Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh found guilty of Model Code of Conduct (MCC) violation
Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh finds himself in trouble. The Election Commission is acting on a complaint on MCC violation, that has confirmed the violation in a letter to the President of India.
President Ram Nath Kovind who has been traveling overseas has just returned and has acted on the EC letter by forwarding the same to the Centre for further action. It is not good news for Governor Kalyan Singh.
Governor Kalyan Singh who is an ex-BJP member had addressed the public asking them to re-elect Narendra Modi. The governor holds a constitutional post and is expected to be neutral in discharging his duties as Governor and cannot take political sides or be seen canvassing for any candidate or political party.
It remains to be seen how the centre acts on the President’s comments.
Will smaller parties emerge the game changer in 2019?
The Times of India has published an interesting article on the collective rise of vote share of ‘unrecognized’ political parties and how it has collectively grown at the cost of national parties, between 1991 and 2014.
During this period, the BJP has consistently been growing its vote share, barring 2009, while the Congress party has been consistently losing since 1991. The independent parties have failed to make an impact dropping the collective vote share from 4.16 percent in 1991 to 3.06 percent in 2014.
The BJP in 1991 won 20.11 percent vote share but increased it to 31.34 percent in 2014. The Congress in 1991 won 36.26 percent share but dropped to 19.52 percent in 2014.
A comparison between the collective vote share of national parties, state parties, and other ‘unrecognized’ parties show the unrecognized parties growing significantly. Unrecognized parties are those parties which do not win the minimum percentage of votes or seats to qualify as a recognized party.
In 1991, the national parties collectively held 80.65 percent, but this dropped to 60.7 percent in 2014. In 1991, the state parties collectively held 12.98 percent seats and rose marginally to 15.20 percent in 2014.
The ‘unrecognized’ parties’ vote share in 1991 stood at 2.21 percent but rose sharply to 22.68 percent. The data comparison reveals the biggest gainer in vote share has been ‘unrecognized’ parties.
In 2019, all attention focused on the BJP and Congress along with some regional parties, but the smaller ‘unrecognized’ parties may well influence the outcome.
Rahul Gandhi files nomination for Wayanad seat; rousing reception to Rahul and Priyanka
Congress President Rahul Gandhi filed his nomination papers in Wayanad today confirming his entry into the southern region. The people of Wayanad have given him and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra a rousing reception as their rally moved through the main streets of Wayanad. The local excitement is palpable with Wayanad suddenly coming into the national limelight. Former Tamil Nadu State Congress Committee President KV Thangkabalu has been appointed Congress election in-charge for Wayanad.
Prakash Ambedkar threatens to jail EC officials
Dalit leader and three-time MP Prakash Ambedkar courted controversy and possible committed Model Code of Conduct (MCC) violation when he threatened to jail Election Commission officials if he came to power. EC has put restrictions on political parties speaking out on the Pulwama attacks during campaigning.
Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) candidate Prakash Ambedkar, is the grandson of late Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and is contesting from the Solapur and Akola constituencies.
