Category: Politics

Categories
India News Politics West Bengal

Trinamool wins back confidence in Junglemahal

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, all the seats in Junglemahal, including Purulia, Medinipur, Bishnupur in Bankura and Jhargram went to the BJP….reports Asian Lite News

An aggressive presence of Trinamool Congress in the Junglemahal seats took the air out of BJP’s sail in the recently concluded Assembly elections in West Bengal in which the ruling party cruised to a landslide victory.

In the last Lok Sabha elections in 2019, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was ahead in all the 40 Assembly segments in the Junglemahal area comprising four districts — Purulia, Bankura, Paschim Medinipur and Jhargam.

However, this time the Trinamool has snatched 25 seats from the saffron brigade, proclaiming that it has been successful in winning back the confidence of the tribal population of the region.

Junglemahal comprises 40 seats of which 16 are in Paschim Medinipur, 12 in Bankura, 9 in Purulia and 4 in Jhargram. Of these 40 seats, 15 are reserved for SC and ST.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, all the seats in Junglemahal, including Purulia, Medinipur, Bishnupur in Bankura and Jhargram went to the BJP.

However, this time, out of the 40 Assembly seats, the Trinamool bagged 24, while the BJP won 16, which was a major setback for the saffron party, as Junglemahal is considered to be an electoral swing region in Bengal.

A closer analysis of the seats shows that Trinamool bagged all the four seats in Jhargram, 13 out of 15 seats in Paschim Medinipur, 3 out of 9 seats in Purulia and 4 out of 12 seats in Bankura.

Also read:Mamata meets Governor after landslide victory

Though the BJP’s performance has been relatively better in Bankura and Purulia, but in the other two districts it couldn’t make a mark at all.

Interestingly enough, of these 40 seats, 15 belonged to the reserved category. The Trinamool has managed to win 9 out of these 15 seats, leaving the impression that the tribal people have started migrating to the ruling party.

The people who deserted Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and believed in Prime Minister Narendra Modi seem to have started flocking back to the ruling Trinamool Congress. This is perhaps Banerjee’s greatest success that was evident in the landslide victory of her party in the Assembly polls.

Bihar BJP workers .

It has become evident that unlike in some other constituencies in the Bengal polls, the BJP’s Hindutva push did not prove effective among the tribal community mainly dominated by the Santhals and the Kurmis in the Junglemahal region.

The results declared on May 2 revealed a poll debacle for the BJP in Junglemahal, while the party’s internal assessment revealed that a majority of the Santhal vote share, which was its biggest base in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, shifted to the Trinamool this time.

On the other hand, Banerjee tried to reach to the doorsteps of the tribal people who are hungry for love and respect. Her social welfare schemes like Swasthya Sathi, Duare Sarkar and Khadya Sathi providing rice at Rs 2 per kg throughout the year seem to have satisfied the basic needs of these underprivileged people. Also, the party workers were told to reach out to these people so that they could speak about their grievances, a ploy which worked wonders for the party.

“If you respect them, they will shower everything on you. This is exactly what we did in Junglemahal. We listened to their grievances and fulfilled their demands with full dignity. We tried to understand the problems they faced over the past decade.

“Most of them demanded that they want to become self-reliant and alleged that they were finding it difficult to avail the government schemes as there was no one to guide them. We formed a body comprising representatives of 13 tribal communities, including Kurmi, Santhal, Lodha, Sabar, Mahali, Munda and others, so that their problems could be addressed,” said a senior Trinamool leader.

Also read:Giant killer Mamata’s tryst with three dates


Categories
India News Kerala Politics

Ramesh alleges CPI-M, BJP of cutting deals

The BJP vote percentage saw a fall from 15.01 per cent in the 2016 Assembly polls to 12.47 per cent after votes were counted on Sunday to the 140-member Kerala Assembly….reports Asian Lite News

Hours after Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan alleged that there was large scale trading of votes between the Congress and the BJP, Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala on Tuesday hit back, saying the deal was between the CPI-M and the BJP in 69 seats.

Chennithala said that Vijayan’s statement, soon after returning from his home town in Kannur, to the media in the state capital that the deal was between the Congress and the BJP was “meant to fool people and was taking anticipatory bail to suppress the real truth”.

“If one looks into the figures, it was the Congress which prevented the BJP from surging forward and because of that, they could not win the lone seat that they won for the first time in the state at Nemom in 2016. In seats like Manjeswaram and Palakkad, it was the Congress which prevented the BJP from winning,” he contended.

The BJP vote percentage saw a fall from 15.01 per cent in the 2016 Assembly polls to 12.47 per cent after votes were counted on Sunday to the 140-member Kerala Assembly.

LDF CPI-M workers celebrate party’s performance

The Left secured 99 seats, while the Congress-led UDF could manage only 41 seats and the BJP drew a blank.

Vijayan had alleged that the Congress-led UDF would have lost 10 more seats if the secret deal was not there with the BJP and also that the BJP lost their votes in 90 seats as compared to the 2016 polls.

Chennithala, however, said: “In the three seats at Nemom, Palakkad and Manjeswaram, it was because of the performance of the Congress that the victory of BJP was prevented and the votes of the CPI-M in these constituencies, compared to the 2016 polls, had come down and the votes of the Congress had gone up.”

Also read:Kerala Polls: Advantage LDF as Congress Withers

Had the Congress won lesser votes, the BJP would have won at Nemom, but since the vote share of the Congress grew, the CPI-M won, he added.

At Palakkad and Manjeswaram, it was the Congress which won.

“This time, the BJP got 4,35,606 votes and it was 3.71 per cent less than what they got in 2016. This decreased vote share was the deal and as a result in 69 constituencies, the Left benefitted. At the Kalamassery seat, the BJP candidate got 13,065 votes less votes than in 2016 and hence the CPI-M candidate P. Rajeev won. At Kuttanadu, the ally of the BJP got 18,098 votes less than in 2016 and the direct beneficiary was the Left candidate,” said Chennithala.

He listed out many other constituencies where the “BJP-CPI-M deal was in place”.

UDF

“With this, it has now come out true what Balasankar, the former editor of RSS mouthpiece, before the elections said that there was a secret deal between the BJP and the CPI-M .Moreover just look into the fate of the various scams like gold smuggling and dollar smuggling and see those cases all have gone into the freezer, as this was part of the deal as the BJP’s sole agenda is ‘Congress Mukt-Bharat’,” Chennithala added.

State BJP President K. Surendran, however, dismissed all the theories of deal and trade as humbug.

“The truth is the BJP has lost the one seat it had and the vote share also has come down. I am fully responsible for the set back and am prepared to take whatever the party says. The real reason for this verdict is there was a consolidation of minority votes to the Left. Our party will sit down and find out what went wrong and corrective measures would be taken. Even though we do not have a representation inside the assembly, we will be there outside,” he asserted.

Also read:Pinarayi leads LDF to historic win in Kerala

Categories
India News Kerala Politics

Pinarayi to bring back Kodiyeri very soon

Pinarayi to bring back Kodiyeri very soon

Balakrishnan has been facing the wrath of a section in his party and from other quarters, because of his two sons…reports Asian Lite News

After leading the CPI-M led Left Front to a resounding second successive term, Pinarayi Vijayan is now all set to bring back Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, who last year was given an ‘honourable’ exit by asking him to go on leave for his medical treatment, though the real reason was otherwise.

Balakrishnan has been facing the wrath of a section in his party and from other quarters, because of his two sons. His younger son Bineesh Kodiyeri was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate-Bengaluru unit, soon after his friend was picked up by the Narcotics Control Bureau.

On October 29, Bineesh was arrested and even now he is in a jail in Bengaluru. Balakrishnan’s elder son Binoy Kodiyeri is also caught in a case and the final verdict from a court in Mumbai is yet to come after a woman from Bihar went to the court stating that her son’s father is Binoy.

On account of these two serious issues, the CPI-M in November last year gave Balakrishnan leave as he was undergoing treatment for cancer, and brought in Left Democratic Front convenor A.Vijayaraghavan as acting Secretary of the party.

Incidentally, Vijayan and Balakrishnan both come from Kannur — the cradle of the Communist movement and hence they have a very healthy relation.

In the CPI-M, all know that there exists a Kannur lobby and the rest are known as the non-Kannur lobby. All along it has been the Kannur lobby which has had the upper edge in the party when it comes to party posts and also when cabinet portfolios are distributed.

Also read:‘BJP’s North Indian strategy won’t work in Kerala’

However, a dent has appeared in the Kannur lobby after the party decision that two-time MLAs cannot get a third term. Another Kannur strongman E.P.Jayarajan (State Industries Minister), who was the number two in the first Vijayan cabinet, has been sulking on account of this decision which came as a shocker to him.

A media critic said there has been an aberration in the Kannur lobby which took place after E.P.Jayarajan was denied the seat on the grounds of the new norm and another Kannur powerhouse P.Jayarajan, despite not falling under the norm was also denied.

“This caused heartburns in the rank and file also. But Vijayan played his game by holding the cards close to his chest and brought in M.V. Govindan, another top Kannur leader and he contested and won and is all set to get a key portfolio. It’s here that Vijayan, who has stamped his authority will in all likelihood bring back Balakrishnan and it’s expected to happen very soon,” said the critic.

Incidentally, Balakrishnan became the CPI-M state secretary for the first time at the 21st state party conference held at Alappuzha in 2015, when he replaced Vijayan who was at the helm for a record 17 years.

In 2018, he was given a second term and on account of the Covid pandemic and the Assembly polls, the 23rd state party conference was postponed. And, now it’s going to be held soon and according to sources, Balakrishnan, before the dates of the conference are announced, will return and take over as the Secretary. Sources say that it will be under him that the event will take place and in all likelihood, he will get a final term, as according to the rules of the party, none can stay beyond three terms.

So all these moves show that both the government and the party are firmly under the control of Vijayan and he will be the last word after the successful election.

Also read:Pinarayi creates history, Mamata humbles BJP

Categories
India News Kerala Politics

‘BJP’s North Indian strategy won’t work in Kerala’

This setback has come after an array of its biggest leaders which include Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, UP Chief Minister Yogi Aditiyanath who came to the state more than once…reports Asian Lite News

At a time when the Kerala unit of the BJP decided to sit down to discuss the rather poor performance in the just held assembly polls when it not only saw the one seat that they had in 2016 disappear, but also saw a dip in the total votes, a top BJP state leader made no bones of the dismal performance who said that strategies adopted in North India won’t work in Kerala.

What has hurt the party and has come as a shocker is their vote percentage which saw a fall from 15.01 per cent in the 2016 Assembly polls to a 12.47 per cent after votes were counted on Sunday for the 140-member Kerala Assembly.

If there is any solace for them is they managed to come second in nine constituencies.

This setback has come after an array of its biggest leaders which include Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, UP Chief Minister Yogi Aditiyanath who came to the state more than once and others who came once included Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Smriti Irani, to name a few.

Bihar BJP workers .

Former State BJP president C.K. Padmanabhan who was the party candidate against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at Dharamadom constituency in Kannur came a distant third with over 14,000 votes.

He spoke to the media on Tuesday and said this is a victory for the work of Vijayan.

Also read:BJP in trouble over K’taka minister’s remarks on farmers

“The people of Kerala wished a second term for Vijayan and we all should welcome the verdict of the people,” said Padmanabhan.

“If anyone thinks that the strategy adopted in North India will work in Kerala, then it will not work out and all should first understand that,” added Padmanabhan.

He was also critical in the manner in which the present State BJP president K. Surendran who contested in two constituencies and opined that it was not needed.

Kevadia: Prime Minister Narendra Modi (Photo: IANS)

“Correctional steps will have to be taken, if things do not go the way the party wishes,” said Padmanabhan.

The state leadership which had a first round meeting to find out what had happened, after raising huge hopes that the BJP will form the new state government and it required only 35 seats in the 140 member Kerala assembly and it even had declared Metroman as the Chief Minister.

At its meeting the only decision that was taken was to constitute a committee which will look into the reasons for this debacle.

On Monday, Vijayan rubbed further salt into the wounds of the ‘wounded’ BJP leadership here when he alleged that in 90 of the 140 constituencies the BJP has lost its vote as compared to the 2016 assembly polls and added that in 10 seats this was the reason for the Congress led Opposition getting to the present tally of theirs to 41 seats.

Also read:Pinarayi creates history, Mamata humbles BJP

Categories
Asia News Politics

PML-N to launch protest against Imran govt’s failure

PML-N to launch protest against Imran govt's failure

Pakistan is currently in the midst of a deadly third wave of the coronavirus that has forced the government to impose lockdown…reports Asian Lite News

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) plans to launch an agitation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after Eidul Fitr in protest against the government’s failure to control inflation and unemployment.

“We are going to launch an agitation against the government after Eidul Fitr for its failure to control growing inflation and unemployment if the current coronavirus situation subsides,” The News International quoted Sardar Muhammad Yousuf, the senior vice president of PML-N, as saying on Sunday.

Sardar Yousuf, who is also the PML-N parliamentary leader in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, said that a delegation of the senior party leaders met Shahbaz Sharif in Lahore and finalised an agitation strategy after Eid.

“Shahbaz Sharif would address public gatherings at divisional level in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after the Eid. And if the COVID-19 prevails with the same pace then he would address workers conventions at the planned cities,” he said.

Also read:Pakistan Generals worried that India may bond with Taliban

He further stated that PML-N’s President Shahbaz Sharif was committed to pulling the country out of the prevailing crises as the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has lost the public mandate, The News International reported.

“Our street agitation would mostly be focused on the high inflation and unemployment as people couldn’t afford two times meals because of the wrong government policies,” said Yousuf.

Meanwhile, over 3,000 children in Pakistan between the age of 1 to 10 years had tested positive for COVID-19 in April, according to data issued by the federal health ministry.

The data showed that 3,315 children between the ages of 1 and 10 years and 12,162 boys and girls between the ages of 11 and 20 years contracted COVID-19 in April, Geo News reported.

Pakistan is currently in the midst of a deadly third wave of the coronavirus that has forced the government to impose lockdown in many areas.

The total tally of COVID-19 cases of the country with the new cases now stands at 834,146. (ANI)

Also read:Pakistan to produce China’s vaccine

Categories
India News Politics

No Muslim member in Assam treasury bench, opposition has 31

No Muslim member in Assam treasury bench, opposition has 31

In this year’s elections, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party put up eight Muslim candidates, the Congress fielded 17…reports Asian Lite News

For the first time in 50 years, the treasury bench of the 126-member new Assam Assembly will not have any Muslim member even as 31 members from the community, the second-highest in 38 years, have been elected in the recently concluded elections.

In this year’s elections, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party put up eight Muslim candidates, the Congress fielded 17, while the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) nominated 19 Muslims and a Hindu candidate.

Of the 31 Muslims elected to the new House, the second-highest after the controversial 1983 elections during the height of the Assam agitation, 16 are from the Congress and 15 from the AIUDF.

Karim Uddin Barbhuiya(Twitter)

In the outgoing House, the NDA comprising BJP, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), had 86 members with Aminul Haque Laskar being the Muslim representative.

Laskar, 55, who was the Deputy Speaker in the Assembly, could not retain his Sonai seat in the Bengali-dominated Barak Valley where he was defeated by Karim Uddin Barbhuiya of AIUDF by a margin of 19,654 votes.

The AIUDF was one of the main allies of the Congress-led 10-party ‘Mahajot’ (grand alliance) that won 50 seats against the 75 seats won by the BJP led alliance. Jailed anti-CAA activist and prominent peasant leader Akhil Gogoi, the president of the newly floated Raijor Dal, won the remaining seat from Sibsagar as an Independent candidate.

Congress paid the price of pact with AIUDF in Assam

The Congress and the AIUDF won 29 and 16 seats, respectively, improving their 2016 performance by three seats each.

Other partners of the Mahajot, BPF got four seats while the CPI-M won one seat.

Apart from 1983, the number of Muslim members in the Assembly has usually hovered around the 25-mark.

Also read:No entry to Punjab without Covid negative report

According to political analysts and commentators, the alliance with the AIUDF shattered Congress’ dream to capture power in Assam, though the grand old party performed better this time as compared to 2016, when it was defeated by the BJP after 15 years.

Political observers categorically said that the Congress paid the price for the coalition with the Muslim-based body, AIUDF, in Assam.

Aminul Haque Laskar(Twitter)

The BJP and few other non-BJP parties had accused the AIUDF and its leadership of patronising “illegal immigrants” and most Assamese people had accepted the logic, they said.

According to Census 2011, Muslims account for 34.22 per cent population in the state, while Hindus and other religions account for the rest of the 3.12 crore total population of Assam.

Of the 126 Assembly seats, religious minorities decide the electoral fate in 23 seats, mostly in western and southern Assam, and play a crucial role in about seven more Assembly seats in different districts.

Of Assam’s 34 districts, 12 per cent or more Muslim population resides in 19 districts and in six districts the Muslim population constitutes 50 per cent or more.

Also read:Mamata meets Governor after landslide victory

Categories
India News Politics

In a first, activist Akhil Gogoi wins from jail

46-year-old Gogoi bagged the Sibsagar constituency by a decisive margin of 11,875 votes without hitting the poll campaign…Sujit Chakraborty

Jailed anti-CAA activist and prominent peasant leader Akhil Gogoi has become the first lawmaker in Assam to win an election from jail after his octogenarian mother and prominent rights leaders of the country campaigned for him.

Without hitting the poll campaign, 46-year-old Gogoi clinched the Sibsagar constituency, defeating his nearest BJP opponent Surabhi Rajkonwari by a decisive margin of 11,875 votes.

Gogoi secured 57,219 votes (46.06 per cent) while Rajkonwari bagged 45,344 votes (36.5 per cent) and Congress nominee Subhramitra Gogoi managed 19,329 votes (15.56 per cent).

The founder president of the newly floated Raijor Dal (RD), Gogoi was arrested in December 2019 on sedition charges after he spearheaded the massive protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) in Assam.

Akhil Gogoi(Wikipedia)

The weeks long violent agitations against the CAA had rocked Assam in which five people were killed in police firing.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) took up Gogoi’s case for his alleged involvement in the violent anti-CAA demonstrations across the state.

Besides the Raijor Dal, the Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) was also formed as a consequence of the anti-CAA agitations.

Also read:No entry to Punjab without Covid negative report

Both the parties in alliance had fielded over 100 candidates across Assam, but only Gogoi has emerged victorious.

An inmate of the Central Jail in Guwahati, Gogoi is currently undergoing treatment at the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital.

Akhil Gogoi(Twitter)

Gogoi’s 84-year-old mother Priyoda Gogoi and son Nasiketa had spearheaded his election campaign before the first phase of elections in eastern Assam on March 27.

Rights activist Medha Patkar, Magsaysay award winner Sandeep Pandey, many students of Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University and intellectuals and activists from different parts of the country and Assam had come to Sibsagar campaign for Gogoi.

Hundreds of volunteers and members of the Raijor Dal took Priyoda Gogoi to the doorsteps of the voters and heavily campaigned against the new citizenship act, which was approved in the Parliament in 2019, granting automatic citizenship for non-Muslims from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, who came to India before December 31, 2014.

Also read:Mamata meets Governor after landslide victory

Categories
India News Kerala Politics

Vijayan dedicates win to people

Pinarayi Vijayan also tore into the Congress-led opposition, the BJP as well as a section of the media….reports Asian Lite News

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who broke a four-decade-old trend of one term governments in the state as he led his Left Democratic Front to a successive second stint in power, on Sunday dedicated the victory to the people and said they are humbled by the response of the people who supported them and this will be the booster to start work on building a resilient Kerala.

He also tore into the Congress-led opposition, the BJP as well as a section of the media.

Addressing the media at his home base in Kannur when the tally of the victory showed 99 seats for the Left, with the Congress-led Opposition ending up with 41 seats and the BJP which had one seat in the 2016 Assembly polls, failed to get any seat this time, a beaming Vijayan said: “I wish to state that this was a great political fight and this is no doubt a victory of the people and belongs to the people.

“All along after the elections was announced, I had mentioned what is in store and I also said why I have that confidence. Then, I said we believe in the people and people believe in us and that’s why I said we will win more seats than the last time. And it has happened and it happened with the help of the people who beloved in our capabilities as they know, it is only the Left which can work for the welfare and also the development of the state.”

Also read:Vijayan goes hammer and tongs at Shah

“We are deeply honoured by the support of the people who placed their full support on us and it was because of them that we were able to do this. We assure you the people that they can fully trust us and we see ‘power’ as not something to enjoy or to engage in corruption. We have a detailed manifesto which explains everything what we will do as we are one who will promise only what can be done,” he added.

Taking on the BJP, Vijayan said the state saw all its top leaders descend here for the campaign and heard what all was said.

“They even went to the extent of saying that they, without even having the need for the mandatory majority for forming a government, will form the government. When it came to money power, none could match them and what one could see was the ill-effects of having huge money. The victory also shows that our state is not a ground for communal elements like some states in the country,” he said.

Also read:BJP an obstacle to Kerala’s progress: Vijayan

Turning towards the Congress, he said the very existence of the Congress-led UDF is now under a cloud and this has to be discussed.

“Just see what happened when the state suffered a few disasters… what was the role of the Congress-led UDF. When the national agencies came calling here based on few allegations, instead of standing for the interest of the state, they were trying to attack us. The people saw all this and rightfully they did what any person would do and gave us their confidence. So in the best interest of the state, instead of joining hands for the progress of the state, the opposition was out to play spoil sport and the people acted,” said Vijayan.

He then made a blistering attack on a section of the ‘right wing’ media which was “wrongly portraying what we did”.

“Some media houses thought, that everything is under their control and at the tip of their pen. Lot of canards was being spread which were blatant lies and some even launched personal attacks. I wish to tell you (media) that the people know and gauge everything and you do not have any powers, which you think you have,” Vijayan said.

“The media should introspect and we will only be glad if you engage in constructive criticism, which in fact it will be good for us… But that is not what is happening. All what I have to say to you is it is time that you introspect and apply a course correction in the scheme of things that you do. All should understand that we are passing through tough times and hence priorities should be reworked,” he added.

Vijayan said on Monday that he he will submit his resignation to the Governor and then it would be the party which decides on when and how the next step is.

Also read:Vijayan asks pvt hospitals to reserve 25% beds for Covid patients

Categories
India News Politics

Finally, son rise in Tamil Nadu

Finally, son rise in Tamil Nadu

With the successive poll victories in Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, Stalin has established himself as an undisputed leader…reports Asian Lite News

For the 68-year-old M.K. Stalin, affectionately called “Thalapathi” (Commander) by members of his DMK, the wait to lead Tamil Nadu as its head will soon get over.

The DMK, led by Stalin, a former Deputy Chief Minister, is all set to come to power after a 10-year hiatus, and has even gained a majority on its own.

With the successive poll victories – the first one was the 2019 Lok Sabha polls – and now the Assembly polls, Stalin has established himself as an undisputed leader within and outside the party.

Stalin has to wait for some more days for his coronation as Chief Minister.

His earlier coronation as the DMK’s second President in 2018 was a smooth affair.

DMK’s then General Secretary K. Anbazhagan then said 1,307 party officials had proposed and seconded Stalin’s candidature.

Stalin was given the role of Working President in January 2017 after his father and party patriarch M. Karunanidhi was largely confined to his home due to age-related ailments.

Born on March 1, 1953 to Karunanidhi and Dayalu Ammal, Stalin was named after the Russian leader Joseph Stalin who died on March 5, 1953 – four days after Stalin’s birth.

Also read:NDA to win Puducherry, DMK to gain power in TN

Legend has it that Karunanidhi wanted to name him ‘Ayyadurai’ – after DK founder ‘Periyar’ E.V. Ramasamy and DMK founder C.N. Annadurai.

Like his multi-faceted father who entered public life at the age of 14, Stalin too started his political journey by becoming an ordinary member of the DMK at the age of 14 and campaigning for the party in the 1967 polls.

A year earlier he had formed a youth forum: Gopalapuram Youth DMK.

Stalin came to public notice at large when he was jailed under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) for opposing the imposition of Emergency by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

He became the party’s Youth Wing Secretary in 1984 and continued to hold that post for a long time.

It was in 1984 that Stalin made his electoral debut from Thousand Lights constituency in Chennai but lost. He finally entered the Assembly in 1989.

The other electoral loss for him was in 1991 at the same seat.

Till date, Stalin has won six Assembly polls – four times from Thousand Lights and twice from Kolathur constituency. His seventh victory comes in 2021.

Stalin was the Local Administration Minister in the Karunanidhi government (2006-11) and became Deputy Chief Minister in 2009 and stayed in the post till 2011.

As the aged Karunanidhi was not able to move much, the mantle of being lead campaigner fell on him in 2016 Assembly polls.

The DMK won 89 seats and narrowly missed the victory to the AIADMK then led by J. Jayalalithaa.

Stalin became the Leader of the Opposition. But the party suffered a shock defeat losing the security deposit in the by-election from R.K. Nagar constituency in Chennai, a seat held by Jayalalithaa. The by-election was won by T.T.V. Dhinakaran, a rebel AIADMK leader who later floated the AMMK.

Also read:DMK-Congress front to sweep TN

Before becoming a state minister, Stalin was the Chennai Mayor in 1996-2001 and 2001-02. He was also the party Treasurer.

During his Mayorship, the Chennai Corporation built several flyovers to ease the traffic flow. The AIADMK government headed by Jayalalithaa had, however, arrested Stalin for alleged corruption in building the flyovers. But it did not affect his career. Even Karunanidhi had once openly declared that if he had a chance then he would announce Stalin as his successor.

But Stalin’s elder brother and former Union Minister M.K. Alagiri – then incharge of the party affairs in the southern districts – opposed it and said he cannot think of anybody else as his leader other than Karunanidhi.

Later, Alagiri was dismissed from the party for anti-party activities.

Meanwhile, Stalin started taking strong hold of the party reins following the indisposition of Karunanidhi.

The Alagiri-Stalin rivalry plagued the DMK for a long time but Karunanidhi kept a fragile peace till his passing away.

Stalin is married to Durga, a believer, and the couple have two children – Udayanidhi and Senthamarai.

Udhayanidhi, an actor turned politician, also made successful electoral debut this time from the Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni Assembly constituency.

Stalin also had acted in two movies and in two television serials.

Succeeding Karunanidhi, an illustrious leader, Stalin did not try to show himself as a leader different from his father, and in all his election campaign speeches, always said he is the son of Karunanidhi.

Roping in political strategist Prashant Kishor to chart the party’s victory route, Stalin continued with the campaign of painting the Narendra Modi-led Central government as “anti-Tamil” and “anti-states”.

The party also successfully built a public perception that it would win the polls and the AIADMK government was subservient to the Central government.

Also read:DMK marches ahead with slew of welfare schemes

Stalin also carried out hard bargaining for seats with allies and made many of them contest under the party’s Rising Sun electoral symbol.

On the other factors that worked for the DMK in the assembly elections, a political analyst told IANS, were the anti-incumbency against the AIADMK government, the anti-BJP sentiment, alliance arithmetic, the steady cultivation of the perception that it will win the polls over a long period of time, and caste neutrality.

He did not agree that the assembly poll victory was an extension of the DMK-led alliance’s victory in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

“That was a total rout for the AIADMK-led alliance. During the Lok Sabha elections, it was Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for the Prime Ministership that was on the centre stage,” the analyst said.

In 2019 there was an anti-Modi wave in Tamil Nadu. But in the 2021 Assembly elections, Stalin was at the centre stage but there was no wave in his favour to rout the AIADMK, the analyst said.

Be that as it may, with the 2021 Assembly election victory and heading the state government, Stalin has very many challenges facing him.

First and the foremost will be arresting the spread of coronavirus.

As an opposition leader, he had fired several salvos against Chief Minister K. Palaniswami. And now Stalin has to take control.

As he used to say, the state finances were in bad shape. And now it is his responsibility to set it right while fulfilling many of the populist poll promises that were made this time.

After years of maintaining an anti-BJP stance, Stalin has to navigate carefully the centre-state relations as a Chief Minister.

What is now certain is that Stalin may come out of his father’s shadows. And the long wait to become the Chief Minister will soon get over.

Also read:TN Election Updates: DMK takes lead

Categories
India News Politics

Congress paid the price of pact with AIUDF in Assam

Congress paid the price of pact with AIUDF in Assam

Political analysts categorically said that the Congress paid the price for the coalition with the Muslim-based body, All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), in Assam…reports Asian Lite News

The alliance with the AIUDF shattered Congress dream to capture power in Assam, though the grand old party performed better this time as compared to 2016, when it was defeated by the BJP after 15 years, experts and political commentators feel.

Political analysts categorically said that the Congress paid the price for the coalition with the Muslim-based body, All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), in Assam.

Social activist and political commentator Ajoy Kumar Dutta said that the Congress tried to win the hearts of the people in Assam using the sentiments against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, but the Assamese and the indigenous people of the state could not accept the alliance with the AIUDF, led by perfume baron and Lok Sabha member Badruddin Ajmal.

Badruddin Ajmal(Twitter)

Dutta, a Padma Shri awardee said: “Every action has an equal reaction. Once three-time Assam Chief Minister late Tarun Gogoi had said ‘who is Ajmal’, but after his death, his party allied with it. People feared that if the Congress came to power in Assam, it would be controlled by Ajmal’s AIUDF.”

The BJP and few other non-BJP parties had accused the AIUDF and its leadership of patronising “illegal immigrants” and most Assamese people had accepted the logic.

The BJP fought the 2016 Assembly polls with the slogan of “‘jati, mati, bheti’ (identity, land and homestead) and succeeded. This time, the saffron party campaigned for the protection of Assamese civilisation and traditional culture and again it achieved its goal.

Congress.

Except Bengali dominated southern Assam, the Congress-led ‘Mahajot’ (Grand Alliance) performed poorly in most parts of the state, especially in eastern Assam, known as the Assamese heartland.

Of the 15 seats in southern Assam’s Barak Valley comprising three districts — Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi — the Mahajot either won or is leading in 11 seats with the BJP and its ally ahead in four seats.

Also read:Assam to get 40 MT medical oxygen from Bhutan daily

In the 2016 Assembly elections in Barak Valley, the BJP had won eight seats while the Congress had bagged seven seats.

Political commentator Sushanta Talukdar said that considering the AIUDF’s track record and role, the people of Assam could not accept the Congress’ alliance with the party, which is soft towards the “infiltrators and illegal migrants”.

“Most Assamese and indigenous people thought that the AIUDF is more dangerous than the CAA. So despite not support the new citizenship act, they could not accept the Congress’ stand to ally with Ajmal’s party,” Talukdar said.

Nagaon Election District, gearing up for the counting of votes(Twitter)

The results of the elections to the 126-member Assam assembly clearly indicate that the BJP has caused a permanent dent in the erstwhile traditional Congress stronghold among the tribals, lakhs of tea garden workers and the indigenous people.

It is also understandable that the saffron party’s inroad into this Congress bastion in 2016 was not a temporary phenomenon.

During the campaign, the BJP highlighted the “perfect NRC (National Register of Citizens)” while the Congress gave top priority to the CAA, even as both the national parties had common issues of empowerment of women, jobs to the youth and protecting the Assamese traditional culture.

The Congress had promised ‘Five Guarantees’ to the voters in its manifesto, including restarting the process of NRC; repealing the CAA; Rs 365 daily wage to 10 lakh tea garden workers; 5 lakh jobs in five years; Rs 2,000 per month to housewives and 200-unit free electricity per household.

Elected MLAs of INC Assam(TWITTER)

The BJP’s ‘Sankalp Patra’ also promises to control floods in Assam, empower the women under the state’s flagship scheme ‘Orunodoi’, and increase the monthly payment of Rs 830 to Rs 3,000 covering 30 lakh deserving families.

The AIUDF, which won 13 seats in the 2016 Assembly polls, has won five seats this time besides leading in 10 seats, while the Bodoland Peoples Front (BPF), which had bagged 12 seats five years ago, has won one seat this time and is leading in two seats in the Bodoland areas of western Assam.

According to the latest tally of the Election Commission, of the total of 126 seats, the BJP has so far won 27 and is leading on 32 seats, while its ally Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) won six seats and is leading on four seats. The United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) has won four seats and is leading on two seats.

The Congress has won eight seats and is leading on 23 seats, while its ally CPI-M is leading on one seat.

Raijor Dal (RD) President and jailed leader Akhil Gogoi, who is contesting from the Sibasagar constituency as an Independent candidate, is also leading.

The BJP had won 60 seats in the previous Assembly elections in 2016 while its ally AGP had managed 14 seats. The Congress had secured 26 seats while one seat went to an Independent candidate.

Also read:ELECTION UPDATES 2021: NDA leads in Assam