A Mini Battle
EDITORIAL
AFTER the May 2004 Lok Sabha elections, the country is
witnessing a sort of mini battle between the major
political parties, with elections scheduled for four
parliamentary and 40 assembly constituencies spread
across 16 states on October 13. Although not so
significant for an all-India projection or
calculation, the Poinguinim constituency of Goa has a
great local significance and has acquired the
character of battleground for power between the BJP
led by the Chief Minister, Mr Manohar Parrikar and the
opposition led by the Congress party which has been at
the receiving end for a long time and which has set up
a united candidate.
The BJP has put its full might behind its candidate,
Mr Isidore Fernandes who is fighting after he resigned
from the Assembly as the Congress member. The
Parrikkar ministry will become numerically
unassailable if the BJP wins the election. On the
other hand a victory for the Congress candidate, Mr
Jagdish Acharya will prove a shot in the arm for the
opposition which has been gunning for Mr Parrikar. In
a way the personal prestige of Mr Parrikar is at
stake, since he is seen to have been instrumental in
bringing Mr Fernandes to the BJP fold and nominating
him as the party�s candidate. Both camps have put in
their best, in terms of campaigning and meetings as
well as broad and specific promises to the electors of
Poinguinim.
However, the most important assembly elections will
take place in Maharashtra, where the prestige of both
the ruling Congress-NCP alliance as well as the
BJP-Sena opposition is at stake. The assembly
elections in Arunachal Pradesh are already over and
the initial trends coming from the state indicate that
the Congress has lost some of its ground there. In
fact the Maharashtra elections have acquired the
character of a referendum on the performance of the
six-month old United Progressive Alliance government
at the Centre. Trying to avenge its defeat in the Lok
Sabha, the BJP has set up special teams to manage
campaigns under the guidance of Mr Pramod Mahajan,
considered an accomplished strategist in spite of
being not-so-successful as the principal architect of
the party�s �India Shining� campaign.
The importance of Maharashtra elections could be
gauged from the simple fact that the Prime Minister Dr
Manmohan Singh had to assure the people of Vidarbha of
personally monitoring the developmental issues of the
backward region during the next five years. The prime
ministers in the past did campaign for their parties,
but none of them came out with a specific promise to
visit the area and personally monitor the development
works. Even the Congress president, Ms Sonia Gandhi in
her election speech obliquely promised creation of a
separate Vidarbha state. Significantly she did not
come out with such a promise during the Lok Sabha
election for the people of Telengana who have been
clamouring for a separate state. Reiterating the UPA
government�s promise for development of backward
regions of Vidarbha and Marathwada, Dr Singh even
promised he to make a yearly visit to Akola to review
the progress.
The final lap of the race has begun for by-elections
to four Lok Sabha seats; Mainpuri, Akbarpur (both UP),
Madhepura (Bihar) and Bidar (Karnataka). In Uttar
Pradesh, the contest is high profile as both seats
were vacated by Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav and Ms
Mayawati. In Bihar, the prestige of the RJD chief, Mr
Lalu Prasad Yadav is at stake, as he nominated the
crime lord, Pappu Yadav to represent him, after
vacating the seat. The Supreme Court has directed the
state government to put him behind the bars as he
faces a number criminal cases. The Jammu and Kashmir
Chief Minister, Mr Mufti Mohammed Sayeed who had come
to power with an assurance to bring peace in the
valley will have to prove his credentials to the
voters of Pahalgam. However it would be a tough job
for the Left Front, particularly for the CPI(M) to
convince the voters of three assembly constituencies
Jorabagan, Shyampukur and Entally, all in Kolkata, of
the rationale to extend support to the Congress
government.
By-elections to assembly seats will also be held in
Andhra, UP, Delhi, Gujarat, Himachal, MP, Assam,
Manipur, Nagaland, Punjab, Rajasthan, Goa and
Uttaranchal. It is certain that these elections have
become crucial for the survival of the Congress and
BJP. Going by the pre-poll moods of the electorate it
appears that like the Lok Sabha elections, these
elections too would witness the emergence of the third
force. And this is bound to have an impact on the
national politics. Though the anti-incumbency factor
is apparently not visible in Maharashtra, it is
emergence of the strong band of criminal politicians
that is a major destabilising factor.
www.navhindtimes.com
- Forwarded by www.goa-world.com
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