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Ground reality Hisar
EC plan on young voters' enrolment likely to be dropped
CPM goes online to court young voters
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On poll-eve, politicians again mount separate Vidarbha horse
MP Cong wants Digvijay to contest from Vidisha
State of Parties: BJP
Milind Deora faces Sena, MNS, AAP in South Mumbai
BJP’s divisive policy spoiling country’s secular fabric: Rahul
2009
lok sabha elections
Mamata should be more critical of Modi: Imam
Mukhtar Ansari not to contest from Varanasi
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Caste politics takes root in Jat land
It’s battle between Jats and non-Jats; HJC, INLD accuse ruling Congress of regional bias Deepender Deswal Tribune News Service
Hisar, March 18 The segment has witnessed caste polarisation in recent years. The Mirchpur incident, Bhagana caste row and Jats agitation on quota demand are likely to weigh heavily on the minds of voters.
The opposition parties such as the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) and the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) are trying to corner the ruling party over the alleged regional bias in terms of development and jobs. The Modi factor may also play a role in the segment. Sitting MP Kuldeep Bishnoi, who is likely to be re-nominated as the HJC-BJP candidate, would face stiff challenge from the Congress candidate, Nalwa MLA Sampat Singh, INLD's young Turk Dushyant Chautala and Aam Admi Party's Yudhbir Singh Khyalia. Besides, Bahujan Samaj Party's Mange Ram Varma and CPM's Phool Singh Sheokand are also trying hard to make their presence felt. Except Surender Barwala, who won as the Lok Dal nominee in 1998 and 1999, no sitting MP has managed to retain the Hisar seat ever. Jai Prakash, the three-time MP, won the elections as a nominee of three different parties - from Janata Dal in 1989, Haryana Vikas Party in 1996 and Congress in 2004. Jat candidates have won the Hisar Lok Sabha seat 10 times since 1952 as 32 per cent of the 14,83,733 voters belong to this community. Candidates belonging to the Bishnoi community have won the seat thrice, including the 2011 by-election, Bania twice and Brahmin once. The 2009 Lok Sabha elections, when Bhajan Lal won as the HJC nominee, saw the emergence of the Jat, non-Jat issue as he was only non-Jat candidate contesting against the Jat nominees of the INLD and Congress. The same formula was replicated successfully in the 2011 by-election after Bhajan Lal's death and his son Kuldeep Bishnoi was elected. However, three incidents in the past couple of years have polarized the caste politics here. These are caste violence in Mirchpur in 2010 and upper caste-Dalits standoff in Bhagana village in 2012. Besides, the prolonged Jat agitation demanding reservation in government jobs. "The arm-twisting tactics of dominant Jats, which finally got them reservation in the state and Centre, did not go down well with non-Jats, who term their demand unjustified. Moreover, the alleged intimidation and violence against Dalits by Jats in Mirchpur and Bhagana took this polarization to the hilt," said a Mirchpur resident. Naresh Kumar, a resident of Chirod village, said: "The Hisar segment has been ignored in terms of development and jobs as compared to the Rohtak region. There is a deep-rooted sense of regionalism here." Saroj Mor, Indian National Lok Dal MLA from Narnaund alleged: "I raised over 30 issues concerning my constituency in the Assembly in the past four years, but the state government ignored my pleas. Scarcity of potable and irrigation water in a number of villages, upgrade of the community health centre in Narnaund and government schools in some villages, demand for setting up of a polytechnic and sabzi mandi, drainage system for the town, relaying of dilapidated roads and public transport facilities on approach routes failed to draw the attention of the government despite my efforts." Renuka Bishnoi, wife of Kuldeep Bishnoi, and Haryana Janhit Congress MLA from Adampur, said there was resentment against the Centre and state governments. "Kuldeep was offered the posts of Deputy Chief Minister and Union Minister but he turned them down and decided to form a party to fulfil the demands of the people. His clean image and struggle for justice has no match. The upcoming Lok Sabha elections will also set a stage for the change of guard in Haryana as the HJC-BJP alliance, which has Kuldeep as its Chief Ministerial candidate, would storm to power in the Assembly polls," she claimed. Congress nominee Sampat Singh refuted the charges of bias in development. "The villages have witnessed overall development in terms to pucca streets, roads and water channels. Voters want to elect an honest person and not someone who pursues personal or family agenda. One family has three MLAs and now its wants another family member to become an MP. Another family has formed its own party with concentration of power in the hands of one person. The INLD and HJC are fighting to keep up dynastic politics." With around 1.5 lakh votes, Hisar town can also play key role in deciding the fate of a candidate. The town has a concentration of non-Jat voters such as Bania and Saini. Division of votes
The division of the Jat votes in the INLD and Congress can undermine the prospects of both the parties. The BSP and AAP could eat into non-Jat votes which in turn would be Bishnoi's loss. Although the INLD has a strong worker base in the rural belts, the Congress' ploy to include Jats in the OBC category will consolidate its Jat vote bank. The AAP nominee, Yudhbir Singh Khyalia, can cut into the votes across the communities, especially in Jats, Balmikis and Dalits. 9 Assembly segments
Among the nine Assembly seats, seven are in Hisar district -- Hisar, Barwala, Uklana, Narnaund, Hansi, Adampur and Nalwa. Uchana Kalan and Bawani Khera are in Jind and Bhiwani districts, respectively. Six of the 9 segments have Congress MLAs.
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EC plan on young voters' enrolment likely to be dropped
New Delhi, March 18 The EC had recently told the government that the January 1 cut off date set for the purpose deprives several youths from participating in the electoral exercise. According to the Election Commission guidelines on enrolment of voters, for an election to be held in a particular year, only an individual who has attained the age of 18 years as on January 1 of that year is eligible to be enrolled in the voters' list. "As a result, if a person is becoming 18 years on January 2, he cannot be registered. Therefore, a person who is turning 18 beyond January 1 will have to wait for next year to get registered. In case elections are taking place subsequently, they will have to wait for a longer period," Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi had said recently. But according to the Law Ministry, a change in rules or even an amendment to the Representation of the People Act will not help. Article 326 states that every person who is a citizen of India and who is not less than 18 of age on such "date" as may be fixed in that behalf by or under any law made by the appropriate legislature shall be entitled to be registered as a voter at any such election. "Article 326 mentions a cut off date and not a set of dates, therefore, any move to remove the cut off date or to have multiple cut off dates will require amending the Article," a senior official explained. The issue of whether to have no cut off date at all or to have multiple cut off dates for those attaining 18 years of age to register as voters is set to be referred to government's top law officer, the attorney general, for his opinion. A proposal made in the early 1970s had suggested multiple cut off dates of January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1 for those attaining the required age to register as voters. The proposal could not take off.
A total of 1.27 crore new voters of the age group of 18-19 years have been registered recently. — PTI Cut-off date
Article 326 of the Representation of the People Act mentions a cut-off date and not a set of dates. Therefore, any move to remove the cut-off date or to have multiple cut-off dates will require amending the Article.
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CPM goes online to court young voters
Kolkata, March 18 "As the new generation is more comfortable in these form of social media, we had to take recourse to Twitter and Facebook to interact with them," CPI(M) state secretary Biman Bose told newspersons today. He said the issue of keeping pace with the new generation and their mode of communication was discussed within the party and "as we felt it was necessary, we had to do this." Asked if the party had not fallen behind its main opposition which had long back started Facebook and Twitter accounts, Bose said, "It is not a question of falling back. But we are not a cash-rich party, we had to collect money before starting these." The Trinamool Congress has been using the social media for some time now and its chief Mamata Banerjee has often used her Facebook account to express her views on important issues. — PTI
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On poll-eve, politicians again mount separate Vidarbha horse
Mumbai, March 18 Leaders from the Congress, the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have issued statements and participated in demonstrations for a separate state over the past year. The chorus touched a peak after the UPA Government carved out Telengana amidst much public drama. Sitting Nagpur MP Vilas Muttemwar futilely suggested that all MPs from the region should quit their seats. BJP promises separate state
Senior BJP leaders, including former national president Nitin Gadkari and state chief Devendra Fadnavis, went on to promise a separate Vidarbha state if the BJP was voted to power. Though the BJP has for long been a proponent of a separate state, it could not do much during the years it was in power. The party was a junior partner of the Shiv Sena holding the reins of the government in the state. AAP in favour of Vidarbha
"None of the MPs from the region raised the issue of a separate Vidarbha state when parliament was discussing the Telengana issue. The BJP talks of a separate state but did nothing when it was in power in Maharashtra and at the Centre," says Wamanrao Chatap, who heads the Vidarbha Joint Action Committee (VJAC). Chatap is contesting the Lok Sabha elections on an AAP ticket from Chandrapur. At a fund-raising event in Nagpur, AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal promised the creation of a separate Vidarbha state, but the party is clearly seen as a political lightweight. Undaunted, VJAC is carrying out 'referendums' in the region after it claimed to have received good response in Amravati, Nagpur, Chandrapur and Yavatmal. Despite being hemmed in by the Shiv Sena, the BJP is again putting Vidarbha on its agenda. However, party sources say the statehood issue will be part of the manifesto. Shiv Sena not to support
Even this move has raised the hackles of the Shiv Sena. "Just as the BJP put major issues like Article 370, Ram temple and Uniform Civil Code on the back burner during the NDA regime, Vidarbha, too, would be shelved in the interests of Mahayuti (five party alliance for 2014 Lok Sabha elections)," Shiv Sena spokesman Sanjay Raut had said recently. Incidentally, the Republican Party of India (Athavale) which is part of the NDA, too, is in favour of carving out Vidarbha from Maharashtra. Bodies join campaign
An umbrella body of different groups like Vidarbha Economic Development Council (VEDC), Vidarbha Environmental Action Group (VEAG), Jan Manch, Nagpur Union of Working Journalists (NUWJ), Youth for Vidarbha, Vidarbha Rajya Sangharsh Samiti and Vidarbha Joint Action Committee (VJAC) came together under the banner of Vidarbha Connect or VCan to press the issue. However, it is not clear how much impact these efforts will have on the final outcome in the Lok Sabha elections. 10 of 48 LS seats in Vidarbha
With 11 districts, Vidarbha has 10 of Maharashtra's 48 Lok Sabha seats. In the 2009 elections, these seats were shared equally by both the UPA and the NDA. The Shiv Sena itself bagged three of the 10 seats but a separate Vidarbha was not a poll issue at that time. The Shiv Sena thinks that the separate statehood would not become a big issue this time as it had opposed the proposal earlier.
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MP Cong wants Digvijay to contest from Vidisha
Bhopal, March 18 BJP leader Sushma Swaraj is the sitting MP from Vidisha seat. Digvijay should agree to contest from Vidisha the same way veteran BJP leader Vijayaraje Scindia had contested against former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi from Rae Bareli in 1980, and Sushma Swaraj had fought against Congress president Sonia Gandhi from Bellary in 2004, he said. --- PTI
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Party banks on old guards
In Uttarakhand, three former chief ministers, sitting MP in the fray Neena Sharma Tribune News Service  BJP women workers take out a rally in Dehradun. A file photo
Dehradun, March 18 The party fielded BC Khanduri from Pauri, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank from Haridwar and Bhagat Singh Koshiyari from Nainital. The other contestants are Mala Raj Lakshmi Shah from Tehri and Ajay Tamta from Almora. The party leadership believes that the prospects of the BJP depend on the strength of the candidates and their effectiveness in channelising the strong anti-incumbency wave against the Congress. While, both Koshiyari and Nishank will be making their electoral debut in the LS, Khanduri would be contesting the Lok Sabha polls for the second time from Pauri. Rattled by the lackluster performance in the 2009 elections and eager to cash in on the sense of despondency prevailing among the people against the ruling Congress in the aftermath of the natural disaster, the BJP started cashing in on the charisma of Narendra Modi. But a change in the Congress leadership had affected the calculations of the BJP which decided to fall back on the three leaders to deliver five seats into the party's kitty. Backed by a well-oiled party machinery and affiliate organisations, the BJP has always been in an advantageous position vis-a-vis the Congress and it is also credited with the creation of the state. Further, the BJP has roped in firebrand leader Uma Bharti to speak on evocative issue of religious sanctity of the rivers. Now that she has been fielded from Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh, it remains to be seen if the experimentation with such brand of politics would yield results when development issues are expected to take precedence over emotive issues. Three pillars of politics
The BJP politics more often revolved around three men with one proving a kingmaker for the second and ousting the third. For the first time, all three -- Nishank, Khanduri and Koshiyari -- are in the electoral race and their acumen would be tested. But without their vaulting ambitions, which had more often not proved troublesome for the party in the past, the strategy to rope in the big three may help reap rich dividends for the party at least in these elections. Opposition by leaders
It was not an easy ride for the five candidates whose names were opposed tooth and nail by other claimants. On the Tehri parliamentary seat, BJP leader Munna Singh Chauhan had expressed his desire to contest. However, the party decided to go ahead with outgoing MP Mala Raj Lakshmi Shah. Koshiyari opposed the candidature of Ajay Tamta from Almora. Koshiyari, too, faced opposition from another stalwart Bachi Singh Rawat, but Koshiyari's closeness to Rajnath Singh clinched the Nainital seat for him. Poll debacle in 2009
In 2009, when elections were held after delimitation, leading to the creation of a fifth constituency, the party had lost all five seats. However, the party managed to work its way upward by winning the Tehri bypoll and also reducing the victory margin of the Congress. Trends in favour of BJP
If one goes by the Lok Sabha trends, the electorate has always voted against the ruling party in the state. In 2004, when the Congress was in power, the BJP won all three seats. Then in 2009, when the BJP was in power, the Congress won all five seats. Going by the trend, the BJP seems to be in an advantageous position. Challenges ahead
In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, the victory of the Congress in four traditional hill constituencies of Almora, Nainital-Udhamsingh Nagar, Pauri and Tehri-Garhwal had completely marginalised the BJP. In the 2012 Assembly elections, the BJP had performed well in the Kumaon division but it was left gasping for breath in the Garhwal division which was a traditional stronghold of the BJP. For both the Congress and the BJP, the Bahujan Samaj Party could prove to be a spoiler as both the parties would be vying for a major chunk of the scheduled caste votes.
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Milind Deora faces Sena, MNS, AAP in South Mumbai
Mumbai, March 18 Deora had won the seat for the second time in 2009, in a three-cornered fight with Bala Nandgaonkar (MNS) and Mohan Rawle (Shiv Sena). This time around, his fight will be with Nandgaonkar, Shiv Sena's Arvind Sawant and AAP's Meera Sanyal. The 37-year-old MP initiated the Bhendi Bazar cluster development project and pushed for the Eastern Freeway project and the second phase of the Rs 80-crore Marine Drive makeover project. He claims credit for the lighthouse tourism policy, guidelines to regulate cell tower radiations and the state's decision to set up a housing regulator. Banker Meera Sanyal, who fought the last elections as an Independent, is contesting again, this time as an Aam Aadmi Party candidate. She says her experience as a banker will come in handy if she gets a chance to represent the constituency in Lok Sabha. The recent Arvind Kejriwal road show in south Mumbai has energised Sanyal's campaign. The AAP chief had kicked off his Lok Sabha campaign in Maharashtra with a ride on a suburban train to Churchgate and then took out a 'Jhaadu Chalao Yatra' through south Mumbai streets. MNS leader Nandgaonkar, who finished second against Deora last time, will be vying for the "Marathi manus" votes and dampening the chances of the Shiv candidate and former legislator Arvind Sawant. Nandgaonkar, who was minister of state for home in 1995-1999, had hogged limelight after defeating Chhagan Bhujbal (now with NCP but then with Congress) in the 1995 Assembly poll. South Mumbai is a high-profile constituency having its own share of development issues like inadequate water supply, parking problems, illegal hawkers, contaminated water supply due to intermingling of water and drainage lines and re-development of old and dilapidated buildings. In 2009 Lok Sabha polls, Deora was believed to have benefited from the vertical split in Shiv Sena votes due to the entry of Nandgaonkar. He had polled 2.72 lakh votes against 1.59 lakh votes polled by Nandgaonkar and 1.46 lakh by the Sena's Mohan Rawale, while Sanyal secured 10,157 votes. Rawale was expelled from the Sena last year.
The Mumbai South constituency comprises six Assembly segments - Worli represented by NCP's Sachin Ahir, Malabar Hill by BJP's Mangal Prabhat Lodha, Sewree by Nandgaonkar, Mumbadevi by Congress' Amin Patel, Byculla by Congress' Madhu Chavan and Colaba by Congress' Annie Shekhar. Sawant, who was member of the legislative council for two terms, between 1996-2002 and 2004-2009, said the state government has "failed" to address two key issues, namely redevelopment of dilapidated buildings, slums and port areas. "I feel the state government is responsible for the plight of the textile workers as due to ill-advised policies, all textile mills in the city were closed and lakhs of workers were rendered jobless," he said. — PTI Achievements
The 37-year-old MP initiated the Bhendi Bazar cluster development project and pushed for the Eastern Freeway project and the second phase of the ~80-crore Marine Drive makeover project. He claims credit for the lighthouse tourism policy, guidelines to regulate cell tower radiations and the state's decision to set up a housing regulator
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BJP’s divisive policy spoiling country’s secular fabric: Rahul
Hapoli (Arunachal), March 18 "The Opposition wants to divide the people on political and religious lines, but we want to surge ahead for peace, progress and prosperity of people irrespective of their religion," he said starting his party's poll campaign for the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in the state. Days after he attacked BJP PM candidate Narendra Modi over the 2002 riots, Gandhi said the religion-based ideology of the saffron party had spoilt the secular nature of the country resulting in the racial discrimination of the people from the Northeast by the people of mainland India and referred to the January 29 murder of Arunachalee student Nido Taniya in New Delhi. Rahul said Taniya had been killed because of ill feelings nursed against people of the Northeast by the people of mainland India. "Arunachal Pradesh being a part of India, its people should enjoy equal privileges in every state of the country. Racial discrimination should be rooted out completely and Congress is committed to this," he said. Rahul said the people of Arunachal and other North-eastern states should not feel neglected in other states. "India is for everybody and we get strength from each state. Every state is like a flower which together make up a bouquet," he said. He said to the thundering applause of about 5,000 people gathered at the Subansiti Stadium here that the Congress was committed to development of Arunachal Pradesh and wanted to preserve the rich social, traditional and cultural heritage of the peace-loving tribal people in its unique form. Stressing the age-old relationship between Arunachal Pradesh and the Gandhi-Nehru family, Gandhi said that in 1972 Indira Gandhi had ensured the Union territory status to the state and in 1987 Rajiv Gandhi gave statehood to Arunachal. "The Rs 10,000-crore road package provided by the UPA government to Arunachal during 2008 has immensely benefited the state as in the past few years the state witnessed vast development in infrastructure and road development," he said. — PTI Will settle in Arunachal after retirement
Enchanted by the natural beauty of Arunachal Pradesh, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said he would like to settle there after retirement. Addressing a rally in Lower Subansiri district, Rahul said he would love to settle at Hapoli, popularly known as the Apatani plateau "after my retirement". He also said that real development was possible only after devolution of power to panchayats and party-ruled Arunachal Pradesh had set an example in this regard.
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2009
lok sabha elections
New Delhi, March 18 State-wise, Uttar Pradesh had 14 such winners whereas Jharkhand had six candidates winning with less than 30 per cent of votes polled in their respective constituencies. Bihar had five such winners. Other states with successful candidates getting less than 30 per cent votes included Madhya Pradesh (2), Jammu and Kashmir (1) and Haryana (1). Under the FPTP system, a winning candidate in a constituency wins the election by receiving the highest number of votes. In a multi-party contest in a constituency, votes are often split among contesting candidates. As a result, the winning candidate secures less than 50 per cent. The RJD won the Buxar Lok Sabha seat in Bihar getting 21.27 per cent of total votes polled for its candidate Jaganand Singh, which was the lowest percentage of votes bagged by any winner. Nawada, another Lok Sabha seat from Bihar, had the winner (Bhola Singh of the BJP) securing 22.46 per cent of votes polled. In Jharkhand's Chatra seat, the winning candidate (Inder Singh Namdhari, an Independent) received 22.86 per cent votes, while Nishikant Dubey of BJP got 23.76 per cent votes in Godda. Babulal Marandi of JVM (P) got 22.55 per cent votes in Kodarma. Uttar Pradesh had 14 successful candidates with less than 30 per cent votes. Winner of Gonda seat (Beni Prasad Verma of Congress) got 25.72 per cent of total votes polled - the lowest percentage for the state. Ganesh Singh of the BJP won the Satna seat from Madhya Pradesh with 29.51 per cent votes polled in his favour. The Rewa seat, also in MP, was won by BSP's Deoraj Singh Patel (28.49 per cent). — PTI
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Mamata should be more critical of Modi: Imam
Kolkata, March 18 The Imam of city's Tipu Sultan Mosque, Maulana Barkati, told PTI, "We know she is secular but If Mamata Banerjee wants to prove her secular credentials, she should be more aggressive and critical about Modi. Rahul Gandhi has been critical of Modi, we want Mamata Banerjee also to come out openly in criticising Modi." The cleric's comment comes at a time when all political parties are aggressively trying to woo Muslims for their 28 per cent minority votes, which is a deciding factor for 28-30 seats of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state. Barkati lashed out at Modi for seeking the votes of the Muslim community. "Why is he asking for the votes of Muslims, when he has a problem in wearing the Muslim cap. He should be ashamed about asking for our votes. He is an opportunist," he charged. — PTI
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Mukhtar Ansari not to contest from Varanasi
Lucknow, March 18 As the other heavyweight candidate Mukhtar Ansari is withdrawing his candidature to ensure a direct fight between Modi and Kejirwal, BJP's calculations of benefitting from a strong multi-cornered fight may go haywire. In order not to fragment the non-BJP vote, Mukhtar Ansari's Quami Ekta Dal has decided to pull out. Ansari's elder brother and the MLA from Mohammadabad in Ghazipur Sibtaqullah Ansari admitted that a citizen's delegation had contacted him requesting to withdraw Mukhtar's candidature from the high-profile Varanasi seat. "The Quami Ekta Dal is considering their request to defeat BJP's plans of polarizing votes on communal lines. Soon, the Quami Ekta Dal secretary general Afzal Ansari would make a statement in this regard," said the MLA. Mukhtar Ansari, an MLA from Mau, has been behind bars as an accused in the murder of BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai.
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Snapshots SP to contest 4 seats in Jharkhand
Chartered flights for Kerala voters in UAE AAP declares candidate for Chittorgarh seat BJP minister's elder brother joins Cong
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The Election Commission's plan to ensure that young citizens are registered as voters as soon as they turn 18 has run into difficulties as the Law Ministry feels that the move to have multiple cut off dates could require a constitutional amendment, something not possible immediately.
Rahul Gandhi today alleged that BJP's "divisive" policy was responsible for spoiling the country's secular fabric and incidents of hate crime, while stressing that Congress' ideology was to unite the people irrespective of caste, creed and religion.
Advantage BJP
