View Articles

Ever since Narendra Modi realized that his action-reaction justification for the 2002 riots would not be politically effective outside Gujarat, he had been trying to adopt a kinder, gentler attitude towards the Muslims. This approach included his sadbhavna or goodwill fasts and appeals to the community to attend his rallies in their traditional attire to dispel the notion that he is not liked by them.

Left in the shadows for over a decade, TDP leader Chandrababu Naidu was only too eager to strike a deal with a party that seemed headed for power at the Centre, and so make the best of a bad situation in alliance with BJP. Thereby, Mr Naidu hopes somehow to regain the state he had lost to Congress, though now getting truncated (Seemandhra), and also become a power-sharing ally at the Centre. No wonder, he has triumphantly announced his re-entry into the BJP-led NDA.

Predicting the outcome of an election is a hazardous exercise even in the best of times. More so, when the two dominant fronts are evenly balanced and there is no visible wave in favour of either front.

Notwithstanding Aam Admi Party’s (AAP) thumping victory in Delhi election in December 2013, AAP is loosing grip on Delhi electorates. AC Nielson-ABP survey revealed a dramatic decline in AAP’s popularity in Delhi for Lok Sabha election. According to the survey, the vote share of AAP in Delhi, which was 55 percent in January, slid to 34 percent in March. A large pie of this was cut by Congress, which regained its popularity with vote share increased from 9 percent in January to 28 percent in March.

It is a ‘triple whammy’ for the Congress-led United Democratic Front Government and Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, who has staked his prestige in the outcome of the Lok Sabha election result from the State.

Narendra Modi has, after all, given an interview, the first after the BJP declared him as the party’s Prime Ministerial candidate. Notably, he preferred to give his interview to a little known Hindi channel, ETV, in which he talked on a variety of subjects but did not touch upon any of the controversial issues, like 2002 Godhra riots, if he would tender an apology for the riots, his attitude towards minorities, the question of sidelining of veteran L K Advani and expulsion of senior leader, Jaswant Singh. One does not know, if it was purposely or otherwise, the contentious questions were not put to him by the interviewer, Harishankar Vyas, editor of Naya India, considered pro-Modi.

Who will the minority vote for its protection and economic development if all political parties turn totally secular and pro-minority? The question is no longer hypothetical after BJP’s massive Muslim recruitment drive in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand ostensibly to erase its anti-minority image in the country’s traditional minority bastion ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Bharatiya Janata Party and its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi desperately need at least some Muslim support to ascend to the governmental power and comfortably control the 16th Lok Sabha. BJP’s Muslim recruits from Gujarat are being dispatched in good numbers to the north and eastern India to interact with local Muslims and seek their support for Modi. Whether or not such tactics would work for Modi and BJP, only poll results can say.

Normally in times of uncertainty, funds will flow out rather than in. Presumably, election times are not exactly those intervals when things are crystal clear. Hence, one could assume that funds should not have flown into India the way it is happening currently.

LUCKNOW: BJP national president Rajnath Singh, who is contesting from Lucknow, the erstwhile land of nawabs, to carry forward the legacy of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, is in tight spot.

New Delhi : The Union Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports has given green signal to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to conduct Indian Premier League (IPL) 2014 but has sought information from the cricket body about the mechanism it has put in place to check unethical practices like betting and match fixing.