All eyes are on 2014 polls

Chennai: As India gets ready for the excitement of Parliament Poll in May 2014, all political leaders in Tamil Nadu, big and small, are hurrying with their machinations— overt and covert— to sew up new alliances and firm up the existing ones so as to get as many seats as possible from the basket of 39 in the state and one in Puducherry.

The BJP has been ‘untouchable’ all these years in this Dravidian turf because of its ‘fundamentalist’ tag and the very weak cadre base but now it’s the turn of the Congressmen to be shunned by all.

The recent drubbing in four states and the ‘betrayal’ in the 2G spectrum scam that led to Kalaignar’s daughter Kanimozhi spending 193 days in Tihar jail have fractured its alliance with the DMK that had yielded eight seats in Tamil Nadu and also Puducherry for V Narayanasamy.

But, now, no TN Congressman dreams of even a holiday in Delhi. There are rumours that some of them, including one influential Central minister, are eyeing Pondy but Narayanasamy will not let go.

Some diehard optimists in the Congress party are, however, coming up with eleventh hour prescriptions hoping to grab some twigs to save from May’s deluge.

Attacking Sri Lanka for its arrest of TN fishermen is one such issue the TN Congressmen hope to gain from. While the DMK chief Karunanidhi has dubbed Delhi’s handling of the fishermen issue as “just eyewash” and dispatched his Parliament group T R Baalu to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh along with a group of TN fishermen on Saturday, the Congress’s Cuddalore MP K.S. Alagiri took another fishermen’s team to PM on Monday (December 30).

Also, the Congressmen are now expected to take some credit for the Centre granting some 10 new water projects for Chennai.

The projects were approved by the Union ministry of urban development “recently” but the Press Information Bureau (PIB) announced the news on its website on Monday (December 30).

It is relevant to note that the Centre will only provide 35 per cent of the total cost of Rs 27114.11 lakh while the state contributes equal amount and the rest is again raised mostly from the state bodies and some financial institutions.

In contrast, the Centre’s response to chief minister J Jayalalithaa’s requests for help for the districts hit by the Thane cyclone was pitifully low.

AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa is sure to gain from these fractured alliances.

As it seems to be a four-cornered battle, as of now, her dream of playing a significant role in the formation of the next government at the Centre is closer to realisation.

DMK chief Karunanidhi is trying his best to thwart that, even pleading with DMDK’s Captain to join his camp, notwithstanding all the bad blood that flowed between the two in the past.

Not many of the Captain’s lieutenants would have forgotten that their party headquarters was demolished during the last DMK regime; but then, as everyone knows, politics is all about manipulating out of such embarrassing divisions.

It’s not just the divisions in her rival camps that place Jayalalithaa way ahead of the others in the race.

Her unique infrastructure projects and welfare schemes, particularly the Amma Canteens and transport initiatives, have earned her public approval.

Also, the power managers are exuding confidence that electricity cuts will disappear early 2014, well before the poll day.

There is clearly no anti-incumbency factor and her projection as a possible Prime Minister candidate could fetch the AIADMK serious electoral consideration, pollsters feel.

Next: A year lost for TN Congress

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All eyes are on 2014 polls

Chennai: As India gets ready for the excitement of Parliament Poll in May 2014, all political leaders in Tamil Nadu, big and small, are hurrying with their machinations— overt and covert— to sew up new alliances and firm up the existing ones so as to get as many seats as possible from the basket of 39 in the state and one in Puducherry.

The BJP has been ‘untouchable’ all these years in this Dravidian turf because of its ‘fundamentalist’ tag and the very weak cadre base but now it’s the turn of the Congressmen to be shunned by all.

The recent drubbing in four states and the ‘betrayal’ in the 2G spectrum scam that led to Kalaignar’s daughter Kanimozhi spending 193 days in Tihar jail have fractured its alliance with the DMK that had yielded eight seats in Tamil Nadu and also Puducherry for V Narayanasamy.

But, now, no TN Congressman dreams of even a holiday in Delhi. There are rumours that some of them, including one influential Central minister, are eyeing Pondy but Narayanasamy will not let go.

Some diehard optimists in the Congress party are, however, coming up with eleventh hour prescriptions hoping to grab some twigs to save from May’s deluge.

Attacking Sri Lanka for its arrest of TN fishermen is one such issue the TN Congressmen hope to gain from. While the DMK chief Karunanidhi has dubbed Delhi’s handling of the fishermen issue as “just eyewash” and dispatched his Parliament group T R Baalu to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh along with a group of TN fishermen on Saturday, the Congress’s Cuddalore MP K.S. Alagiri took another fishermen’s team to PM on Monday (December 30).

Also, the Congressmen are now expected to take some credit for the Centre granting some 10 new water projects for Chennai.

The projects were approved by the Union ministry of urban development “recently” but the Press Information Bureau (PIB) announced the news on its website on Monday (December 30).

It is relevant to note that the Centre will only provide 35 per cent of the total cost of Rs 27114.11 lakh while the state contributes equal amount and the rest is again raised mostly from the state bodies and some financial institutions.

In contrast, the Centre’s response to chief minister J Jayalalithaa’s requests for help for the districts hit by the Thane cyclone was pitifully low.

AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa is sure to gain from these fractured alliances.

As it seems to be a four-cornered battle, as of now, her dream of playing a significant role in the formation of the next government at the Centre is closer to realisation.

DMK chief Karunanidhi is trying his best to thwart that, even pleading with DMDK’s Captain to join his camp, notwithstanding all the bad blood that flowed between the two in the past.

Not many of the Captain’s lieutenants would have forgotten that their party headquarters was demolished during the last DMK regime; but then, as everyone knows, politics is all about manipulating out of such embarrassing divisions.

It’s not just the divisions in her rival camps that place Jayalalithaa way ahead of the others in the race.

Her unique infrastructure projects and welfare schemes, particularly the Amma Canteens and transport initiatives, have earned her public approval.

Also, the power managers are exuding confidence that electricity cuts will disappear early 2014, well before the poll day.

There is clearly no anti-incumbency factor and her projection as a possible Prime Minister candidate could fetch the AIADMK serious electoral consideration, pollsters feel.

Next: A year lost for TN Congress

View the original article here

2014 to usher in new face as PM after LS polls

Chennai: A new person will become the Prime Minister of India after the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, which will also see the rout of the Congress.

Also, stability woes will haunt the new government in the national capital till June in the New Year, according to noted astrologer Yadartha Jothidar Sehlvi.

The Congress will face troubled times and its leader Rahul Gandhi, who has a role in the future, may not make it to the Prime Minister’s post, he says. “The year 2014 will see a ‘new face’ become the Prime Minister,” Sehlvi adds.

The year comes under the influence of (planet) Ketu. Its number is 7. It will be in Aries till June 22 and afterwards, transit to Pisces and remain there throughout the year, he said, explaining the planetary positions.

Planet Saturn will be in Libra and Jupiter will transit to Cancer from Gemini in June. The yearly general predictions will be made according to these planetary positions.

“The year 2014 is not a good period for agriculture. So, the government should concentrate on preserving agricultural produce. Blackmarketing of foodgrains will increase, weather forecast will be misleading and bacterial infections and new disease outbreak will cause concern in the nation. Most of all, political instability will prevail till June and after June 22 the government will become stable. Unexpected happenings will occur much to the pleasant surprise of the government and these new occurrences will make the new government happy,” he says.

Judgments would be delivered against corruption cases and also cases pertaining to crime against women and children. Good laws will be enacted and women’s reservation bill will be passed.

“This is so because Ketu has the power to ensure a lot of good things for women. So, safety of women and children would be highlighted and this is indicated for this year. Also, the government will come forward to improve cleanliness, roads and impose penalty on the wrong-doers. Ketu is the Lord for purity and divinity. He will guide people to God by creating travails. Only troubles make one realise God."

Destruction of natural resources is the main cause for natural disasters, so laws to prevent plundering of natural resources will be passed.

Since Ketu could be controlled by Lord Ganesh, people should worship Lord Vinayaka from January 1 onwards. But, one must not ignore one’s family deity.

So, regular worship of Lord Ganesh and family deity will yield beneficial results.

Generally, 2014 will be a troublesome period. There are likely to be natural disasters, sea level may rise, cyclones, fires, industrial fire and negligence may happen.

Terrorist activities may cause more trouble. We should be careful in all things during a Ketu year. Those in authority should take precautions to protect people, he elaborated.

Ketu is gnanakarakan. He will first inflict troubles and then bestow knowledge. He will introduce sorrows to infuse faith in God.

A person who is happy will not go to the temple. Ketu is the main power forcing people to undergo struggles to seek divine intervention.

He is likely to create problems for the country through the neighbours. Border areas will become a big problem for India.

So, the government has to put the military on high alert and put in place a strategy to overcome the problems posed by the neighbouring countries.

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Bedi panel crushes to defeat in DDCA polls

New Delhi: Sneh Prakash Bansal and his panel today swept the DDCA polls with a landslide victory over former India captain Bishan Singh Bedi's faction by procuring more than 70 per cent of the votes.

"The final results will be out in the evening but we have won the elections. Out of 4300 votes, we had already submitted 3400 proxy votes. So it has been a big victory for us. The members have shown their faith in us and we will have to continue doing the good work," DDCA vice-president Chetan Chauhan told PTI.

While Bedi faction raised objections about the manner in which AGM was conducted, Bansal & Co. showed that with the system of proxy votes in place, it's near impossible for an outsider to win an election.

"The proxy vote system is allowed in company act. We are not doing anything illegal. There was an election and we have got the mandate," new president Bansal said after taking over the charge.

About the allegations regarding bungling of funds and age-fudging, Bansal said, "These are all baseless things that there have been bungling of funds. Yes, there has been an SFIO (Serious Fraud Investigation Office) inquiry but corrective measures have been taken. For age fudging, we have followed the standard procedures of BCCI's age related system."

Will Bedi's voice be heard by this committee, he answered, "The offer and suggestions of help have to come from their side."

Sports secretary Sunil Dev, who retained his seat by walloping Madan Lal, said that "proxy system has helped DDCA keep away the unwanted elements from the association or else it would be hell".

Bedi, on his part, was livid in the manner the AGM was conducted.

"The outgoing president while answering a query said that the next match will be held at the Kotla. He perhaps didn't know that this is Delhi's last match of the season."

The Dharna organised by the Bedi faction turned out to be a damp squib as there wasn't even 10 people in attendance.

Former India all-rounder Kirti Azad said that they are planning to move court against the proxy system.

"We are moving court to get DDCA dissolved as a company. We have raised the voice and our fight against corruption will continue," Azad said.

Outgoing president Jaitley watched the proceedings as Virender Sehwag came and took his blessings with the two being engaged in animated discussion for close to half an hour.

List of office bearers: Sneh Prakash Bansal (President); Vice-president: C K Khanna, Chetan Chauhan, Ganga Prasad Gupta; General Secretary: Anil Khanna; Sports Secretary: Sunil Dev; Club Secretary: Sunil Kumar Jain; Treasurer: Ravinder Manchanda.

Executive Committee: Ajay Sharma, Ashok Sharma, Brij Mohan Gupta, Harsh Kumar Sharma, Siddharth Singh, Surya Prakash Singh, Vikas Katyal and Vishwanath Aggarwal.

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Bansal and Co favourites against Bedi faction in DDCA polls

Bishan Singh Bedi scalped an impressive 434 wickets for Northamptonshire for whom he played from 1972 till 1977.

New Delhi: BCCI vice-president Sneh Bansal is favourite to win presidential elections against former India captain Bishan Singh Bedi as they square off in the Delhi & Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) contest, scheduled here tomorrow.

Bansal is set to take over from current president Arun Jaitley, who has decided against contesting the DDCA elections due to busy political commitments and Bansal has the backing of the BJP heavyweight.

There are approximately 4300 voters in DDCA but most of the votes are supposed to be cast via 'proxy system' which makes Bansal overwhelming favourite along with his faction members that includes Chand Khanna, Chetan Chauhan, Sunil Dev, Anil Khanna to name a few.

Apart from Chauhan, who was a renowned Test player, others are businessmen who have been at the helm of affairs for close to two decades.

'Proxy Voters' means that a particular contestant can get signature of as many members as possible in the voter forms and produce that infront of electoral officer.

On the otherhand, Bedi and his band of former Delhi cricketers like Madan Lal, Surinder Khanna, Gursharan Singh, Abbas Ali Baig are fighting against the "corruption and misrule" in the association with wide ranging allegations from bungling of funds and age fudging at junior level to controversies in selection matters.

With lack of proxy voters, in all likelihood Bedi and his faction at best can make a symbolic protest as winning the elections at this point of time looks a near-impossible task.

Bedi faction will be sitting on a dharna infront of the Feroze Shah Kotla ground tomorrow and also day after on December 31st.

Key contests:

President: Sneh Bansal vs Bishan Singh Bedi

General Secretary: Anil Khanna vs Surinder Khanna

Sports Secretary: Sunil Dev vs Madan Lal.

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AIADMK workers want Jaya to contest LS polls

Chennai: Amid a 'Jaya for PM' chorus in the ruling AIADMK, the party on Saturday said it has received over 1,000 applications from its workers urging that Chief Minister Jayalalithaa contest from their constituency in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

After nine days of submitting application forms and receiving the filled-in ones at the party headquarters here, 1175 persons from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry requested that Jayalalithaa, the party's General Secretary, contest from their respective constituencies.In all, 4,537 application forms were received from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, bringing in Rs 11.34 crore, a party release here said. Recently, the Executive and General Council of the AIADMK had vowed to create a favourable situation for Jayalalithaa to lead the nation, terming her a "qualified" leader to do so. 

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AIADMK workers want Jaya to contest LS polls

Chennai: Amid a 'Jaya for PM' chorus in the ruling AIADMK, the party on Saturday said it has received over 1,000 applications from its workers urging that Chief Minister Jayalalithaa contest from their constituency in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

After nine days of submitting application forms and receiving the filled-in ones at the party headquarters here, 1175 persons from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry requested that Jayalalithaa, the party's General Secretary, contest from their respective constituencies.In all, 4,537 application forms were received from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, bringing in Rs 11.34 crore, a party release here said. Recently, the Executive and General Council of the AIADMK had vowed to create a favourable situation for Jayalalithaa to lead the nation, terming her a "qualified" leader to do so. 

View the original article here

AIADMK workers want Jaya to contest LS polls

Chennai: Amid a 'Jaya for PM' chorus in the ruling AIADMK, the party on Saturday said it has received over 1,000 applications from its workers urging that Chief Minister Jayalalithaa contest from their constituency in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

After nine days of submitting application forms and receiving the filled-in ones at the party headquarters here, 1175 persons from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry requested that Jayalalithaa, the party's General Secretary, contest from their respective constituencies.In all, 4,537 application forms were received from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, bringing in Rs 11.34 crore, a party release here said. Recently, the Executive and General Council of the AIADMK had vowed to create a favourable situation for Jayalalithaa to lead the nation, terming her a "qualified" leader to do so. 

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'Modi for PM; One vote, one note': BJP ready with slogans for Lok Sabha polls

New Delhi: BJP on Tuesday decided to firmly peg its Lok Sabha election campaign on the party's Prime Ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, while taking the message to the people that the conditions prevailing now were akin to those witnessed immediately after the Emergency imposed by Congress in 1975.

Following a meeting of chief ministers of five BJP-ruled states and its Parliamentary Board here, general secretary Ananth Kumar told reporters that the election slogan for the party would be 'Modi for PM'.

"BJP's 'Modi for PM' campaign will be on the lines of the JP movement that was launched in the Emergency era to throw out the Congress government," Kumar said.

Maintaining that in 1977, the mood had been strongly anti- Congress, Kumar averred that a similar situation exists today. "It was a watershed year. Nobody thought the opposition could garner so many votes," Kumar said.

The recent Assembly election results show that BJP is head and shoulders above its rivals, Kumar claimed.

Kumar also revealed that as part of their ambitious campaign, BJP workers will also collect funds under a 'one vote, one note' programme. "The minimum amount to be contributed will be Rs 10 while the maximum limit is Rs 1,000," Kumar said.

Reports say BJP is attempting to deepen its connect with voters ahead of Lok Sabha elections, apparently taking a leaf out of Aam Aadmi Party's strategy. Under the slogan, BJP workers will approach people to seek donations ranging from Rs 10 to Rs 1,000.

Ananth Kumar said that the collection will be done by workers at booth-level. The party hopes Modi's appeal will drive people to donate for it as it readies to fight polls with 'Modi for PM' slogan.

Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party is understood to have employed a similar strategy at local level during the recent assembly polls in Delhi.

The AAP strategy was to make the voters stake-holders in its campaign and it apparently helped the debutant in getting the stunning result of 28 out of 70 seats. 

During the meeting, BJP President Rajnath Singh claimed that wins in three states and a good performance in Delhi in the recent Assembly polls had set the momentum in favour of the party and would help it in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. The leaders passed a resolution stating that these results were a referendum that a government has to perform or perish.

The party has only one target — of getting 272-plus seats in Lok Sabha polls.

The party will also hold meetings in over 400 Lok Sabha constituencies before selecting its candidates for the polls.

A national meet of party booth-level workers will be held on February 28 to discuss the micro-level management during polling. The main opposition is also looking to cash in on former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's birthday on Wednesday by celebrating it as 'Sushashan Diwas' (Good Governance Day).

The party is also highlighting its success in bagging a sizeable number of reserved seats in the recent Assembly elections, especially in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. It will also make efforts to bring more parties into the NDA fold to boost its chances of forming a government at the Centre. 

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Parties vie in bank polls

Rajahmundry: With general elections round the corner, the major political parties the Congress, the TD, the BJP, the YSRC and the two communist parties, the CPM and the CPI, are vying to win the polls that would be conducted on a non-party basis for the five-decade old Aryapuram co-operative bank in Rajahmundry.

It is said that the performance in these polls will be treated as a benchmark to test the strength and popularity among 53,000 plus voters who are expected to exercise their franchise on December 29.
The notable feature of this election is that the TD-BJP combine has extended their support to D.V.V. Trianadh. Analysts assess that it is an indication of a possible alliance between the two parties in 2014 general elections.

While the Congress has extended its support to the 12-member panel headed by Challa Sankara Rao, the YSRC and the left parties supported the third group being headed by L. Satyanarayana.
With just three days left for polling, it is reported that the parties have started luring voters to win this prestigious body.

Rumours are doing rounds that some of the aspirants were ready to offer `1,000 per vote. When contacted on the issue of alliance, the Telugu Desam general secretary and party senior leader Gorantla Buchhaiah Chowdary on Wednesday confirmed the alliance between TD and BJP in the polls and exuded confidence that they would win the polls. 

Meanwhile, Congress panel’s representative Challa Shankara Rao contesting in the polls assured to raise the deposits of the bank by three folds in the next three years from the present `350 crore.
Speaking to the mediapersons here on Wednesday, he said that the bank with `750 crore turnover, from 10 branches, had deposits to the tune of `350 crore and `50 crore in the form of funds. Rajahmundry city MLA R. Surya Prakasa Rao and others attended.

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