General Elections 2014 – Day 46

General Election Diary - Day 46

The politics of intimidation, hate speech and insinuation has got a new brand ambassador. In a shocking comment, BJP leader from Bihar Giriraj Singh has said there will be no place in India for Narendra Modi’s critics, and that they will only belong in Pakistan!!
He said that “Jo log Narendra Modi ko rokna chahte hain, woh pakistan dekh rahein hai. Aane wale dinon mein in logon ke liye jagah hindustan mein nahi, jharkhand mein nahi, balki pakistan mein hoga” (Those trying to stop Modi are eyeing Pakistan. In the coming days, there will be no place for his critics either in India or in Jharkhand, but only in Pakistan).

This rather hostile comment from Giriraj who is also party’s candidate from Nanded has set tongues wagging in social media. Other political parties have also criticised the comments. Bihar BJP unit has clarified that they don’t endorse what has been said by their leader.

This kind of hostility is perhaps expected when top leaders of the two principal parties are daily involved in bitter war of words. Modi today retorted Rahul’s toffee model jibe by proposing a new model called RSVP model. He said that nation wants to know ( like Arnab almost!!) about RSVP (Rahul, Sonia, Vadra, Priyanka) model. He alluded to several charges against Robert Vadra by saying that in this model 1 lakh rupees becomes 300 crores in 4 years. He challenged Rahul Gandhi to explain this model to the nation.

Rahul meanwhile continuing on his barbs against BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate said that the saffron party is trying to divide the country like the British did. He accused BJP of instigating people of different parts of the country against each other for their own benefits.

Today Rahul also took on former ally TMC in an election rally. Referring to the Saradha scam he said that the state government is afraid of a CBI investigation as that may unveil many uncomfortable truths. He accused the Mamata government of high in speech but very low on actual work. He said that the state has shown very little progress in past 3 years.

Mamata Banerjee though promptly hit out. She dragged the Union Finance Minister P.Chidambaram saying that he has run away from fighting election fearing debacle. She accused the centre and SEBI of not doing enough to stop the menace of chit fund. She said that Sharadha chief had mentioned the name of Chidambaram’s wife in one of the letters.It was sort of a veiled warning from her part. In a rhetorical flourish didi said, “If I am found guilty, then arrest me and send me to jail.”

Sonia Gandhi today took on NDA saying that people who are neck deep in corruption are accusing others. Congress President was addressing a rally in the Gandhi pocket borough of Amethi in support of his son. There she highlighted the achievements of Congress not just in the last 10 years but went as far as to mention things like white revolution, green revolution etc!!

She tried to strike an emotional chord with the audience invoking name of Indira and Rajiv Gandhi. Sonia said that she was grateful to the people of Amethi for bestowing faith on Rahul and Priyanka.

This was a rare occasion when Sonia Gandhi mentioned her daughter in a public rally. Some in the Congress believes that the time is right for Priyanka Gandhi to be given a “larger role” in the party. Hushed murmurs in Lutyens Delhi speak about how Rahul has failed to connect with the common people of India leaving Congress in a poor shape. But there is currently no vacancy for Priyanka in Congress, if erudite Shashi Tharoor is to be believed.

Shashi known to be a Gandhi family loyalist said emphatically that with Sonia and Rahul at the helm of affairs, there is no requirement for Priyanka to take up a leadership role. He said that both the leaders are working very hard and question of Priyanka joining them in active politics doesn’t arise. To be on the safe said, Shashi though clarified that Priyanka herself has said that there is no need for any vacancy.

Earlier in the week, Priyanka Gandhi had clarified that her family has always asked her to join electoral politics. Rahul’s sister said that she is unwilling to take the plunge as of now but didn’t rule out joining active politics in the future.

Azam Khan is not likely to get any leeway from Election Commission in foreseeable future. SP leader was critical of EC for not lifting ban on his meetings while doing it for Amit Shah. He called EC biased. Today Chief Election Commission Sampath said that they will not respond to any personal allegations. On the question of lifting ban, he put the ball back on Azam’s court. EC wants Azam Khan to apologise for his speech which he has failed to do so far.

Amit Shah in the meanwhile wants to look ahead after his run in with Commission got sorted. He said that sometimes bowlers bowl no balls. BJP though is not taking such a kind view of the press conference done by PM’s media advisor Pankaj Pachauri. Pachauri in a press conference yesterday defended the personality of Prime Minister and also his governance record. BJP believes that the press briefing violated the model code of conduct enforced by EC. Thus it has lodged a complaint with them.

Did Narendra Modi really send an emissary to Hurriyat leaders to talk about Kashmir? Startling claims by hardliner Hurriyat separatist leader Geelani has created a flutter in the valley. Geelani claimed that Narendra Modi sent two emissaries, Kashmiri Pandits for a clandestine meeting with him on March 22. This statement has been promptly rebutted by BJP and other Hurriyat leaders.

Moderate leader and Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Farukh has accused Geelani of misleading the people with what he deemed as “irresponsible” and “baseless” statement. BJP termed Geelani’s claims as mischievous. Not to be left behind in any conversation, Twitter savvy C.M of Kashmir Omar Abdullah said that there is easy way of knowing the truth. He demanded Geelani to reveal the name of the emissaries. It was a Saturday but yet there was no end to politicians taking a dig at each other..

This was all for today. Keep watching this space for more……

Related Information:

Nawada Election Result
Nanded Election Result
Amethi Election Result
Bihar Election Results
Jharkhand Election Results
Jammu and Kashmir Election Result
Election Result 2014