The evening before the seventh phase of polling on April 30, BJP candidate from Hooghly Chandan Mitra is scowling. "It's less than 12 hours to the poll and look at the organizational mess," he growls at his ancestral riverfront residence at Chinsura, 60 km from Kolkata. It has been a long day for the Delhi-based journalist and a two-time Rajya Sabha member.
In the morning, Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers surrounded his car outside the local railway station and alleged that he was distributing money to lure voters. And now Mitra is being barraged with complaints from frustrated polling agents that party flags are in short supply.
"Calm down and stop calling me," he shouts back over phone, "what can the candidate do if those in charge of supplying polling booth material are not around?"
Did the party not anticipate such enthusiasm from the workers and voters in Bengal? In an instant, the frown disappears.
"We couldn't have. Since I landed here in the second week of March, there has been a sea change in the public mood," Mitra smiles. "The people of Bengal have had enough of the TMC and the Left. They are rallying around Narendra Modi. The results will surprise everyone."
Surprise. That has been the promise of the BJP leadership in Bengal since polls began in April. In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, the party's vote share shrank to a mere 6%.
This time, the state leadership claims that the BJP will top its best show recorded during the peak of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement in 1991-92 when the party's vote share swelled to 12% and 16% in Lok Sabha and panchayat polls, respectively.
In Bengal's tight four-cornered fight this summer, nobody knows how many seats a vote share in excess of 16% may translate into. While the party's media posturing projects well over a dozen, its internal assessment keeps the tally at 3-6 seats.
That itself will be a minor saffronBSE 4.84 % coup in the land of Syama Prasad Mookerjee — the founder of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh to which the BJP traces its roots — which never really warmed up to right-of-the-centre politics. After all, the BJP's best performance here so far has been winning two seats in alliance with the TMC in 1998.
That record would be bettered many times over, claims Mitra, if only the party could make the most of the Modi wave.
"Wherever our organization is strong, we will get a good result." So it took a Narendra Modi for the BJP to finally breach Bengal? "Of course, Modi as our prime ministerial candidate has irresistible mass appeal," Mitra savours the reflected glory.
"But this swing for the BJP is a combination of many positives. You don't judge a dish only by its dal or its tadka, do you?"
Source: EconomicTimes
In the morning, Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers surrounded his car outside the local railway station and alleged that he was distributing money to lure voters. And now Mitra is being barraged with complaints from frustrated polling agents that party flags are in short supply.
"Calm down and stop calling me," he shouts back over phone, "what can the candidate do if those in charge of supplying polling booth material are not around?"
Did the party not anticipate such enthusiasm from the workers and voters in Bengal? In an instant, the frown disappears.
"We couldn't have. Since I landed here in the second week of March, there has been a sea change in the public mood," Mitra smiles. "The people of Bengal have had enough of the TMC and the Left. They are rallying around Narendra Modi. The results will surprise everyone."
Surprise. That has been the promise of the BJP leadership in Bengal since polls began in April. In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, the party's vote share shrank to a mere 6%.
This time, the state leadership claims that the BJP will top its best show recorded during the peak of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement in 1991-92 when the party's vote share swelled to 12% and 16% in Lok Sabha and panchayat polls, respectively.
In Bengal's tight four-cornered fight this summer, nobody knows how many seats a vote share in excess of 16% may translate into. While the party's media posturing projects well over a dozen, its internal assessment keeps the tally at 3-6 seats.
That itself will be a minor saffronBSE 4.84 % coup in the land of Syama Prasad Mookerjee — the founder of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh to which the BJP traces its roots — which never really warmed up to right-of-the-centre politics. After all, the BJP's best performance here so far has been winning two seats in alliance with the TMC in 1998.
That record would be bettered many times over, claims Mitra, if only the party could make the most of the Modi wave.
"Wherever our organization is strong, we will get a good result." So it took a Narendra Modi for the BJP to finally breach Bengal? "Of course, Modi as our prime ministerial candidate has irresistible mass appeal," Mitra savours the reflected glory.
"But this swing for the BJP is a combination of many positives. You don't judge a dish only by its dal or its tadka, do you?"
Source: EconomicTimes
Great information providing...such a great news...
ReplyDeleteKarnataka Lok Sabha Election 2014 Results
Surveys after surveys have been predicting that BJP may emerge as the single largest party after 2014 Loksabha election. And interestingly, all surveys indicate that, BJP may perform unexpectedly well in the states Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra.
ReplyDeleteOf course, I have noted Seema's article appeared in www.thecitizen.in. The article is interesting and important too. A detailed response to this is given here - http://moronsview.blogspot.in/2011/05/2014-loksabha-election-resuts-congress.html
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I have a feeling that BJP may get slightly lower number of seats in Uttar pradesh and Bihar, than what is predicted. In these states Anti Modi votes may get consolidated behind other opponents. (the Surveys can only predict the current mood. It can not accurately predict the results if there is transferring of votes to defeat leading candidates in individual constituencies.
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People dont vote in favour of a party. But they vote against a party. When people look other parties, they know there are good parties at local level. But they dont want to vote to a regional party which may not be able to influence govt at center. In short, people want to sense that his/her vote is actually making some influence somewhere. BJP emerged as the main opposition of Congress only because of this tactical transferring of votes to the main opponent party at National level. But that very process has created other frictions at regional level. Now there are small groups– caste groups and religious groups— who NOW WANTS TO DEFEAT the already emerged leader party. The second level of re-alignment takes place as a response to the first level of re-alignment.
This last moment re-alignment wont happen till the last few days. this can not be judged by election surveys. Let us wait and see.