prepareing for the final hustling

on 17/02/2014 loksabha passed the interim budget pending elections to the loksabha. this is routine exercise with limited powers and the event went off without any controversy. both the opposition and the government are on level playing fields now. political parties will have enough time to finalize their candidates for the seats they intend to contest. since elections are likely to be contested mostly on pre election  alliances multiple parleys for alliances will be held among likely partners. the combinations are likely on the basis of win ability rather than issue based.


India to some extent has accepted the issue of governance as one of the most important points for debate during electioneering .In India if a party or combination of pre election partners repeat  electoral performance it is construed as an endorsement of   the initiative taken by the party and the people have given them another opportunity to  continue their mission. on this count the states of Jammu Kashmir, Punjab, Rajstan,Gujrat, Goa, Madhya pradesh,chhatisgarh,kerala, Tamilnadu.Orissa,westbengal,Assam Meghalaya,tripura, Nagaland,Manipur,Mizoram,Arunachala Pradesh, and himachal Pradesh are likely to vote for the ruling parties in the respective states. Maharastra  for bad governance, Andhra Pradesh due to central interference to divide the state without a consensus among  interest groups, Bihar due to split in the ruling combination and paswan factor,Uttarpradesh,uttarakhand and Jharkhand due to resurgence of BJP, Karnataka due to realignment of political forces, Haryana due to recent elections of neighbors and Delhi due presidents' rule are likely to vote for parties other than the parties in power in the respective states.
A pre election alliance of eleven political parties namely the four leftist parties, the united janata dal the all india anna dravid munetra kazagam ,the biju janata dal,janata dal(s),the samajbadi paty,assam gana parisad was formed on25th feb. political outfits like the bahujan samaj party, the trinamula congress,the aam adami party,are away from any combination.
the Lok jan party headed by ram vilas paswan has become an ally of BJP (the lok jan party did not have any representation in the out going lok sabha) and to that extent it has affected bihar politics seriously.It is also an indication of somewhat confusion in sonia gandhi's camp or their failure to manipulate electoral combinations. This is the first incident after ramlila maidan-baba ram dev crush through police power that a dalit has decided to be in the camp of sonia gandhi's maut ka soudagar.Anna hazare like binoba babhe is observing his MOUN on many issues facing the nation and compigning for another sonia gandhi proxy mamta banerjee and helping her keep india divided and increasing the competitor for sonia gandhi's nominee prime minister.  

INNOVATIVE ELECTIONEERING-THE MEDIA WAR

The marked change in electioneering style from individual efforts to mass involvement through smart use of electronic media started in a large scale when congress in1984 hired advertising agencies to portray its party in a more appealing manner to lure the voters through propagation of its policies for the economically backward. No doubt the party at that time was riding a sympathy wave due to assassination of Indira Gandhi but Rajiv Gandhi an individual with modern ideas having less close confidents to carry out his ideas across the length and breadth of India wanted to do it with a fee and the results were outstanding. Though the elections were won because of thee issues, other political parties followed suite in subsequent elections. But the astonishing results achieved through electronic media was the Anna Hazare movement of 2011 for janlokpal bill where people appealed through television and cable network thronged Delhi and the agitation was a great success.
By now people of India specially the people having access to television are aware of this development though they still consider it as a gimmick. Depending on issues involved it will definitely influence the outcome ,in the instant case the elections 2014. Narendra Damodar Modi is an old player in this field,he has in past addressed NRIs in united states of America to persuade NRIs specifically NRIs from Gujarat to participate in Gujarat's growth through his good governance slogan which has succeeded. Now the purpose is different and the budget for this method is likely to be an issue with the election commission of India and the opponents as well.
One thing is sure the people of India are at a loss as the leaders of various parties who opt for this method of electioneering will never have such mass contact programs once the elections are over and  future elections may be fought in this manner only.    

Reservations in India-caste based social status to economic status .

Before the elections are declared political discussions for change in reservation criteria has become the talk in limited circles. whether or not the talks continue at least till elections the people will have idea on what lines politicians  think of reservations in various fields to bring about social and economic equilibrium in our society.

Social and economic disparity is not confined to India. It is there to be seen everywhere in the world and all the so called societies are shy of talking frankly or exploring seriously the possibility of eradicating this problem. India by raising this bogey albeit politically will do some good to mankind if ultimately at some stage economic criteria is considered for removal of social disparity.