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The Election Day Results Chat

Madan Lal Khurana (Mon Mar 2 1998 10:23)

Hello, everybody, I am here...

Rediff @ Cyber Cafe, New Delhi (Mon Mar 2 1998 10:23)

GEORGE FERNANDES TOLD REDIFF ON THE NET HE DID NOT AGREE TO SHARING A PLATFORM WITH JAYALALITHA BUT HE SAID THAT IN THE CMP HE HAD WRITTEN ABOUT FIGHTING CORRUPTION. ALSO, HE MENTIONED THAT THE BJP, ALONG WITH ITS ALLIES, WOULD SURELY FORM THE GOVERNMENT SINCE SUPPORT WOULD COME FROM PARTIES IN THE NORTH-EASTERN STATES AND INDEPENDENTS.

Madan Lal Khurana (Mon Mar 2 1998 10:23)

The overall scenario is such that the BJP is coming to power. We will form the government.

Rediff @ Cyber Cafe, New Delhi (Mon Mar 2 1998 10:24)

ABOUT MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES, FERNANDES WAS VERY CLEAR THAT DOMESTIC COMPANIES WOULD BE GIVEN PREFERENCE TO MNCs SINCE THEY HAD TO BE ENCOURAGED.

Madan Lal Khurana (Mon Mar 2 1998 10:25)

our votes have not come down in Maharashtra. But the Samjwadi Party and the Repubolican Party of India have come together to vote for the Congress. That is the reason for the Congress doing well in Maharashtra.

Rediff @ Cyber Cafe, New Delhi (Mon Mar 2 1998 10:25)

MR FERNANDES WAS VERY CLEAR THAT THE PATENTS AND INSURANCE BILL WON'T BE PASSED IN THE LOK SABHA EVEN IF THE BJP AND ITS ALLIES FORM THE GOVERNMENT AT THE CENTRE.

Madan Lal Khurana (Mon Mar 2 1998 10:26)

P Smith: I hope, rather I definitely feel, the BJP will form the government.

Madan Lal Khurana (Mon Mar 2 1998 10:27)

In Maharashtra and Rajasthan local issues and, to a certain extent, the anti-incumbency factor went against us. Although we fought on national issues...

Madan Lal Khurana (Mon Mar 2 1998 10:30)

PCBose: I think that a good number of Jatav votes have gone to Meera Kumar...

Rediff @ Cyber Cafe, New Delhi (Mon Mar 2 1998 10:30)

MR FERNANDES SAID MUSLIMS NEED NOT FEAR THE RSS SINCE THAT GROUP HAD CHANGED CHANGED ITS ATTITUDE TOWARDS MUSLIMS IN THE LAST FIFTY YEARS.

Madan Lal Khurana (Mon Mar 2 1998 10:32)

Our alliance in Punjab is a social alliance not just apolitical alliance. It is an alliance with Hindus and Sikhs and it will stay. Now the Akalis don't press for the Anandpur Sahib resolution at all...

Madan Lal Khurana (Mon Mar 2 1998 10:48)

I don't feel that this kind of an alliance is possible in other parts of the country. It was possible in Punjab because the whole Punjab problem was between Hindus and Sikhs.

Rediff Team@BJP HQ (Mon Mar 2 1998 10:50)

That was Madan Lal Khurana, former chief minister of Delhi and the vice-president of the BJP. He forged the BJP's formidable alliance with the Akali Dal in Punjab and would not take all credit for the party's good show in Punjab...

Rediff Team@BJP HQ (Mon Mar 2 1998 10:54)

Maharashtra still puzzles the political pundits here. Pramod Mahajan's defeat was shocking and least expected.

Prem Panicker (Mon Mar 2 1998 10:55)

Meanwhile, Ganesh Nadar, in our office here, is suddenly finding politicians of all hues inaccessible. Pramod Mahajan is, well, missing. We are told that he is in his constituency -- we can only presume he is trying to figure out just why he is getting a hammering. Balasaheb Thackeray is not interested in conversation just now. Maybe tomorrow, he says. Mrs Nalini Chidambaram is very happy her husband has won. So is Mr Chidamabaram, presumably. Mrs Chidambaram's happiness is tinged by sorrow that her hubby's win is pretty pyrrhic, since his party is getting walloped in TN. As for the man himself, "Can we talk tomorrow, when things are clearer?" is his position just now. He is in his constituency too.

Saisuresh Sivaswamy (Mon Mar 2 1998 11:20)

Prem: It is very interesting that with nearly 100 leads yet to come, most of which are from the BJP stronghold, the BJP and its allies have already touched 210, and it is not impossible that it will come within striking distance of power. 250 or so seats, which will be quite remarkable if it comes about.

Rediff Team@BJP HQ (Mon Mar 2 1998 11:23)

PSmith: Though most BJP leaders have signed off for the day, the workers are still here monitoring the trends. but the leaders do feel that they are poised to get more than 240. The rest, they feel, they could manage by cobbling up a working majority. But hectic parleys are yet to begin on who/what/how and how much! Meanwhile, we are winding up for the day. See you all tomorrow morning.

Saisuresh Sivaswamy (Mon Mar 2 1998 11:24)

Prem: What is unfolding is that the BJP may not have as smooth a run in UP and Bihar as expected

Rajesh Ramachandran Rediff@Delhi (Mon Mar 2 1998 11:37)

Prem, it seems the BJP march to power won't be all that easy. Sources in Delhi reveal that Nitish Kumar has started talks with the United Front. If the Samata Party supremo pulls it off, then it could be hard for the BJP to reach the simple majority mark. BJP sources also indicated the possibility...

Prem Panicker (Mon Mar 2 1998 11:41)

Rajesh>> Yeah, right... judging by the voices we are hearing, there is rapid behind the scenes confabs -- TMC among other players, I suspect, is in discussions with the Cong.

Prem Panicker (Mon Mar 2 1998 11:43)

Amazingly, not one politician of any colour whatsoever will allow himself to be pinned down to any definite statement about which of the two big players they will support -- there must be more horse tradiing happening in Delhi than at the height of the season at the Maharashtra Turf Club, I would think.

Prem (Mon Mar 2 1998 13:48)

SAI>> The more I look at the Kalmadi result, the more I wonder what is going on in his mind just now. Wherever I went in Pune, there was this one thing that kept coming back to haunt Suresh -- that famous line about his being a beggar in a Mercedes Benz, which Thackeray loosed off in the middle of a televised press conference.

I don't suppose any candidate ever purchased support at a price dearer than the one Suresh Kalmadi is having to pay here.

Nikhil Lakshman (Mon Mar 2 1998 14:55)

Congress has lost all but one seat in West Bengal. Ghani Khan Chowdhury is the only one who may win the Malda seat. The Trinamul Congress has picked up eight seats in Bengal so far.

N Lakshman (Mon Mar 2 1998 16:51)

abc12: The President will almost certainly invite the BJP, the largest party in the 12th Lok Sabha, to form the next government. Of course, its allies may need to play ball, and that they may not do without a CMP. George Fernandes, J Jayalalitha, Subramanian Swamy... These are people Mr Advani will have to deal with...

N LAkshman (Mon Mar 2 1998 16:53)

KKarthik: Like the Narasimha Rao government, it will be a minority government to start with, but you can expect some other parties -- the TDP is spoken of in this connection -- to give it tacit support in the name of avoiding a mid-term poll.

N LAkshman (Mon Mar 2 1998 16:56)

What is interesting is that the BJP's vote share in UP (36%) is marginally higher than the SP (31%) and the BSP (24%).

Prem Panicker (Mon Mar 2 1998 19:29)

On the chat site, someone was saying just now that the figures here point to the mess in India. True enough. What is increasingly happening is that local leaders have realised that they don't have to make a bid for national glory -- if they can put up three, four candidates in areas where they are strong and return at least a couple to power, they can bargain with the big parties -- I mean, look at the Kerala Congress Mani, for instance. All it has is one leader, K M Mani. This, I guess, is the biggest danger that the politics of coalition has caused -- it has all but institutionalised horse-trading.

Prem Panicker (Mon Mar 2 1998 19:33)

What will be interesting, once all the results are out, is to examine some of the pre-counting myths: such as the Sonia factor, the 'sympathy' factor for the BJP in UP, and so on, and see just how much of it was media speculation, and how much was fact.

Prem Panicker (Mon Mar 2 1998 20:11)

There is a lot of talk about the results in TN. Strange -- I didn't think much of it then, but now I am beginning to believe that perhaps security could have been the overriding concern. This guy in Coimbatore was telling me, "What if Jayalalitha robbed the state blind? At least we could go out and work and earn money -- but now, it is clashes and bombs everywhere!".

More than anything else, it would seem to be law and order that has caused this incredible backlash against the ruling government -- that, and a very widespread perception that the DMK-TMC is bending over backwards to favour one particular community.

Saisuresh Sivaswamy (Mon Mar 2 1998 20:12)

What I gather at this moment is that it is as difficult for the BJP to garner those nearly 30 seats as it was to look for the 70-odd seats in 1996. And, the Congress-UF bloc seems inherently unstable. Where is the polity heading, at this rate? I was hoping that the new millenium will see us emerging strong and stable, whoever is ruling us

Saisuresh Sivaswamy (Mon Mar 2 1998 20:13)

Talking of TN, Prem, what is it that is making Karunanidhi incapable of ridding himself of the bomb culture image?

Saisuresh Sivaswamy (Mon Mar 2 1998 20:17)

Yes Prem, what is it about Karunanidhi that makes him irresistible to bomb-makers and arsonists, you think? Will he ever rid himself of this public image?

Prem Panicker (Mon Mar 2 1998 20:22)

Interestingly, K Karunakaran has already said that the LDF government should quit in Kerala, following the reversal. Generally, it is the Congress that claims the national elections have no bearing on state governments, that is because it used to be in the position of ruling in various states. Now that it is more often than not on the other side...

Prem Panicker (Mon Mar 2 1998 20:24)

Sai>> Interesting hypothesis that. In Coimbatore, when I was talking to an industralist and asked him "why Coimbatore," he said, "Why not, we had an official grenade factory here when the LTTE was active, so the knowhow is already there!" Do you get the feeling that while K'nidhi is not exactly lily white -- for instance, it is painfully obvious that the police actually precipitated, then aided in, the recent riots there -- he is also getting to carry the burden of the sins of past governments?