INDIA’S
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IN EVM ENCLOSURE DURING VOTING HOURS Rahul Gandhi was present on polling day in Amethi for the first time in 10 years and he seemed to have violated the law by entering the voting compartment, the closeted area where the EVM machine is kept, during polling hours in at least three booths. These are Ashtabhuja Vidyalaya, Prathamik Vidyalaya Koora and Madhyamik Vidyalaya Phoola.-HT
ELECTIONS SPECIAL 2014 w w w . l e m a t i n a l . c o m
LE MATINAL, PORT-LOUIS, FRIDAY, MAY 9, 2014
A MONTH AFTER EGG AND INK... A
s Jitendra Mishra negotiated his autorickshaw through pot-holed roads in Varanasi, a mere mention of the electoral tempo, which is rising in the temple town, got him talking about the Modi versus Kejriwal battle. And against the popular perception that Modi will be a clear-cut winner, he is confident Kejriwal will pip Modi to the post. "You may laugh when I say Kejriwal will win, but mark my words, he will make history in the holy city," he said. Later in the evening at Chetganj, a congested locality not far from Beniyabagh, the venue for Modi rally which now stands cancelled, a group of shop-owners dismiss Mishra's contention and said any prospect of Kejriwal defeating Modi is unimaginable.They, however, concede Kejriwal has won a number of Banarasi hearts."Irrespective of the result, one must admit Kejriwal is a good man and his time will come soon," said Ramanand Srivastava, who runs a cyber café in Chetganj.What links the unabashed Kejriwal fan Mishra and strong Modi supporter Srivastava is a Other than mutual admiration for the the interacAAP leader. tive public And this is no mean feat meetings by for the leader of a fledgling party who only a month Kejriwal, ago faced a hostile recephis voluntion from this holy city. On teer force of March 25, the day Kejriwal more than landed in the city for his first rally and road show, 10 000, who Modi fans greeted him have floodwith eggs and ink and neued the city, tral locals jeered him for go door to running away from responsibility in Delhi. door seek-
ing support for their leader.
So what has changed in one month?
The locals said the new party has given a new meaning to election campaigning and claimed that they had never ever witnessed such a sincere effort by any political party.BJP's former corporator from the city Sadhna Vedanti agreed AAP had edged passed them as far as public meetings and door-to-door campaign is concerned. "They did start the trend but we have caught up," she told HT. District electoral office records confirmed the same. As compared to BJP's 140 public meetings AAP held 208 meetings in the constituency till May 5.Led by Kejriwal who has held innumerable public meetings and road shows, the party has knocked every door in every lane and bylane of Varanasi. A senior AAP leader who wished to remain anonymous said Kejriwal, whose day begins at 7 am in the morning and ends at midnight, holds six to seven meetings every day including road shows. -HT
RAHUL TAKES ON MODI C
ongress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday took a swipe at Narendra Modi saying the Gujarat development model, touted by the BJP prime ministerial nominee, is synonymous with "toffee model" and "Adani model".The Congress vice-president claimed that ever since he "exposed the myth" of the Gujarat model of development, Modi had stopped talking about it. While the Congress, he said, thought about all classes of people, for the BJP "the nation belongs to one religion, caste or two-three businessmen." "By taking 45,000 acre of fertile land of farmers, Modi gave it to the Adani company for a paltry sum of Rs. 1 per sq metre," Gandhi alleged during an election meeting at Gopalganj. "Due to largesses showered on Adani by Modi in Gujarat, the company's finance rose from Rs. 3,000 crore to Rs. 40,000 crore now, which is more than the budget of MGNREGA," he claimed. Gandhi said that Modi's "tall promises" of empowering women and laying the blueprint for economic development of the country was no better than the NDA government's 'Indian Shining' slogan.On Modi's promise to give shakti (power) to women, the
Congress leader referred to snoopgate. "He spent all his shakti keeping track of the movement of a woman and now he is talking of providing power to women," Gandhi said.Seeking to debunk Modi's "lofty" assertions about fighting terrorism, the Congress vicepresident alleged that Modi was triggering anger by
"telling lies". "Official figures show that 22,000 people died due to terrorism during the five year rule of NDA which was 800 during the five year period of Congress-led UPA," Gandhi said."They criticise us for failing to fight terrorism and protect the honor of soldiers and say they will show how to fight against terrorism."Re-
ferring to Modi's claim that the Congress did nothing since Independence, Gandhi reminded him that that US President Barack Obama had said that his country feared only China and India. Listing MGNREGA, Right to Food law, land acquisition legislation, he said that the Congress sought a mandate to enact three more legisla-
Congress vicepresident Rahul Gandhi addressed a rally for party candidate, Vishwajit Kadam in Pune.
tions.These were free medicare including cost of medicine and provision for operation, right to a concrete roof for poor and pension for the elderly. These three vital areas of concern, he said, he gathered after talks with rickshawpullers, coolies and other groups.Reeling out comparative statistics about NDA and UPA regimes, he said that the UPA government constructed almost three times more roads than NDA.Electrification of villages by the UPA government was two times more than during NDA rule, he said. He spoke about building a Japanese-financed industrial corridor which would provide employment opportunities to the youth."Our dream is that instead of using shoes, watches, T-shirts with the made-in-China-tag, we will have these items with made in Bihar or made in Gopalganj tags," he said. Attacking the state chief minister Nitish Kumar, he said "Your CM had told you to provide employment, but did you get employment?"He also accused Bihar government of failing to properly utilise central funds for the welfare of the poor."A sum of Rs. 6,000 crore is lying with the state for sugarcane development but it has not reached farmers," he claimed. - HT
CHIDAMBARAM : CONGRESS HAS GOOD CHANCE OF FORMING GOVT WITH ALLIES C
ongress has a “very good chance” of forming a government under its leadership with some allies, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said on Thursday amid growing chorus of an “enlarged” UPA— III to stop Narendra Modi from coming to power.Talking to reporters at the AICC headquarters, Chidambaram also insisted that the political scenario this time is vastly different from the one after the 1989 polls when Rajiv Gandhi chose to sit in the Op-
position despite getting some 190 seats. He said Congress has a “very good chance” of forming the government “under its leadership” with some allies.“Whichever party is in a position to form a stable government should come forward and it must discharge its responsibility. You cannot run away from responsibility. This country cannot afford an election every three months," he said.“If the Congress is in a position to form a govern-
Finance Minister P. Chidambaram.
Whichever party is in a position to form a stable government should come forward and it must discharge its responsibility. ment, it will come forward, I believe it will come forward,” Chidambaram said in a clear indication so far that Congress has not given up its intention to form a government even if its numbers are reduced. He said the scenario in the 2014 polls has changed
from 1989 and this time, the Lok Sabha poll is "not one election but election of various States."“We have to see the final tally of various parties,” he said but refused to predict how many seats the Congress will get. “I don’t make predictions of election outcomes, " he added.-The Hindu
EC NOT AFRAID OF ANY PARTY
AFTER BJP'S VARANASI PROTEST
C
hief election commissioner VS Sampath on Thursday held a rare press conference following the controversy over Narendra Modi being denied permission to hold a rally in Varanasi, asserting that the poll watchdog was not afraid of any political party and was committed to ensuring 'free, fair and peaceful' elections. With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) turning the heat on the Election Commission (EC) and Modi himself calling it biased, Sampath said, "We are disappointed that questions are being raised over the commission's impartiality… jurisdiction… We are not afraid of any political party or entity in discharging our duty." "EC has come across certain harsh statements. We reassure that EC is doing its job in strict non-partisan manner."Sampath also said a BJP delegation met officials of the commission earlier in on Thursday , adding the meeting was peaceful. A controversy had erupted on Wednesday, as the saffron party accused the EC of being a "mute spectator" after the Varanasi district administration refused permission for a rally by BJP's PM nominee Modi in Varanasi's Beniyabagh area, which has a sizeable Muslim population.District magistrate and returning officer
Chief election commissioner, VS Sampath, with election commissioners during a press conference in New Delhi. Pranjal Yadav's decision evoked sharp reaction from the BJP camp, with senior party leaders such as Arun Jaitley and Amit Shah spearheading a massive demonstration in Varanasi, which goes to polls next Monday in the last phase and has Modi in the fray. Defending the denial of permission, Sampath said the decision was taken on the basis of professional
advice and there was no need to deviate from it."Where security issues are involved, EC goes by expertise given by local administration," an ANI tweet quoted Sampath as saying. "Competent local authorities, for security reasons, were unable to give permission for (Modi's) public meeting in Beniyabagh. "Beniyabagh ground, where Modi's rally was slated for Thursday, has a history of law and order problem. In the 1991 elections, a riot-like situation had posed a tough challenge to the administration during a rally by BJP leader Shatrughan Sinha. Highlighting that the 2014 polls were a "mammoth exercise in the history of mankind", Sampath requested parties making sweeping allegations against the poll watchdog to act in a more matured way. "(We) Request leaders to use proper discourse while referring to constitutional body like EC. "When asked about the controversy over the photograph of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi standing inside a polling booth in his constituency Amethi, Samath said, "EC has sought report on allegation that Rahul Gandhi violated model code of conduct by going to polling area in booths in Amethi (which voted on Wednesday)."-HT