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GROUND REALITY SIRSA
State of parties Aam AAdmi Party |
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BJP lacks any plan, Modi alone won’t help much: AAP
STOCK-TAKING AJAY MAKEN NEW DELHI
Paternity suit over, Tiwari wants son to contest polls
Modi calls Congress a betrayer, habitual liar
Anna feels cheated, says won’t back Didi, her party
Mamata stops campaigning in other states
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Post taint, INLD tries to ride sympathy wave
Although Chautalas’ home turf and stronghold, Congress has won the seat several times Sushil Manav Tribune News Service
Sirsa, March 14 In Sirsa, the INLD will try to play a sympathy card whereas the ruling Congress, the Opposition BJP and the AAP will look to exploit it in their favour. ‘Lopsided’ development
The ruling Congress will have to face anti-incumbency due to the alleged lopsided development in the segment in the past nine years. The Congress, however, claims to have brought big projects like the railway link to Fatehabad and the Rs 23,500 crore nuclear power plant to Gorakhpur. The support of Dera Sacha Sauda, which has its headquarters and a sizeable chunk of followers in the segment, is another factor that would play a crucial role in deciding the fate of candidates. Nine Assembly segments
The Parliamentary seat, located at the tri-junction of Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan, is represented by state Congress chief Ashok Tanwar. It has nine Assembly segments of Dabwali, Kalanwali, Ellenabad, Rania and Sirsa (Sirsa district), Tohana, Ratia and Fatehabad (Fatehabad district) and Narwana (Jind district). Five out of the nine Assembly segments, under the Sirsa parliamentary seat, are represented in the Vidhan Sabha by the INLD and its ally SAD, two each by the Congress and Independents. Though the seat is traditionally perceived as the stronghold of the INLD, the Congress still managed to win it eight times since 1967. In comparison, the INLD has registered five victories. The BJP, on the other hand, has never been able to win the seat. After his election from Sirsa, Tanwar first rose to the post of a secretary in the All-India Congress Committee (AICC) and recently, the Congress high command gave him the responsibility of leading the party in the state. Even after completing his "Jai Sirsa Lok Sabha Yatra" in February this year where he travelled across the constituency, Tanwar has shown his 'unwillingness to contest the Lok Sabha polls. AAP, CPM name candidates
The AAP and the CPM have taken the lead and named Poonam Chand Ratti and Ram Kumar Bahbalpuria as their nominees. The election to the Sirsa parliamentary seat this time is being contested under peculiar circumstances when two top leaders of the INLD - Om Prakash Chautala and Ajay Singh Chautala - are in jail for the past more than a year in the teachers' recruitment scam. Graft versus sympathy
The INLD will try to make the best of the situation describing it "a conspiracy of the Congress". On the other hand, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and BJP have been highlighting the sentencing to discredit the INLD terming it a party with 'tainted leaders' and criticising it to politicise Chautalas' conviction in a corruption case. The INLD activists have been reportedly going door-to-door with pictures showing Chautala, his son Ajay Singh and MLA Sher Singh Badshami behind bars and telling people that their votes will 'get their leaders justice. "Chautalas have done a lot for the people of Sirsa. A large number of youth got employment during their tenure. Sirsa witnessed unprecedented development from 1999 to 2005 when Om Prakash Chautala was at the helm. People of Sirsa know that their leaders have been sentenced for providing jobs to the unemployed," says Jasbir Singh Jassa, INLD state executive member from Sahuwala village in Sirsa. INLD leader Abhay Singh Chautala's son Karan Singh Chautala, who has been given the charge of campaigning in Sirsa, says that Bhupinder Singh Hooda's government has been discriminating against Sirsa because it is Chautalas' home. Refuting the charges, the Congress MP claims to have brought several development projects to Sirsa through his influence. "Sirsa got projects worth Rs 35,000 crore in the past five years. The biggest being the Rs 23,500 crore nuclear power project at Gorakhpur in Fatehabad," says Ashok Tanwar. "Chautala did not even care to provide funds for the university named after his father Chaudhary Devi Lal. It was left for the Congress government to be completed," he adds. Prahlad Singh Gillankhera, Chief Parliamentary Secretary (CPS), who represents the Fatehabad Assembly seat of Sirsa, says it is ridiculous that the INLD wants people to believe that Chautalas have been jailed for providing jobs. "If this is the criteria, our government has provided employment to thousands of youth. Chautalas have been jailed because they issued job offers to those who were not selected," he says. Nuclear project opposed
Key factors
Connecting Hisar and Sirsa via Agroha and Fatehabad by rail is another issue that will be raised in this election While Tanwar claims that he has got this project sanctioned in the last Rail Budget, Opposition parties allege that nothing has been done on the ground so far. The role of Dera Sacha Sauda has been crucial during the past more than a decade. This is the reason that leaders of all political parties make it a point to visit the Dera to seek blessings of its chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. It will also be interesting to watch what role former minister Gopal Kanda, who has recently come out of jail on bail, plays in this election.
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State of parties Aam AAdmi Party Treading cautiously after being in limelight for wrong reasons, the party struggles to keep momentum Ananya Panda Tribune News Service
New Delhi, March 14 The party is now hoping to make it big in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. It is certain that it is its "quest" for good governance presented during its 49-day tenure that will win it votes in the national capital, where seven Parliamentary seats are going to polls on April 10. Banking on the poor
The party is working hard to gain support of the poor, Muslims and rural voters of Delhi in the Lok Sabha elections, unlike the last year's Assembly polls when it ended up being an urban phenomenon. The party hopes that its populist or people-centric measures, as it may be called, such as subsidy on water and a waiver of 50 per cent on power tariff, would help the AAP garner votes of the weaker sections of society. Even the AAP is being conscious after former AAP Law Minister Somnath Bharti's episode, followed by Arvind Kejriwal's dharna seeking suspension of six policemen and "inadequate competence" in the House. Admitting to the change in the orientation of the middle class, JNU's Prof Anand Kumar, who is AAP national executive member, said: "We have been weak in attracting votes in rural Delhi and Muslims' support is also not impressive. But it seems that things will change as lot of people have joined us in our struggle." The campaign and manifesto
Having begun volunteer meets in every Assembly after the first list of candidates was declared in January third week, the AAP's campaign is on full swing with the party organising regular public meetings. For door-to-door campaigns, volunteers have been trained who would reach out to voters with the party's agenda for the Lok Sabha elections through pamphlets explaining AAP's achievements in 49 days, reasons for resignation and the party's future plans. "We began with introducing our candidates to volunteers and took up questions related to the party's functioning. Then we restructured our polling station-wise teams of volunteers who are holding public meetings at local parks every day. We have now started our door-to-door campaigns with two to four teams comprising 150-160 volunteers moving across the city simultaneously," said Durgesh Pathak, party's election campaign in charge in Delhi. The party is in the process of filtering out the issues for its area-specific manifesto and the party's volunteers are holding local meetings. Issues based on consensus in 10 Assembly segments in each Parliamentary seat will make it to the final draft that will focus and women security is going to be a major aspect this time. Noting that the AAP has seen a proportionate growth in voters all over the country, Prof Anand, who is also AAP candidate from Delhi's Chandni Chowk Lok Sabha seat, said the support for the party had increased in Delhi. Infighting and rebels
The party seems to be grappling with open rebellion within the party with voices of dissent questioning its functioning and ticket distribution. While frontline leaders Shazia Ilmi and Kumar Vishwas have expressed discontent on Twitter, many dissenters say the party is no different from others and is plagued with "personality cult". On several occasions, AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal and other party leaders have been accused of acting as per whims and ignoring majority of the voices within the party. Shazia has shown reluctance in contesting from Rae Bareli and is keen on Delhi, while Kumar Vishwas, too, has publicly voiced his displeasure over some candidatures. Citing similar reasons, AAP's national executive member and legal activist Ashok Agarwal resigned from the party, saying the party has lost its purpose and become directionless. Unhappy with the ticket distribution, Agarwal said this time the party had an elite umbrella of candidates for Lok Sabha elections in Delhi and the common man had been sidelined. "The party that was floated with a movement has become directionless. The emotional connect with people is no longer visible and the involvement of aam aadmi has been reduced to nil," Agarwal, who was hopeful for a ticket from the Chandni Chowk Lok Sabha seat, said. Earlier, former diplomat Madhu Bhaduri had quit the party, criticising it for Somnath Bharti's midnight raid on Ugandan women's residence in South Delhi's Khirki extension area. Constraints lead to shift in candidate selection process
Unlike the last Assembly elections, the selection of candidates for the city's seven Lok Sabha seats do not appear to be based on participatory democracy that the party justifies due to lack of time and enough resources. The party looks to having exercised its discretion of special powers in choosing majority of its seats in Delhi in order to give a tough fight to its adversaries. This led to severe opposition from local people in several areas protesting over the party's ticket-distribution process. "We could not carry out the lengthy process of selecting candidates like we did last time. But, we made sure to field those who hold an honest record. We had to skip one or two stages where we sought views of volunteers during local meetings," said AAP secretary and political affairs committee member Pankaj Gupta.
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BJP lacks any plan, Modi alone won’t help much: AAP
New Delhi, March 14 With the party's thrust on "alternative politics" instead of an alternative political party, senior AAP leaders said the BJP, which was riding high on its Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, had failed to connect with the poor and only relied on a "vague and negative" campaign. This comes at a time when the BJP and the Congress continue to train guns at each other, while the AAP is concentrating on becoming a game-changer in the Lok Sabha polls, not a speed breaker for the UPA and NDA governments. AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal hopes that the party's governance model during its 49-day tenure in Delhi would determine its success in the upcoming elections. After Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, Kejriwal is on a five-day election tour to Maharashtra and Karnataka in a bid to challenge majority of the political establishments. To strike a chord with the electorate, the former Delhi Chief Minister and his party's poll attack against the Congress and the BJP will revolve around allegations of corruption and crony capitalism in case of Haryana, breaking into claims of Gujarat model of development, while in UP it targets to finish vote-bank politics. Social scientist and AAP's national executive Prof Anand Kumar said the BJP was doing all it could to debunk AAP that had emerged as a challenger for it in the Parliamentary polls with the Congress pushed to the brink after the Delhi debacle. The latest video footage accusing AAP chief of seeking favours from a media house is another alleged instance of its manipulation to malign the image of the party, a party leader said. AAP's Delhi poll coordinator Durgesh Pathak said: "Now, our priority is to break into the BJP's manipulation of media. We are called agents of the Congress and our aim is to connect to masses who are disillusioned with both the Congress and the BJP as both the parties manage a section of media for their vested interests." "People need change and the BJP is just an excuse. Like Rahul Gandhi, Narendra Modi, too, is characterised by his self-assumed arrogance. By visiting two-third of the country, one would find there are huge development, governance democracy and legitimacy deficit, as highlighted by the Sengupta Committee report," Anand said. He asserted that this time the political discourse was about problems and people were more interested in perspectives and programmes rather than personalities. On this count, the AAP said Modi had failed to catch the imagination of poor people as he never focused on poverty in his agenda. "Modi has never talked about the country's economic policy, which essentially caters to the interests of the corporate in the name of growth and investment. The agenda of the BJP is looked with suspicion by large section of voters in the country with the party only criticising the obvious failures of the UPA but nothing constructive. With the Congress at its record low, Arvind Kejriwal has emerged as a hope," Anand added.
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STOCK-TAKING AJAY MAKEN NEW DELHI Faced with toughest election ever; voters say being a Cabinet minister, he could have done much better for his constituency Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service
New Delhi, March 14
For a man who has lost only one election (to BJP's Sushma Swaraj in the South Delhi Lok Sabha segment in 1998), the 2014 battle is one of high stakes. While the BJP is expected to field its ballistic spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman from here, the Aam Aadmi Party has announced journalist Ashish Khaitan as its candidate making the fight triangular. But 50-year-old Maken says he is ready for the kill. Maken had offered his segment for the Rahul's primaries experiment after Union Ministers Kapil Sibal and Krishna Tirath opted out. Maken says, "I have been chosen as a candidate by Congress workers. We are going to win." If political history is any indicator, Maken's record has been impeccable. In the Congress, he is called a 'rising star' with a leader saying: "No one has risen in the Congress and the government ranks as fast as Maken." Picture this: Within 10 years between 2004 (when he emerged a giant killer by defeating BJP veteran Jagmohan from New Delhi seat) and 2014, Maken has held innumerable coveted positions in both the party and the government. He started as the Minister of State for Urban Development in 2006, graduating to Congress working committee's permanent invitee in 2007, was again named the Minister of State (Home) in 2009. Later, he held the independent charge of sports and finally a full Cabinet portfolio of housing in 2012. Maken his friends say he always made the right moves in politics and reaped fruits. Maken's masterstroke came in 2013 when he quit the Cabinet to join Rahul's organisation and was soon named the AICC general secretary for communications replacing Janardan Dwivedi. However, Maken lost touch with the constituency he had won in 2009 by defeating BJP's Vijay Goel by around two lakh votes. "Maken has been short of time due to several important responsibilities. But he tries to make up by meeting people in the mornings and evenings," says a Maken aide. But voters are not amused. SC Jolly of Patel Nagar, a segment in Maken's area, says: "May I ask how much did an individual Congress MP deliver on his poll promises in five years considering they all wanted the AAP to fulfil all manifesto promises in 45 days? I cannot see anything substantial that Maken has done." The sentiment is reciprocated by many people. Deepak Seth, another voter, says: "Despite being the Urban Development Minister, Maken could not convert leasehold properties given to our forefathers at the time of migration from Pakistan to freehold." But Maken insists he has done his bit. "As the Urban Development Minister, I conceptualised the Street Vendors' Bill which Parliament has passed. I got the Real Estate Regularisation Bill through to save owners' interests. As the Sports Minister, I tried to cleanse sports of politics." But the Opposition wants to know Maken's specific contributions to his constituency. Many partly blame him for the humiliating defeat of Congress candidates in all 10 Assembly seats of the New Delhi Lok Sabha segment in the 2013 Delhi polls. Former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, former ministers Kiran Walia and Ramakant Goswami also lost from here. But Maken justifies the defeat saying: "At that time, the AAP wave was sweeping every segment. Mine was no exception. What happened then was not a precursor of what will happen in Lok Sabha polls." But the Opposition is already gunning for him. Vijay Goel says Maken had unveiled three manifestos on the eve of the 2009 LS polls but not fulfilled his promises. "The New Delhi segment has several voters who are government employees. Their housing is in a mess. Maken had promised to renovate old, endangered residential structures, but has not done anything," Goel, Rajya Sabha MP of the BJP said.
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Paternity suit over, Tiwari wants son to contest polls
New Delhi, March 14 The former Uttarakhand Chief Minister is keen that his "newly acknowledged son" Rohit Shekhar enters the Lok Sabha election fray on the Congress ticket from Nainital, a segment Tiwari had represented in the past. Tiwari's aide KC Baba Singh is Congress' sitting MP from Nainital. Tiwari's turn of heart comes 10 days after he publicly acknowledged Rohit as his son on March 3 after losing a paternity suit. Talking to The Tribune from Lucknow today, Tiwari admitted: "I want Rohit to contest but I am yet to consult him. I will talk to the Congress leadership about this." The statement assumes significance considering there are several claimants to Tiwari's political legacy that was tainted by years of "paternity suit". Asked if it was true that he had embraced Rohit as his son and was seeking a ticket for his nephew, the Congress veteran answered in the negative. "Tiwariji's statement should be seen in context of the fact that we need to end competitive claims over his political legacy. By expressing the urge that his son should contest, Tiwari ji is putting all rumours about his political inheritance to rest," said a source in Tiwari's family. It is learnt that Tiwari will soon publicly declare his future political strategy for upcoming LS polls. He is expected to tour Nainital from March 20 or 21 to gauge voters' sentiment. "If voters want him to contest for one last time, he might consider, else he may nominate Rohit as his political heir and campaign for him," a source said. Rohit said he would support his father in all his endeavours, provided "he showed true affection". For Tiwari, too, the end of a long-drawn paternity suit brings an opportunity of political revival. The last elections he contested in Uttarakhand were in 2002. He remained the CM till 2007 but could not return to active politics.
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Modi calls Congress a betrayer, habitual liar
Sambalpur (Odisha), March 14 The only agenda of Congress is 'stop Modi', he said. "It took Congress 60 years to bring a law on food. Everybody has a stomach, everybody gets hungry. But they remembered after 60 years that they need a law on food," Modi said at the party's Vijay Sankalp Samavesh here. "I seek control of price rise, but Congress says 'stop Modi'. I want eradication of corruption, but Congress says stop Modi." Stating that good governance was the need of the hour, Modi said, "if 1857 was the battle for 'swaraj' (self-rule ), 2014 will be a battle for 'su raaj' (good governance)." The Gujarat Chief Minister said Congress failed to keep the promise of checking inflation within 100 days it had made before the last elections. "The Congress had promised before the 2009 Lok Sabha elections that it will control rising prices within 100 days, but it turned out to be a false promise," Modi said. Because of 'utter failure' on the part of the UPA Government, people consider Congress to be a 'betrayer and habitual liar' which always came out with false promises on the eve of elections to get votes, he said. "People can forgive someone who commits a mistake, if someone has some weaknesses, but they would never forgive one who indulges in acts of betrayal," the BJP leader said. Modi said it is not that people want a BJP government or Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister but the country wants to teach a lesson to those who have ruined it. People want good governance, he said. Charging Congress with neglecting farmers, Modi said BJP-ruled states like Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh had launched a host of measures for the benefit of the farmers. - PTI
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Anna feels cheated, says won’t back Didi, her party
New Delhi, March 14 He accused Santosh Bharti of Jantantra Morcha of "cheating" him and "manipulating" things about the recent rally at Ramlila Maidan addressed by Mamata. The anti-graft crusader said there was a "conspiracy" to sabotage the rally, admitting that he had skipped it as the crowd was less. Anna said Mamata was cheated and she was told that it was his rally and he himself was told that it was Mamata's rally and there were just 2,000 people. "Ramlila was packed last time. Something went wrong this time. Santosh Bharti cheated me. I wasn't given full information," he said. It is learnt that Bharti has allegedly acted as a mediator between Anna and the TMC. Anna clarified that he supported Mamata as an individual but never supported her party. "I will fast for a day in Punjab on March 30 with youngsters from the state demanding that only clean candidates be sent to Parliament. I supported her because I wanted a stable government as a hotchpotch government will be detrimental for the country," he said. He said at present all political parties aim at assuming power. "Criminals and corrupt are welcomed....There are 163 tainted politicians sitting in the Lok Sabha," he said. Anna's aide Sunita Godra said: "The TMC is giving tickets to tainted leaders and Anna did not know about it. When he came to know, he decided to pull out." Anna and Mamata had come together on a platform in February and Anna had announced that he would campaign for all TMC candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
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Mamata stops campaigning in other states
Kolkata, March 14 Instead, she will now campaign only within the state for the TMC candidates. Accordingly, her election campaign programme has also been rescheduled. Mamata told mediapersons today that she was not giving up the attempt of uniting all small parties to form a non-Congress and non-BJP federal front government after the polls. She said she was in close contact with all national leaders who wanted a change in the government at the Centre. But, she did not name the leaders. She said the TMC would emerge as the third largest force in the country that would play a vital role in forming the government.
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Snapshots
Bangalore: The BJP on Friday inducted BSR Congress chief B Sriramulu back into its fold after its top brass decided to allow his entry, but not his party's merger following public opposition by its leader Sushma Swaraj. — PTI AAP’s Kumar Vishwas hurt
New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party today alleged that a group of Congress workers attacked AAP candidate from Amethi Kumar Vishwas and workers campaigning in Jagdishpur. Vishwas and some workers were injured. Vishwas, who is contesting against Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, alleged that the local police failed to act against the culprits despite a complaint. — TNS |
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Trying to make the Gorakhpur nuclear power project a big issue, the Parmanu Virodhi Morcha, a coalition of the organisation against nuclear energy, has announced to oppose the parties that support the plant. Karan Singh Chautala says: "This project will be a bane of the area due to the hazards involved with it. We will abandon it immediately after the INLD comes to power in Haryana." Though the BJP is yet to spell out its stand on the project, its poll ally Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) has been opposing the nuclear project.
That explains Maken's continuous absence from his newly-acquired office of the Congress general secretary in charge of communications - a job for which he was handpicked by party vice-president Rahul Gandhi. It is another matter that Maken has hardly been seen in his new position of late with his aides constantly defending him saying: "Makenji is busy with his constituency." 
