After 5 rounds of voting, the non-BJP opposition is sensing victory
Initially, there were whispers, and now there are moves made. The non-BJP opposition seems to believe the election outcome will result in a change in power and just like the wolf pack which smells an injured victim far before seeing it, the opposition has begun giving out feelers and measuring responses on who will be the next PM.
Too premature? Mayawati doesn’t seem to think so. She was candid in admitting she was prepared to contest elections from Ambedkar Nagar if she had a chance of becoming a PM. In a separate interview, SP leader Akhilesh Yadav said he would prefer a PM from U.P and endorsed his support for her as PM.
Both statements come at a time when another two rounds of voting are yet to take place. It shows the general sense within the opposition parties indicate an upset is in the making.
Down South, Telangana CM is making moves in building consensus for a third front government at the centre without the Congress. KCR has already made clear his willingness to explore sitting on the PM’s chair if there is a consensus among regional parties.
Towards this objective, he is busy meeting various state chief Ministers. KCR playing kingmaker is one thing, becoming the king is quite another, as was evident when DMK, this morning, turned down a meeting between KCR and DMK leader MK Stalin.
Though Bengal CM has not made any public claims to PM ambitions, Mamata Banerjee is known to hold ambitions for the high office, if the opportunity shows up.
Ram Madhav and Amit Shah contradictory opinion on BJP getting the majority
BJP leaders have their opinions about how the election results, after 5 rounds of hectic polling. BJP leader Ram Madhav speaking to Bloomberg admitted the party may miss majority and may require the help of alliance partners to form the government. He said he would be happy if the party touched 271 seats, and with help from allies, would achieve a comfortable majority in the Parliament.
The statement came as a surprise since BJP leaders like Amit Shah and Arun Jaitley have been claiming the party will get an absolute majority, with two rounds of voting still to go.
Speaking to Hindustan Times, BJP President Amit Shah continued to exude confidence in the party breaching the 282 mark saying BJP alone will retain power with the majority. He was confident of the NDA partners increasing their tally.
Digvijay Singh lines up 7000 sadhus to counter Pragya Thakur in Bhopal
BJP’s Bhopal candidate Pragya Thakur has been aggressively canvassing votes in Bhopal on a strident Hindutva agenda. To counter her inroads with the upper castes and other sections leaning towards the BJP, Congress candidate Digvijay Singh put up a massive roadshow involving 7000 sadhus performing havan puja in Bhopal.
Coming out in open support of Digvijay Singh was the sadhu popularly known as Computer Baba. The BJP government had once offered him a ministerial berth.
Computer Baba slammed the Modi government for having failed to build the Ram Temple despite being five years in power and called for everyone to vote for Digvijay Singh and ensure defeat for the Modi government. The presence of 7000 sadhus will dent Pragya Thakur’s efforts in seeking votes based on Hindutva.
SC rejects Opposition review petition demand on VVPAT-EVM
After the Supreme Court had previously rejected the opposition demand for 50 percent VVPAT verification, the apex court once again turned down the review petition filed by the 21 opposition parties.
Earlier, on appeal by opposition parties, the SC passed an order to increase the VVPAT verification from 1 to 5. According to AP CM Chandrababu Naidu, one of the petitioners, it was not sufficiently representative and demanded the number be increased to at least 50 percent. The SC bench dismissed the petition in under one minute.
