Election is War!

Don't be mislead by these seemingly angry faces.Our photographer(thanks maddy) found these CPM workers collecting donations from shopkeepers in Chennai to run their campaign. I repeat. These volunteers were collecting donations to run their campaigns...hmm

PC and the boot!

As a prelude to this story let us turn the clock back 25 years to the time of the Anti-Sikh riots in New Delhi.One Mr Jagdish Tytler was, then, allegedly involved in these riots and a case was filed against him.The case against Tytler relates to an incident on November 1, 1984, when a mob had set afire the Gurudwara Pulbangash killing three persons . 25 years have passed and the case is still open.A few days back the CBI gave a clean chit to Mr Tytler in this case in its report.This infuriated several Sikh groups and a few leaders were even arrested.In the midst of this controversy the Congress party gave him a ticket from the North East Delhi constituency.You might wonder though,where does Mr P.Chidambaram feature in this story?As fate would have it he was on the receiving end of the latest shoe hurling incident to be immortalized on film which was fuelled by this controversy earlier today. Mr Jarnail Singh, a journalist with a Hindi daily, repeatedly questioned the home minister on the Tytler issue. This led to a heated exchange which Mr Singh ended by hurling his boot at the minister.He was taken away immediately by Congress party workers and let off by the police as no case was registered.Mr Singh later said that he does not regret his actions.Why would he?The Akali Dal has announced a reward of Rs 2 lakh for him . And reports suggest that his shoes are intact as well! I wonder if a NY Yankee pitcher earns that much with one single throw.Nevertheless, Mr PC is safe and sound.He forgave Mr Singh for his actions and the press conference went on despite the fiasco.

On a serious note, eventhough the emotions are justified the action that it transpired into is questionable.If every angry Indian hurls a shoe, it would rain boots and we'd all be walking barefoot! What say you?

BJP on Orkut!

Advertising campaigns of some of the political parties this season have become creative this season.The BJP, targeting the youth , has managed to put up an advertisement in the home
page of ORKUT!! You can find a picture of Mr. Lal Kishan Advani portrayed as "Determined Leader" followed by "Determined Government".

Political parties can do everything that they can on the web. But, their success hinges on how many web savvy people go out and vote on the Election Day. The educated and elite always complain about bad politicians and infrastructure in the country. But, they don’t care to vote.This ,however, has started changing in the recent years. It is sure that this Lok Sabha election will turn out to have an enthralling finish with each party targeting the public and going in for more technologically driven campaigns.So don't be surprised if campaign speeches are recorded and uploaded on YOUTUBE!!

Quote Unquote

We all know about Varun Gandhi's inflammatory speech (allegedly tampered) which got him into trouble with the EC and possibly a seat from his constituency Pilibhit. Here are some excerpts from his speech apart from his most famous line

I will cut the hands of the Muslims.

Go to your villages and give the call that all Hindus must unite to save this area from becoming Pakistan…

"Is it not true... that if (a woman) is asked her name and she says Bimla Devi, she is told we’ll see, we’ll think (about giving Government aid), give us Rs 5,000 first... But if her name is Saira Bano or whatever begum Hukum Begum... I don’t even know... These people have such scary-sounding names... Karimullah, Mazharullah... If you ever encountered them at night, you’d be scared..."

"If someone slaps you, what do you do? (They say) turn the other cheek ... I haven’t heard a stupider thing. If someone slaps you, you should cut off (expletive) his hand, so he can never slap anyone later."

The 26/11 angle

This was the Sena's campaign post 26/11, a date which will pop-up in every election speech in throughout the country. It is an issue which every opposition candidate in Maharashtra will bring to the forefront to attack the government.

Look who's talking too!

No you're not looking at the kids who acted in 'Slumdog Millionaire'. You are looking at the Congress party's latest supporters! Apparently the two kids who are barely ten years old have been approached by the party for campaigning. The party has already purchased the rights for the Oscar winning song 'Jai Ho' . So don't be surprised if you see the 'Slumdog' kids on television giving memorized speeches using words they can barely spell !!

The Game as it stands..

Before entering into specifics an understanding of the status quo is important. As it stands today there are three possible outcomes.A Congress lead-UPA government, a BJP-lead NDA government or a Third front victory. As of now the UPA have their noses ahead but its too early to call. The key to victory in these elections lies in the formation of alliances based on idealogies so to speak. It might be interesting to note that the rate of rejection of state governments has fallen sharply in the last decade.So ruling state parties have an upper hand statistically.Although the effect of anti-incumbency might be profound in case of states like AP, Orissa , Maharashtra etc where the state governments are nearing the end of their terms, states with recently formed state govts enjoy the advantage of having won recently. This is the perfect platform for these parties to stake a claim for power at the centre. Seat-sharing problems ,one of the very few problems our 'netas' are concerned about, just got even more complicated.

States which need to be closely watched from a UPA perspective are AP and TN. Possible losses to Third Front parties need to be assessed in these states. Also the SP alliance in UP is one that is crucial after the fall-out in Bihar with Lalu. Things are not looking up for the NDA in TN but they have a gained in Gujrat,Jharkhand and Assam. So,the game is still evenly poised. The dark horses will be those parties which will be a part of the Third Front. The votes split by them in this election could be crucial. One feature of a multi-party democracy that makes it interesting for observers is its uncertainities.The Third Front parties can possibly distance themselves from the others post elections (or even before going in for polls!) for a share in the central government.To quote a cliche ' There are no permanent enemies or friends in politics!' and in the present scenario our politicians might just prove it right.