Assembly Elections 2017: Why BSP's prospects in Uttar Pradesh look dim

UP ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS 2017 - The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), led by Mayawati, has been put across largely as a “poacher” and a “vote cutter” in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, dimming the party’s standing as an alternative to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP)-Congress combine sought after by politically significant and big social groupings. Mayawati, known by the moniker “Behenji”, continues to inspire respect among sections of the Dalits and instills  a degree of confidence among those Muslims who recognised her potential to be a more effective challenger to the BJP than the SP-Congress in places.

However, BSP—the first party to get a majority of its own in 2007 after a long spell of messy coalitions—is unlikely to repeat that feat because the magic figure of 207 Mayawati had attained then was catalysed by a rainbow social alliance that had space for almost every major social grouping. In the ongoing polls, Mayawati has forfeited the backward caste votes, especially those of the most backward castes, and the upper caste votes to the BJP.

The BSP is not the first choice of most Muslims because they were skeptical of Mayawati’s past tendency to do business with the BJP and install herself as the chief minister if an electoral verdict was unclear. Tanveer Akhtar, a small farmer of Isauli in the Sultanpur district who supplemented his earnings by driving a hired car, said, “Mayawati remains suspect for us although she recently clarified she would rather sit out in the Opposition than go with the BJP. We can’t take her words on face value because she craves for power above everything else.”(READ MORE)

Opposition resorting to desperate measures to come to power: Rajnath Singh

Elections 2017 - Lashing out at both of the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) political rivals in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh elections, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday dubbed the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) as parties resorting to 'desperate' measures to come to power.

"Out of desperation, the BSP has gone to the limit of appealing for votes on a communal basis," Rajnath Singh told media.

"It was the desperation of the SP which made it get into an alliance with the Congress. The SP has accepted that it is now weak. That is why it allied with a party like the Congress," he added.

Drawing a mathematical analogy, Singh said the SP-Congress alliance will be considered as null only because adding two minuses leads to a minus only.
"SP and Congress alliance is an opportunist one, but the blunder here is that a minus added with another minus is equal to minus only," he said.(Read More)

Modi ka Gaon: Censor board 'spikes' feature film on PM, here's the trailer

The censor board has refused to clear a feature film based on Prime Minister Narendra Modi development agenda. One of the grounds cited is the ongoing assembly elections in five states.

The producer of the medium-budget film, "Modi ka Gaon", Suresh Jha, who has co-directed it with Tushar A. Goel, is crying foul and charged the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) with discriminating against a movie due for release on Friday.

"Censor board officials informed us they found the film objectionable on three main counts. There is no way I can release it tomorrow (Friday). So I am considering moving the court," Jha told IANS.

"They have stipulated conditions which are so difficult to comply with that I might as well forget about releasing the film.

"The golden solution: 'Get a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and Election Commission... I think this must be the first time the PMO or EC are expected to preview a film and clear it before the CBFC certifies it," Jha said.(Read More)

To Watch The Trailer click here

Rahul draws achievements from UPA-II in UP manifesto

Elections 2017 - Rahul Gandhi drew achievements from the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA)-II government to present his vision for development of poll-bound Uttar Pradesh (UP).

The Congress poll manifesto, released in Lucknow on Wednesday, highlighted the key welfare schemes and laws passed during the UPA-I and-II like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act  (MGNREGA), National Food Security Bill, Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, and a law to protect women.

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and party vice-president Rahul were the key figures behind these flagship schemes.  Rahul also mentioned his broader vision for the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance as the grand old party’s poll manifesto made promises on behalf of both the parties. In contrast, in SP’s poll manifesto, released on January 22 by Akhilesh Yadav, Congress did not get any mention. On the lines of UPA flagship rural job scheme MGNREGA, the party promised to enact a state law, guaranteeing at least 150 days of employment for the poor.

Noting that the strongest law for women protection was passed by the UPA-II government, the party said it will work to ensure this law is implemented against anyone found guilty of atrocities and crimes against women in the state.(Read More)

UP polls 2017: Dialogue, drama, desperation as action begins

UP Polls - The action has begun in Uttar Pradesh. Election strategists, central and state ministers, Chief Ministers from other states and the Prime Minister himself are criss-crossing the sprawling state as they hard-sell their parties to voters.

More than a dozen hired choppers are clattering from one rally to the next, carrying leaders of all hues, making stopovers in small towns and dusty hamlets, while thousands of two- and four-wheelers are on the move, ferrying candidates and supporters.


Prime Minister Narendra Modi has addressed two major rallies in Meerut and Aligarh in one week, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has addressed more than 10, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Ajit Singh has been mingling with the Jat community and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati is explaining why she needs to return to power.

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav have jointly held road shows in Lucknow, Agra and Kanpur. Their next stop is Varanasi, which sent Modi to the Lok Sabha. Many state ministers are spending nights in far-flung villages, many without electricity.(Read More)

UP polls 2017: Survey shows BJP leads, but 40% voters still undecided

Elections 2017 for the Uttar Pradesh state assembly, India’s largest state with more voters–138 million–than the population of the north American country of Mexico, start on February 11, 2017, but 40% of its voters said they still don’t know which political party they will vote for, according to a new survey conducted by by FourthLion Technologies, a data analytics and public opinion polling firm, for IndiaSpend.

The firm conducted 2,513 telephone interviews in Hindi of registered voters in Uttar Pradesh, and said their sample is representative of UP’s urban and rural voters as well as socioeconomic, age, gender and caste make-up. The survey was conducted between January 24 and January 31, 2017.

The first article on the survey analysed issues that voters said were important to them.

Overall, 28% of those surveyed said they would vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the party that heads the central government, if the polls were held immediately, while 18% of those surveyed would vote for the Samajwadi Party (SP) that currently leads the state, 4% would vote for the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) led by Mayawati, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh between 2007 and 2012, while 1% would vote for the Indian National Congress (INC).(Read more)