Thursday 14 May, 2009

Indian elections 2009


Time for a new government in India. As usual the exit polls are busy with predictions, television channels have gone mad with election reports. Allies, ex allies, would be allies, enemies, sworn enemies turned friends, need to thawed enemies and turned into allies etc are all having field day. The nearer the results come, the higher the tensions rise and the king/queen makers get busy.

The election advertisements this time round are also superb. Congress has bought the rights of 'Jai ho" and playing it to whoever will listen. BJP also has some sleek campaign materials. But last elections showed us how the superb ad campaign of "India Shinning" by BJP backfired on them.

Hoards of celebrities have joined the election fray. Some seem interesting like Mallika Saravai contesting as an independent candidate from Gandhinagar, Gujarat. She is contesting against none other than the BJP prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani. It is unlikely she could win the election against Advani. But it is really commendable for her to try. At least for people like her, secularism is not entirely lost from the state.

Yesterday it was my chance to vote. Election in West Bengal was in the last phase. I belong to the constituency of South Kolkata from where the controversial Ms Mamata Banerjee contests. As far as I remember we have always made her win. In spite of all her political blunders, Kolkatans have retained their faith in her because she is the only person who is vocal against the never ending left regime and their atrocities.
Yesterday when we went to vote around noon time, out booth was pretty empty. It took us about a minute to vote. I have that quintessential ink mark on my finger as a proof of my voting. Was reading in the newspaper that this ink mark has become the latest cool thing among the fashion conscious. It was pretty quiet and peaceful in our area. But there were incidents of violence in Bengal.

So far there hasn't been any surprises in this election. Same old leaders, expected prime ministerial candidates. Lets see what surprises the results bring.

1 comment:

  1. No surprise, West Bengalleh CPM na centerrey Congress.

    ReplyDelete

Hey there, thanks for your comment, let me take a peek and I will soon post it. Cheers!