KOLKATA ELECTIONS 2006
There is the smell of “kal baishakhi” and elections in the air. And both are characterized by the lull before the storm. Of course the lull has been broken by small outbursts like stray comments and the sacking of not just one but two election observers at the Belgachia constituency.
In the outskirts the news has been that the overall turnout in this years election is remarkable. Infact a funny incident which happened with my mother illustrates the definite conscious effort that is being taken to ensure fair elections this year. My mother, being the ever forgetful person that she is, walked into a booth carrying the ID card of an old retainer in our house whose abode is with the angels above today. She was immediately accosted by the booth overseer who was bewidered by the stark difference in the facial features of the card and the card holder(leave alone the stark difference in sex).
There is an undercurrent of suspense this year. A silent murmur that is doing the rounds – will the poll results this time be as unexpected as it happened in Laloo’s Bihar.(isn’t it strange how wrong and apt that sounds?) the voter turnaround every time is near 60%. This time it is expected to go up sharply by another 20-30%. And the fears are that those 20-30% who are going to be able to exercise their franchise this time may turn anti-establishment as the establishment was responsible for the deprivation of those rights. It is they who will be the deciding factor as to which way the polls will go.
There is a vast difference in the urban and rural voting patterns. The life of rural Bengali voters has always been affected by the poll results one way or the other. Their lives are so poverty ridden it is bound to be like that- a question of life of 2 meals or death due to starvation. In Bengal the gap between the rich and poor seem to be widening dangerously (it is time for people to wake up to this sooner than later for this is the stuff that revolutions spring from says history,eg naxal history) Say todays young, smart, mobile and pc savvy teenager is not even remotely aware of the existence of the helplessly frustrated, shabby, dull(because of being under nourished) and under nourished counterpart who is seeing his father(if he has one till now) pull the cart without the bull so to speak. Landless labour is the way of existence of most of those in agriculture. And it is due to the abject indifference of the government that so much dignity and so much pride in “Yeh desh ki dharti” has been changed into “ma dhuto bhat debe?” It is tearfully sad that come elections and it is these people, the rural voters, who believe in the promises which are made to them pre elections. Can they be blamed? Without those promises without that little bit of hope their lives are empty, dark and without food. And post elections what happens- no matter who wins they sink a little bit more in that quagmire of poverty and an apology of existence. While the coffers of the rich become so full they hide their money in real estate and the most expensine education money can buy for their offsprings in videsh. Ironically the voter turnaround , therefore is much more that in the urban. Another reason is that they are organized into groups and thus politically chaperoned into the booths.
Not so in the urban areas. They couldn’t be bothered about the eligibility or reputation of those standing for elections. If it is slightly hot or there is a smart shower it becomes too much of a bother to go out , risk the elements and vote. They are not in groups either. So it is difficult to woo an individual to vote as compared to a group. If they are politically wise they feel they are wiser than all politicians. And so they tend to vote against the establishment.
Now we come to the political parties . On one side you have the ruling party represented by one who would win everyone’s admiration; but strangely who seems to have no control over the grassroot level workers who seem to work on their own discretions. On the other hand of the political spectrum you do not have a viable opposition for those who wish for a change. Gimmicks and public drama can earn a few pats on the back but not political faith. The pulse of Bengal is regaining their lost pride as Bengalies and moving in sync with what is happening globally. It is not as contradictory as it sounds. It was the essence of the personality of Rabindranath Tagore. And it is this pulse and awakening that should be reflected in our politicians also
. Revive the villages, empower them , liberalise the cities and market them globally. Pump more money into the villages rather than waste it in organizing meetings and rallies at the Brigade Parade Grounds. Cut out the bandhs and hartals. When people do not venture outdoors on such occasions it is not their affirmation of support for your cause. It is more due to personal security and a total disgust at something they do not want to be a part of.
Wake up Kolkata. The storm will pass.
AND THE RESULTS ARE OUT
Kolkata election results
CPM :235
Trinamul Congress: 29
Congress :21
Others:8
The results are not any different than the exit polls suggested. It’s a redletter day for the CPM in West Bengal today. Without any tangible programme or presence of the opposition the CPM seems to have gone from strength to strength garnering more supporters behind them. The face of the supporters this year seems to be changing slightly. The young generation seem to have found a personality from whom they have a lot of expectations. This is a novel experience for a CPM leader. Where his image seems to be becoming bigger than the party, something which we have always seen in the Congress. The urban and well heeled also seems to be much in favour of the present party in power and future- power- to- be as they see him as the drafter of the growing IT industry in WB today.
The first reactions of the CPM leaders after smelling victory seems to range from I –Told- You- So to wanting to serve the people better. Ex CM Mr.Jyoti Basu’s indomitable communist spirit came through despite and inspite all the 92 years he has weathered. Mr Budhadeb Bhattacharya in all fairness and dignity(a word that one cannot do without whenever one speaks of him) waved all away saying he will hold a press meeting later with a smile he couldn’t stop smiling. Mr Subhas Chakraborty , on the other hand took the opportunity to lash out at the Election Commision and their harsh discpinary actions during the elections. But the most admirable response came from Mr Ashok Bhattacharya who won in the Siliguri constituency by a remarkable margin of 75,000 votes. When asked what would be his plan of action, he did not start babbling about some Communist manifesto like the others. He spoke about specifics; a badly needed flyover to ease congestion, providing drinking water, about reviving the rural sector and in the end on how to make inroads into the GNLF constituencies in Kurseong and Darjeeling through increasing supporters right now. One could see why he won by that huge margin.
(WILL KEEP U UPDATED)
In the outskirts the news has been that the overall turnout in this years election is remarkable. Infact a funny incident which happened with my mother illustrates the definite conscious effort that is being taken to ensure fair elections this year. My mother, being the ever forgetful person that she is, walked into a booth carrying the ID card of an old retainer in our house whose abode is with the angels above today. She was immediately accosted by the booth overseer who was bewidered by the stark difference in the facial features of the card and the card holder(leave alone the stark difference in sex).
There is an undercurrent of suspense this year. A silent murmur that is doing the rounds – will the poll results this time be as unexpected as it happened in Laloo’s Bihar.(isn’t it strange how wrong and apt that sounds?) the voter turnaround every time is near 60%. This time it is expected to go up sharply by another 20-30%. And the fears are that those 20-30% who are going to be able to exercise their franchise this time may turn anti-establishment as the establishment was responsible for the deprivation of those rights. It is they who will be the deciding factor as to which way the polls will go.
There is a vast difference in the urban and rural voting patterns. The life of rural Bengali voters has always been affected by the poll results one way or the other. Their lives are so poverty ridden it is bound to be like that- a question of life of 2 meals or death due to starvation. In Bengal the gap between the rich and poor seem to be widening dangerously (it is time for people to wake up to this sooner than later for this is the stuff that revolutions spring from says history,eg naxal history) Say todays young, smart, mobile and pc savvy teenager is not even remotely aware of the existence of the helplessly frustrated, shabby, dull(because of being under nourished) and under nourished counterpart who is seeing his father(if he has one till now) pull the cart without the bull so to speak. Landless labour is the way of existence of most of those in agriculture. And it is due to the abject indifference of the government that so much dignity and so much pride in “Yeh desh ki dharti” has been changed into “ma dhuto bhat debe?” It is tearfully sad that come elections and it is these people, the rural voters, who believe in the promises which are made to them pre elections. Can they be blamed? Without those promises without that little bit of hope their lives are empty, dark and without food. And post elections what happens- no matter who wins they sink a little bit more in that quagmire of poverty and an apology of existence. While the coffers of the rich become so full they hide their money in real estate and the most expensine education money can buy for their offsprings in videsh. Ironically the voter turnaround , therefore is much more that in the urban. Another reason is that they are organized into groups and thus politically chaperoned into the booths.
Not so in the urban areas. They couldn’t be bothered about the eligibility or reputation of those standing for elections. If it is slightly hot or there is a smart shower it becomes too much of a bother to go out , risk the elements and vote. They are not in groups either. So it is difficult to woo an individual to vote as compared to a group. If they are politically wise they feel they are wiser than all politicians. And so they tend to vote against the establishment.
Now we come to the political parties . On one side you have the ruling party represented by one who would win everyone’s admiration; but strangely who seems to have no control over the grassroot level workers who seem to work on their own discretions. On the other hand of the political spectrum you do not have a viable opposition for those who wish for a change. Gimmicks and public drama can earn a few pats on the back but not political faith. The pulse of Bengal is regaining their lost pride as Bengalies and moving in sync with what is happening globally. It is not as contradictory as it sounds. It was the essence of the personality of Rabindranath Tagore. And it is this pulse and awakening that should be reflected in our politicians also
. Revive the villages, empower them , liberalise the cities and market them globally. Pump more money into the villages rather than waste it in organizing meetings and rallies at the Brigade Parade Grounds. Cut out the bandhs and hartals. When people do not venture outdoors on such occasions it is not their affirmation of support for your cause. It is more due to personal security and a total disgust at something they do not want to be a part of.
Wake up Kolkata. The storm will pass.
AND THE RESULTS ARE OUT
Kolkata election results
CPM :235
Trinamul Congress: 29
Congress :21
Others:8
The results are not any different than the exit polls suggested. It’s a redletter day for the CPM in West Bengal today. Without any tangible programme or presence of the opposition the CPM seems to have gone from strength to strength garnering more supporters behind them. The face of the supporters this year seems to be changing slightly. The young generation seem to have found a personality from whom they have a lot of expectations. This is a novel experience for a CPM leader. Where his image seems to be becoming bigger than the party, something which we have always seen in the Congress. The urban and well heeled also seems to be much in favour of the present party in power and future- power- to- be as they see him as the drafter of the growing IT industry in WB today.
The first reactions of the CPM leaders after smelling victory seems to range from I –Told- You- So to wanting to serve the people better. Ex CM Mr.Jyoti Basu’s indomitable communist spirit came through despite and inspite all the 92 years he has weathered. Mr Budhadeb Bhattacharya in all fairness and dignity(a word that one cannot do without whenever one speaks of him) waved all away saying he will hold a press meeting later with a smile he couldn’t stop smiling. Mr Subhas Chakraborty , on the other hand took the opportunity to lash out at the Election Commision and their harsh discpinary actions during the elections. But the most admirable response came from Mr Ashok Bhattacharya who won in the Siliguri constituency by a remarkable margin of 75,000 votes. When asked what would be his plan of action, he did not start babbling about some Communist manifesto like the others. He spoke about specifics; a badly needed flyover to ease congestion, providing drinking water, about reviving the rural sector and in the end on how to make inroads into the GNLF constituencies in Kurseong and Darjeeling through increasing supporters right now. One could see why he won by that huge margin.
(WILL KEEP U UPDATED)
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