Saturday, 29 March 2014

In Bengal, BJP is the new X factor

n Sheetalpur village, a little before the Raiganj town, a group of men are sitting by the tea-shop, playing cards. Conversation easily swings to the electoral mood, and Ganesh Das, a farmer, offers his political preference.
"We will vote for BJP this time. It is time to change the government. Ten years is a long time." What does he think about Mamata Banerjee? "She is worse than CPM. She gives money to masjids, but not to mandirs."
In north Bengal highway bazaars, in Malda town, and in Kolkata, an increase in support for the BJP is palpable, driven partially by a narrative that the BJP perfected in north India, of accusing the government of the day of 'appeasement politics'.
Sitting in the party headquarters, BJP state president, Rahul Sinha, is confident of a better performance in a state where it has been traditionally weak. "There is a definite Narendra Modi impact. The hopes invested in TMC have now got dashed, but people are still angry with CPM. So we are seen as the new hope."
But it is through attacking Mamata Banerjee's outreach to Muslims that BJP is hoping to make an impact. When asked if they were hoping for a 'polarisation', Sinha responded, "She is polarizing. She sees Hindu-Muslim in everything." The party strongly objected to the government decision to provide allowances to Imams and Muezzins, which was later struck down by the judiciary.
Sinha alleges, "She also wanted to make a hospital only for Muslims. In schools, she gives cycles to Muslims, not to Hindus. She wears a burqa and does naatak." Alluding to a call by the Shahi Imam of the city's Tipu Sultan Mosque, N R Barkati, who urged Mamata to aggressively take on Modi, "Will a mosque Imam run politics and control the CM? Hindus are angry, and so are some Muslims with this dangerous politics."
But hitting back, Shahi Imam Barkati, a supporter of Trinamool Congress, told HT, "Rahul Sinha will feel bad if Muslims even eat a jalebi. These schemes are essential for Muslim upliftment."
Political observers point out that while BJP will see a rise in its vote-share, this may not translate into seat-wins yet because of the absence of a strong organisational network, ground-level leaders, and a relatively limited social base. But in the first-past-the-post system a swing in votes will affect the overall outcome.  
A top CPM leader, on the condition of anonymity, told HT, "Their vote share usually hovered around four to six percent, sometimes going up to eight, but I won't be surprised if it reaches 10 to 12 percent." The left sees a silver lining in this – BJP could well eat into TMC votes, benefiting them.
The Howrah constituency is a case in point. In by-polls held last year, the TMC candidate footballer Prasun Banerjee beat the CPM's Sridip Bhattacharya by 26,000 votes. Bhattacharya told HT, "They won because TMC and BJP had an understanding. BJP put up a candidate, but he did not contest. BJP has at least a lakh votes in this area. TMC will lose those votes this time."
But these calculations are not set–in-stone. A taxi driver right outside the CPM's office in the constituency said he had voted for the party last time, but may vote for BJP this time because of the Modi factor.
In times where no voter's loyalty can be taken for granted, BJP's appeal has made West Bengal a truly multi-cornered contest, difficult to predict. 

Narendra Modi – Leading the race to 7 RCR

The 2014 Lok Sabha elections is all about four time chief Minister of Gujarat and BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.

The meteoric rise of the 63-year-old up the political ladder is an incredible story considering his humble beginnings as the son of a small time tea vendor. Despite his image of being a highly polarising figure, Modi is inarguably the tallest and the strongest of all the prime ministerial hopefuls, including Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi.

Having started as an errand runner for the RSS (BJP’s parent organisation), Modi has surely come a long way and his political career is now on the way to reach its pinnacle. Modi’s phenomenal rise in the national political scene, his secretive personal life, his Gujarat model of development, his charismatic personality as well as his controversial past - all makes him a curious case for discussion for his admirers and critics alike.

While the man is praised for his love for the cutting-age technologies, his economic policies and vision, he also faces flak for over Human Development Index numbers in Gujarat and the post-Godhra riots. He is seen as an authoritarian, uncompromising and an aggressive leader but those close to him say that Modi is an extremely charismatic person, warm and effusive. His connection with the people, especially youth is tremendous, for many a role model.

Modi is known for his fiery speeches and excellent oratory skills. He holds a reputation of being a workaholic and has no single case of corruption against him. He often indulges in some theatrics to sell his ideas and send his message across to his supporters effectively. He is believed to have borrowed his half-sleeved knee-length kurta style from yesteryears Bollywood superstar Rajesh Khanna.

The clout of Modi began to grow after he delivered his state to his party for the fourth time in a row in 2012. NaMo wave, which is now progagated as having engulfed the country, started creating ripples when Modi began his Sadbhavana Mission in September 2011 - the first step on his march to Delhi. He wanted to be seen as a inclusive leader.

Drawn to politics in his early teens as a member of the RSS, he has always been a fighter all his life. Partnering with Shankersingh Vaghela in the beginning, Modi worked extremely hard in preparing a strong cadre base of the BJP. As BJP grew stronger in Gujarat, Modi also moved up the political ladder and became the party's General Secretary.

The workaholic and loyal 'sevak' was then handpicked by party veteran LK Advani in 2001 to give a direction to the election campaign in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. Modi struck gold when the turbulent political situation in Gujarat forced his party to send him to the state as chief minister on October 7, 2001, replacing Keshubhai Patel. Though he was brought in to fill the vacuum, the BJP was initially not keen on having him at the forefront due his lack of experience in governance. But he told the party high command that he was either "going to be fully responsible for Gujarat or not at all". Since then, there has been no looking back for this man as he continued to silence his opponents both within the party and outside, besides touching several political milestones in his career.

In the 2012 Gujarat assembly elections, the BJP won 115 out of the 182 seats and Modi became CM for the fourth time. The following year in March, he was appointed as member to the BJP Parliamentary Board - the highest decision-making body of the party. He was also nominated as the chief of party's Central Election Committee.

In the meantime, Modi’s rift with the VHP came to fore when he ordered the demolition of 200 illegal temples in Gandhinagar. He has faced criticism for his autocratic way of functioning, for silencing his competitors and twisting facts to suit political motives. Modi’s rift with his mentor Advani created headlines when the latter resigned after the former was appointed as the chairman of the national campaign committee. But the BJP leadership this time decided to make him its face for the 2014 campaign. The friction riased its head again recently when Advani went public against his re-nomination from Gandhinagar seat. The old war house beat a hasty retreat after the RSS leaned on him.

As the PM candidate of the BJP, Modi’s march to Delhi will depend on BJP’s performance in bigger states like UP, MP, Bihar, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Odisha, Punjab, Karnataka etc. The party is expected to do well in the BJP-ruled states like MP, Goa, Rajasthan and Punjab and is likely to get good number of seats in Delhi, where it recently emerged as the single largest party, and in UP, where the Muzaffarnagar riots seem to have divided the voters on communal lines.

The party has almost no presence in the northeastern states, however the party hopes to spring some surprises in this elections. Lingayat strongman BS Yeddyurappa’s re-entry into the party fold and coming closer of B Sreeramulu’s BSR will surely work in favour of the NDA in Karnataka.


In Bihar, the reputation of CM Nitish Kumar and his party Janata Dal (U) has suffered badly after it parted ways with the BJP, attack on Modi’s rally and the recent RJD rebellion drama. Kumar has virtually been sidelined with former ally BJP going all guns blazing to win majority of the 40 seats in the state. Tthe surprise entry of Ramvilas Paswan’s LJP into the NDA after 12 years and the Dalit leader’s approval of Modi’s PM candidature has further complicated matters for Nitish..

In Odisha, where former ally and ruling party BJD led by CM Naveen Patnaik has an upper hand, the BJP is confident of winning good number of seats. The main opposition party has for the first time entered an alliance with some regional parties in Tamil Nadu to put up a three-way fight with AIADMK and the DMK.

In Andhra Pradesh, where Congress is on the backfoot after the formation of a new state –Telangana – the BJP hopes to spring a surprise in the Seemandhra region where anti-Congress sentiments are at its peak. BJP had supported the cause of Telangana and now aims to extract maximum political advantage from the Telangana region in lieu of its support. But with its former ally TDP joining hands with the Third Front constituent, BJP will have face a multi-cornered contest with Congress, TRS, YSR Congress (Jagan Reddy)and TDP.

Ironically, what was earlier perceived to be a battle between Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi, has now become a contest between the BJP leader and Arvind Kejriwal of AAP.

Kejriwal, whose popularity has taken a beating since the heady days after AAP put up a specular performance in Delhi Assembly polls, is going all out to place him as the real challenger to Modi. Working on the plan, Kejriwal has challenged Modi in Varanasi.

However, Kejriwal is no match to Modi’s pan-India appeal, his growing clout in the international community, his vast experience as a grass root leader and most importantly given the wide view among citizens of the holy town that they have git an opportunity to send the next prime minister of the country to the Parliament.

They hope Modi as PM would bring about real development in the city bursting at its seams without infrastructure.

While winning the Varanasi seat won’t be a problem for Modi since the task to ensure his victory has been given to his trusted lieutenant and a political hawk Amit Shah, what concerns the BJP is the possibility of AAP winning a handful of seats in urban pockets to make the BJP’s 'Mission 272' a tad more difficult task.

The success of Modi’s P2G2 (Pro-people good governance) formula, his emphasis on inclusive growth and holistic development has made him a top favourite of the leaders of the India Inc.

The leaders of India Inc also see a strong leadership in Modi that has a clear roadmap and actionable plans ready for execution. Top business leaders like Ratan Tata and Mukesh Ambani seem to be convinced that for India to come out of its Gross Domestic Paralysis, a visionary and decisive leadership is essential – something which Modi offers.

New objects spotted in hunt for crashed Malaysian jet

Amidst displeasure in the BJPover his induction, expelled JD(U) leader Sabir Ali on Saturday asked the BJP leadership to put his membership on hold till the charges against him are cleared.
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The Rajya Sabha MP also offered to quit politics forever if it was proved that he has any connection with terrorist Yasin Bhatkal as alleged by senior BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.
"I have written a letter to Dharmendra Pradhan to keep my membership on hold. I have also asked him to form a committee in this regard and enquire into my case on the basis of these allegations. If they find these allegations true even distantly, I will quit politics forever," Ali told reporters here. Ali challenged Naqvi to prove the allegations, saying he has not even seen Bhaktal in his dreams, but came to know only through newspapers.
"I am asking if he has the guts to prove? If not he should quit politics. I am ready to do," he said. Naqvi had yesterday made an angry outburst against induction of Ali whom he called a "friend" of Bhatkal and mocked that Dawood Ibrahim could be the next entrant.
RSS also opposed Ali's entry and lodged a protest with BJP chief Rajnath Singh. "Sabir Ali's induction has caused great resentment. Party leadership has been apprised of d strong views of d cadre n people agnst it," RSS national spokesperson Ram Madhav tweeted today. Naqvi, a Muslim face and Vice President of the party, had termed Ali's entry into BJP as a "mistake" and demanded its reversal.
 BJP spokesman Sudhanshu Trivedi had said the induction was done on the recommendation of Bihar unit of the party and "further action" in the matter will be taken after "verifying all facts and antecedents" of Ali. "Terrorist Bhatkal friend joins BJP...soon accepting Dawood...," Naqvi had tweeted, hours after Ali was inducted into the party with much fanfare as it was seen as a boost to the BJP's attempts to attract muslims. "Whatever has happened today, I am pained and have already expressed my anguish in the party.
Somewhere there has been a mistake committed by the party and the party needs to correct that by reversing the decision," Naqvi had said.

Lok Sabha polls: Imran Masood’s bail plea rejected, sent to judicial custody for 14 days


MORADABAD: Arrested in early hours of Saturday, Imran Masood, the Congress candidate from Saharanpur was sent to jail after a Deoband court remanded him to 14 days of judicial custody. An embarrassed Congress could do little but cancel Masood's election campaign rally that the party vice-president Rahul Gandhi was to address in Saharanpur later in the day.

Rahul distanced himself from Imran Masood saying that the words that "he has used against a leader of the opposition do not reflect the ideology of the Congress. Congress does not have such a thought process." Rahul made the statement at a public meeting in Ghaziabad where he was campaigning for his party candidate Raj Babbar. Rahul was to fly down to Saharanpur after this meeting, to campaign for Masood but the event was cancelled following Masood's arrest.

Even as the Congress party maintained silence on Masood's fate, the pressure was mounting on the local Congress leaders to drop Masood from the elections before any decision was taken by the Election Commission of India (ECI) with regards to his candidature in view of the fact that he has violated the Representation of People's Act and the Indian Penal Code.

Masood was arrested before day break on Saturday for his hate speech against Modi. Senior superintendent of Police (SSP) Saharanpur Manoj Kumar himself led a contingent of police, PAC and central para military forces to arrest Masood from his house. He was produced before the Deoband court which remanded him to 14 days of judicial custody. SSP Saharanpur said the arrest was made in connection with a case lodged at the instance of the election commission.

Masood has been booked under section 295 (A) (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings), 504 (Intentional insult to provoke breach of peace), 506 (criminal intimidation) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) coupled with section 125 of of Representation of People Act which deals with promoting enmity between classes in connection with election. The fact that police had also slapped section 310 of the Prevention of Atrocities against SC/ST Act virtually sealed Imran's fate and ensured his arrest.

Masood, who on Friday expressed regret for his remark on Modi, tried to play a political martyr on Saturday claiming that his arrest was a result of a conspiracy hatched by the BJP. "I have not done anything wrong. I will not apologize either to Narendra Modi or BJP," said the Congress leader, while being taken away from the court. During the court hearing, police had a tough time chasing away Masood's supporters who had gathered outside the courtroom in large numbers.

Interestingl, even after Congress legislature party leader Pradeep Mathur confirmed that Rahul Gandhi has cancelled his rally at Saharanpur till further notice, the party tried to come clean on the issue claiming that the video footage in which Imran Masood is shown saying that he will chop BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi to pieces was shot before he joined the Congress. Uttar Pradesh Congress committee (UPCC) president Nirmal Khatri said: "Firstly the so called hate speech of Imran Masood ji was delivered in December 2013 when he was with the SP. He has joined the Congress barely a fortnight ago." Khatri also claimed that according to Masood himself, the language he had used was a part of the local dialect and was not at all supposed to be taken literally.

The hate speech video shows Masood saying: "If Modi tries to make Uttar Pradesh into Gujarat, then we will chop him into tiny pieces ... I am not scared of getting killed or attacking someone. I will fight against Modi. He thinks UP is Gujarat. Only 4% Muslims are there in Gujarat while there are 42% Muslims in UP."

Monday, 10 March 2014

Two Asom Gana Parishad leaders join BJP, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha pledges support in West Bengal

Ahmedabad AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal committed a gaffe at his rally in Ahmedabad when he paid homage to four RTI activists, of whom three happen to be alive.

Mr Kejriwal started his speech on March 8 by reading an obituary note in which he named Amit Jethwa, Bhagu Dewani, Jaysukh Bhambhaniya and Manisha Goswami as martyrs for the cause of society.

"First of all I want to pay homage to those who have sacrificed their lives in the last 10 years while fighting against corruption in Gujarat," Mr Kejriwal said, adding that he paid homage to all of them "from the bottom of my heart".

After his four-day tour of the state to "inspect" the development as claimed by BJP's prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi, Mr Kejriwal held a road show and later addressed a rally.

Of the four RTI activists he named, only Mr Jethwa is dead.

He was killed on July 20, 2010 in front of the Gujarat High Court, allegedly by mining mafia.

But the other three are very much alive.

Mr Dewani (64), a lawyer from Porbandar district, told PTI: "I was attacked three years back, but right now my health is quite good...and my fight against corruption is on."

I am likely to join AAP very soon. Mr Kejriwal can provide good leadership to the RTI activists like us, Mr Dewani added.

On July 25, 2011 Mr Dewani was pulled out of his car in Porbandar by five to six persons and was stabbed in his stomach, but he survived. He alleged that minister Babu Bokhiria was behind the attack.

He has also filed a petition in the High Court accusing Mr Bokhiria of running illegal mines in the Porbandar district.

Jaysukh Bhambhania (42) said, "I am fortunate to be alive after an attack on August 24, 2011. I was attacked with swords and pipes followed by a failed acid attack, after I had filed an RTI application regarding construction of a restaurant and bogus license issued by RTO to bike-vendors."

Mr Bhambhania also blamed some local politicians and government officers for the attack.

Manisha Goswami was attacked on September 21, 2011 following her RTI application seeking details of environment clearances obtained by a private firm. "She now lives in Vapi," one of the rights activists told PTI.

When asked for a comment, AAP's Gujarat convener Sukhdev Patel said, "When he mentioned the names, I was not there, but I will certainly check this out."

Nandan Nilekani Version 3.0: now, a politician

BangaloreAn IT billionaire, a top bureaucrat, a candidate from prestigious Bangalore South. That is one man, not three. Nandan Nilekani rose to fame as the co-founder of Infosys, a company that made him a billionaire. He quit that lucrative job to take up the challenging and sometimes controversial job of heading the country's Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). And now - in stage three of his public life - he has taken the plunge into politics and has formally joined the Congress to contest the polls from Bangalore South.

While he is no stranger to public life, Mr Nilekani's experience at the Congress office in Bangalore today, when he officially joined the party, was something new. Traditional drums, shouting of slogans, garlanding, Mysore turbans - and the general chaos and crowds that tend to accompany political events in the world's largest democracy.

About this change in work environment, he told NDTV, "I am ready to adapt like I have always adapted. But I am very excited. And I am very confident that I am going to win."

"I think politics needs a change, needs new people, people with a clean image, people with experience in problem solving, people who are local. I satisfy all that," he added.

There had been reports of unhappiness in the local Congress unit at an outsider being given a ticket at such lighting speed. But on this occasion, it was the supporters, not the detractors who turned out. (Congress's first list for Lok Sabha polls)

"100% Congress will win. Nandan Nilekani will become Prime Minister also future, now MP," said one of the party workers, standing with banners and posters outside the office. Another added, "Nandan Nilekani is heart of Bangalore, Nandan Nilekani is future of Bangalore. He is future of India also."

Bangalore South has been represented by its sitting MP, Ananth Kumar of the BJP, since 1996. He has won five times in a row, and the BJP wants to hold on to that urban seat by tackling the Nilekani challenge. (Sonia, Rahul, Nandan in Congress's first list)

The BJP has officially complained about posters seen across South Bangalore in that rather confusing time when it was known that Mr Nilekani would join the Congress and be given the Bangalore South ticket - but when it still was not official.

BJP spokesperson in the state, Malavika Avinash, said, "For the last 15 days, Bangalore has been seeing advertisements where Sri Nandan Nilekani proclaims himself to be the giver of about 60 crore Aadhar cards to Indians. He was one of the officers who implemented a union government scheme. It was not his private enterprise that he goes around advertising it like this."

Mr Nilekani may describe himself as an ordinary party worker - but ordinary workers are not welcomed to the party the way he was today. Nor are they given tickets to contest prestigious parliamentary constituencies before they have even formally joined the party. But Mr Nilekani is formally part of the Congress now, and as he takes on veteran Ananth Kumar in Bangalore South, he will know that he has jumped into politics at the deep end.

Nokia X launched in India for Rs 8,599: Nokia’s first Android phone available from today

Nokia has launched its first Android device for India at an event in Mumbai. The Nokia X will be available from today for Rs 8,599. That price is slightly higher than the Rs 8,500 tag it was expected to sport, and could be the major factor in the final equation, Nokia is positioning the X series below its Lumia line, but above the Asha range, so it is expected to bridge the gap between the two price points. It must be noted that the price announced is the MOP (Market Operative Price) of the phone, so the box price (or MRP) is higher.

While the Nokia X has been launched, the company didn’t launch the X+ or the XL in India. Both are expected to launch in the next couple of months. The Nokia X run Android, but the login and app data is tied to Microsoft’s cloud services, and not Google as in any other Android phone. The phones run a version of Android Open Source Project, with access to sideloading of apps, third-party app stores and Nokia’s own store. You will find Microsoft essentials instead of Google services. Users will get one month of free Skype calls to mobiles and landlines when they purchase the Nokia X.

The Nokia X features a 4-inch display with a 800×480 pixel resolution. It sports a low-powered Snapdragon S4 SoC with dual-core processor, which given the other specs should be enough for most use cases. The dual-core processor is clocked at 1GHz. There’s 512MB of RAM on the Nokia X, and it has 4GB internal storage and the ability to take in microSD cards up to 32GB in capacity.

The Finnish company has decided to go with a 3-megapixel primary shooter, and there’s no front-facing camera. That’s a bit of a disappointment for the selfie-obssessed and Skype users, though you can still use Skype on the phone. The Nokia X gets a 1500 mAh battery, rated for around 13 hours of talk time on 2G and 17 days standby time. In terms of connectivity, the X and X+ have dual SIM slots, 3G cellular data, Wi-Fi b/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0.
MUMBAI: The NSE Nifty extended its winning streak and hit a fresh life-time high even as the Asian markets remained weak. The S&P BSE Sensex also hit a fresh all-time high and breached psychological 22,000 mark on the back of strong foreign inflows.

According to analysts, the bull market is likely to continue and any deep correction should be used as an buying opportunity in beaten down quality stocks.

"After crossing new highs, the situation in the market could well t ..

MUMBAI: The NSE Nifty extended its winning streak and hit a fresh life-time high even as the Asian markets remained weak. The S&P BSE Sensex also hit a fresh all-time high and breached psychological 22,000 mark on the back of strong foreign inflows.

According to analysts, the bull market is likely to continue and any deep correction should be used as an buying opportunity in beaten down quality stocks.

"After crossing new highs, the situation in the market could well t ..