Elections Roundup

NDA – Not looking good. I want BJP to get a thumping absolute majority, and wish Mr. Venkaiah Naidu’s statement that NDA will win 200 seats comes true but off course that’s wishful thinking. First BJP itself appears to be a shadow of its heyday Vajpayee times with routs in Rajasthan and Delhi. Second, the alliances are gone. An almost quisling act by Naveen Patnaik of Orissa has in one swoop reduced 10 to 12 numbers from the NDA final tally, unless if post poll negotiations pull back Patnaik in NDA. States where I expect BJP to show strong performance – Gujarat, MP, Karnataka. That’s it. Yep, so fragmented it appears. In Maharashtra, the alliance with Shiv Sena might just strike the chord this time round, with an almost certain rout in Mumbai expected after 26/11. But Pawar Power is the dominant factor in Maharashtra. In Bihar too, they might just break their neck ahead the Lalu-Paswan duo with strong alliance partner JD-(U). In UP they will be decimated.

UPA – Not looking good either, but still a touch better than the NDA. The Congress was stabbed in the back with two important allies Lalu Prasad Yadav and Ram Vilas Paswan joining hands in Bihar. The duo ‘humiliated’ Congress by leaving only 3 seats from the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar for the Congress. Even in the kurushetra of all battlefields Uttar Pradesh, trusted comrades of Samajwadi Party decided to go solo. However, their other tie ups with Sharad Pawar’s NCP, Mamata Bannerjee’s Trinamool are mostly in place.

Third Front – Hata sawaan ki ghata.. well almost :-). The towering presence of one of the most remarkable women India has ever seen can upset the apple and orange carts of NDA and UPA. Her name is Mayawati. From school teacher to UP chief minister, the saga of this woman’s political career impresses me. She might just make it to the hot seat. But apart from her, the third front is truly a ‘parking lot’ of all the parties which cannot fall into the above two camps. As many prime ministerial hopefuls as parties.

Battlegrounds - You don’t wanna miss the fierce battles here!
Uttar Pradesh – 4 way dog eat dog competition between BSP, SP, Congress and BJP. One helluva contest this shall be
Bihar – BJP-JD(U) against RJD-LJP with Congress playing match referee
Maharashtra – BJP-Shiv Sena against Congress-NCP. This shall go down to the wire as well

A good blog to remain hooked during these exciting times - Lok Sabha Election 2009