So, the guessing game continues. BJP has said that Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi will contest from a seat in Gujarat. Did we hear a sigh of relief? Must be definitely Murali Manohar Joshi – BJP’s sitting MP from Varanasi!
He has been ferociously holding onto the Varanasi seat like a mother to a child. In case he loses the seat to Modi, he may have to contest from Kanpur – a proposition that he can’t bear to think. No wonder he has begun musing, “I was a science student, why did I get stuck to politics, must be some sin that I had committed,” Well, this dawn of wisdom at that age of 80 years! What do you say? Never too late to begin another career?
But why was BJP keen on Varanasi seat for Modi? Because they felt that way they would be able to draw more votes from Uttar Pradesh.
Meanwhile, Congress has released its second list. The list has about 35 percent youngsters. It also includes 11 women candidates like film star Nagma from Meerut, Uttar Pradesh PCC chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi from Lucknow. Other names featuring in the list are Petroleum Minister Veerappa Moily who will be contesting from Chikkballapur in Karnataka, Union Minister Shashi Tharoor from Thiruvananthapuram, Raj Babbar from Ghaziabad. Yes, tainted leader former Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal is very much there and will contest from Chandigarh.
The BJP has announced its third list. Let us take a quick look at who is contesting from where. Senior leader Sushma Swaraj will contest from Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh, Kirti Azad from Darbhanga in Bihar, S. S. Ahluwalia from Darjeeling, Poonam Mahajan from Mumbai North Central and will be taking on sitting Congress MP, Priya Dutt. Rajiv Pratap Rudy will contest from Saran, Shahnawaz Hussain from Bhagalpur and yes, our own Ram Kripal, who had recently quit RJD to join BJP will contest from Pataliputra. He will take on RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s daughter Misa Bharti. Just give it some time…..Kripal’s seat is bound to cause some stir.
By the way, has anyone been nominated to count the number of FIRs that are being registered against Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)? Well, if no, someone should. There has been another FIR registered against AAP Chief Arvind Kejriwal for disrupting traffic when he used local transport for campaigning in Mumbai yesterday. The earlier FIR was registered in Gujarat where he had violated the model code of conduct by using a loud speaker at a public meeting. Looks like he has made up his mind to collect FIRs wherever he goes!
A peep inside his party and things are not very rosy. One cannot ignore the discontentment that is brewing within the party over the selection of candidates. The latest to quit the party is AAP’s convenor from Thane, Saumya Bahadur. She alleged that people have joined AAP only to get tickets and that the party is functioning in a suspicious manner.
In another incident in Raipur, the Central Bureau of Investigations ( CBI) raided the residence and office premises of an AAP member.
Modi or Mayawati! Kejriwal was asked. He named the former. (Mayawati is the former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and head of Bahujan Samaj Party) Did he really do that? Can’t say because he later tweeted saying he never chose anyone. Election is a time where rumours grow wings and the winds of speculation make it fly high.
Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress Chief Mamata Banerjee has claimed that her party would emerge as the third largest party after Congress and BJP. She also said, “We will take national steps in national politics and it will start from Bengal.” Is she going the AAP way because Anna stood her up yesterday? Isn’t strange whoever Anna has differences with, suddenly gets this strong ‘national politics’ feeling in them.
Shiv Sena’s resentment towards BJP for cosying up with estranged cousin Raj Thackeray doesn’t seem to abate. Using the political mouth-piece, Samna, as a medium to convey its angst, the Sena said the balm that BJP has applied in terms of sending leaders to pacify the situation is not easing the strain.
The Sena sees no reason to believe that the strain will not deepen in the future. It also said that BJP is keeping its allies in the dark and that it is a national party only because of the support of its allies. Phew! Can someone now count Sena’s grievances, please? How do you think BJP should react? Will the party members be saying that they did not get today’s edition of Samna, work?
AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalithaa today lambasted DMK Chief M. Karunanidhi for fielding tainted leaders to contest the election. She was referring to DMK candidates – A. Raja who has been involved in 2G scam and Maran who is an accused in the Aircel-Maxis case. It will be interesting to watch how DMK would reply to this because in its manifesto it has said that it will refrain from ‘bashing’ any other party. Will Karunanidhi simply sing ‘Why this Kolaveri, Kolaveri, Kolaveri di’ and quieten the situation?
It is official now that the talks between Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and Congress have run into trouble. The bone of contention was seat sharing. TRS may now ponder on talking to BJP. Aren’t political parties like butterflies…hopping from one flower to the other?
We know that during the election campaign, all the parties have to follow the Model Code of Conduct issued by the Election Commission (EC). Parties which abuse the Code of Conduct are then brought to book. Well, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid has slammed the EC saying, “They are few people, and their approach is that the political parties can say and do nothing that can win them the election.” Errrr….Can this example be apt for… Ulta Chor Kotwal ko dante?
Unperturbed by Khurshid’s blast, the EC plans to deploy 700 Indian Revenue Services (IRS) officers to keep a strong vigil on illegal money making way into the elections. Now, this is a good move…or does anyone have something against this as well?
Yes, the election fever is rising….stay tuned with us as we capture the feverish sentiments of General Elections 2014.
Related Information
Madhya Pradesh Election Results
Development In Gujarat By Narendra Modi
