Walking around Lok Sabha General Elections '2014 - who is going to govern India?
BY BIMAN & DHEEMAN
After an emphatic victory in 2009 Lok Sabha elections Congress Party led UPA-2 started on a high by winning almost full majority on its own. But the term has been marred with controversies and corruption allegations. Commonwealth Games scam, Adarsh Society scam and the biggest of all, the 2G scam. Fuel and commodity prices have risen sharply in the past few years adding to the woes of common man. Crusade against black money and corruption by Anna Hazare and to some extent Ramdev has only added to the woes of Congress. Congress shrewdly took offense is the best way to defend policy. For every scam or corruption news that comes out, they bounced back with equally controversial news against rival parties. Their projection of Rahul Gandhi, who has not yet proved any political sense, as a Prime Ministerial candidate may help them to create a central issue in their campaign build up to 2014 polls.
Main opposition party Bhartiya Janata Party fought against itself and the inner fight made its leaders failed to capitalize on core issues of price rise and corruption against the Congress. BJP has also lost a lot of mass appeal leaders over the years. Most popular elder in India Atal Behari Vajpayee has now retired from active politics. Charasmatic leader and face of modern India, Pramod Mahajan was killed in a tragic incident. Stalwarts like Govindacharya and Jaswant Singh were thrown out. Prime Ministerial candidate Murli Manohar Joshi has been made to sit on the sidelines with no influence on national level politics. L K Advani is close to retirement years and firebrand Sushma Swaraj hasn't proved to be a winner yet. That leaves the party with only one leader of mass appeal, Narendra Modi. Though it is not clear enough that whether he is ready to leave Gujarat and join National level politics. Besides, everyone knows Congress will play the anti-minority tag aginst him quite well.
Third Front parties have been reduced to play a minority role at the center over the past few years. Leaders like Lalu Yadav, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Jayalalitha, Mayawati are no longer king makers. Most of them have been left with no option than to support the ruling Govt, in this case the Congress.
The new contender for 2014 polls is Kejriwal but his antics and what he did in Delhi has just thrown most of his supporters away from him. He seems to be another face of Congress who has been promoted just to cut some Modi votes and eventually help Congress.
Who is participating for what?
While the incumbent Congress party is fighting to defend its record of the past 10 years, it also intends to project itself as a protector of the secular fabric of the country. Which is why, time and again, the party is bringing history into play against its principal opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). However, beyond this, there is practically nothing new that the ruling party is offering in order to save its territory. It is seeking votes for continuity.
The BJP is fighting for a change at the centre and is hoping to gain from the fault lines in the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) rule over the past 10 years. However, the ideas for change emerging from the BJP campaign so far have been very general in nature. As of now, it appears that the BJP intends to ride the governance theme and its claim to provide better leadership than the incumbent UPA. But this is something that any opposition would do in any election. This is also very similar to what the party did in 2009.
The most interesting lot to watch is the regional parties. The comparatively bigger ones, such as Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and Trinamool Congress, have not allied with either of the larger alliances.
Interestingly, they want to defeat both the leading parties, but do not want to work with each other before elections. The whole idea for these parties is to win as many seats as possible and hope for a hung Lok Sabha. There are many who would want to be king in such a situation, but may be willing to settle for king maker for a bargain. Other smaller parties such as Rashtriya Janata Dal and Lok Janshakti Party in Bihar, for whom the fight is of being politically relevant, are choosing their sides.
The other interesting player in this election is the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Although it is not clear what exactly it is fighting for, it is obvious what is it fighting against, which is practically the entire political establishment. Simply put, the AAP is basically fighting for attention and some presence in the 16th Lok Sabha, which will enable it to be politically relevant and allow it to spread its wings nationally in times to come.
As things stand today, in the absence of big ideas, one factor that could affect the outcome for both the leading parties could be that of leadership. While the BJP has projected a prime ministerial candidate in Narendra Modi, the Congress party has postponed the question of leadership for a later date. Clearly, if the BJP had also decided to defer the leadership issue, the numbers in the opinion polls and the political environment in the country at this stage would have been very different.
Election Manifestoes of various political parties
Congress: It has the biggest manifesto. Copies of RTI and Lokpal bills have been attached. However, the booklet containing its manifesto will be blank – just like the incumbent Prime Minister. The grand old party also plans to attach a Ludo game for the youth and a make-up kit that is aimed at attracting women voters. To make sure the electorate take note of the manifesto, jobs under the MNREGA could be promised for those who read the bills that will be attached.
BJP: The party has decided that all of its election material, including the manifesto, will be published with a hologram with “272” embossed on it. All pages are supposed to have a picture of Narendra Modi and a map of Gujarat. Last few pages have been left blank, to accommodate any new parties or leaders who may join before or after elections. Sushma Swaraj has objected to a couple of pages in the manifesto, but those pages have not been removed.
AAP: The latest party has listed millions of its achievements in the manifesto. All these achievements were accomplished by its 49-days government in Delhi. A topi will also be attached to the manifesto, which will help a reader totally believe everything that is written. A dart game will be given free where people would be expected to throw darts at a board with picture of Narendra Modi.
Samajwadi Party: The front pages of the manifesto have faces of Mulayam Singh Yadav, Akhilesh Yadav and other leaders (from within the family, strictly). It has hit upon a brilliant idea to project itself as a party that looks ahead. Its manifesto will be made of green recycled paper, which also happens to be wordplay on their election symbol, the cycle.
BSP: Similar to Samajwadi Party, party’s manifesto will consist of pictures only – pictures of dalit icons, poor people, parks, statues, cash, etc. – all on blue background. The last few pages have images of the collection of Mayawati’s handbags.
DMK: It has only two points on the agenda for its manifesto – no one from the DMK had anything wrong to do in the 2G scam. Accusing the Congress of dividing and ruling the country, it wants that DMK should be allowed to multiply and rule.
AIADMK: Jayalalithaa has promised that she will lead the people to a domination of the world and it has been written in the manifesto in a script that only the revolutionary leader of AIADMK can read. To make sure the electorate reads the promises, 14 inch television sets will be distributed along with the copies of the election manifesto.
Sources have further told Faking News that leaders of regional parties like PMK, JMM, Naga People Front, Peace Party of India, Telugu Desam, Zoram National Party and others are likely to meet in Delhi shortly. They may announce that they will have the same manifesto and only the names on the cover of the booklet will be changed.
Issues in air - West Bengal
BY BIMAN & DHEEMAN
After an emphatic victory in 2009 Lok Sabha elections Congress Party led UPA-2 started on a high by winning almost full majority on its own. But the term has been marred with controversies and corruption allegations. Commonwealth Games scam, Adarsh Society scam and the biggest of all, the 2G scam. Fuel and commodity prices have risen sharply in the past few years adding to the woes of common man. Crusade against black money and corruption by Anna Hazare and to some extent Ramdev has only added to the woes of Congress. Congress shrewdly took offense is the best way to defend policy. For every scam or corruption news that comes out, they bounced back with equally controversial news against rival parties. Their projection of Rahul Gandhi, who has not yet proved any political sense, as a Prime Ministerial candidate may help them to create a central issue in their campaign build up to 2014 polls.
Main opposition party Bhartiya Janata Party fought against itself and the inner fight made its leaders failed to capitalize on core issues of price rise and corruption against the Congress. BJP has also lost a lot of mass appeal leaders over the years. Most popular elder in India Atal Behari Vajpayee has now retired from active politics. Charasmatic leader and face of modern India, Pramod Mahajan was killed in a tragic incident. Stalwarts like Govindacharya and Jaswant Singh were thrown out. Prime Ministerial candidate Murli Manohar Joshi has been made to sit on the sidelines with no influence on national level politics. L K Advani is close to retirement years and firebrand Sushma Swaraj hasn't proved to be a winner yet. That leaves the party with only one leader of mass appeal, Narendra Modi. Though it is not clear enough that whether he is ready to leave Gujarat and join National level politics. Besides, everyone knows Congress will play the anti-minority tag aginst him quite well.
Third Front parties have been reduced to play a minority role at the center over the past few years. Leaders like Lalu Yadav, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Jayalalitha, Mayawati are no longer king makers. Most of them have been left with no option than to support the ruling Govt, in this case the Congress.
The new contender for 2014 polls is Kejriwal but his antics and what he did in Delhi has just thrown most of his supporters away from him. He seems to be another face of Congress who has been promoted just to cut some Modi votes and eventually help Congress.
Who is participating for what?
While the incumbent Congress party is fighting to defend its record of the past 10 years, it also intends to project itself as a protector of the secular fabric of the country. Which is why, time and again, the party is bringing history into play against its principal opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). However, beyond this, there is practically nothing new that the ruling party is offering in order to save its territory. It is seeking votes for continuity.
The BJP is fighting for a change at the centre and is hoping to gain from the fault lines in the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) rule over the past 10 years. However, the ideas for change emerging from the BJP campaign so far have been very general in nature. As of now, it appears that the BJP intends to ride the governance theme and its claim to provide better leadership than the incumbent UPA. But this is something that any opposition would do in any election. This is also very similar to what the party did in 2009.
The most interesting lot to watch is the regional parties. The comparatively bigger ones, such as Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and Trinamool Congress, have not allied with either of the larger alliances.
Interestingly, they want to defeat both the leading parties, but do not want to work with each other before elections. The whole idea for these parties is to win as many seats as possible and hope for a hung Lok Sabha. There are many who would want to be king in such a situation, but may be willing to settle for king maker for a bargain. Other smaller parties such as Rashtriya Janata Dal and Lok Janshakti Party in Bihar, for whom the fight is of being politically relevant, are choosing their sides.
The other interesting player in this election is the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Although it is not clear what exactly it is fighting for, it is obvious what is it fighting against, which is practically the entire political establishment. Simply put, the AAP is basically fighting for attention and some presence in the 16th Lok Sabha, which will enable it to be politically relevant and allow it to spread its wings nationally in times to come.
As things stand today, in the absence of big ideas, one factor that could affect the outcome for both the leading parties could be that of leadership. While the BJP has projected a prime ministerial candidate in Narendra Modi, the Congress party has postponed the question of leadership for a later date. Clearly, if the BJP had also decided to defer the leadership issue, the numbers in the opinion polls and the political environment in the country at this stage would have been very different.
Election Manifestoes of various political parties
Congress: It has the biggest manifesto. Copies of RTI and Lokpal bills have been attached. However, the booklet containing its manifesto will be blank – just like the incumbent Prime Minister. The grand old party also plans to attach a Ludo game for the youth and a make-up kit that is aimed at attracting women voters. To make sure the electorate take note of the manifesto, jobs under the MNREGA could be promised for those who read the bills that will be attached.
BJP: The party has decided that all of its election material, including the manifesto, will be published with a hologram with “272” embossed on it. All pages are supposed to have a picture of Narendra Modi and a map of Gujarat. Last few pages have been left blank, to accommodate any new parties or leaders who may join before or after elections. Sushma Swaraj has objected to a couple of pages in the manifesto, but those pages have not been removed.
AAP: The latest party has listed millions of its achievements in the manifesto. All these achievements were accomplished by its 49-days government in Delhi. A topi will also be attached to the manifesto, which will help a reader totally believe everything that is written. A dart game will be given free where people would be expected to throw darts at a board with picture of Narendra Modi.
Samajwadi Party: The front pages of the manifesto have faces of Mulayam Singh Yadav, Akhilesh Yadav and other leaders (from within the family, strictly). It has hit upon a brilliant idea to project itself as a party that looks ahead. Its manifesto will be made of green recycled paper, which also happens to be wordplay on their election symbol, the cycle.
BSP: Similar to Samajwadi Party, party’s manifesto will consist of pictures only – pictures of dalit icons, poor people, parks, statues, cash, etc. – all on blue background. The last few pages have images of the collection of Mayawati’s handbags.
DMK: It has only two points on the agenda for its manifesto – no one from the DMK had anything wrong to do in the 2G scam. Accusing the Congress of dividing and ruling the country, it wants that DMK should be allowed to multiply and rule.
AIADMK: Jayalalithaa has promised that she will lead the people to a domination of the world and it has been written in the manifesto in a script that only the revolutionary leader of AIADMK can read. To make sure the electorate reads the promises, 14 inch television sets will be distributed along with the copies of the election manifesto.
Sources have further told Faking News that leaders of regional parties like PMK, JMM, Naga People Front, Peace Party of India, Telugu Desam, Zoram National Party and others are likely to meet in Delhi shortly. They may announce that they will have the same manifesto and only the names on the cover of the booklet will be changed.
Issues in air - West Bengal
- Rice at Rs.2 per kg for the poor
- An 'employment bank' for job seekers
- Industrial growth in an industry-starved state
- Redcing the BPL by at least 10 percent
- More effective implementation of self-employment schemes of the central government
- Increase productivity in agriculture by adopting high-quality technology
- Adequate price to farmers for their products
- Technology upgrade in pulses and oil-seed production to attain self-sufficiency
- Food production will be increased by 25 percent
- Building a marketing federation to distribute farm produce
- Industrial growth by setting up industrial clusters of small-scale and handicraft industries
- Emphasis on manufacturing, IT, petrochemical and biotech sectors
- 'Single Window System' through which permission for building new industries will be given within 200 days
- A land bank will be set up with consensus being the key word in land acquisition
- A 'Bengal Land Bank Authority' will be set up to formulate a policy regarding planning and implementation to earmark land for long-term industrialisation
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