S), he declared: “I never closed my doors to Mr Gowda, nor am I averse to go to his doors. Now that I am free, I can myself drive down to any place in my own car, wherever it takes me!” JD (S) leader P.G.R. Scindia was guarded in his comments about the form of support from his party, telling reporters that decisions would be made in a day or two. It is unlikely however, that the support will be for a Congress-led alliance, as the JD (S) has made it clear that it considers this a verdict against the incumbency. The man who is the likely chief ministerial candidate if the JD (S) heads the government, JD (S) state president Siddaramiah, continued his criticism of the Congress government here. He was careful to framework it as ‘S.M. Krishna’s government’, rather than a Congress one. JD (S) sources had made it clear even before the results, that with around 60 seats (an internal assessment), they would have the legitimacy to stake a claim to form government. The same factors that were at play in the rest of the country, anti-incumbency against a government perceived as pro-urban or insufficiently sensitive to the needs of the poor, appears to have worked against Mr Krishna too. While the BJP appears to have made gains due to central factors, the JD (S) played the ‘party of the poor man’ card to the hilt, boosted by support from minorities. |
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Modi was Achilles’ heel of
BJP
New Delhi, May 13 The BJP, which had won 21 of the 26 seats in the state in 1999 Lok Sabha election, has lost seven seats and has managed only 14 Parliamentary seats. The Congress, which had a tally of 5 in 1999, has substantially increased its seats taking its strength to 12 now. While Mr Modi had claimed that he would ensure all 26 seats for Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, mere 14 seats clearly showed that his claims were empty and the national leadership of the BJP was carried away by his rhetoric. The Congress had gained its seats from North, Central and South Gujarat and this was reflective of the rejuvenation of the country’s oldest political party. Disappointed farmers, erratic power supply, water problem in
Saurashtra, angry Patels and polarisation of Muslim voters coupled with the abrasive and aggressive style of functioning of the Chief Minister proved to be the BJP’s waterloo. Mr Modi, who decided to campaign for the party single handedly had treaded on so many toes of his own party colleagues and Sangh parivar leaders and had also alienated BJP cadres. The Chief Minister’s personal attacks on Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her children Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra did not go well with the electorate as people at large in the western state were not appreciative of an abusive approach in politics. On a deeper level, Mr Modi caused a serious damage to Mr Vajpayee, who wanted to remove him as the Chief Minister but was prevailed upon by his party colleagues like
L.K. Advani, Arun Jaitley, M Venkaiah Naidu and others. As a result, Mr Vajpayee’s image of a moderate and balanced leader was also damaged countrywide. The BJP’s victory in 2002 Assembly elections made Mr Modi an unchallenged leader of the state and thus began a phase in which he alienated many in the party, including former Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel and his group. |
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BJP sweeps
Rajasthan
Jaipur, May 13 Among the celebrities, Mr Manvendra Singh, son of Mr Jaswant Singh, the mighty Cabinet colleague of Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee holding the finance portfolio, won from Barmer constituency on the BJP ticket by the highest margin of over 2.71 lakh votes while Mr Dushyant Singh, son of Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje, scored victory from Jhalawar constituency by over 81,000 votes. Sachin Pilot of the Congress, son of late Rajesh Pilot, defeated his nearest rival Mr Kartar Singh Bhadana of the BJP by over one lakh votes. All the three youngsters have made their debut in the state politics by contesting for the 14th Lok Sabha seats from their respective constituencies. They also have the distinction of being among the record vote catchers. Mr Girdhari Lal Bhargava (BJP) in his early seventies created history by his victory in the election from Jaipur constituency for the sixth term in succession securing over one lakh votes. The former PCC chief and the only lone woman candidate, Ms Girija Vyas, contesting from Udaipur constituency was also defeated by BJP candidate Kiran Maheshwari by a significant margin of over 74,000 votes. Ms Sushila Bangaru, wife of Mr Bangaru Laxman, was another woman candidate on the BJP ticket, who won from Jalore constituency defeating her Congress rival, Mr Buta Singh, by nearly 40,000 votes. From Churu constituency, Mr Ram Singh Kaswan, defeated Mr Balram Jakhar by nearly 30,000 votes. Among the four Congress candidates elected, Mr Namonarayan Meena scored over 1,11,000 votes being next to Mr Sachin Pilot, who scored over 1,14,000 votes. Film star Dharmendra, who remained in a controversy during the campaign period, was elected by a margin of over 55,000 votes. Among others who contested on BJP ticket and scored record votes include Mr Shrichand Kriplani from Chittorgarh (1,35,770), Mr Rasa Singh Rawat from Ajmer (1,27,976), and Mr Vishvendra Singh from Bharatpur (1,11,349). The Congress candidate wining from Alwar constituency — Mr Karan Singh Yadav — had the lowest margin of votes (8371). The BJP wave was felt across the state but the saffron party sufferred a major loss in Sawai Madhopur (ST) where Union Minister Jaskaur Meena was trounced by Mr Namo Narayan Meena (Cong). Although the BJP lost two seats Alwar and Sawai Madhopur — to the Congress, it was not only able to compensate it but increased its tally by wresting seven seats — Bikaner, Banswara, Salumbe (ST), Udaipur, Jalore, Barmer and Nagaur — from its rival. BJP’s Girdhari Lal Bhargava scored a double hattrick from Jaipur seat defeating Mr Pratap Singh Khachariyawas, nephew of Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. The Congress’ efforts to woo back Jat voters by making Narayan Singh as PCC chief in the run up to parliamentary poll failed to pay dividends as BJP candidates romped home in the five seats — Bikaner, Churu, Sikar, Bharatpur and Nagaur — dominated by the community. The Congress could retain only Jhunjhunu seat in the Jat belt even as both the parties had fielded candidates belonging to the caste on all these seats. The Schedule Tribe Meena community apparantly deserted the BJP to join hands with Gurjars to give Sawai Madhopur (ST) and Dausa to the Congress with huge margins. However, the BJP succeeded in winning the other Schedule Tribe seats of Banswara and Salumber. The saffron party succeeded in holding the Schedule Caste votes in its fold winning Tonk and Bayana seats convincingly. From Tonk, Union Minister Kailash Meghwal romped home defeating a former bureaucrat N.K. Bairwa, who jumped into the elctoral fray on Congress ticket by resigning as the chairman of the Rajasthan Public Service Commission. The BJP’s effort to win Alwar and Dausa seats by bringing candidates from neighbouring Haryana did not succeed. |
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BJP wins 25 of 29 seats in MP
Bhopal, May 13 The Opposition Congress came a distant second with just four seats. While the ruling party in the state gained five seats against 21 of the 1999 Lok Sabha poll, the Opposition managed to upset the BJP only on one seat — Gwalior. The ruling party in Madhya Pradesh wrested five seats — Rewa, Khargone, Khajuraho, Dhar and Rajgarh — from the Congress. In the elections to the 13th Lok Sabha, the BJP won 21 and the Congress eight seats from Madhya Pradesh. Repeating its December Assembly poll performance in the state when it won 173 seats in the 230-member House, the BJP retained 20 seats. BJP stalwarts and Union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Satyanarayan Jatiya won from Ujjain defeating his nearest rival Premchand Guddu (Cong) by a margin of over 70,000 votes. Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Sumitra Mahajan (Indore), Nand Kumar Singh Chauhan (Khandwa), Vijay Kumar Khandelwal (Betul) and Thawarchand Gehlot (Shajapur) were other prominent winners. It also won Hoshangabad, Sagar (SC) and Damoh seats by huge margins. In a record victory margin, the Bhopal seat was retained by the BJP state president Kailash Joshi by defeating his Congress rival Sajid Ali by more than 2.4 lakh votes and the Vidisha constituency also returned sitting MP Shivraj Singh Chauhan by more than two lakh votes. The Congress wrested the Gwalior seat from where Ramsevak Singh defeated his nearest BJP rival Jaibhan Singh Pawaiya by a margin of more than 35,000 votes. The party reatined its traditional seats — Guna, Chhindwara and Jhabua. Ms Mahajan won by a huge margin of more than 1.93 lakh votes against Rameshwar Patel (Cong) from Indore from where she has been returned to Parliament for the sixth consecutive term. Mr Laxman Singh retained the Rajgarh seat by a margin of 23,941 seats against Shambhoo Singh (Cong). He had contested the 1999 Lok Sabha poll on a Congress ticket, but after the December Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh he joined the BJP. After the declaration of the results, Mr Laxman Singh, younger brother of former state Chief Minister Digvijay Singh, said the credit for his victory went to party organisation and workers. ‘’I would not have won if the party activists had not worked so hard,’’ he added. Scindia scion and Guna Congress candidate Jyotiraditya emerged victorious against his nearest BJP rival Harivallabh Shukla by more than 86,000 votes. He entered the annals of Parliament by a record margin of more than 4.1 lakh votes in 2002 byelection. Senior Congress leader Kamal Nath beat BJP stalwart Union Minister Prahlad Singh Patel in Chhindwara.—
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LDF routs Cong, BJP in
Kerala
Thiruvananthapuram, May 13 The Opposition Left Democratic Front won (LDF) 18 seats by a 50,000 plus margin in most constituencies on a fierce anti-Congress wave. Congressmen were in the fray in 17 out of the total 20 Lok Sabha seats. The BJP drew a blank but its ally won one seat. But the BJP improved its overall voting percentage. The results exposed deep fissures in the mass base of the ruling United Democratic Front and the people’s choice of the Left combine which was perceived to be better equipped to take on the communal forces than the mutually-feuding Congress in Kerala. Chief Minister A.K. Antony owned up moral responsibility for the shock defeat but ruled out resignation, saying “I am not going to run away”. He sought more time for a post mortem. However, senior Congress leader K.Karunakaran called for a shake-up of the government and the party, implying that Antony should resign. The aging Karunakaran was evidently scripting a new era in factional war in the state. Karunakaran rued his decision not to have walked out of the Congress a few months ago, after he had formally announced the formation of a new party. “If I had done so, the results would have been different”. Different for his children, both of whom have lost heavily. Karunakaran’s son and Power Minister K. Muraleedharan lost by 4,500-odd votes in the Assembly byelection to a CPM novice in the traditional pro-Congress Wadakkancherry. Maverick CPM leader Lonappan Nambadan posted a convincing victory over Karunakaran’s daughter Padmaja Venugopal, by more than 100,000 votes, in Mukundapuram Lok Sabha seat. Even in 1967 during a near-similar rout, the Congress had retained the seat. BJP ally and Union Minister P.C. Thomas (Indian Federal Democratic Party) scraped through by 529 votes in a triangular contest in the pro-Christian constituency of Moovattupuzha. The UDF nominee ended up third. From the ruling UDF, the Muslim League won one out of the two seats. Its rout on the other seat was unprecedented, given the successive League victories in the two seats of Manjeri and Ponnani down the years. In the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, Congressman and former Deputy Speaker P.M. Syed lost to Dr Pookunhikoya (Janata Dal- United). Both winners and losers squarely blamed the Karunakaran family politics and the fratricidal factionalism as the major reason for Congress rout. Although P.C. Thomas had gained from possible UDF cross-voting, the defeat of UDF nominee Jose K.Mani, son of Revenue Minister K.M.Mani, is seen as a vote against progeny politics. Congress showboys V.M. Sudheeran and Ramesh Chennithala, both sitting MPs, lost in Alappuzha and Mavelikara, respectively. In Thiruvananthapuram, Union Minister O. Rajagopal proved third time unlucky, ending up third. Former minister S. Krishna Kumar, who contested on the Lotus symbol, also lost in Mavelikara. In most of seats, the counting had shown a definite pro-LDF trend from the morning. However, in Moovattupuzha, Mavelikara and Alappuazha, the margins vacillated. In all polls since 1971, the UDF has had an upper hand whenever the polling percentage had shot up. The UDF got 17 seats in 1971. It got 20 seats in 1977 when the polling was 79 per cent and dipped to eight in 1980 when polling percentage plummeted to 62. In 1984, the UDF got 17 seats at 77 per cent polling. The UDF repeated the feat with a similar percentage in 1989. The current polling was 71.64 per cent. This has busted all calculations based on polling percentage and even surprised the pollsters who had given the LDF a maximum of 14 seats. |
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BJP a poor third in UP
Lucknow, May 13 The Samajwadi Party’s cycle romped home. In 1991 the party had won just five seats. The tally increased to 17 in 1996 and touched 20 mark in 1998. In the parliamentary election of 1999 the SP won 27 seats and this year it emerged winners with 38 seats. “BJP ka saffaya kar diya” (BJP has been wiped out of Uttar Pradesh),” elated national president of the SP Mulayam Singh Yadav said on Thursday. The BJP, claiming to win over 40 seats , was reduced to non-entity by SP. The victory of the SP was astounding because not only it won seats from traditional Yadav-Muslim dominated belt of central Uttar Pradesh, it also made major inroads in the rugged Bundelkhand region dominated by tribals, Dalits and upper caste. The Bundelkhand had four seats and the SP won three of them. Last time, the BSP had won three seats from this region and a lone Jhansi seat had gone to the Congress. Another reason for the SP’s success was emergence of Jat-Muslim-Yadav electoral combination in western Uttar Pradesh and the Rohilkhand area. Contrary to the expectation, the alliance has put up a better performance in western Uttar Pradesh and Rohilkhand areas despite division of Muslim votes among the Congress, the BSP and the SP-RLD alliance. The Muslims account for more than 25 per cent votes in this region. In some areas the Muslim votes were more than 35 per cent of the total electoral college. The victory could be on two accounts. First, the BSP tried to put up a Muslim-Dalit alliance to counter the SP-RLD influence. BSP’s political manoeuvring failed to take off. The indications show that Muslims voted en bloc for SP-RLD alliance barring a select pocket of Shahajahanpur, Bareilly and to some extent in Rampur. Second, the Muslim turnout was fairly impressive in this region as compared to first and second phases of polling in UP. |
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Andhra spoiled the party for NDA
Hyderabad, May 13 The Left allies, the CPI and the CPM won a seat each, while Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) retained its traditional stronghold Hyderabad. The BJP, which had fought as TDP’s ally, drew a blank, leaving the party cadre in the state in a daze. All three ministers in the Vajpayee cabinet, B Dattatreya, Ch Vidyasagara Rao and U Krishnam Raju lost their seats. The party, which had seven seats in outgoing House, could not return even the state unit president N Indrasena Reddy, who was defeated by the CPI candidate S Sudhakar Reddy. Prominent among the winners from the Congress were party spokesperson S Jaipal Reddy, former Central minister Renuka Chowdary and NTR’s daughter D Purandareswari who had joined the party just before the elections. TRS chief K Chandrasekhara Rao won from Karimnagar, defeating Central minister Ch Vidyasagara Rao.While K Yerran Naidu, TD Parlamentary Party leader managed to scrape through, many other party leaders such as former Central ministers U Venkateswarlu and B B Ramaiah tasted defeat. |
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NDA stalwarts lose to first-timers
New Delhi, May 13 The political stalwarts and top ministers who lost the elections included Union Ministers namely Mr Yashwant Sinha, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, Mr Nitish Kumar and Mr Jagmohan. Of the two former Prime Ministers — Mr H.D. Deve Gowda and Mr Chandra Shekhar — who contested the elections, Mr Chandra Shekhar won comfortably from Balia, Mr Deve Gowda had the ignominy of losing by nearly one lakh votes to Tejaswini Sree Ramesh from Kanakpura. The biggest electoral drama unfolded in Mumbai North where Govinda defeated BJP’s five-time MP Ram Naik by a convincing margin of 48,271 votes. Interestingly, Govinda had joined the Congress weeks before the elections. In neighbouring Mumbai South, another first-timer, Milind Deora (Congress), son of veteran leader Murli Deora, defeated Union Minister of State for Power Jayantiben Mehta by 8,000 votes. Another first-timer Ajay Maken (Congress) humbled the high-profile Union Tourism Minister Jagmohan by over 10,000 votes. Samajwadi Party leader Reoti Raman Singh, fighting his first Lok Sabha elections, pulled over a stunning victory over Union Human Resources Minister Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, wresting the Allahabad seat by a margin of 20,922 votes. In Andhra Pradesh, where the Congress-TRS combine swept the Assembly poll two days ago, three Union Ministers lost miserably to political novices. Union Minister of State for Urban Development Bandaru Dattatreya was trounced in the Secunderabad constituency by Congress nominee Anjan Kumar Yadav by a margin of over 60,000 votes. Union Minister of State for Home C.H. Vidyasagar Rao was defeated by K. Chandrasekhara Rao, founder-President of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), by more than one lakh votes in Karimnagar. The third minister to lose was actor-turned-politician U.V. Krishnam Raju, who was defeated by Hari Ram Jogaiah of the Congress by a margin of over 60,000 votes in Narsapur. The other two Union Ministers of State for Home were also defeated. Arvind Sharma (Congress) defeated I.D. Swami in Karnal by over one lakh votes, while his colleague Swami Chinmayanand had to suffer the ignominy of being in the third place in Jaunpur, which was won by the SP’s Parasnath Yadav with Omprakash Dubey, alias Baba, (BSP) the runner-up. Railway Minister Nitish Kumar lost to RJD candidate Vijay Krishna in Barh, while the RJD also wrested the Jhanjharpur constituency from the JD (U) with party candidate and former Union Minister Devendra Prasad Yadav defeating former Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra (JD-U). Union Minister of State for Defence O. Rajagopal (BJP) was a poor third in Thiruvananthapuram, where former Chief Minister P.K. Vasudevan Nair (CPI) wrested the seat, defeating his nearest rival V.S. Sivakumar (Congress) by a margin of 53,706 votes. In Gujarat, where the Congress has done better than expected, Union Minister Bhavnaben Chikhalia (BJP) was defeated in Junagadh. In Assam, where the Congress is on a winning spree, Sarbananda Sonowal (AGP) wrested the Dibrugarh seat, defeating state Congress unit leader and former Union Minister Paban Singh Ghatowar (Congress) by a margin of 24,226 votes. In Rajasthan, which has otherwise gone the BJP way, Congress state unit President Namonarayan Meena wrested the Sawai Madhopur (ST) seat from sitting MP and Union Minister Jaskaur Meena (BJP) by a margin of 1,11,163 votes. |
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DMK-Cong alliance sweeps Tamil
Nadu
Chennai, May 13 The DMK president, Dr M. Karunanidhi, told mediapersons here today that the verdict of the people of Tamil Nadu was very much expected. The DMK in a press statement said, “The verdict of the people of Tamil Nadu was against the autocratic rule of the Jayalalithaa government. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had not given importance to the secular character of the nation and failed to respect the opposition parties.” “The alliance led by Dr Karunanidhi and the unity and cooperation by its constituents led to this resounding victory,” it added. The Tamil Nadu state Congress spokesman, Mr Gnanadesikan, said, “For us the results here are not unexpected. The Tamil Nadu voters did not like Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa’s personal vilification campaign against Congress President Sonia Gandhi.” He said the DPA and Congress alliance itself is so formidable that it demoralised the AIADMK cadres before the battle for the elections began. While Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa was unreachable, the AIADMK headquarters here bore a deserted look with most of the top leaders staying away from the party office. Despite the Supreme Court orders on bursting of fire crackers, the entire city of Chennai was dinned by the sound of crackers bursted by DMK and Congress workers.While the DMK won all 16 seats it contested, the Congress won 10 seats. The Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) won five seats in the state and the lone seat of Pondicherry while the MDMK won in four parliamentary constituencies. The CPI and the CPI(M), which were also part of the DPA, won two seats each. Among the notable winners from Tamil Nadu are former Union Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, who bagged the Sivaganga seat with a margin of 1,62,000 votes. Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar retained his Mayiladuthurai seat while another former Union Minister A. Raja of the DMK too retained his Perambalur seat. Two former Union Ministers, T.R. Balu of the DMK and A.K. Moorthy of the PMK, won from Chennai South and Chengalpattu, respectively. Mr Dayanidhi Maran of the DMK and son of former Union Industry Minister Murasoli Maran won from the Chennai Central constituency. Former Tamil Nadu Congress president E.V.K.S. Elangovan won from the Gobichettipalayam constituency with a massive margin of 2,14,000 votes. A high profile loser was T.T.V. Dinakaran of the AIADMK at Periyakulam who lost to J.M. Haroon of the Congress. Mr Dinakaran is the nephew of Ms Sasikala, a confidante of Ms
Jayalalithaa. |
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Congress ascends in Mumbai, Goa
Mumbai, May 13 The jubiliation of the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party combine was tempered by the failure of Ujwala Shinde, wife of Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and Congress candidate from Solapur to breast the victory tape. Another big loser was former Lok Sabha Speaker Shivraj Patil who lost his Latur seat. The NCP also faced a major setback with its treasurer Praful Patel losing from Bhandara. The winners in all the seats were from the BJP. The political churning unleased from the electronic voting machines throughout Thursday saw a large number of fresh faces and lightweights emerge as giant killers in Mumbai. Actor Govinda made the transition from Hero No. 1 to Neta No. 1 beating Petroleum Minister and five-term winner Ram Naik by a margin of 48,271 votes in the Mumbai North seat. Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi, a hot favourite with punters and pollsters alike, was trounced by the lightweight Maharashtra’s Minister of State for Health Eknath Gaikwad by a margin of 8,615 votes in the Mumbai North Central seat. Debutant politician Milind Deora, son of former Mumbai Congress boss Murli Deora, defeated Minister of State for Power Jaywantiben Mehta by 10,246 votes. At 27 Deora is likely to be the youngest member of the 14th Lok Sabha. Sunil Dutt won easily, defeating Sanjay Nirupam of the Shiv Sena by 47,358 votes. The biggest surprise for the Congress-NCP alliance turned out to be the six seats in the country’s financial capital. Long considered a stronghold of the saffron combine, the country’s financial capital turned Centre-Left with a vengeance electing five MPs from the secular parties. The sixth seat went to Mohan Rawle of the Shiv Sena who faced gangster Arun Gawli and his nephew Sachin Ahir of the NCP. |
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All the best, Rahul to Vajpayee
Amethi, May 13 Mr Gandhi, who won the seat by a massive margin of over three lakh votes, told reporters here that he would now strive to become an “adult” in politics. His reference was to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s remark that he was a “child” in the rough and tumble of politics. “That time (when Mr Vajpayee said I am a child) I had said that I respect Mr Vajpayee. Now as a child I will try to become an adult,” he said. —
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Left to play crucial
role
New Delhi, May 13 The new century has dawned as a new hope for the parties with Communist ideology. The Left parties, led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) have gained substantially in the elections for the 14th Lok Sabha. With 61 seats, the Left parties would be the third largest group in Parliament and fulcrum of the anti-NDA coalition group. The CPM will play a crucial role in not only deciding the future course of government, but also influence the policies. Now, that they have realised the historical blunder of not having allowed veteran Marxist leader Jyoti Basu to become the Prime Minister, it is to be seen whether they repeat their mistake. The Left parties’ earlier impressive performance was in 1991 poll, when it secured 51 seats in the lower house. Then the party had pivotal role in government formation and for the first time a CPI member was part of the government. Despite the victory of Left parties in several states, the mandate of the people is for the continuation of the economic reform process as the Congress and the BJP have emerged as two major groups in the lower house. The challenge and huge task before the Left parties would be what role they should play — continue its politics of convenience or go back to their ideological position of opposing the Congress and the BJP — which would keep their support base intact. Opposing the communal force as they call the BJP is a bigger challenge or side with the reformists, influenced by the World Bank and the IMF, whose policies run contrary with the ideology of the Left. Should they join the government and influence its decision-making process especially in the economic front - where they are diametrically opposed to the reform policy of the Congress. On the foreign policy front also, the CPM is critical of the pro-US policy and wants a fresh look at the West Asia issue. The immediate issue of concern would be the US request for troops in Iraq, which the Left parties have vehementally opposed. Even though the Congress has emerged as a single largest party, its allies and other non-NDA secular parties along with the Left parties would pose a formidable block in the Lok Sabha, which could influence the decision making process. Considering these facts, the Left parties especially the CPM, which has the highest chunk of seats in the new Lok Sabha, the Polit Bureau of the party will meet on Saturday and the Central Committee will meet for two days later to decide their future course of action. |
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SP pins hopes on
Left
New Delhi, May 13 As is the situation at present, the Samajwadi Party will definitely have to look towards its old “friends” (with whom also it has had differences), the Left parties, to plead its case with the Congress for it to be part of the government at the Centre. The Congress would not have forgotten the fracas of 1999 when the SP walked out on it at the time of supporting it along with other secular parties to gain power at the Centre. As a result, the Congress stayed away from power for a longer period than it had ever in its entire history. Although the SP chief and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav has called for a meeting of its new members of parliament and the parliamentary board tomorrow to discuss the future strategy, its leaders are not very hopeful that the Congress will look towards it for government formation. Talking on condition of anonymity, a senior SP leader pointed out that the Congress did not need its support to form the government. The Congress, along with the Left parties, which have also achieved their best-ever performance, will have enough numbers to cross the simple majority mark, he pointed out. However, he was optimistic that the Left parties would hold their friendship in high esteem and ensure that the SP was also on board to provide the government more stability. With the Left parties in a position to dictate terms to the Congress, the SP leader was hopeful that they would bargain for the party to be in the government. But he also did not rule out the possibility of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) having greater acceptability with the Congress than the SP. Incidentally, what has helped the SP achieve this stupendous target at a time when the BJP was expected to do much better than what it has achieved is the fact that the minority vote did not split. Despite the claims by the media that the minority vote would split between the SP and the Congress, it has not proved right. The minorities seem to have fully backed the SP chief in his quest to be part of the government at the Centre. Although Mr Yadav said today that the BJP’s call to the minorities to vote for the SP did cost the party dearly, it really does not seem to have had any effect on the psyche of the minority voter. Infact, it seems to have worked more in the favour of the SP. The SP supremo told reporters in Lucknow that his party had to suffer losses on account of Mr Vajpayee’s statements. “His appeal to Muslims to vote for the SP did create problems,” he observed. Mr Yadav claimed it was for the first time that he had to offer explanations to counter the BJP propaganda. He was non-committal on extending support to the Congress and said the decision would be taken after consulting party MPs. MLAs and the alliance partner, Rashtriya Lok Dal. Incidentally, what is worrying SP leaders more now is that if the Congress decides to bring on board the BSP then it could prove to be a lethal combination. It could eventually also sweep the Congress back to power in Uttar Pradesh, displacing the SP. Political observers point out that the ultimate aim of the Congress will be to bring back the minorities into its fold, which could prove to be the death knell for the SP. |
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People rejected BJP, says Left
New Delhi, May 13 CPI National Secretary D. Raja told TNS that people had rejected the communal, fascist policies of the BJP-led NDA government. It was clear that the voters disapproved the economic reforms that were carried out by the NDA government and state governments. Asked if the CPI would support the candidature of Congress President Sonia Gandhi as Prime Minister, Mr Raja said, “Let the Congress decide. Being a major party, the Congress has to take a decision.” Thanking the people for electing them in record numbers since the Independence, the CPM said, “it is incumbent upon all secular parties .... to come together to provide a stable alternative government.” |
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Mulayam calls meeting today
Lucknow, May 13 “Almost all the parties called me “BJP ka dalla” … and the Congress took a lead in this campaign. I am not going to forget this,” Mr Yadav said in a hurriedly called press conference here today. Without naming Rahul Gandhi, he said that even ‘kal ke
bachche’ called me BJP ka dalla. Asked whether his party would accept Mr Sonia Gandhi as the Prime Minister of the country, Mr Yadav said he had called a meeting of newly elected MPs in New Delhi tomorrow in which a decision in this regard would be taken. “I cannot answer this question now. If need be, the district presidents will also be consulted,” he added. “Getting power is not my priority. My party will fight for the poor and downtrodden,” he said. No one can ignore us in national politics now,” he emphasised. Elated over the result, Mr Yadav said BJP had been wiped out of Uttar Pradesh and the SP had performed this feat single handedly. |
BSP
ready to support ‘secular’ govt
New Delhi, May 13 Talking to mediapersons
here, Ms Mayawati said even before elections she had assured Congress
President Sonia Gandhi that the Congress could count on the BSP for
support. “We could not enter into a formal alliance with the
Congress because of practical problems in the field,” the BSP chief
said. Ms Mayawati, who rang up Ms Sonia Gandhi to congratulate her on the Congress performance in the Lok Sabha polls, said the past experience of a formal tie-up with the Congress was not encouraging since the BSP could transfer its vote to that party but there was no reciprocity from the supporters of the Congress. “In
the 1996 Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, we had an understanding
with the Congress. However, after the results we saw that the pre-poll
understanding benefitted only the Congress. We decided to go alone in
this election,” she said. Answering questions, the BSP leader said her party was opposed to the idea of Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav being made either the Prime Minister or Deputy Prime Minister. She, however, said the BSP had no problems if Samajwadi Party members joined the government as ministers. The
BSP supremo asserted that her party would not go with the NDA, saying
she had to quit as UP Chief Minister while resisting pressure from the
BJP. “Had I compromised with them in the Taj Corridor case, I could
have continued in office,” she said. Asked whether the BSP would
extend outside support to the secular government or be a part of it,
she said it would be decided by the party’s senior leaders. “It is
a policy matter and I have to consult senior leaders of the party,”
she added. Newly elected members of the BSP, which has emerged as
the second largest party in Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha elections,
will meet here soon to decide their future course. |
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Mamata gets a drubbing in
WB
Kolkata, May 13 The election result has built a digging ground for Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress and the BJP as well. But the Congress surprisingly sprang out from its graveyard as the main opposition party in the state. Both BJP ministers from Bengal, Mr Tapan Sikhdar and Mr Satyabrata Mukherjee, were defeated at Dum Dum and Krishnanagar constituencies, respectively, to their CPI(M) rivals. While Sikhdar’s rival was Mr Amitaba Bose, a party whole-timer, Mr Mukherjee fought against an Asiad athlete, Jyotirmoy Sikhdar. On the other hand, the Congress Working Committee member, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, who contested from Jangipur in Murshidabad, won for the first time in his life defeating the sitting CPI(M) MP, Abul Hasnat Khan. Other Congress stalwarts who had won included Mr Priya Das Munshi (Raiganj), Mr A.B. Aghani Khan Chaudhury (Malda), Mr Adhir Chowdhury (Berhampore) and Mr Dawa Norbullah (Darjeeling). The announcement of the final results may be delayed till the late night as there was re-polling in several booths today which continued till evening.. But of the 42 seats, the CPI(M) and its allies already bagged 22 seats and they were leading in 12 other seats. Mamata Banerjee had turned out to be a lone winner from the NDA. All sitting TMC MPs, Dr Ranjit Panja, Mr Akbar Khondaker Ali, Dr Nitish Sengupta, Mr B.K. Sarker amd Mrs Krishna Bose were defeated, while all the sitting CPI(M) MPs including Mr Somnath Chatterjee won the elections with heavy margin of votes. The CPI trade union leader, Mr Gurudas Dasgupta, won from Panskura Lok Sabha seat. In the last one decade, Mamata Banerjee stood as a vital anti-Marxist force in Bengal and had acted a major player in the national politics as NDA partner. But now she emerged out a lone leader of a party which she built and which she destroyed, remarked the rebel leader, Mr Sudip Bandopadhyya. In Kolkata, the CPI(M) so long failed to make any inroad in the past three decades. But in this elections, the CPI(M) not only invaded the city, but won the two seats by defeating the two stalwarts, Mr Ajit Kumar Panja and Mr Sudip Banerjee’s at Kolkata NE and NW seats. Panja was defeated because of the division of the anti-Left votes there following the presence of the Bollywood actress Mousumi Chatterjee in the fray there. At Kolkata NW seat, however, it was Mamata Banerjee who was responsible for Bandopadhyya’s defeat. Mr Bandopadhyya fought the election as an Independent candidate following denial of party ticket by Ms Banerjee on charge of his hobnobbing with the BJP central leadership. The TMC’s official candidate was Mr Subrata Mukherjee, Kolkata Mayor, and the CPI(M) winner was Mr Sudhangshu Sil. In South Kolkata, Mamata won but her winning margin was reduced to 99,429 against 2,14,008 in 1999 and 2,24,081 in 1998. The Congress candidate, Nafisa Ali, there though defeated was happy that the people taught a right lesson to Mamata for aligning with the communal BJP. She said she would be more happy if Mamata was now returned back to her own party, the Congress. |
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BJD voted back in Orissa, but with a
warning
Bhubaneswar: With the people of Orissa voting the BJD-BJP alliance back into power, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik might thank them for ‘reposing confidence in him’ yet again.
But the mandate does not come without a pointed warning. The alliance has lost more than 15 seats. So, while endorsing Mr Patnaik’s anti-corruption plank, the electorate has also shown displeasure about his non-functioning government. The Opposition could not exploit this into a major issue primarily because the Congress was headed by a discredited J B Patnaik and the Chief Minister’s corruption charges struck. Moreover, the Congress, taking in the leaders discarded by the BJD on graft charges, did the image of the party no good. So while the Congress has improved its tally substantially from 26 seats last time underscoring the mood for change of the people but it fell short of the magic number with Mr J.B. Patnaik at the helm. He barely scraped through from Begunia Assembly constituency. But discarded BJD leaders, who had been fielded as Congress candidates had bitten the dust. Prominent among them were Speaker Sarat Kar in Bhubaneswar Assembly seat and former finance minister in Naveen Patnaik’s Cabinet Ramakrushna Patnaik in Aska Lok Sabha constituency and his wife former BJD MP Kumudini Patnaik in Kodala Assembly seat. But the mood in the Congress camp was upbeat. It was felt that with the people slowly accepting the party back, leaders like former stalwart and Rajya Sabha MP Dilip Ray could take over the reins and give the Congress a new lease of life with leaders having tainted image like Mr J B Patnaik and Mr K.C. Lenka being pushed out. The family politics of Patnaiks had also been rejected because his wife Jayanti Patnaik and son-in-law Soumya Ranjan Patnaik had lost from Cuttack and Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha seats again. With the disenchantment of government employees and farmers rising, it was a clear signal that if Mr Naveen Patnaik did not deliver this time he would not be given a third chance. Although both the BJP and the BJD had lost seats, the blame was taken by the BJD. “We have done reasonably well considering the all-India drubbing we received,” says a BJP leader desiring anonymity. BJD spokesperson and secretary general of the party Dr Damodar Rout was cautious in gloating over the victory: “The people of Orissa have endorsed Naveen Babu’s leadership and want him to continue with the good work. However, we would review the losses and the CM would definitely fulfil his promise of a government that is clean and that delivers. The Chief Minister’s ‘mr clean’ image was also responsible for a number of Congress deserters winning on BJD ticket although the same did not happen with the BJD deserters. |
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SDF retains
power in Sikkim Gangtok, May 13 SDF candidate Nakul Roy also won the lone Lok Sabha seat in Sikkim by defeating his rival Congress candidate Biraj Adhikari by 1,25,000 votes. The main opposition Congress met its Waterloo, winning just one seat. Its candidate Tsering Lama was declared elected from the Sangha (Monastery) seat, defeating his nearest rival Palden Lama (Ind) by 88 votes. The spectacular SDF win has given Mr Chamling sweeping mandate to rule the state for the third successive time since he launched the party in 1993. Sikkim Congress President and former Chief Minister Nar Bahadur Bhandari has been ousted from the state Assembly for the first time since 1979, losing both in Central Pendam and Gangtok Assembly segments.—
UNI |
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Sangma only victor among ‘Speaker community’
New Delhi, May 13 While Lok Sabha Speaker (13th Lok Sabha) Manohar Joshi of the Shiv Sena lost the Mumbai North Central seat to his nearest rival Eknath Gaikward of the Congress by 13,329 votes, former Lok Sabha Speakers and Congress leaders Balram Jhakar and Shivraj Patil have also lost their elections from Churu (Rajasthan) and Latur (Maharashtra), respectively. Both of them were defeated by BJP candidates. The only exception as far as the fortunes of the “Speaker community” was the victory of former Lok Sabha Speaker P.A. Sangma. |
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