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State of parties Haryana
State of parties punjab
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Ex-Army chief, Olympian set sights on battle of ballot
It’s NC versus PDP in Valley
CPI to contest 2 seats in Haryana, four in Punjab
SAD leadership asks five area chiefs to pull up socks
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BJP banks on negative vote, NaMo effect
Absence of mass leader, emergence of AAP may compound problems of saffron party Pradeep Sharma Tribune News Service
The absence of charismatic and mass leaders in the saffron party as against the Congress and the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) seems to have only compounded the problems of the party in the run-up to the April 10 Lok Sabha polls. Although the party had an alliance with the Kuldeep Bishnoi-led Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC), the recent Venod Sharma episode where senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj blocked his entry into the HJC portends ill for the alliance and its poll prospects. The BJP is not expected to do well on its own strength in Haryana, although it has influence in some rural and urban areas. Since both the BJP and HJC are eyeing the non-Jat votes, the effectiveness of the alliance in itself is being questioned within and outside the party, as both the parties would virtually be eating into each others' vote bank.
The entry of Congress rebel Gurgaon MP Rao Inderjit Singh into the party fold may at the most influence the outcome in the Ahirwal belt spread over two Parliamentary seats of Gurgaon and Mahendragarh-Bhiwani. BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi chose Rewari, a stronghold of the serving and retired defence personnel in the Ahirwal belt, to launch his campaign in September last year in a bid to boost the sagging morale of the party. The party leadership believes that the NaMo effect coupled with negative vote against the Central and the state governments could stand the party in good stead. However, the party leadership seems upbeat against the backdrop of the double anti-incumbency against the Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre and the Hooda Government in the state. However, the emergence of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which gave the BJP run for its money in Delhi, may prove to be spoilsport for the party. As the ruling Congress had made development its main poll plank, the going may not be easy for the party. The grand alliance
A powerful section within the BJP's state and central leadership is of the opinion that the party with its primarily urban non-Jat vote bank, in alliance with the INLD, which has predominantly a rural Jat vote bank, could replicate the success of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-BJP alliance in the state. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, who runs an alliance government with the BJP in Punjab and is prominent leader of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), is a close friend of INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala. Badal HAS already indicated that he was ready to broker a deal between the BJP and the INLD. THE Kuldeep Bishnoi-led HJC, which has been allocated two LS seats as part of the BJP-HJC poll pact, may also be accommodated to defeat the Congress. Besides, Narendra Modi's fascination for Chautala is well-known.
Ram Bilas Sharma, Haryana BJP chief
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Checking desertion biggest task for PPCC chief
Bajwa needs to rework his strategy to put up a mighty challenge before the SAD-BJP alliance Sanjeev Singh Bariana Tribune News Service
Nothing could have been more discouraging for the party than the resignation by Talwandi Sabo MLA Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu and former Minister Malkiat Singh Birmi, and that, too, when a month is left for the Lok Sabha elections. Jeet Mohinder was considered close to Bajwa.
More switches likely
On the other hand, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Badal is upbeat after the defections. He claims "at least six more Congress leaders are willing to switch over to the Akali Dal", and that the inductions would be made slowly. He alleges the Congress leaders are deserting the party because they are not happy with the functioning of its top leadership. Without any official or personal confirmation, for obvious reasons, the names reportedly doing the rounds are those of Congress legislators Arvind Khanna from Dhuri, Harchand Kaur from Mehal Kalan, Ajit Inder Singh Mofar from Sardulgarh and Sukh Sarkaria from Raja Sansi. Seen as a protégée of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, the biggest challenge the new state president faces is his acceptability among the old-timers. Amarinder Singh also had opposed Bajwa's appointment. Of late, the former Chief Minister disagreed with Bajwa publicly on the latter's demand for a CBI probe into the drug racket in which the name of Revenue Minister Bikram Majithia had allegedly been taken. Amarinder Singh had said that as the state police was doing a good job, there was no need for a CBI probe. Bajwa lacking support
Bajwa, so far, has not found any mentionable support in other senior leaders either, including former Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal and former Congress Working Committee member Jagmeet Brar. Also, the PPCC chief has not been able to gather the youth to form a team, which could have helped him in strengthening the party's base. Ticket distribution
The central election committee of the party has named an old hardliner, Harminder Singh Gill, as the party face from Khadoor Sahib constituency. The three other names cleared in the Congress first list are that of three-time Member of Parliament (MP) and Union Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur, former CM Beant Singh's grandson Ravneet Singh Bittu from Anandpur Sahib and Vijay Inder Singla from Sangrur. Following a tie-up with the Sanjha Mocha, the Congress has given up on the Bathinda and Faridkot seats. While PPP president Manpreet Badal has announced to contest from Bathinda, Faridkot seat would go to the CPI, though there have been contradicting versions on an agreement for this constituency. Trust deficit
Leave aside workers manning the party office, even senior leaders have voiced concern over the alleged trust deficit in the party. Jeet Mohinder, at a press conference where he announced his resignation from the party as well as the Assembly, said, "Bajwa never took us into confidence while finalising a pact with Manpreet Badal." A few other senior leaders have also admitted to not being consulted on the Congress-Sanjha Morcha tie-up. Sukhpal Khaira, PPCC spokesman, who has been regular in his tirade against the SAD-BJP government, too does not seem to be enjoying that good terms with Bajwa. There have been more voices of discontent within the party. Leaders say the internal bickering has crossed all limits. They say the party is currently witnessing the worst phase of infighting since 2007, when political rivalries and vendetta was at its peak. Failed initiatives
When Bajwa took over the party's reins, he made an impact by mobilising the cadres and addressing well-attended rallies. Even Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy CM were forced to run parallel programmes, often at the same venues. But barring a dharna at Moga, the PPCC president reportedly failed to take the district presidents along when it came to taking main decisions. He faced widespread protests while reconstituting the PPCC. Several community leaders, including Aggarwals, had alleged that they were not given due representation. Also, the results of the president's initiative to register all unemployed youth at the booth level have not been revealed. Voices of dissent within the Punjab Congress clearly manifested when Chaudhary Jagjit Singh, his brother Chaudhary Santokh Singh, Amarjit Samra and Vijay Sathi resigned from the PPCC. State Mahila Congress president Malti Thapar was unhappy with poor representation to women leaders in the newly constituted PPCC. Challenges ahead
The Congress may be in disarray, its leaders must not forget that it was the single largest party in terms of vote percentage in the last Assembly elections. The party had polled over 40 per cent votes whereas the SAD-BJP combine had together secured 41 per cent (SAD 34 per cent and BJP 7 per cent) votes. The ruling alliance definitely faces public disillusionment over several issues, the main being financial woes, high taxes, costly power and unemployment. All Bajwa will have to do is reinvent his poll strategy and win the trust of other leaders so as to put up a mighty challenge against the SAD-BJP leaders.
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Ex-Army chief, Olympian set sights on battle of ballot
Chandigarh, March 9 While the story of retired soldiers entering politics is almost as old as the history of democracy in India, what has now caught the interest of political observers is the unprecedented number of prominent ex-soldiers who have arrayed themselves behind various political parties. Some have directly entered the political arena, contesting elections while others prefer to lend overt support or act as advisers.
Col Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, a Grenadiers officer who became a household name after winning a silver medal in shooting for the 2004 Olympics at Athens has joined the BJP after taking early retirement. Former Chief of Army Staff Gen VK Singh also joined the BJP after brief run-ins with activists such as Anna Hazare. Both Col Rathore and Gen Singh have not yet announced their candidature for contesting elections. Former General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Northern Command Lt Gen HS Panag has joined the AAP. Lt Gen Raj Kadyan, who retired as the Deputy Chief of Army Staff and was among the frontrunners in the soldier's campaign for one rank, one pension, is as of now the senior-most veteran to contest elections this time, having recently joined the AAP and making the Jhunjhunu seat in Rajasthan his target. There are also a number of middle and junior-level officers contesting elections. These include Maj Surendra Kumar Punia from Sikar in Rajasthan and Capt Abdul Nasir Hanfee from Jabalpur, both on AAP tickets. A solder-turned environmentalist and social worker, Col Suresh Patil (retd), is contesting the Pune seat through an organisation called the Justice for Jawans. The AAP has also approached the parents of two Kargil martyrs Maj Vikram Batra and Capt Saurabh Kalia to contest elections from Himachal Pradesh. Vir Chakra recipient, Col Anil Kaul, is reported to contest elections from the New Delhi constituency. Veterans as well as political experts say that while many senior retired officers have shunned overt political activities after retirement, preferring other avenues like the corporate field or dabbling in strategic affairs, there cannot be any bar on their entering politics or contesting elections. Once they hang their boots, they are like ordinary civilians, with no restrictions on their fundamental rights and what matters is their personal and public conduct and dedication towards the cause they espouse. In the past, there have been several illustrious generals who have entered Parliament. Maj Gen Rajinder Singh Sparrow, who re-wrote the manuals of high altitude armoured warfare by taking up tanks to Zoji La and routing Pakistani troops in 1948 and Lt Gen Jagjit Singh Aurora, one of the architects of India success in the 1971 war, are two such examples. Former Army Chief Gen Shankar Roychowdhury was elected to the Rajya Sabha as an Independent from West Bengal, while Maj Gen BC Khanduri, a Sapper officer, has served successfully as a Union Minister. Jaswant Singh, Rajesh Pilot, Kamal Chaudhary, Sudhir Sawant, Amarinder Singh and Kanwaljit Singh are among other known names in politics who have donned the uniform.
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It’s NC versus PDP in Valley
The PDP poses a strong challenge to the coalition partners, though some of the younger parties like Aam Aadmi Party and a third front known as J&K Peoples United Front comprising CPI, CPI-M and some other smaller regional parties have also come to the fore. Equal seats for NC, Cong
The coalition partners, like in the 2009 elections, have agreed to equally share the six seats. The NC would field its candidates on the three seats of the Valley, while the Congress would field its nominees from Jammu and Udhampur seats of the Jammu region and Leh seat in the Ladakh region. The polls in the Valley, after the militancy erupted in early 1990's, are being conducted in an entirely different atmosphere. While there is a huge presence of security forces to keep separatists and militant organisations at bay, the elections are held more in the backdrop of "political issues of Kashmir". The percentage of voter turnout has, however, registered a gradual increase over the years. The NOTA option would be keenly watched by both the mainstream and separatist elements. Coalition culture
In the post-militancy period elections in the state, developments have been taking place at a fast pace. In such first Lok Sabha elections in 1996, the Congress was the only player as the National Conference stayed away on its demand for the grant of autonomy. However, only months later, the NC led by Farooq Abdullah got a huge majority in the Assembly elections, which completed its six-year term. But, with the birth of PDP led by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in 1999, as an alternative regional party, it did not remain a one or two party affair in the state. It switched over to the "coalition culture" following the last two Assembly elections in 2002 and 2008, the Congress was the kingmaker in both cases. Earlier, it had coalition with the PDP and in the second phase allied with the NC. Emergence of new parties
Over the years, a number of political parties or groups have come to the fore, beginning with the PDP in 1999. The PDP, which formed the government with the Congress in 2002, has shown a steady growth in the number of Assembly seats. The party has in many cases conquered the NC bastions in the Valley. Its president Mehbooba Mufti was also elected to the Lok Sabha from Anantnag in 2004. Several other parties like BJP, Lok Jana Shakti, and BSP, which do not have much presence in the Valley, have also been trying their luck. This time, some parties like AAP, which has already announced its candidate for Srinagar, are also to be reckoned with. With an umpteen number of mainstream parties or groups, the main battle is set to be fought between the arch-rivals, National Conference and the PDP on the three seats of Kashmir valley.
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20,000 Armymen enrolled as general voters
Jalandhar, March 9 Earlier, the defence and paramilitary personnel were registered only as service voters at their native places and could cast their vote only through the postal ballot. The ECI had asked the Returning Officers concerned to make efforts to enroll them as general voters during a special campaign ahead of the last summary revision. Additional Chief Electoral Officer Raminder Singh said, "This time, we had given the personnel an option to choose to remain as a service voter or become a general voter. There has been a mass shift of these voters as general voters. But, we have no specific count. Only the Returning Officers concerned would have the details of their respective constituencies." Defence PRO Naresh Vig said there had been a wide response to enrolment of voters at their place of posting across the region. Election officer Karnail Singh Bains said the commanding officers of each unit had been asked to endorse the claims of Army personnel that the newly enroled voter would remain posted in the same location for the next at least one year. "Only those living with their families have been registered. Jawans and officers had also been asked to fill up forms so that the Electoral Registration Officers concerned could strike off their names at their natives constituencies," he said. Problems as service voters
Bains said the provision had been made due to delay in sending postal ballots. "In some cases, inadequately filled up postal ballot papers had to be sent back to the regiment. Even before the corrected ballot papers arrived at counting centres, the results would have been declared. As a result, hundreds of such votes were considered invalid," he said. Assistant Electoral Registration Officer Avtar Singh Bhullar said there had been over 20,000 fresh enrolments of Army personnel. More auxiliary booths
With increase in the number of electors, especially in cantonment areas, the Election Offices across the state are also rationalising the number of polling booths. All such polling booths wherein the number of electors is going beyond 1,200 would have an auxiliary booth. Due to enrolment of defence and paramilitary staff at various locations, the Additional CEO said supplementary booths were likely to come up in large number in cantonments and other locations. Videography of booths
The ECI has asked the Returning Officers (ROs) of all constituencies to get each election booth videographed by their supervisors covering the plan of rooms and facilities there with a voiceover telling the name of village, booth number, constituency and even its distance from the nearest link road. "The ROs have been asked to send the videos to the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Punjab, wherefrom these would be further dispatched to the ECI," said Raminder Singh. New plastic EPIC
The new coloured PVC-made voter ID cards, instead of the black and white paper printed cards, have caught everyone's fancy. Five such cards were distributed during the recent National Voters' Day programme on January 25. The cards have bar codes so that these cannot be fudged. The Additional CEO said of the total 12 lakh new Electors Photo Identity Cards (EPICs), which were to be issued, nearly 8 lakh cards had just been dispatched. He also said bar code readers
would be issued to the staff in coming days so as to rule out any incidence of forgery.
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CPI to contest 2 seats in Haryana, four in Punjab
New Delhi, March 9 Announcing the party's first list of 40 candidates for contesting the elections, CPI general secretary S Sudhakar Reddy told reporters that the party based its optimism on the voters' disenchantment with the Congress-led UPA regime for its omissions and commissions. He said the economic and foreign policies of the Congress and BJP were the same. Party nominees Mamchand Saini and Arun Kumar will contest from Karnal and Ambala constituencies in Haryana. The CPI would contest four seats in Punjab. These include Faridkot (SC), Amritsar, Ferozepur and Sangrur. The candidates will be announced later. The list was finalised at the two-day session of the party's national council which ended today. About the AIADMK walking out of the pact with the Left in Tamil Nadu and DMK chief M Karunanidhi's offer for a tie-up, Reddy said the issue would be discussed at a meeting of leaders from the CPI and the CPI-M. The party was in talks with the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) in Andhra Pradesh, while it was unable to reach an understanding with any outfit in the Seemandhara region because of its support for the bifurcation of the state, he said. He also acknowledged the absence of an understanding with the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh and the JD (S) in Karnataka. In Bihar, the CPI had decided to forge a tie-up with the ruling JD(U), but the CPI-M was unable to do so. "Despite the problems, all these parties can be part of the alternative front," Reddy said. Of the 543 elective seats in the Lok Sabha, the CPI would contest about 60 spread over 24 states and Union Territories. According to today's list, CPI would contest three seats each from West Bengal, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, one seat from Uttarakhand (Paudi Gharwal - Narender Singh Negi), five from Madhya Pradesh, eight from Uttar Pradesh, two from Bihar and one from Delhi (Shrichand Tanwar in South Delhi).
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Firm launches merchandise to popularise brand AAP
New Delhi, March 9 Kraanti, a Gurgaon-based firm set up by AAP supporters, is selling T-shirts with party and its leader Arvind Kejriwal's name along with other items such as coffee mugs, wristbands, badges and key chains. "The concept has been inspired by Obama merchandise used by US President Barack Obama supporters during his election campaign. We decided to adopt the same model. We will soon come up with AAP jhadu with a party logo on it and also mineral water and notebooks with AAP and Kejriwal's photo on it. These products won't be expensive like T-shirts and can also be symbolic," said Vibha Singh, an IITian who quit her
job in a news channel as marketing and strategy development officer to join the AAP movement. The company has come up with ideas that connect with its supporters since it has tweaked some of the existing concepts. For example, it has a superman logo with AAP written on the T-shirts, tags like "Corruption Free India" and Arvind Kejriwal's picture on the T-shirts. The T-shirts cost around Rs 250 per piece while the coffee mugs start at a price of Rs 150. "The idea was conceptualised after the Delhi Assembly elections after which we quit our jobs and formed the company a month ago," Singh added. The company products have received a good response from people. "We were also there in Rohtak and Kanpur rally where we received a good response. Such products also help increase party support and a feeling of loyalty towards the party," said Shipa Khare Arora, who also quit her job in a broking firm to join the movement. The merchandise has found liking among colleges, especially in IITs and IIMs and abroad as well. "We have got requests and queries from cities like Raipur and Indore. We have also received queries from Georgia and Boston in the US," Singh added. Both Singh and Arora said their start-up firm would donate a certain percentage of their profits to the party. Incidentally, BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi also has a similar merchandise
products started by his supporters. — PTI
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SAD leadership asks five area chiefs to pull up socks
Gurdaspur, March 9 The Gurdaspur parliamentary seat, which has been allocated to the BJP under the seat-sharing agreement, comprises nine Vidhan Sabha constituencies. Out of these nine seats, five are represented by the Congress, three have BJP MLAs and one seat is represented by the SAD. During the last general election, PPCC chief Partap Singh Bajwa had defeated three-time MP and former Union minister Vinod Khanna by a thin margin of 4,000 votes. This time, the SAD-BJP combine is taking no chances on three seats --Gurdaspur, Amritsar and Hoshiarpur -- where the BJP candidates will be contesting. The four area chiefs of the Gurdaspur parliamentary constituency are former Speaker NS Kahlon (Fatehgarh Churian), former Ministers SS Sekhwan (Qadian) and SS Langah (Dera Baba Nanak) and former MLA LS Lodhinangal (Batala). All these leaders have been conferred upon with unbridled powers. So much of authority has been given to these leaders that it has become normal for them to either inaugurate or lay foundation stones of government buildings. They have been provided with a heavy security cover with even wards of some area chiefs getting a posse of policemen to 'guard them'. Now, the top leadership has asked the SAD big wigs to ensure that they reduce the margin of defeat they suffered in the last Assembly polls. "This, in turn, will help the BJP candidate to garner the maximum number of votes from the areas these leaders represent. If they are unable to wipe out the deficit in a decent manner, their powers are sure to be curtailed. It is an open secret that the writ of these leaders runs large in both the administration and the police affairs," said a minister. Under the seat-sharing agreement, out of the nine Assembly seats, four have been allocated to the BJP, while five have been given to the SAD. The Akali leadership is concentrating only on the SAD seats leaving the BJP to make its own arrangements in the four seats they have been allotted. Sekhwan had lost his seat by 16,000 votes, Lodhinangal by 18,000 votes, Kahlon by 800 votes and Langah by 2,200 votes.
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Cong objects to Gujarat campaign shoot Cong fields Assam CM’s son from Kaliabor
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Chandigarh, March 9
In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP and INLD, who contested in an alliance on five seats each, drew a blank. While the INLD vote share came down from 22.43 per cent in 2004 to 15.68 per cent in 2009, the vote share of the BJP also fell from 17.21 per cent in 2004 to 12.09 per cent in 2009, a negative swing of 5.12 per cent.
The wave of PM nominee Narendra
Modi, coupled with anti-incumbency factor against the Congress-led UPA Government and the Hooda Government, is to give the BJP the best-ever tally in the forthcoming Lok Sabha
elections
Chandigarh, March 9
Srinagar, March 9
