Ahead of Rajya Sabha polls, parties on edge, keep fingers crossed

NEW DELHI: On the eve of the crucial Rajya Sabha polls, official candidates of mainstream parties remained on the edge on Friday for fear over possible cross-voting and support of independents who hold the key in some places.

While BJP pulled all stops to manage the numbers for Independents it has covertly supported, a sense of unease prevails among other parties which have kept their legislators in good humour. However, BJP itself is feeling the heat in Rajasthan, where its 160 MLAs have been kept huddled in a hotel for the past three days.

Samajwadi Party and BSP in Uttar Pradesh, too, have been heaving lavish hospitality on their MLAs, including sumptuous meals. With seven candidates in the fray, the ruling SP has been the most hospitable to its legislators. For the last three days, the MLAs had party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav for company over dinner.

BSP chief Mayawati has been equally generous, interacting with media as well as party legislators. BSP has held three meetings with party MLAs in the past one week while Mayawati addressed the media twice.

Although, BSP has supported Congress nominees in Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh, the party is still silent about its 12 votes which could be crucial for Congress nominee Kapil Sibal, who is short of the required 34 votes. "Who we support will be clear after the results come out," Mayawati told reporters in Lucknow on Thursday.

There are 12 candidates against 11 vacancies in UP, where BJP-supported independent, Preeti Mahapatra, has created a flutter. Sibal, despite being short of the required numbers, is likely to romp home with possible support of BSP and RLD.

The SP has fielded seven candidates but its seventh candidate is short of nine first-preference votes. BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said the RS polls have exposed parties opposed to the NDA. "BSP is supporting Congress candidates but the two parties claim to be rivals. They should clear this ambiguity," he said.

Congress has declared support for independent candidate Kamal Morarka in Rajasthan where BJP has kept 160 MLAs in a hotel at Ajmer Road on the outskirts of Jaipur.

Rajasthan Congress president Sachin Pilot claimed that jammers had been installed around the hotel, where CM Vasundhara Raje and some of her ministerial colleagues are camping with the legislators.

"Government functioning has come to standstill as most of the ministers have been asked to take care of MLAs," said Pilot. He said his party's 24 MLAs would support Morarka so that there is no walkover to the BJP candidates.

Congress has formally decided to support INLD candidate, Supreme Court lawyer, RK Anand in Rajya Sabha polls in Haryana. "To defeat BJP supported candidate, it will be pertinent for us to support Anand," said Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari on Friday. He said that Anand had met the Congress leadership and had expressed faith in Congress ideology. With Congress support, while RK Anand is set to re-enter the upper house against BJP supported independent Subhash Chandra.

BJP's senior leader Vinod Gotiya, contesting as independent in Madhya Pradesh, has a fight on hand with Congress nominee and senior lawyer Vivek Tankha for the third vacancy.

Mahesh Poddar is the other BJP-supported candidate vying from Jharkhand. In Uttarakhand, two independents — Gita Thakur and Anil Goel — are in the fray. However, BJP has distanced itself from them.

As against its 14 retiring members from different states, BJP may get 18 seats — a net gain of four seats. Overall, Congress (60 MPs) is likely to continue to be the largest party in RS, but the tally of UPA may for the first time be lower than that of NDA.

This Blog is Originally Posted on Time OF India

BJP plays down buzz over projecting Rajnath Singh as CM face for UP

Playing down all speculations over projecting Home Minister Rajnath Singh as the face of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, the party said on Friday that the party ranks were full of capable leaders.

There has been a lot of buzz over the chief ministerial candidate for the crucial polls and Singh, the last BJP chief minister in Uttar Pradesh, is being seen as a “natural” face by many due to his experience. The top party leaders, however, have maintained a studied silence over the issue.

Party spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi told at a press conference, “We have many capable leaders,” parrying questions over the issue.

“Whenever a decision is taken, parliamentary board will convey it to you,” he said.

The party’s comments came on a day when Singh also insisted that there is no dearth of capable people in the party as he chose to downplay talks about him.

“UP mein kabil chehron ke koi kami nahi hai (There is no dearth of capable faces in UP),” he said in Lucknow when asked about BJP’s chief ministerial candidate for the 2017 Assembly polls.

Singh in the past has said he was not keen on returning to state politics. However, it is almost certain that he will play a prominent role during the campaign.

Party President Amit Shah had recently said that the BJP was yet to decide whether a chief ministerial candidate should be projected or not.

Trivedi, though, pointed out that Singh after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah had campaigned most in Assam and Bihar polls as well.

Though its success in Assam has fuelled talks within the party that the formula of projecting a face will be repeated in Uttar Pradesh too, the lack of a candidate with appeal across the country’s most populous state can be a hindrance.

A BJP leader also pointed out that it has done poorly in the last three polls despite projecting a CM pick, Singh in 2002, Kalyan Singh in 2007 and Uma Bharti in 2012.

Bharti was not officially announced as a candidate and was part of a quartet, including Singh, Kalraj Mishra and Surya Pratap Shahi. But her OBC credentials and the party’s decision to task her with reviving the party in the state had created the impression of she being in charge of its campaign.

Many believe that the party needs to project a leader to counter Mulayam Singh Yadav-led SP and Mayawati-led BSP, two leaders with wide appeal.

This News is Originally Posted on The Indian Express

Why is BSP, Congress silent on Mathura clashes?: BJP

NEW DELHI: Attacking BSP and Congress on their "silence" over the Mathura clashes, BJP today alleged that they were trying to save the Samajwadi Party government in UP as because of their understanding to help each other in the Rajya Sabha polls.   
  
"It appears that all these parties are trying to save the Samajwadi Party government... Probably a reason is that in the Rajya Sabha polls, SP is supporting Congress and BSP too is supporting it in some states," BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said, referring to understanding among SP, BSP, Congress and Ajit Singh-led RLD.      
    
"Why are you silent? Is it because the religion and caste of the killed is not of help in fulfilling your political ambitions," he said at a press conference here.   
         
Trivedi said the silence of these parties is as much to blame as the UP government. He also attacked Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over the issue, saying he otherwise speaks on all national and international issues but has maintained a surprising silence on the violence.      

Citing a sting shown by a private channel to hit out at the Akhilesh Yadav government, he said it was left with no face-saver now.    
"It is clear now that what happened in Mathura was not due to negligence but part of a conspiracy," he said.    
BJP alleged that sting has "exposed" the ruling party's collusion with Mathura's Jawahar Bagh encroachers.       
The party also asked the state government to immediately recommend a CBI inquiry so that truth could come out.     
 
"The sting has exposed the Chief Minister and his government. He had blamed officers for the violence. Now it has emerged that over 80 intelligence inputs were sent to the government but it did not act because it was in collusion with land mafia," BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma claimed.   

The sting operation purportedly showed intelligence officials saying they had informed the state government about threats posed by the well-armed encroachers, who were also part of a sect.
    
Dwivedi rejected the state government's decision to appoint a one-man commission as an attempt for "cover up".       

He said a senior state minister, who is also a member of the ruling family, was part of the conspiracy behind this "institutional land grabbing" by SP. BJP has earlier blamed Shivpal Yadav, Akhilesh's uncle and a Cabinet minister, for the Mathura episode.  

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Verdict 2016: BJP's gains were wrested by humbly learning lessons from previous defeats

Pushed on the backfoot after the Bharatiya Janata Party’s battering in the Delhi and Bihar assembly polls, the results of the assembly elections declared on Thursday proved to be a personal triumph for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah.

The BJP’s emphatic win in Assam and its expanded footprint in states like West Bengal and Kerala where the saffron outfit did not have a presence earlier, have re-established and strengthened the Modi-Shah duo’s credibility and authority in the party.

More importantly, the results will embolden the two leaders to go into next year’s high-stakes assembly election in the electorally-crucial state of Uttar Pradesh with renewed vigour. The BJP can now be expected to run a highly-polarised and aggressive campaign in the Hindi heartland state.

Although there was no threat to their leadership after the BJP’s rout in Delhi and Bihar, questions were raised within the party about the campaign strategy crafted by Shah in these states. The BJP president was privately criticised by party members for his authoritarian style of functioning and, at one stage, Shah’s re-election as party president appeared to be uncertain. In addition, there were murmurs about Modi’s waning charisma and his ability to deliver a victory.

However, Modi and Shah’s detractors in the party will be suitably silenced after the Thursday verdict.

Dissecting defeats

Unlike the Congress, which never learns from its past mistakes, the BJP’s poll strategists went back to the drawing board after their humiliating defeat in the earlier two assembly elections and drew up a fresh strategy for these elections. They realised that the party could no longer depend on Modi to win them elections and that it was essential to involve state leaders in this effort.

The party quickly changed tack and declared Sarbananda Sonowal as its chief ministerial candidate in Assam well before the polls were announced. The BJP did not stop at projecting a chief minister but it also involved the party’s state leaders in the campaign which was focussed primarily on local issues. In sharp contrast to its Bihar campaign, the Central leadership kept a low profile in Assam and there was no overt interference in the planning and execution of the campaign.

Similarly, the BJP stitched up strategic alliances with the Asom Gana Parishad and the Bodo People’s Front, which went a long way in building the momentum in its favour. Although it was helped by the fact that Assam was ready for a change after Tarun Gogoi’s uninterrupted 15-year-run in the state, the BJP staged a coup of sorts when it persuaded Gogoi’s bete noire Himanta Biswas Sarma to join their party.

Key role

Driven by his one-point agenda to settle scores with the Congress, Sarma emerged as the BJP’s star campaigner and chief strategist. His personal popularity and charisma drew in the crowds in hordes. In addition, it was Sarma who was instrumental in bringing the Bodo People’s Front and the Asom Gana Parishad to the negotiating table. Sarma, along with Modi and Shah, were also able to tap into the people’s growing angst on the sensitive issue of infiltration from across the border.

The strategy worked as the BJP now has its first state government in a major state like Assam, which is known to be a gateway to the North East. It will become easier for the BJP to foray into the other North Eastern states which have, so far, been a Congress stronghold.

Besides winning Assam, the BJP has reasons to be pleased with itself as it has opened its account in Kerala and has improved its tally and vote share in West Bengal, the two states where it has never been a strong presence.

The saffron party and its allies have notched up a 15% vote share in Kerala, which will now have its first BJP legislator, O Rajagopal, in the state assembly. Similarly, the BJP’s tally in West Bengal has gone up from one to five seats while its vote share is touching 20%.

As BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi pointed out, “The BJP has made gains in all the states...these election are a reflection of the party’s geographical and political expansion.” Another senior BJP leader remarked, “Now we cannot be called a Hindi heartland party or cowbelt party...the BJP is a pan-Indian party and the central force in the country’s polity.”

Additional leverage

While these results will help the BJP in the coming assembly polls, it will also make it easier for the Modi government to push through its legislative agenda in Parliament. The ruling alliance was constantly blocked by the numerically stronger Congress in the Rajya Sabha where the BJP was in a minority. While the Congress is still the single largest party in the Upper House, the latest electoral setbacks will make it difficult for the grand old party to put up a strong and credible fight against the Modi government.

It will also become easier for the government to do business with the regional parties. The AIADMK and Biju Janata Dal have always been well disposed towards the BJP. Emerging stronger after her stupendous victory, Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress will be able to do business with the BJP with great confidence. According to a senior Congress leader, “The BJP always prefers to deal with regional parties... that’s the reason its main aim is to weaken our party.”

The assembly results will also prove to be a setback for Bihar chief minister’s proposed anti-BJP front. The Congress, which was expected to anchor this front, is in steady decline, making it difficult for other parties to align with it. There is also little possibility of non-BJP, non-Congress parties coming together on a common platform in the future, given the egos of their leaders and their state-level compulsions.

This New is Originally Posted on scroll.in

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