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Election Special
... hits century, first to do so since 1990
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NCP offers support to BJP
Mumbai, October 19 Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, who is believed to have driven a wedge between the Shiv Sena and the BJP, is back in the race despite winning 40 seats in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly.
No pressure to go with BJP: Sena
'Outsider' MIM makes maiden entry
BJP capable of striking alone: Shah
BJP sets the ball rolling for govt formation in states
Munde’s daughter makes LS history
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Maharashtra decides BJP vote share doubles from 2009
Mumbai, October 19 The BJP’s vote share in the just concluded polls was 27.8 per cent that saw it emerge as the single largest party compared to 14.02 per cent in 2009, according to Election Commission data. The BJP on its own was 23 seats short of a majority in an election marked by neck and neck contests. In the May Lok Sabha elections when it was in alliance with the Shiv Sena, while the Congress and the NCP fought together, the BJP got 27.3 per cent of the votes to bag 23 of the 48 seats at stake. With 4,119 candidates in the fray, the BJP had fielded 280, Congress 287, NCP 278, Shiv Sena 282, BSP 260, MNS 219 CPI 34 and CPM 19 nominees. In the case of BJP’s erstwhile ally Shiv Sena, a 3 per cent rise from 16.26 per cent to 19.4 per cent was enough to nearly double its seats to 63 from 33 in 2009. The Sena polled 20.6 per cent to get 18 seats. A 3 per cent swing in votes against the Congress cost 40 seats for the party. As against 82 (21.01 per cent) in 2009, the Congress kitty slumped to 42 (17.9 per cent). The Congress got just two seats despite polling 18.1 per cent votes in the recent Lok Sabha elections. However, the vote share of Congress’ erstwhile ally NCP rose marginally to 17.3 per cent from 16.37 per cent but that did not translate into more seats apparently because of the multi-cornered contests. The Sharad Pawar-led NCP won 41 as against 62 in the previous elections. It got four Lok Sabha seats polling 16 per cent votes. The Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) secured 3.1 per cent of the votes but could get only one seat. — PTI BJP, Shiv Sena’s urban votes up
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... hits century, first to do so since 1990
New Delhi, October 19 In the 1990 Assembly polls, the Congress had secured as many as 141 seats. Since then, no national or regional party had come anywhere near the 100 mark. Though the party has failed to reach the halfway mark of 144, BJP’s record is impressive this time as it is getting nearly three times the seats it secured in 2009 Assembly polls when its tally was 47. The BJP tally this time is more than the combined figure of 92 seats it had won along with the Shiv Sena in the last polls. This indicated that the gamble played by the Prime Minister Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah to break the 25-year-old alliance with the Shiv Sena has more than paid off. The two parties had together secured as many as 138 seats in 1995 (BJP-65, Shiv Sena-73) when they had formed the first non-Congress coalition government in the state. In 1990, the firstAassembly polls jointly contested by the BJP and the Sena had seen the BJP secure just 42 seats out of 104 it contested. Former BJP leader late Pramod Mahajan was the architect of the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance— the oldest ideological partnership of the BJP. With Mahajan striking a rapport with late Bal Thackeray— the Shiv Sena supremo had offered the Deputy Chief Ministership to the national party, which was till recently playing the second fiddle in the state. In 1985, the BJP contested 67 Assembly seats and had won only 16 when the Congress dominance was at its peak after the assassination of the former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
— PTI
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NCP offers support to BJP
Mumbai, October 19 While Pawar’s associates floated the idea of an NCP-Shiv Sena coalition government with outside support from the Congress as soon as the trends began coming this morning, senior leader Praful Patel swung the BJP way by late afternoon. Patel told reporters that the NCP would be happy to provide outside support to a BJP government. However, state BJP leaders are dead set against aligning with the NCP following allegations of corruption that continue to dog its leaders, including former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. On the other hand, the Pawars, afraid of investigations into the irrigation ministry handled by Ajit for more than a decade, are keen to be in good books of any government. Several public interest litigations filed in the matter are being heard by the courts and the Pawars are afraid of meeting the fate of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. Shrewd strategist that he is, Pawar managed to buy some breathing space after the break-up of the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance. The split in votes ensured that the NCP’s stronghold in Western Maharashtra continued to remain strong giving the party enough say in a hung house. For the BJP, the Pawars remain a clear and present danger even if they forge an alliance with the Shiv Sena. Sharad Pawar enjoys a good relationship with both Uddhav and Raj Thackeray and is said to be nudging the two cousins to patch up.
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Chavan saves the blushes for Cong
Mumbai, October 19 Derided for being an 'outsider' in both the constituency and the state, the former Chief Minister who shouldered the Congress party's campaign has had to fight a running battle from party colleagues like Narayan Rane and state party chief Manikrao Thakre. Rane, who was seen as a challenger to Chavan, has been roundly defeated from his old pocket borough of Kudal. The Congress also managed to improve on its performance in the Lok Sabha elections. "There has been improvement in the situation after the Lok Sabha polls but it has not been as per expectations," Chavan told reporters after the results came in. Exit polls from various television channels had predicted a far lower number of seats for the Congress party. The former Chief Minister is expected to lead the Congress party in the Maharashtra assembly. "The Congress party will perform the role of a constructive opposition," Chavan told reporters. He added that the next task before the Congress was to strengthen the party organisation across Maharashtra. Ashok Chavan blames state leadership for drubbing
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan today blamed the state leadership for the drubbing received by Congress in the Assembly polls and dismissed the notion of any ‘Modi wave’. “The BJP has not won because there was some Modi wave here. It all boils down to the anti-incumbency factor. Had the state leadership handled issues more responsibly, we would have been much better off than what we are today,” he told PTI. The Congress-NCP break up at the eleventh hour dented the image of both the parties in the mind of the electorate, he said. “We worked very hard for the welfare of our state in the last 15 years, but we failed to project our achievements and our development in front of the people. I wish the state leadership had handled the election issue carefully,” said the Lok Sabha MP from Nanded. The Congress will start
working on its revival plan without wasting any time, he said. “We will immediately go an analysis of our defects and shortcomings. Our strength and weakness coupled with the current political situation will be kept in mind while working towards our revival,” said Chavan, one of the two MPs from Congress who won the Lok Sabha polls in the state. “For now, we can only very humbly accept the people’s verdict,” he added.
(With PTI inputs)
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BJP, Sena should form govt: Advani
Amritsar, October 19 At
Sri Guru Ram Dass Ji International Airport on his way back to New Delhi,
the BJP veteran stated that he was a bit disappointed when the Shiv Sena
and the BJP decided to contest the Assembly polls separately. He
dismissed the possibility of an alliance with the NCP, saying "I
don’t see any such possibility. I would like to see that a government
is formed in a prominent state like Maharashtra and I desire that it
should happen with the alliance between the BJP and the Shiv Sena,"
he said. The BJP veteran said the Assembly poll results had shown that
“the mood witnessed in the Lok Sabha elections has continued in the
Assembly polls. I am happy with election results.” He said, “It
would be better if the old relationship gets revived. We were a bit
dejected when the Shiv Sena declared that it would not have any tie-up
with the BJP”.
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No pressure to go with BJP: Sena
Mumbai, October 19 Speaking to reporters late afternoon after most of the results were in, Thackeray said the Shiv Sena was not under any pressure to support the BJP. “We are not under any pressure because the NCP has extended outside support to the BJP. If the BJP wants to tie up with the NCP they are free to do so,” Thackeray said. He, however, added that the Shiv Sena was committed to giving a stable government for Maharashtra. “Right now I am sitting peacefully at home waiting for people to call me. So far, no one has approached the Shiv Sena for support,” Thackeray said. The Sena chief also refused to say whether his party would support the BJP. “What if I offer support and they refuse it?,” Thackeray retorted to a question from a reporter. Party leaders are also taking solace from the near decimation of Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena which has been reduced to a single seat from the 13 seats it had won last time. Shiv Sena leaders are said to be pressing for the Thackeray cousins to patch up in the interests of
their future. Senior party leader Sanjay Raut added that the Shiv Sena's performance had also improved from the last time. “Agreed that the BJP got a few more seats than the Shiv Sena, but we did not have power at the Centre. They had all the machinery at their command with Central ministers and chief ministers campaigning for the
BJP,” Raut said. Raut pointed out that the Sena had bagged 44 seats in the last elections. Therefore, its performance this time should be considered an improvement.
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'Outsider' MIM makes maiden entry
Mumbai, October 19 Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi's Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen's candidates won Aurangabad Central and Byculla seat in Mumbai defeating Shiv Sena and BJP nominees respectively. Former journalist Imtiyaz Jaleel trounced Sena's former MP and ex-Mayor Pradeep Jaiswal by about 20,000 votes in Aurungabad Central as Warish Yusuf Pathan beat BJP's Madhukar Chavan by 1,357 votes in Byculla. Akhil Bhartiya Sena's Geeta Gawli, daughter of mafia don-turn-politician Arun Gawli, was also in the fray in Byculla and Shiv Sena had declared it will not field a candidate against her.
— PTI
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BJP capable of striking alone: Shah
New Delhi, October 19 Having delivered a convincing win for the BJP in
Haryana and emerging out of the shadows of Shiv Sena as the majority
party in Maharashtra, the man of the moment - BJP’s master strategist
Amit Shah - is exuding confidence. His point proven: The BJP is aware of its standing and also the capability of striking alone. Shah dumped the responsibility of the break-up in Maharashtra and Haryana on the Shiv Sena and the Haryana Janhit Congress. “We
(BJP) never severed ties with our alliance partners. Shiv Sena ended the
alliance because of three seats. Today’s results have proved who was
correct. We won more than what HJC was offering us (45 seats) in
Haryana. The Shiv Sena was giving us 119 seats and we won more than that
in Maharashtra, said Shah. “In 2009, we had four members and 9 per
cent vote share in Haryana and 46 MLAs and 14 per cent votes in
Maharashtra. Today, our vote share increased to 33.2 per cent in Haryana
and almost 28 per cent in Maharashtra,” said the BJP chief. The
man, who came under criticism after the BJP delivered three consecutive
bypoll defeats after Modi formed the government, termed the Assembly
results a reiteration of the “Modi wave”. “After the bypolls,
people said the Modi wave is waning. But these results have proved that
the Modi charisma is continuing. These results are a mandate for the
Modi government,” said Shah, who strategically used the “political”
PM as the party’s star campaigner despite criticism from the
Opposition. Advani for BJP-Sena alliance in Maharashtra
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BJP sets the ball rolling for govt formation in states
New Delhi, October 19 The party deputed Home Minister Rajnath Singh and party general secretary JP Nadda for Maharashtra and Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu and party vice-president Dinesh Sharma for Haryana. Nadda said the observers would discuss with the state leadership the issue related to the election of the leader of the legislative party after which the process of government formation would be initiated. "The BJP will form government in both states," he said. To a question on the likely names of the Chief Ministers, Nadda said the final decision would be taken by the state leadership. Though the BJP is playing close to chest on the issue, the party headquarters is abuzz with the possibility of a "non-Jat" leader manning the CMO in Haryana. In that context, the front-runner seems to be Manohar Lal Khattar, the party candidate from Karnal. Khattar is believed to be close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and also has a deep association with the party’s ideological fountainhead — Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS). Modi and Khattar worked together for the party when the former was the party in charge of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh. Sources said Khattar was specifically asked by Modi to contest elections. Sources said Shah called up Khattar after the party's clean sweep in Haryana. In Maharashtra, the name of another RSS favourite Devendra Fadnavis doing the rounds. Fadnavis has been the mayor of Nagpur, the city where the RSS headquarters are located. But, the saffron party would first have to sort out issues such as how to reach the half-way mark in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly where it is falling short of 21 seats. While Sharad Pawar-led NCP has vehemently denied any behind-the- door arrangement with the BJP, sources say the saffron party is using the NCP's offer of "unconditional support" to get Shiv Sena fall in line. Meanwhile, BJP sources bunked the theory that an arrangement of rotational CM could be worked out with Shiv Sena, saying that at best Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray may be offered the post of Deputy Chief Minister in lieu of the support. "Shiv Sena is a natural ally. It continues to be our partner at the Centre and also Municipal Corporations across Maharashtra but so far there has been no talk on the issue of government formation," a source said. In Maharashtra, other CM probables are late Gopinath Munde's daughter Pankaja, Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari and Prakash Javadekar, and local leaders Eknath Khadse and Vinod Tawde. In Haryana, Ram Bilas Sharma, Captain Abhimanyu, Anil Vij, Anil Jain and Union Ministers Rao Inderjit Singh and Krishan Pal Gurjar are in the race. Appoints observers
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Manohar Parrikar, Goa Chief minister
Sanjay Raut, Shiv Sena spokesman
Praful Patel, NCP leader
Prithviraj Chavan, Ex-CM, Maharashtra
Nitin Gadkari, Union minister
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"The BJP central parliamentary board will take the decision about an alliance in Maharashtra. It is for them to decide and they will shortly announce the decision, but natural allies (Shiv Sena) always
exist."
"There is absolutely no pressure (on joining hands with the BJP). We had a meeting with the Shiv Sena president and our future role will be known soon. Is it necessary for the party to become clear today
itself?"
"Maharashtra needs a stable government with
a link to the Centre... The NCP has decided to support the BJP from outside as it is the only party which has got
more seats."
"The performance of the Congress in the elections has been disappointing. I had taken the
initiative in these elections and thus I am responsible for the poor showing in the
polls."
"I have made it clear (on rumours of becoming CM) that I am happy in Delhi. I am doing good work here.
I don’t want to go Maharashtra."