In Chhattisgarh, where voting has been completed, the dust and fury of electioneering has settled down and an easy calm descended on the state. Despite the threat of Maoists, the polling has been brisk; about 75 per cent. What does a heavy polling indicate? Generally, intense polling goes against the ruling establishment. Chhattisgarh saw extreme ups and downs in the fortunes of the contesting candidates. Initially, BJP appeared to have a clear edge over its rival—the Congress—with the entire state leadership of the Congress having been wiped out in a Maoist attack earlier this year.
During the hectic months of electioneering, sometime BJP appeared to have an edge and sometime the Congress assuming an upper hand. Reports from Raipur indicate at the time of sealing of ballot boxes that the Congress has gained upper hand and Chief Minister Raman Singh may be heading for a defeat. The final picture will be known when ballot boxes are opened.
In Delhi too, the pre-poll scenario was marked by uncertainty. At one stage Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit appeared to have landed in trouble with Arvind Kejriwal making a dent in the Congress vote bank. BJP too was scared of the Aam Aadmi Party as Kejriwal threatened the party’s committed votes. One disadvantage of the BJP is infighting in the rank and file of the party and at the way the tickets had been distributed. There were reports that BJP tickets were even sold.
Kejriwal got a setback with Anna Hazare accusing him of misusing funds collected through donations during Jan Lokpal campaign. Still, he has potential of snatching away votes of both the Congress and the BJP. This is, perhaps, the reason that Aam Aadmi Party has earned the wrath of both the national parties.
Under current appears to be against Sheila Dikshit. Main threat to her is price rise of essential commodities, particularly of vegetable. It has affected the common man, who forms a major chunk of voters. However, if she wins, it will create a record. No Chief Minister, except Jyoti Basu, has won for a record fourth time. Judging by the good work she has done, it will not be a surprise if she wins for the fourth time. It is no exaggeration to say that she has changed the face of Delhi.
Initial reports in Rajasthan indicated that the BJP was all set to oust the Congress under the leadership of Vasundhara Raje but later reports signalled that Ashok Gehlot has recovered much of the lost ground. Few popular schemes quietly launched by him have started yielding results. Still nobody can predict the exact situation in the run up to election. There is, no doubt, that Gehlot Government suffers from anti-incumbency factor. As of now, it appears to be a neck-and-neck race.
Few know that Ashok Gehlot is a magician which he inherited from his ancestors. His rivals feel that he may whip out some magical trick to mesmerize the people to vote for the Congress.
Initially, the BJP was much better placed in Madhya Pradesh; Congress was in disarray and it had yet to zero on a tall leader to lead the party’s poll campaign. Slowly and steadily the situation changed. Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia was entrusted with the task of leading the poll campaign and he was by implication projected as the chief ministerial candidate. The Congress made up much of the lost ground and it now poses a formidable challenge to the BJP. On the polling day (November 25), pollsters rate 50:50 chances to both the Congress and the BJP.
Despite all the claims made by Shivraj Singh Chauhan that he is a clean leader, his rule has not been corruption free. A section of the BJP leadership wanted to project him as the Prime Ministerial candidate but could not make any headway. It will, however, not be an easy sail for Chauhan.
An opinion poll conducted early this month has forecast that the BJP is coming to power in Rajasthan, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The survey may be totally wide off the mark. In Chhattisgarh the situation has dramatically changed and chances are that the Congress may romp home. In Delhi too the Congress has a clear edge. In Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh the Congress and the BJP appear to be evenly placed.
In distant Mizoram, the Congress does not face a formidable challenge.(IPA Service)
ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS: TOUGH FIGHT BETWEEN BJP AND CONGRESS
Harihar Swarup - 2013-11-23 09:39
Elections to five state assemblies have reached a decisive stage with the battle lines having been finally drawn up. Though predicting the poll outcome is a gamble, one can, however, have a look at post-poll scenario. The elections are being held in Madhya Pradesh on November 25 and in Chhattisgarh polling has already been completed. Both the states are ruled by the BJP. The Congress-ruled Rajasthan and Delhi are also slated to go to poll on December 1 and on December 4 respectively. Poll is due in Mizoram on December 4.