India Elections 2009 Results – Live Blogging

With the votes set to be counted for the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, here is what Offstumped is looking forward to today.

#1 Will the BJP overtake the Congress as the single largest party and if so by what margin ?

#2 Will Andhra turn in a hung assembly and if so how will the power equations be re-writtent by the voters. Specifically can the TDP manage the numbers with TRS and others or does the Congress have an outside chance by roping in Chiranjeevi’s PRP ?

#3 Will Orissa turn out a hung assembly. Specifically can Naveen Patnaik’s BJD manage the numbers with others or will he be compelled to a suicidal embrace of the Congress. Will Orissa become the next Karnataka for the BJP ?

#4 Will Maharashtra continue to deliver a split verdict or has the BJP-Shiv Sena combine turned the corner in this key large state ?

#5 Will Tamil Nadu’s unusually high turnout mean a AIADMK sweep or will it be a split verdict for Tamil Nadu’s revolving door politics ?

Specific bellwhether seats of interest are

#1 Mandi in Himachal Pradesh which has voted for the party that has formed the government last 6 elections. A BJP loss here would be ominous

#2 Will Dumka in Jharkhand vote against JMM/Congress/RJD

#3 Will Mayurbhanj in Orissa vote against BJP ?

#4 Will Nandyal in Andhra vote against Congress ?

#5 Will Mahabubnagar in Andhra surprise the TRS by dumping KCR ?

#6 Will Peddapalle in Andhra vote against the Congress ?

#7 Will the BJP sweep Rajmahal, Godda, Jamshedpur and Giridih in Jharkhand ?

#8 Which of these 3 Gujarat bellwhether seats will BJP wrest or retain – Anand, Bulsar, Banaskantha ?

#9 Which way will Kangra in Himachal Pradesh go ?

#10 What about bellwhether seats in Chattisgarh (Mahasamund), Maharashtra (Ahmednagar), Punjab (Jalandher), Rajasthan (Sikar), West Bengal (Dum-dum)

#11 How many of the bellwhether seats in Orissa of Aska, Phulbani, Bolangir, Sambalpur, Deogarh, Sundargarh will go to BJP ?

#12 Finally will any of the 4 bellwhether seats of Tamil Nadu Vellore, Chidambaram, Coimbatore, Nagappatnam fall to the AIADMK lead alliance ?

Also catch all the action via Offstumped on

- Twitter

- Live analysis and debate on this Internet Panel

PS: As this goes to press, a short email exchange with reliable quarters in the BJP reveals fairly high confidence, fingers crossed.

Filed under: CNN-IBN Boycott, Chattisgarh Polls 2008, Chhattisgarh Polls 2008, Delhi Polls 2008, DesiPundit, Dharma-debates, Dharmayudh-2009, Gujarat Polls 2007, India Elections 2009, India Lok Sabha Elections 2009, Karnataka Polls 2008, Lok Sabha Polls 2008-2009, Madhya Pradesh Polls 2008, Madhya Pradesh Polls 2008, Manmohan Confidence Vote, Offstumped, Offstumped on Twitter, Pratibha Patil, Rajasthan Polls 2008, War on Terror, betrayal of aam admi, jeetega-bharat

India Elections 2009 – Morality of Elections

With another 24 hours to go before we learn the mind of the Indian voter, we are once agained regaled with endless speculation on how the Congress has many paths to power and how the BJP has few options.

Looking beyond the many possible deals that can be struck between the ADMK, BSP, SP, TDP, BJD and the rest of the alphabet soup, it is important to not lose sight of the morality of this election.

In 2005 the voters of Bihar expressed their disgust at the 15 year corrup rule of the Lalu Yadav lead RJD with the support of the Congress. In a blatant repudiation of the voter’s sentiment the Ram Vilas Paswan’s LJP attempted to drive a hard bargain with the RJD with the Congress appointed Governor Buta Singh lending a helping hand.

The LJP, Congress and the RJD had to eventually pay a high price for violating the morality of the Feb 2005 election with the BJP-JD(U) under Nitish Kumar sweeping the October 2005 election.

In 2004 Karnataka voted to punish the S.M. Krishna lead Congress government by favoring the BJP as the single largest party. In a blatant repudiation of the sentiment of the Karnataka voter, the Congress made common cause with the JD-S to form a government by seeking moral sanction under a dubious secularism. Two years later the JD-S parted ways with the Congress to form a government with the BJP before betraying within 12 months.

With its morality violated twice Karnataka voted the BJP to power in 2008 with vengeance that saw both the Congress and to a larger degree JD-S pay a heavy price for their myopic opportunism.

Jharkhand, Goa and Assam have had their morality violated over the last 3 years despite voting to punish non-performing governments.

With all the exit polls pointing to a NDA sweep in Jharkhand it is but a matter of time before the myopic opportunism that gets passed of as “upholding secularism” is repudiated once again by an angry electorate that will brook no more  violations of the morality of their electoral preferences.

With 24 hours to go we are once again witnessing this myopic opportunism practised by the Congress, Communists and others of its ilk rearing its head under the guise of keeping out the BJP at all costs.

This myopic opportunism is being actively fanned by a complicit Delhi based media which continues to conduct itself in a moral vaccum.

So morally bankrupt are these media spinmeisters that they see no immorality in suggesting that an AIADMK even if it sweeps Tamil Nadu on anti-UPA plank should embrace the Congress just because it suits their political bias.

Let us set aside the realpolitik for a moment to reflect on what this means. Tamil Nadu has had its all time high turnout in a Lok Sabha elections. Tamil voters across the state have showed up to vote incensed over what they percieve as a betrayal of Tamil interests by the DMK and the Congress.

By suggesting that the AIADMK, if it indeed it were to be the beneficiary of this punishment by the voters, should just embrace the party against who the Tamil voter in all likelihood has expressed anger and disgust, the media stands guity of the same violations of the morality of elections that we had witnessed in Bihar, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Goa and Assam.

Not only is this myopic opportunism immoral it is also a slap on the face of Indian Democracy for it negates the very purpose of elections. Why hold elections if parties were to violate the morality of those elections to strike opportunistic alliances that are a complete repudiation of the voter’s sentiment.

Let it be very clear to the Congress Party and the rest of the 3rd front campers that any attempts by them to stitch a coalition premised on negativity would come with a heavy political price.

Unless the Congress emerges as the single largest party in this election it would have lost its moral authority to form the next government.  The Congress must desist from attempting to form a government if the BJP emerges as the single largest party. Any attempts by the Congress to stitch a minority government or to prop up a 3rd party government with the sole purpose of keeping the BJP out even if it emerges as the single largest party would be a rank violation of the morality of the election.

Filed under: Dharmayudh-2009, India Elections 2009, India Lok Sabha Elections 2009, Lok Sabha Polls 2008-2009, jeetega-bharat

Morality of Elections

With another 24 hours to go before we learn the mind of the Indian voter, we are once agained regaled with endless speculation on how the Congress has many paths to power and how the BJP has few options.

Looking beyond the many possible deals that can be struck between the ADMK, BSP, SP, TDP, BJD and the rest of the alphabet soup, it is important to not lose sight of the morality of this election.

In 2005 the voters of Bihar expressed their disgust at the 15 year corrup rule of the Lalu Yadav lead RJD with the support of the Congress. In a blatant repudiation of the voter’s sentiment the Ram Vilas Paswan’s LJP attempted to drive a hard bargain with the RJD with the Congress appointed Governor Buta Singh lending a helping hand.

The LJP, Congress and the RJD had to eventually pay a high price for violating the morality of the Feb 2005 election with the BJP-JD(U) under Nitish Kumar sweeping the October 2005 election.

In 2004 Karnataka voted to punish the S.M. Krishna lead Congress government by favoring the BJP as the single largest party. In a blatant repudiation of the sentiment of the Karnataka voter, the Congress made common cause with the JD-S to form a government by seeking moral sanction under a dubious secularism. Two years later the JD-S parted ways with the Congress to form a government with the BJP before betraying within 12 months.

With its morality violated twice Karnataka voted the BJP to power in 2008 with vengeance that saw both the Congress and to a larger degree JD-S pay a heavy price for their myopic opportunism.

Jharkhand, Goa and Assam have had their morality violated over the last 3 years despite voting to punish non-performing governments.

With all the exit polls pointing to a NDA sweep in Jharkhand it is but a matter of time before the myopic opportunism that gets passed of as “upholding secularism” is repudiated once again by an angry electorate that will brook no more  violations of the morality of their electoral preferences.

With 24 hours to go we are once again witnessing this myopic opportunism practised by the Congress, Communists and others of its ilk rearing its head under the guise of keeping out the BJP at all costs.

This myopic opportunism is being actively fanned by a complicit Delhi based media which continues to conduct itself in a moral vaccum.

So morally bankrupt are these media spinmeisters that they see no immorality in suggesting that an AIADMK even if it sweeps Tamil Nadu on anti-UPA plank should embrace the Congress just because it suits their political bias.

Let us set aside the realpolitik for a moment to reflect on what this means. Tamil Nadu has had its all time high turnout in a Lok Sabha elections. Tamil voters across the state have showed up to vote incensed over what they percieve as a betrayal of Tamil interests by the DMK and the Congress.

By suggesting that the AIADMK, if it indeed it were to be the beneficiary of this punishment by the voters, should just embrace the party against who the Tamil voter in all likelihood has expressed anger and disgust, the media stands guity of the same violations of the morality of elections that we had witnessed in Bihar, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Goa and Assam.

Not only is this myopic opportunism immoral it is also a slap on the face of Indian Democracy for it negates the very purpose of elections. Why hold elections if parties were to violate the morality of those elections to strike opportunistic alliances that are a complete repudiation of the voter’s sentiment.

Let it be very clear to the Congress Party and the rest of the 3rd front campers that any attempts by them to stitch a coalition premised on negativity would come with a heavy political price.

Unless the Congress emerges as the single largest party in this election it would have lost its moral authority to form the next government.  The Congress must desist from attempting to form a government if the BJP emerges as the single largest party. Any attempts by the Congress to stitch a minority government or to prop up a 3rd party government with the sole purpose of keeping the BJP out even if it emerges as the single largest party would be a rank violation of the morality of the election.

Filed under: Chattisgarh Polls 2008, Delhi Polls 2008, DesiPundit, Dharmayudh-2009, Gujarat Polls 2007, India Elections 2009, Karnataka Polls 2008, Lok Sabha Polls 2008-2009, Madhya Pradesh Polls 2008, Manmohan Confidence Vote, Rajasthan Polls 2008, betrayal of aam admi, jeetega-bharat

India Elections 2009 Live Results – A Crowd Sourcing Initiative

So after a month long elections and all of us arguing which state will go which way, we are planning to use a new tool coveritlive and start the live telecast of results, we request every one to contribute and participate.

We have already got the setup done and we have around 5 panelists who are going to update the reults in live time starting from 6.oo AM IST on results day and hope to carry it on till we get the results of the last seat.

Click Here  to set your reminder and login to the screen. if anyone want to participate please drop in an email to centerofrightcv@gmail.com for invitation as a panelist

We have folks from promise of reason led by chakreshm and our very own Offstumped, NR, myself who have already signed up as panel members.

Let us try this out . Please click on the link and you can set your reminders on the same. Another 60 hrs to go.

Filed under: DesiPundit, Dharmayudh-2009, India Elections 2009, India Lok Sabha Elections 2009, Lok Sabha Polls 2008-2009, jeetega-bharat

India Elections 2009 – Countdown to Exit Polls

Its the era where “news” is not “news” enough anymore but “prognostication on what news might be” 3 days from now is more interesting “news”.

So here is to counting down in anticipation of the exit polls.

With exit polls having acquired a notorious reputation over the many election cycles since 2004, how must we interpret the exit polls that will be released later today ?

The key is to glean if there is a trend that all the exit polls agree on for a given State.

If one looks back at the exit polls over the last 4 years they have rarely been accurate on final numbers but most did point to a dominant trend but were muted on how accentuated the trend was.

So in 2004 you had exit polls detected the dominant trend of NDA losing ground but being muted in their estimate of the magnitude of loss.

Similarly in the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls the exit polls polls detected the dominant trend of Mayawati’s BSP smelling power but were muted in their estimate of whether the BSP would cross the half-way mark.

We saw the same thing in the Gujarat exit polls that saw the dominant trend of Narendra Modi coming back but were muted in how badly the Congress would perform.

In Karnataka as well the exit polls were right on the trend of BJP being at the top of the triad but were muted in how close it would get to a majority of its own.

To extrapolate exit polls to the final outcome on May 16th one should first look for dominant trends on a State by State basis that all the exit polls agree on.

We must then extrapolate that dominant trend to what it could mean in seats with some reality check on how accentuated or muted the trend was before adding up those extrapolations to arrive at the national figures.

The challenge like in 2004 will be the effects of the Zero Sum Game, where dramatic trends in opposite directions across 2 states cancel each other out between the Congress and BJP.  This could make the sum total of extrapolations suspect for there could be small pickings in each state that could add up to a significant margin for a party like the Congress which is in fray in more States than for a party like the BJP that is in fray in lesser States.

Key state wise trends that we must look for

- Are gains by the PRP in Andhra coming at the expense of losses for the Congress ?

- Is the Congress suffering more losses than NCP in Maharashtra ?

- Is the JD-S vote share shrinking dramatically in Karnataka ?

- Degree of losses for Left in Kerala and West Bengal

- Differential between AIDMK and DMK in Tamil Nadu

- Degree to which SP is holding ground in Uttar Pradesh

- Degree to which BJP is holding ground in Orissa

End of the day

- the Congress’ best chances lie in poor performance by the Left in Kerala and West Bengal coupled with gains in Orissa and other NDA ruled states to offset expected losses in Andhra and Maharashtra.

- the BJP’s best chances lie in holding ground and limiting losses in NDA ruled states making significant gains in Maharashtra, Bihar and Jharkhand while getting lucky in Uttar Pradesh

The race is still very much about being the single largest party for the post poll game of bluff could end up in a stalemate between the Left and Congress prompting Pratibha Patil to not go by who has the numbers for 272 but by who is single largest.

Filed under: DesiPundit, Dharmayudh-2009, India Elections 2009, India Lok Sabha Elections 2009, Lok Sabha Polls 2008-2009

Open Letter to Sudheendra Kulkarni

Dear Shri Kulkarni

We have exchanged many notes in private but I wanted to make this one public on your latest op-ed in the Indian Express titled “From tutu-mainmain to Tu and Main“.

You have rightly framed the issue on the abject lack of bi-partisanship and lack of respect for the opposite point of view in our national political culture to the point where every political exchange has to be necessarily colored with extreme adjectives like “tears into”, “ridicules”, “snubs”, “mocks” and so on.

While one need not delve into history on this subject, the responsibility over the last 5 years for this clearly rests with the Congress Party for not having gone the extra creative mile to create a national consensus on issues like the Indo-US Nuclear Deal.

Be that as it may the 2009 elections mark a significant turn in this culture of political debate when a senior most aide to the most important political leader to one side of the political divide is able to seek the middle ground on issues of national interest in the middle of a bitter political campaign.

Some in the media may color this election season as highly personal and vicious and most in the media may attribute it to the characterization of Dr. Manmohan Singh’s conduct in office.

However this blogger being privy to facts that they are not can say without doubt that Mr. Advani’s Campaign has conducted itself in the most honorable and dignified manner while chosing not to hit below the belt even when opportunities have presented themselves even after one of the worst scandals on the floor of Parliament.

At this time it is anyone’s guess what the ballots will reveal on May 16th but this blogger hopes that no matter what the outcome is on May 16th a beginning can be made on bi-partisanship in New Delhi. You have made the first move and this blogger hopes the Congress reciprocates appropriately over time.

Wishing you all the best and congratulations on a campaign executed honorably with dignity.

regards

An Aam Admi

Filed under: Chattisgarh Polls 2008, Chhattisgarh Polls 2008, Delhi Polls 2008, Dharmayudh-2009, Gujarat Polls 2007, India Elections 2009, Karnataka Polls 2008, Lok Sabha Polls 2008-2009, Madhya Pradesh Polls 2008, Rajasthan Polls 2008, betrayal of aam admi, jeetega-bharat

India Elections 2009 – Focus on the Finish Line

With the final 48 hours before the fifth and last phase of polling for the 2009 Lok Sabha elections upon us Offstumped shifts focus to major states West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, where politics is conducted beyond the national political faultlines.

The Telegraph has carried a scathing editorial on the culture of political violence in West Bengal that saw an infant killed in the arms of its mother.

The rot in West Bengal has less to do with the violent cadre in the heartland but more to do with the culture of accomodation within the so called intellectual bhadralok of Kolkota and New Delhi who have given the CPI-Mafioso a free pass for the last 5 years for some of the worst acts of violence while the Sonia, Rahul, Manmohan lead Congress looked the other way.

It is amazing that the Delhi based media elite have been debating breathlessly the various permutations and combinations that would see the Congress and Left without giving a single thought to the immoral and unconstitutional excesses that have been the fallout of this opportunistic axis of evil.

The Congress and the Left constitute an evil political alliance and the many muslim victims of Nandigram stand testimony to that inconvenient truth. The Delhi based elite can put all the lipstick they want but this alliance is a Pig and it stinks.

As West Bengal goes to polls it perhaps has little to choose between one culture of political violence over another, but the elite of Kolkota who live in denial would themselves and their state a lot of good with some honest introspection on how they have accorded moral sanction to one of the worst political regimes for over two decades.

The culture of politics in Tamil Nadu is marginally different from West Bengal but for the fact that the voters have been far more unforgiving if not sagacious.

As Tamil Nadu goes to polls one must not forget that while Karunanidhi’s bigotry and Baalu’s nepotism have come to define politics in Tamil Nadu in the last few years, it was Jayalalitha’s arrogance that saw one of the worst abuses of political power on an ancient Hindu Institution with no accountability to date.

West Bengal and Tamil Nadu represent the failure of the BJP and the Congress to offer credible regional alternatives having ceded ground by default to what can unarguably be characterised as the worst Indian Politics has to offer.

As the month long Indian General Elections draws to a close it is with shame and despondency this blogger wraps up the Campaign Season lamenting the rotten state of politics in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.

Filed under: Chattisgarh Polls 2008, Chhattisgarh Polls 2008, Delhi Polls 2008, DesiPundit, Dharmayudh-2009, Gujarat Polls 2007, India Elections 2009, India Lok Sabha Elections 2009, Karnataka Polls 2008, Lok Sabha Polls 2008-2009, Madhya Pradesh Polls 2008, Madhya Pradesh Polls 2008, Rajasthan Polls 2008, betrayal of aam admi, jeetega-bharat

India Elections 2009 – Weekend after Phase 4

Keep the debate going ….

Filed under: Dharmayudh-2009, India Elections 2009, India Lok Sabha Elections 2009, Lok Sabha Polls 2008-2009

India Elections 2009 Phase 3 & Phase 4 Analysis

The month long election has reached an interesting juncture with the first four phases of voting done with barely over a week to go before the votes are counted.

The turnout figures for phase 4 seem quite encouraging in stark contrast to the less than impressive turnout in phase 3.

West Bengal, where polling was held in 17 constituencies, the voter turnout was “large” (about 75%). In Jammu and Kashmir where the Srinagar constituency went to the polls, there was a low turnout (around 24%), he said.

In J and K the polling this time was better. In 2004 it was 18.57 per cent and in the 1999 Lok Sabha poll it was 11.93 per cent. Separatists had given a poll boycott call in the State.

This phase covered Haryana – for 10 seats, Rajasthan 25, Punjab 4, West Bengal 17, Bihar 3, Jammu and Kashmir 1, Uttar Pradesh 18 and NCT of Delhi 7.

Bihar recorded a turnout of 37 per cent. It was 63 in Haryana, 65 in Punjab, and 50 each in Rajasthan and UP.

With this phase, polling has been completed in 457 of the 543 Lok Sabha constituencies and an average of about 55.5 voters had cast their votes

Continuing with Offstumped analysis of bellwhether seats there are about 4 seats that are of interest across phases 3 and 4. (click here for analysis of bellwhether seats in Phase 1 and Phase 2)

#1 Banaskantha in Gujarat

#2 Anand in Gujarat

#3 Bulsar in Gujarat

#4 Sikar in Rajashthan

Of these the 3 seats in Gujarat can be considered the most reliable indicators of the BJP’s prospects of forming a government at the Center. The 3 seats in Gujarat voted 5 out of 6 times for the party that either formed the government in Delhi or for a party that supported it. More importantly every single time these seats voted for the BJP a Non-Congress government was formed at the center. If this report is anything to go by the Congress is clearly not fancying its chances in Banaskantha. However the Satta market seems to punt for the Congress in Anand.

Sikar in Rajasthan too got it right 5 out of 6 times and has not voted against the BJP in the last 3 elections. It can be considered a reliable indicator of the anti-Congress sentiment except for 2004.  The big unknown this year in Sikar is the emergence of the CPI-M making it a triangular fight. No data yet on the turnout figures in Sikar, it will be interesting to see if a high turnout is an indicator of red and saffron mobilization.

Two other seats in Delhi which have reliably voted for the party that forms the Government were Delhi Outer and Delhi Sadar both of which have been transformed in the post-delimitation era making seats in Delhi less reliable an indicator of which way the wind is blowing.

Phase 5 has some interesting bellwhether seats in Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh and an odd seat in West Bengal.

In retrospect it must be said that we need to come to terms with the reality that Lok Sabha elections are no longer a referendum on national issues but are really about control of the national power structure. End of the day the choice that has to be made by each voter is about which coalition has earned their trust to be vested with that control.

When viewed through the prism of power structures, the post results game of bluff becomes as important as the prepoll agenda. It is clear that no matter what the outcome is on May 16th BJP’s best chances lie in the rather outcome of the game of bluff that will be played between the Congress and the Communists after May 16th.

More on that game of bluff in the next post.

Originally posted here

Filed under: Dharmayudh-2009, India Elections 2009, India Lok Sabha Elections 2009, Lok Sabha Polls 2008-2009

India Elections 2009 Phase 3 & Phase 4 Analysis

The month long election has reached an interesting juncture with the first four phases of voting done with barely over a week to go before the votes are counted.

The turnout figures for phase 4 seem quite encouraging in stark contrast to the less than impressive turnout in phase 3.

West Bengal, where polling was held in 17 constituencies, the voter turnout was “large” (about 75%). In Jammu and Kashmir where the Srinagar constituency went to the polls, there was a low turnout (around 24%), he said.

In J and K the polling this time was better. In 2004 it was 18.57 per cent and in the 1999 Lok Sabha poll it was 11.93 per cent. Separatists had given a poll boycott call in the State.

This phase covered Haryana – for 10 seats, Rajasthan 25, Punjab 4, West Bengal 17, Bihar 3, Jammu and Kashmir 1, Uttar Pradesh 18 and NCT of Delhi 7.

Bihar recorded a turnout of 37 per cent. It was 63 in Haryana, 65 in Punjab, and 50 each in Rajasthan and UP.

With this phase, polling has been completed in 457 of the 543 Lok Sabha constituencies and an average of about 55.5 voters had cast their votes

Continuing with Offstumped analysis of bellwhether seats there are about 4 seats that are of interest across phases 3 and 4. (click here for analysis of bellwhether seats in Phase 1 and Phase 2)

#1 Banaskantha in Gujarat

#2 Anand in Gujarat

#3 Bulsar in Gujarat

#4 Sikar in Rajashthan

Of these the 3 seats in Gujarat can be considered the most reliable indicators of the BJP’s prospects of forming a government at the Center. The 3 seats in Gujarat voted 5 out of 6 times for the party that either formed the government in Delhi or for a party that supported it. More importantly every single time these seats voted for the BJP a Non-Congress government was formed at the center. If this report is anything to go by the Congress is clearly not fancying its chances in Banaskantha. However the Satta market seems to punt for the Congress in Anand.

Sikar in Rajasthan too got it right 5 out of 6 times and has not voted against the BJP in the last 3 elections. It can be considered a reliable indicator of the anti-Congress sentiment except for 2004.  The big unknown this year in Sikar is the emergence of the CPI-M making it a triangular fight. No data yet on the turnout figures in Sikar, it will be interesting to see if a high turnout is an indicator of red and saffron mobilization.

Two other seats in Delhi which have reliably voted for the party that forms the Government were Delhi Outer and Delhi Sadar both of which have been transformed in the post-delimitation era making seats in Delhi less reliable an indicator of which way the wind is blowing.

Phase 5 has some interesting bellwhether seats in Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh and an odd seat in West Bengal.

In retrospect it must be said that we need to come to terms with the reality that Lok Sabha elections are no longer a referendum on national issues but are really about control of the national power structure. End of the day the choice that has to be made by each voter is about which coalition has earned their trust to be vested with that control.

When viewed through the prism of power structures, the post results game of bluff becomes as important as the prepoll agenda. It is clear that no matter what the outcome is on May 16th BJP’s best chances lie in the rather outcome of the game of bluff that will be played between the Congress and the Communists after May 16th.

More on that game of bluff in the next post.

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Filed under: Chattisgarh Polls 2008, Chhattisgarh Polls 2008, Delhi Polls 2008, DesiPundit, Dharmayudh-2009, Gujarat Polls 2007, India Elections 2009, Karnataka Polls 2008, Lok Sabha Polls 2008-2009, Madhya Pradesh Polls 2008, Rajasthan Polls 2008, betrayal of aam admi, jeetega-bharat