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ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS 2001
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Poll
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Diary
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Wary About His Wares
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Karunanidhi
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Chennai: Though Muthuvel Karunanidhi has
been chief minister of Tamil Nadu four times, he has so far not had the
opportunity to lead the DMK into electoral battle while in office. On
all three previous occasions, his governments were dismissed and the state
put under President's rule. That perhaps explains why, despite some crucial
alliance partners walking out of the DMK-led
front at the last minute, there is a spring in his step. The confusion
over AIADMK chief J. Jayalalitha's eligibility has only raised his confidence
levels. While kicking off his party's campaign for the assembly elections
in Tiruchi on April 9, Karunanidhi went out of his way to make sure that
his party cadres had no reason to be upset. And guess how he did it? By
withholding the party's list of candidates. "Right now, all of you
seem to be very upbeat," said the chief. "If I release the candidates'
list now, I know that some of you will feel happy while others will go
back unhappy. I don't want that to happen." Then, as if to rub the
point in, he continued, "This does not mean the list is not ready.
In fact it was finalised three days ago." Candid confession.
Fighting Shy
Kolkata: The CPI(M) and the Trinamool Congress are spoiling for a
fight, but when it comes to the idiot box both sides seem to develop stage
fright. Two local TV channels recently approached Buddhadev Bhattacharya
and Mamata Banerjee for an on-screen face-off. Both got the thumbs down.
The chief minister said he was not ready to duel with "an unpredictable
woman" and Mamata returned the sentiments saying, "He is too
insignificant a person to spar with." She would rather take on Jyoti
Basu with whom she has had many a spat. But he too declined.
Trust Ambition
Thiruvananthapuram: For over two decades,
Cherian Philip was A.K. Antony's speech writer and conscience keeper.
Two years ago, in an attempt to end the inner-party strife in the Congress,
Antony deputed Philip to campaign for his arch-rival in an election campaign.
Philip obeyed but suddenly began to discover virtues in Antony's rival
K. Karunakaran. Last week, when the Karunakaran-Antony feud worsened,
Philip announced he would contest against Antony's lieutenant, Oommen
Chandy. And, to everyone's surprise, the ruling CPI(M) withdrew its candidate
in Puthupally and declared it would support the Congress rebel.
Polls and Promises
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Party Talk
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"Congress should thank God Karunakaran has only two kids."
P.K. VASUDEVAN NAIR, CPI leader, on Congress
infighting in Kerala.
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"Every party is beset with dissidence during elections."
Kamal Nath, AICC general secretary, on problems
in the party's West Bengal unit. |
Kolkata: For the first time, electronic
voting machines (EVMs) will be used in all constituencies in West Bengal
(in the previous polls, only a handful had them). That's 70,000 EVMs for
61,538 polling stations and about 10,000 machines kept in reserve. The
joke in Bengal is that 10 per cent of the votes, normally clinched through
rigging, have been slashed from the Left Front's share straightaway!
Thiruvananthapuram: Politicians shout
from the rooftops about reservation of seats for women. But when elections
come, such sentiments are rarely on show. For the 140 assembly seats in
Kerala, the rival fronts have together fielded almost 280 candidates of
which only 24 are women.
Thiruvananthapuram: With only its reputation
of being a never-say-die party at stake in Kerala, the BJP's candidate
selection has been innovative. Its list has two formidable novelists:
Punnathil Kunjabdullah, who is also a physician, and Madambu Kunjikuttan.
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POLLSPEAK: K. Karunakaran,
rebel Congress leader
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Q. Is it the first time that you have
quit from a party post?
A. Yes, I have had an uninterrupted stint in the Congress Working
Committee from 1969 onwards.
Q. What happened in Delhi that forced
you to take such a drastic step?
A.
It was a conspiracy hatched by some people. And A.K. Antony is responsible
for the humiliation heaped on me.
Q. Is the denial of a ticket to your
daughter the reason for your quitting?
A.
Not at all. I never asked for a seat for her. But I was angry when
senior leaders of my group were denied tickets.
Q. Some people say it was your son
K. Muraleedharan who scuttled the seat for your daughter?
A.
That is their latest tactic, trying to involve my children in a
fratricidal fight.
Q. You first criticised Sonia Gandhi
and later withdrew the statement.
A.
My statement was misinterpreted.
Q. What is your next course of action?
A.
I will never work against the interests of the Congress. But one
thing is certain: my supporters are an aggrieved lot and I can't
predict what they'll do.
Q. Who will be the next chief minister?
A. My aim is to see that the LDF does not win and ensure
that Kerala gets a better chief minister than E.K. Nayanar.
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Question of Numbers
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Mahanta (left) with Advani
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Guwahati/Delhi: When AGP chief Prafulla
Mahanta descended on the BJP's national headquarters on Delhi's Ashoka
Road this past week and was welcomed into the NDA by the very correct
and precise L.K. Advani, everybody thought the grand Assam alliance had
been sown up. Not quite. BJP President Jana Krishnamurthi announced his
party would contest 44 of the 126 seats, leaving the rest for "AGP
and its allies". Moments later, Mahanta told the press that the BJP
would get only 34 seats, with "friendly contests" in the other
10. Not so, said the BJP, no question of friendly contests. So how do
the numbers add up? Assam BJP leaders are pushing the high command to
get at least five specific seats in the lower and middle Assam region
to calm any anger over the alliance, they say. Will Mahanta play ball?
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