Indian Holocaust My Father`s Life and Time - SIX HUNDRED THIRTY SIX
Palash Biswas
http://indianholocaustmyfatherslifeandtime.blogspot.com/
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Mamata wave sweeps West Bengal, Jayalalithaa ousts DMK in TN!After 34 years in power, the Left has had to give way to the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal. Mamata Banerjee's call for 'Paribortan', or change, was answered leading Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to resign as Chief Minister.Facing a rout in the Assembly polls with the AIADMK storming back to power, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi on Friday submitted the resignation of his ministry.The issue of corruption may be what pushed the DMK out of power in Tamil Nadu. Outside Jayalalithaa's house in Chennai, huge fireworks announced the voters' verdict: a Godzilla of a win for the leader of the AIADMK and her allies
The EXCLUDED Communities Indigenous Aborigin Minorities backed Brahamin Marxists who Hijacked AMBEDKARITE Economics and Trade Union Movement to sustain Manusmriti Rule and later DEFENDED Corporate Zionist IMPERILISM represented by LPG Mafia Extar constitutional Brahaminical Hegemony and Politics BETRAYING Mases! The BETRAYAL is PAID Back as India's Communists Friday found themselves out in the political cold with a massive defeat in its 34-year bastion West Bengal and a loss, albeit a narrow one, in Kerala, leaving them with just a narrow sliver of power in northeast's Tripura.It means DEATH of whatsoeve RESISTANCE Possible for the Proposed Seond Phase of ECONOMIC Reforms as Highlighted in Economic Survey and PRANAB Budget! Mamata, Jayalalita, GOGOI and Oman Chandi all take over HELMs in Strategic states SUSTINING Brahaminical MONOPOLY in Indian Political Economy!All These Leaders are BRAHAMIN!Most DANGEROUS Trend emerging in Indian DEMOCRACY is the SUPERLATIVE Dominance of Brahaminical Media, CIVIL Society, Intelligentsia and NGOs supported by Foreign Capital Inflow and Forces of FREE MARKET which HERALD the Continuity of Indian HOLOCAUST!The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex moved up by 195 points to 18,531 as investors welcomed the Assembly results today which showed support for UPA Government's alliance partners, notably Mamta Banerjee-led TMC routing the Left in West Bengal, and picked up stocks at lower levels.
The government plans to carry out an economic census next year to assess the impact of economic reforms on various industries and to formulate policies better.
Breaking the Red citadel, Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress ended the 34-year hegemony of the Left Front in West Bengal, while Jayalalithaa's AIADMK scored a landslide victory to oust DMK from power in Tamil Nadu as results of the assembly elections were out today. AMIT Mitra, who has for years lobbied for expediting reforms and defended the cause of corporate India, is now expected to head the state's finance ministry and handle its business environment in a manner not seen in the past 34 years of Communist rule.
On the other hand, "Old man" VS Achuthanandan almost did it, but in the end the Left Democratic Front (LDF) led by the Communist veteran lost a cliffhanger of an election battle to the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala Friday!Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan said he will file his resignation on Saturday after the opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) defeated the Left Democratic Front (LDF), led by the CPI-M by a narrow margin on Friday.
As the counting for the 140-seat Assembly concluded on Friday, neck-to-neck race finally tilted in favour of the UDF that took home 72 seats, up 31 from last time, while leaving 68 for the Left, down 24.
Mamata 'walks the talk', meets Governor
Kolkata: Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee Friday met West Bengal Governor M.K. Narayanan to stake her claim to form the next government in the state after her party-led alliance swept the assembly polls.
In true Didi style, the TMC chief got out of her car and went on foot all the way to the Governor's residence. After all, Mamata Banerjee on Friday literally 'walked the talk' by single-handedly crushing the Left's 34-year rule, winning the polls with a overwhelming majority.
Banerjee, along with senior party leaders Mukul Roy and Partha Chatterjee, reached Raj Bhawan at 6.30 p.m. Entering the Raj Bhawan, she waved to hundreds of her party supporters who were waiting outside.
The Trinamool Congress-Congress alliance has dislodged the state's three-decade-old Left Front government in the April-May Bengal assembly polls with outgoing chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and several of cabinet colleagues being defeated.
Source: Agencies
- Manmohan Singh congratulates Jayalalithaa
- Mamata wave sweeps West Bengal, Jayalalithaa ousts DMK in TN
- Mamata 'walks the talk', meets Governor
- UDF to form govt with wafer-thin majority in Kerala
- DMK ruined Tamil Nadu's finances: Jayalalithaa
- Live Blog: Friday, the 13th, Assembly Poll Results 2011
- Friday, the 13th: Ladies day in
- Karunanidhi resigns as Tamil Nadu chief minister
- Mamata: From a milk vendor to Bengal CM
- Victory of Maa Mati Manush: Mamata
- Jayalalithaa: Tamil Nadu's iron woman
- Mamata added to list of 13 women chief ministers
- YSR's son, widow lead in by-elections
- Congress set for third straight term in Assam
- AIADMK set to storm to power in TN on its own
- Chandy, Achuthanandan win handsomely
- Muraleedharan wins his first assembly poll
- Cong-DMK ahead in 3 seats in Puducherry
- Opposition is coming to power in Bengal: Somnath
- Will be happy with people's victory: Mamata
- Counting of votes for Assembly polls today
- Tamil Nadu all set for D-Day
- Anxiety in LDF, UDF camps on counting day
- Any which way, Bengal braces for historic verdict
- EC focus on TV channels owned by parties
- UPA destabilising party governments, say BJP chief ministers
- Change in Bengal, close fight in Kerala, Tamil Nadu: Exit polls
- Trinamool alliance to sweep Bengal: ORG poll survey
- 83.48% votes cast as sixth and final phase polls end in WB
- Left's assessment concedes West Bengal
- Polling begins for Bastar amid Maoist violence
- 83 percent votes cast in Bengal fifth phase
- Second generation politicians contest Bengal polls
- DMK to sue AIADMK mouthpiece over report
- Voting for fourth phase ends, 84.55 percent polling
- Fourth round of Bengal polls: Spotlight on Singur, Nandigram
- Buddhadeb, Mamata and West Bengal: Where love has gone
- Third phase of Bengal polls begins
- Mind your language: The Chidambaram-Buddhadeb war
- Buddhadeb rebuts PM's statement of non-performance
- West Bengal polls peaceful, 80% turnout
- A practical test for economists' theories
- Mamata slams CPI (M) over black money charge
- Mamata's fantasies for Bengal
- Functioning of railways shows how Mamata will rule Bengal: BJP
- Bengal elections first phase: 70% turnout as polling ends
- Bengal's 'red fort' faces challenge as voting begins
- Bengal polls: Campaigning ends for first phase
- Felled titan watches Left struggle to stay
- Advani, Rahul Gandhi stranded as thunderstorms hit North Bengal
- Repoll in 7 polling stations in Tamil Nadu, 2 in Kerala
- Peaceful elections, high turnout in Tamil Nadu, Kerala
- War of words heats up as Tamil Nadu sees brisk polling
- Polling begins on brisk note in Kerala, TN & Puducherry
- Money, money: How moolah gets around in Tamil Nadu polls
- Kumbhakarna vs Amul babies: What will work?
- Dravidian land all set for battle for power
- Assam elections end, over 70 percent voting
- `Rahul an Amul baby, PM has hangover'
- Polling begins for second phase of Assam elections
- Rahul Gandhi is an Amul baby: Achuthanandan
- If bribed, buy biryani but don't give vote: Mamata
- Poll snippets from around states
- Manmohan launches blistering attack on Left parties
- Mumbai's Tamils head south for free TV, rice, cash
- AIADMK files complaint against Stalin
- Chappals thrown at actor Vadivelu, DMDK building torched
- Battle for Bengal: Mamata juggernaut rolls out
- 'Madurai mafia' undermining democracy: Bardhan
- A 10th election, a 10th constituency - meet Kerala's rolling stone
- It's raining cash in poll-bound states
- Cong, Left in Kerala fight over foodgrain
- 75 per cent turnout in Assam first phase poll
- Congress counts on Rahul Gandhi in state poll campaign
- Parties plan campaign spin to suit election pitches
- Mamata's anti-SEZ stand raises eyebrows
- BJP: From marginal to major
- It's raining freebies in Tamil Nadu
- Congress-TMC strike deal for WB polls
- Vaiko quits AIADMK alliance over seat sharing disagreement
- TMC announces candidates for WB poll
- DMK announces candidates for TN polls
- EC announces poll dates for five states
- Opposition is coming to power in Bengal: Somnath
- Cong-DMK ahead in 3 seats in Puducherry
- http://news.in.msn.com/national/assemblypolls2011/topnewsarchive.aspx
Kolkata: Breaking the Red citadel, Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress ended the 34-year hegemony of the Left Front in West Bengal. The Left Front was also defeated in Kerala.
The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement:
West Bengal
The Left Front has suffered a big defeat in the West Bengal Assembly elections. The CPI(M) accepts the verdict of the people. The Party will analyse the results carefully and come to proper conclusions about the electoral reverse. After the Left Front being in office for a record 34 years continuously, the people have opted for a change. The TMC-led combine has been the beneficiary of this change.
NDTV Social
The Left Front had won seven successive elections and governed the state for more than three decades which is unprecedented in the parliamentary democratic system in India. In this period, there were solid achievements - land reforms, a democratized panchayat system, progress in agriculture, assurance of democratic rights for the working people, for unity, integrity and communal harmony in the state. These are historic gains of the people of West Bengal and an enduring legacy.
Lakhs of people have supported and voted for the CPI(M) and the Left Front in the most adverse circumstances and against heavy odds. The Polit Bureau conveys its greetings to all of them. It assures them that the CPI(M) and the Left Front will stand by the interests of the people and struggle for the cause of the working people. The Party expresses its gratitude to the tens of thousands of Party and Left Front workers who worked tirelessly during the election campaign.
The Polit Bureau cautions that there should be no repetition of the violence that took place against the CPI(M) and the Left Front cadres and offices in the aftermath of the Lok Sabha polls in 2009. We appeal to the people to work for peace and tranquility.
Kerala
The results in Kerala show that the people have by and large endorsed the record of the LDF government of the past five years. The Left Democratic Front has very narrowly lost the elections with the UDF getting a slender majority of only two seats. This shows that there has been no anti-incumbency trend. However, some caste and religious forces have worked to influence the elections.
The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) conveys its warm greetings to the thousands of Party and LDF workers who have made this creditable performance in Kerala possible. The CPI(M) and the LDF will vigorously advocate alternative pro-people policies and firmly defend the interests of the working people.
Left Role
The results of West Bengal and Kerala will be a disappointment for the Left and democratic forces in the country. But this will, by no means, make the Left policies and programmes irrelevant for the country. The CPI(M) and the Left forces will not only continue to work for the people in West Bengal and Kerala but will vigorously pursue the struggle against the neo-liberal economic policies, defend the livelihood and interests of the working people and combat communalism and defend secularism in the country.
Tamil Nadu
The Polit Bureau welcomes the sweeping victory of the AIADMK alliance in Tamil Nadu. The AIADMK and its allies have won more than four-fifth of the seats in the Assembly. The Tamil Nadu result is a decisive rejection of the corrupt misrule of the DMK and is also a verdict against the corruption which has flourished under the UPA regime at the Centre.
Assam
The Congress party has won a majority in the Assembly elections. The peace talks with the ULFA and the division in the opposition parties have contributed to the Congress victory.
Read more at: http://drop.ndtv.com/ndtv/articles/cpm-polit-bureau-statement-on-kerala-bengal-defeat-105586.html?pfrom=home-Top-Stories&cp
Achuthanandan, 87, himself defeated Congress' Lathika Subash to retain the Malampuzha segment in Palakkad district even as Kerala lived up to its reputation of alternating between two of the major alliances in the state.
Meanwhile, Congress leader and UDF's top candiate for the Chief Minister's seat Oommen Chandy won from Puthupally for the ninth consecutive time, as the coalition just crossed the majority mark of 71.
But even in the LDF's loss, the CPI-M emerged as the largest part with 45 seats, while the UDF's principal part Congress could only manage 38 in what was the thinnest majority to either of coalitions that alternatively ruled Kerala for the last three decades.
Votes for the 140-seat Assembly were cast exactly a month ago, in a bitterly-fought election that saw relentless attacks by both sides on eachother in a state that holds the tradition of alternating between the two major alliances.
Major face-offs included one between Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan and Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi, as both the leaders attacked each other over their age. While Gandhi said the CM was getting too old, Achuthanandan hit back, calling him "Amul Baby".
Exit polls had concluded a too-close-to-call image, with far less polarised results than the West Bengal elections but a general lean towards the UDF. However, surveys of LDF's approval ratings swayed some estimates to the Left's favour.
Meanwhile, West Bengal Land Reforms Minister Abdur Rezzak Mollah, who was earlier critical of the land acquisition policy of the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government, on Friday slammed the outgoing chief minister and his industry minister Nirupam Sen for pursuing a path that led to the downfall of the government.
"They cannot catch a small snake and had set out to catch cobra," said Mollah in an unforgiving language, ridiculing the industrialization policy of Bhattacharjee and Sen.
Mollah is one of the few ministers in the Left Front who could manage to win the elections- Canning East constituency in South 24 Parganas district- while the party's top shots like Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Nirupam Sen lost the polls themselves.
Mollah said the wrong policies of the government on land acquisition led to the downfall.
Riding on its support to the farmers of Singur and Nandigram, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee swept the assembly polls in West Bengal on Friday, ending 34 years of Left Front rule in the state.
The Trinamool-Congress combine won 225 seats in the 294 member assembly while the Left Front managed only 63 from its 235 in 2006.
A debt-ridden economy with scarce resources for development stares in the face of the new West Bengal Government, set to be formed by Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee.
GESTAPO Head Buddhadeb Bahttacharjee loses from Jadavpore constituency!He ahd tp pay for the Genocide Culture highlighted by MARICHJHANPI, BIJON SETU, NANUR, KESHPUR, NANDIGRAM, MANGALKOT, NETAI and so on! Let us see what step Mamata takes to resolve the Problem of Maoist Menace in the JUNGLE Mahal where she succeeded to DENT the Marxist Stronghold despite the winning SHUSHANTO Ghosh! Mamata has been demanding withdrawal of Central forces and assured the release of Maoists in Jail!She created the PARIBARTAN Wave with SINGUR NANDIGRAM Movement against INDISCRIMINATE Land Acquisition! Meanwhile Rahul Gandhi played MAMATA Role in NOIDA and Chidambaram assured to PASS Land Acquisition amendment Act which Mamata had been OPPOSING. Land has to be acquired for HARIPUR Nuclear Plant. What Mamata does in SINGUR, it has to be also seen. How she creates EMPLOYMENT managing the Economy in Crisis and gets land for her INDUSTRIALISATION, it has to be seen. Mamata being the NEXT Chief Minister and TMC holding on Railway, its also has to be seen how she runs Railway with REMOTE CONTROL. She has to take over SONIA Gandhi MODE at least in this case!
Bengal witnessed a CHANGE after 34 long years but LEFT still enjoys support of a MAJOR Chunk of the DEMOGRAPHY. LEFT is known for REDICAL Opposition. As Results were DECLARED, the streets and markets remained almost lifeless in many parts of the state reflecting underlying Tension which may EXPLODE anytime anywhere! MUSCLES have crossed the FENCES when and how the FLEX, have to be witnessed with RED ALERT. Supposed that the WRITERS Building and the Police headquarters LAL BAZAR being Painted AFRESH as GREEN! West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bahttacharjee lost to Trinamool Congress nominee Manish Gupta by 16,684 votes from Jadavpore constituency . Gupta got 103,972 votes while Bhattacharjee secured 87,288 votes.
With Trinamool Congress-Congress combine scoring a landslide win in West Bengal , the CPI(M) today dubbed the result "unexpected" but said it humbly accepted the verdict of the people and assured of playing the role of a responsible and constructive opposition in the assembly.
"The results are unexpected. The Left Front humbly accepted the verdict of the people and promised to play the role of a responsible and constructive opposition in the assembly", a joint statement issued by outgoing Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and LF chairman Biman Bose here said.
They said besides identifying the reasons behind the defeat and taking corrective steps, the Front would take up continuous programmes to win back the confidence of the people.
Stating that during the 34-year of LF rule, the poor and the common people got some rights and the working class, farmers and lower middle class got respect, both the leaders hoped that the common people would be active to retain those earned rights.
The Front legislators would be ready to launch struggle inside and outside the assembly to protect those rights of the people, they said.
The two leaders also appealed to the people to maintain peace and democratic atmosphere in every area of the state and urged their leaders and workers not to walk into the trap of any provocation.
They also said if the Front workers have any complaint, they should lodge it with the police with definite evidence and assured them the district and state leadership of the LF would be beside them.
Bhattacharjee has been winning from Jadavpore since 1987. This is the first time the Communist Party of India-Marxist has lost in Jadavpore since the party was formed in 1967.
Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee, who will take over the reins of power in West Bengal from outgoing chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, on Friday said that her party would like to retain the Railway ministry.
"Prime Minister will take a decision. I will be meeting him and the Congress president Sonia Gandhi soon," Mr. Banerjee told a group of journalists here.
Mr. Banerjee, who is the Railway minister, said that she would like the Trinamool Congress to retain the Railway ministry "as we have only one cabinet berth."
"We have achieved a lot in the railway ministry and have done a lot of good for the people. As such, we have a legitimate claim over the Railway ministry," she said.
West Bengal, once amongst the top industrialised states, has also lost its pre-eminent position in the country following controversies over land acquisitions for projects like Nano and opposition to special economic zones.
Ficci Secretary General Amit Mitra , who has defeated State Finance Minister and CPI(M) veteran Asim Dasgupta with a big margin, said the TMC government would restore investors confidence in the state.
"Mamata Banerjee will breathe life into the moribund economy by a people-centric programme which will be a win-win for all strata of society," Mitra told media after his victory from Khardah constituency.
He said the state government was under a mammoth debt of Rs 2 lakh crore.
According to an RBI report, West Bengal "could not contain its non-interest revenue expenditure, and net borrowing has been used to finance current non-interest expenditure, with no potential scope for generating debt-financing income".
In relation to total revenue receipts, about one-third goes for interest payment and debt servicing and almost half of it is accounted for wages and salaries, as highlighted by RBI report on state finances.
A well-networked Ficci Secretary General is seen as a strong candidate for a key portfolio like industry or finance in the TMC government which will occupy the Writers' Building (State Secretariat) after 34 years of the Left rule.
Mitra, 63, a Ph.D in Economics from the Duke University in the US has been on the boards of several PSUs, government bodies and private sector companies.
These included Air India, Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, Bata India, Microsoft Corporation (India), UTI and SAIL.
The state would need not only domestic investment but capital inflows from overseas as well.
It barely attracted about USD 86 million during April-December period of 2010-11 as compared to over USD 5 billion in industrialised state like Maharashtra.
"West Bengal was once amongst top industrialised states of the country and accounted for a high percentage of the nation's manufacturing output. Unfortunately, over the last few decades the state has lost its pre-eminent position in the industrial hierarchy of the nation," Ficci Director General Rajiv Kumar said.
Shares of east India-based companies, led by diversified business group ITC, rose in the range of 3.10-0.24 per cent on BSE today as sentiments were boosted after the Left was routed in West Bengal Assembly elections for the first time in 34 years.
ITC ended at Rs 189.50, up 3.10 per cent from the previous close on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). In intra-day trade, the scrip jumped by 4.3 per cent to a high of Rs 191.80. The stock was the second best performer among the bluechip companies.
"This is a major change after 34 years, people are quite optimistic. Because the Left had a tendency where they did not want industries to come and set up business here. Those tendencies and those mindsets are going to change and people will think that Bengal is again going to be a capitalist city," Ashika Stock Brokers' Research Head Paras Bothra said.
Similarly, Kolkata-based power generating company CESC's stock went up by 2.11 per cent to settle at Rs 288.45, while state-run Coal India ended 1.43 per cent higher at Rs 386.75.
Auto-battery maker Exide Industries climbed 2.79 per cent to settle at Rs 162.25, while SREI Infrastructure Finance rose by 0.24 per cent to close at Rs Rs 41.20.
Analysts said that this win has given a ray of hope to the investors that business opportunities will be encouraged in West Bengal.
"The market was very receptive to the election results. It gained momentum with the Congress wining in Assam, Kerala and its ally TMC in West Bengal. We think it would strengthen the ruling coalition and would provide stability at the centre. The market is oversold and hence, we feel it would look up in the short term," Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd CMD Motilal Oswal said.
The Trinamool Congress had a historic win over CPI(M)-led Left Front which was in power in the state for last 34 years.
Meanwhile, the BSE 30-share Sensex ended 195.49 points higher at 18,531.28.
Congress scored a spectacular hat-trick in Assam bagging a near two-third majority to retain power and managed to wrest power from the Left Democratic Front in Kerala by a wafer-thin majority but lost Puducherry to its rebel.
"Mamata has struggled a lot. This victory is the result of her struggle," Mukherjee said. "The people of Bengal voted for Mamata and it is mandate for Mamata."
Reacting to the end of 34-year Left Front rule in the state, the Congress leader said Banerjee has done what his party could not do for years.
"We could no do it, but she succeeded and we helped her in succeeding it. In Bengal, CPI-M's vote has reduced by 8 percent and Mamata' vote has increased by 8 percent. And this 8 percent has come from Congress," said Mukherjee praising the Congress ally.
"Mamata has dismantled CPI-M by reducing them to two-digit number," he said.
Speaking about Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) losing in Kerala as well, Mukherjee said: "People in Kerala and West Bengal have voted for the change."
Reacting to Congress-DMK alliance losing in Tamil Nadu, Mukherjee said: "In Tamil Nadu, it is again a vote for change and we accept with humility the verdict of the people."
He congratulated the Election Commission for conducting free and fair polls.
"I congratulate the Election Commission for magnificent conduct of election with peacefulness and totally impartial manner," said Mukherjee.
Mamata Banerjee is all to assume the chair of chief minister in West Bengal after a landslide mandate for Trinamool Congress, ending 34 years of Left rule in West Bengal.
As the counting for Kerala's 140-seat Assembly concluded on Friday, neck-to-neck race finally tilted in favour of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) that took home 72 seats, up 31 from last time, while leaving 68 for the Left, down 24.
J Jayalalithaa's All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and allies swept the state on Friday, with 176 leads and 23 wins as per last reports against the 30 leads and 5 wins of the ruling Congress-Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) alliance, as per last reports.
"The ECONOMIC census would involve collection of data from entrepreneurial units in the country," said a statement from the ministry of statistics and programme implementation.
"Data on sectoral activity of the unit, number of workers, social group of the owner, female owned enterprise among others would be collected for micro level planning and policy formulations with respect to various economic activities," it added.
The census, which is the sixth such activity to be undertaken, will see field work being done by the ministry of statistics from January to June of 2012 in collaboration with state and union territory governments.
The ministry also laid emphasis on studying the benefits to the services sector of the economic reforms process as it contributed significantly towards the country's gross domestic product (GDP) and also in generation of employment.
"The database would enable policy makers and analysts to assess the impact of the economic liberalisation process on entrepreneurial activities, especially in the unorganised sector," said the statement.
The data at lower geographical levels like tehsil or village in case of rural areas, and wards in the case of urban areas, would also be a valuable input for local level planning, it added.
Analysis of the information collected would help policymakers assess the individual contribution of various industrial sectors in the country's GDP.
Riding a wave of change in a State where Left ideology ruled the roost for over three decades, Ms. Banerjee along with allies Congress and SUCI gave a severe trashing to the Left Front. The Banerjee-led alliance was set to capture over two-thirds majority by winning over 225 seats in the 294 seat Assembly. Ms. Banerjee, Railway Minister at the Centre, did not contest the elections.
Two mighty upsets, a photo finish and a third consecutive win... As the electoral jigsaw fell into place on Friday, the political picture too changed with the Left exiting from West Bengal and Kerala, the DMK from Tamil Nadu, the Congress staying on in Assam and Mamata Banerjee entering as India's newest woman chief minister.
West Bengal and Tamil Nadu threw up the most decisive mandates, the most important since the 2009 general election. While Banerjee sailed to a historic win, ending the Left Front's 34-year uninterrupted rule with an estimated 214 seats in the 294-member assembly, J. Jayalalithaa's AIADMK won an equally emphatic victory over the DMK in Tamil Nadu with leads in 199 seats in the 234-member house.
In Assam, the Congress government was headed for its third consecutive term with 79 seats in the 126-member house. Kerala was a close call, with the Congress-led United Democratic Front scraping through with 72 seats, just four above ruling Left Democratic Front's (LDF) 68.
The Left Front accepted defeat in West Bengal and Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee tendered his resignation from the post after the Left Front was routed in the West Bengal assembly polls.
Facing a rout in the Assembly polls with his bitter political foe AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa storming back to power, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi submitted the resignation of his ministry.
The AIADMK said it was confident of forming the new government in Tamil Nadu on its own as it has no intention of sharing power with its pre-poll alliance partners. Its leader in the Lok Sabha M. Thambidurai said the they would get a majority on their own and form the government
"Our leader (J. Jayalalithaa) will form the government alone," he said, when reporters asked him if ally DMDK will share power.
In the tiny union territory of Puducherry, it was a neck and neck race between the ruling Congress-led alliance and the opposition front led by the breakaway Congress AINRC.
In Kolkata, all roads led to Banerjee's residence in Kalighat.
"This is a complete victory of democracy... This is a historic verdict. After 34 years, Bengal has got new freedom," the woman, who brought the Left to its knees in its bastion, told a crowd of thousands that kept cheering her.
"The one traffic light in the world that was red for 34 years just turned green in Bengal," Congress MP Shashi Tharoor tweeted.
Admitting defeat, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Sitaram Yechury said: "The people have opted for a change and the main beneficiary of the change has been the Trinamool Congress ."
The Left lost out in Kerala too, though narrowly. The Congress-led UDF won 72 seats - just one more than the 71 required to form a government.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), decimated in West Bengal assembly elections after 34 years of rule, said Friday it will play the role of a responsible opposition by accepting the people's mandate.
"A majority of people wanted us to sit in the opposition. We respect the people's verdict. We will act responsibly, we will not act like them (the Trinamool Congress)," said West Bengal state secretariat member Gautam Deb, who was housing minister in the Left Front government of Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.
Deb's comments came after the Trinamool Congress-Congress alliance crushed the Left Front.
"We will act as a responsible opposition. But I just want to ask what did they do when they were in opposition? Mamata Banerjee never came to the same table with our Chief Minister after the Singur issue," said Deb.
"I called her (Mamata) to congratulate her, but couldn't get through to her. I will call again," said Deb.
When asked whether the CPI-M would attend an all-party meeting if it was called by Mamata Banerjee, Deb replied in the affirmative.
"Why not? we will surely go. But I want to ask them did they attend all-party meetings called by our chief minister. She (Mamata) had given a diktat to her leaders not to attend any all-party meeting," said Deb.
Trinamool Congress has won 142 seats and was leading in 44 more seats, while Congress has bagged 36 and was ahead in five. On the rival side, the CPI(M), which headed the Left Front, has won 32 seats and was ahead in eight seats.
The CPI(M) suffered humiliation when a number of its bigwigs, including Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, bit the dust. Shortly after defeat, Mr. Bhattacharjee resigned.
With defeats in West Bengal and Kerala, the Left will have power only in Tripura.
Tamil Nadu lived up to its 'winner takes all' reputation as Ms. Jayalalithaa swept back to power with a landslide victory with her alliance set to cross the 200 mark in the 234-member Assembly.
AIADMK on its own is set to get 150 seats. The party has won 73 seat and was leading in another 77 seats.
The DMK has won 10 seats and was ahead in 13, while ally Congress which contested 63 seats could manage only four wins and was leading in one. State Congress President K V Thangkabalu was trailing by over 30,000 votes in Mylapore in Chennai.
Amit Mitra: Industry lobbyist to West Bengal finance minister?
He has rubbed shoulders with the top honchos of India Inc for 17 years. But high-profile industry lobbyist Amit Mitra seemed set for a new innings Friday - as member of the West Bengal assembly and possibly the state's new finance minister.
Mitra, who has for years lobbied for expediting reforms and defended the cause of corporate India, is now expected to head the state's finance ministry and handle its business environment in a manner not seen in the past 34 years of Communist rule.
Secretary general of industry body Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) since 1994, Mitra joined the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress in March.
He contested assembly elections from Khardaha constituency in North 24 Parganas, defeating the incumbent Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta by 26,154 votes.
''I want to be a part of the historic change in West Bengal," he said soon after his win.
The 64-year-old Mitra's association with Banerjee grew stronger, when as railway minister she invited the industry veteran on board for drawing up business plans soon after taking over the portfolio in mid-2009.
The firebrand Bengal leader appointed Mitra as chairman of an expert committee set up to advise her ministry on innovative financing and implementation methods.
The success of the model brought the railways some well needed funds while also ensuring an election candidature ticket for Mitra.
Mitra has also talked of bringing in more private companies to the state and said corporate India would find Bengal a conducive investment destination under the Trinamool Congress regime.
Originally an academician, Mitra, taught at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, before shifting base to the US, where he taught at Duke University and Franklin Marshall College in Pennsylvania for over a decade before returning to India to start his stint at FICCI.
Mitra is considered a learned figure in the Indian industry and sought for his opinion on a number of issues. He has been an advisor and a board member at some of the biggest names in corporate India such as SAIL, UTI and GAIL and multinational companies like Bata and Microsoft's Indian subsidiary.
He was also appointed to the board of beleaguered national carrier Air India to help the airline's management turnaround the loss-making company.
For his contribution to the Indian industry, the government bestowed the civilian award of Padma Shri on him, which was conferred by President Pratibha Patil in 2008.
Mitra holds a masters degree in economics from the Delhi School of Economics (DSE) and a doctorate degree in economics from Duke University, US in 1978.
Jayalalithaa sweep
Tamil Nadu lived up to its 'winner takes all' reputation as Ms. Jayalalithaa swept back to power with a landslide victory with her alliance set to cross the 200 mark in the 234-member Assembly.
AIADMK on its own is set to get 150 seats. The party has won 73 seat and was leading in another 77 seats.
The DMK has won 10 seats and was ahead in 13, while ally Congress which contested 63 seats could manage only four wins and was leading in one. State Congress President K V Thangkabalu was trailing by over 30,000 votes in Mylapore in Chennai.
The 2006 elections was a rare one for Tamil Nadu when for the first time it had a minority government. The DMK had then won 96 seats and the government survived on outside support from Congress and others. The AIADMK had won 61 seats in the 2006 elections.
While Ms. Jayalalithaa and Chief Minister Karunanidhi posted huge margins in Srirangam and Tiruvarur respectively, Deputy Chief Minister and DMK heavyweight M.K. Stalin was trailing in Kolathur. Mr. Karunanidhi also tendered his resignation.
Assam:
Assam provided a surprisingly huge victory when the party returned to power for the third time. Congress vastly improved on its performance of 2006 when it had got 53 seats in the 126-member assembly by bagging 60 seats now and was ahead in 18 more.
The main opposition party AGP was reduced to a rubble having won only five seats and leading in six others. It had 24 seats in the earlier assembly.
Kerala: The defeat of the Left in Kerala was not as resounding as in West Bengal when the Left Democratic Front was neck and neck in the race for power and ultimately yielded by a slender margin to the Congress-led UDF.
The UDF won 72 seats, two more than the half way mark in the 140 member assembly. The LDF won 68 seats. Ageing Marxist veteran V.S. Achuthanandan's singlehanded campaign against corruption appears to have played a leading role in curbing the UDF's tally.
The 87-year-old Chief Minister helped CPI(M) emerge as the single largest party with 45 seats against Congress' 38.
Puducherry:
Puducherry broke the Congress' hold on power when it voted an alliance of N Rangasamy Congress and AIADMK which got two-thirds majority in the 30-member assembly of the Union Territory.
The NR Congress, headed by former Chief Minister N. Rangasamy who left Congress a few months ago, bagged 15 seats while ally AIADMK won five seats.
The ruling Congress was reduced to seven seats, while ally DMK won two. A lone Independent was successful.
Brokers said results in three of the four states showed that the Congress-led UPA Government at the centre was still in favour, indicating that economic reforms may pick up pace in the country in the coming months.
Some said, however, that the impact of the victory on economic reforms was yet to be seen.
The 30-share Bombay Stock Exchange index, Sensex, which had lost 249 points on Thursday, bounced back 195.49 points to close at 18,531.28. During intra-day, the gauge touched a high of 18,724.54 but fell on profit-booking.
Brokers said trading sentiment improved after results showed that Congress ally TMC has finally ended the three decade rule of Communists in West Bengal elections.
They said investors bought fundamentally strong stocks, which were available at attractive prices after the recent market dips, especially in FMCG, metals and healthcare sectors.
Similarly, the broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty rose 58.6 points to 5,544.75. It touched 5,605 points level during the session.
FMCG index was the best performer and added 2.35 per cent at 3,803.26.
Metals sector was the second, rising 1.48 per cent to 15,404.23, as Hindalco Industries, a leading aluminium producer, gained 1.54 per cent to Rs 198.30, recovering from Thursday's steepest drop in three months.
As buying spread over a broader front, the mid-cap sector index rose 0.85 per cent to 6,902.58 and the small-cap index 0.39 per cent to 8,368.22.
'Paribortan' finds an echo in CPI(M)'s reaction to West Bengal defeat
'Paribortan' - the poll plank of Trinamool Congress - found an echo today in the words of senior CPI(M) leaders who said the people of West Bengal have voted for "change" and Mamata Banerjee has benefited from it.
As Ms. Banerjee's party rode an anti-Left wave trouncing the CPI(M)-led Left Front from power, party Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury said his party would analyse the reasons for the defeat in elections after ruling the state for a record 34 years.
"After a record of 34 years in office and seven consecutive victories in elections, the Left Front has been defeated. We accept the defeat. We accept the verdict of the people," he told reporters here.
"Vahan pe janta mein parivartan ka aasha rahi. Uska fayada Trinamool ko mila hai. (People had hoped for a change there the benefit of which was reaped by Trinamool)," Mr. Yechury said.
Another Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat also echoed Mr. Yechury and said that the results showed that people wanted change. She was responding to a question whether the Bengal leaders were responsible for the party's rout in the state.
"We accept the results with humility. We will be a responsible opposition in the state," she said.
Mr. Yechury said the Left rule has ensured "big gains" for the state and the Front will defend these. He also appealed to people in the state to maintain peace and calm.
"After the Lok Sabha elections, there was a spate of violence against Left cadre. We appeal to people to maintain calm and peace," he said.
He said the election results from Kerala showed that it was one of the closest fights in the history of the state.
Mr. Yechury said the results from Tamil Nadu showed that it was a vote against corruption while Congress gained in Assam due to "fragmentation" of opposition in the state.
Mamata invites Congress, SUCI to join her govt
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, all set to take over the reins of power in West Bengal, on Friday requested party allies Congress and Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI), to join her government.
"I request Congress and SUCI to join our government," Ms. Banerjee told a group of journalists at her Kalighat residence.
While Congress contested 65 seats and SUCI 19, the former so far secured 27 and were leading in 14 seats. SUCI has so far won one seat.
In New Delhi, Congress leader and Union Finance Minister however, said the party had not taken any decision in power sharing in West Bengal.
Meanwhile, SUCI said that people had given a clear mandate against the "atrocities of CPI(M) in last 35 years."
Election results 2011: Congress wins absolute majority in Assam
GUWAHATI: The ruling Congress party has secured an absolute majority in Assam, winning 72 seats in the 126 member legislature and leading in eight more seats. The opposition Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were wiped out with both parties yet to touch the double digit mark.
Of the 107 results declared by 4.30 p.m., the Congress had won 72 seats, AGP eight, BJP four, Asom United Democratic Front (AUDF) 9, and the Bodoland People's Party (BPF) in 12 seats. One seat had been won by the Trinamol Congress and an Independent candidate.
The Congress is leading in eight more seats according to trends available so far.
Meanwhile, celebrations have begun in the Congress party camp with trends indicating a massive win.
"I am the happiest person today as the people of Assam voted us to power for the third time based on our performance, good governance, and overall economic development measures that we did in the last 10 years," Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi told IANS.
"Bringing peace to Assam is also one of the main reasons for the confidence reposed on us by the voters of Assam," he said
But Assam's beleaguered main opposition AGP blamed manipulation of electronic voting machines (EVM) by the Congress party for the regional party's rout in the assembly elections, while the BJP attributed the Congress victory to the votes of the Bangaladeshi Muslims living illegally in the state.
"We knew the Congress would do something and they did so by manipulating the EVMs. Otherwise such a result would not have come," former two time chief minister and senior AGP leader Prafulla Kumar Mahanta told journalists.
Mahanta lost one of the two seats he contested - he lost the Samaguri seat to Forest Minister Rockybul Hussain but won the Barhampur seat defeating the Congress candidate.
"EVM's were manipulated by the government machinery at the instance of the Congress," former AGP president Brindaban Goswami said.
Goswami who won the Tezpur seat for the last four terms lost this time to the Congress.
"We don't know yet the final tally, but Congress must have done well based on votes of Bangladeshi Muslims," BJP MP Bijoya Chakraborty said.
Among the prominent losers include AGP president Chandra Mohan Patowary and BJP state president Ranjit Dutta - both losing to the Congress.
Patowary lost the Dharmapur seat to first time Congress candidate Jayanta Malla Baruah by more than 5,000 votes, while Ranjit Dutta lost to another first timer Pallab Lochan Das of the Congress by more than 8,000 votes.
Chidambaram delighted but also disappointed
Congress and its alliance managed to capture West Bengal, Assam and Kerala, but has showed a poor performance in Tamil Nadu
Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Friday described the victory of Trinamool-Congress alliance in West Bengal and Congress in Assam as "spectacular" and termed the poll results in Tamil Nadu as "disappointing."
In a statement, Mr. Chidambaram said he was delighted by the massive victory recorded by the TMC-Congress alliance in West Bengal and the Congress party in Assam.
He said in West Bengal, it was the expected vote for comprehensive change and in Assam, it was the expected vote for continuity.
"In both States our alliance pledged to work for inclusive growth, providing security to all the people, and working for peace and harmony.
"The scale of the victory in both states is truly spectacular. I spoke to Mamata Banerjee and Tarun Gogoi earlier today and offered them my warmest congratulations," he said.
In Tamil Nadu, the Home Minister said, the DMK-Congress alliance has done poorly and congratulated Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK for its victory in the Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu.
"We are disappointed. I take this opportunity to congratulate the AIADMK and its allies on their splendid victory and wish the new government success," Mr. Chidambaram, who also hails from Tamil Nadu, said.
Mr. Chidambaram said in Kerala it appears that the Congress-led UDF will acquire a slender majority and will be able to form the Government which is a happy and welcome development.
States to look for new chief to steer GST
In the Assembly elections, Mr. Dasgupta lost to TMC candidate and Ficci Secretary General Amit Mitra by a margin of over 26,000 votes.
With the Left losing power in West Bengal, the Empowered Group of State Finance Ministers, which is currently engaged in building a consensus on the GST, will have to find a replacement for Asim Dasgupta who has been heading the body since its inception.
As West Bengal Finance Minister, Mr. Dasgupta was involved with the Empowered Group for more than a decade. Earlier, he was the convenor of the VAT panel and played a key role in implementing the new tax regime.
As chairman of the Empowered Group, Mr. Dasgupta was engaged in preparing a blue print for implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) along with other state finance ministers.
In the Assembly elections, Mr. Dasgupta lost to TMC candidate and Ficci Secretary General Amit Mitra by a margin of over 26,000 votes.
The view that seems to be emerging is that the new chairman of the Empowered Group should be somebody who has experience of serving in the body.
"As a chairman of the group, we would prefer somebody more experienced in handling intricacies of party politics," said one of the members of the body.
This stance goes against the view in some quarters that Mr. Mitra is a favourite to replace Mr. Dasgupta.
"Mitra, if he is allocated the finance portfolio, would have his hands full with affairs back in West Bengal. He should be focusing on that," the member said.
The new chairman will have a tough task of bringing a consensus among states and the central government on the GST.
"At this moment it is premature to speculate about who the chairman of the Empowered Group would be. Not only West Bengal, but two other very important states —— Tamil Nadu and Kerala —— have witnessed change in governments and would be having new faces as finance ministers," Madhya Pradesh Finance Minister Raghavji said.
He said any decision in this regard has to be unanimous.
"A decision would be reached only on the basis of consensus among state governments, besides taking on board the view of the central government. This will also mean consensus between the Congress and the BJP, who are two major political parties in India," Mr. Raghavji said.
"Dasgupta worked very hard during his tenure as chairman of the Empowered Group. Whoever becomes the new chairman will have a big task before him, especially in taking ahead the matter of GST" he added.
In the Budget Session last year, the Government had introduced the Constitution Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha which seeks to pave the way for the Goods and Services Tax.
West Bengal opted for change: Sitaram Yechury
NEW DELHI: Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Sitaram Yechury said Friday the defeat of the Left Front in West Bengal was because the "people opted for a change".
"The people have opted for a change and the main beneficiary of the change has been the Trinamool Congress ," Yechury told reporters outside the CPI-M headquarters here referring to the landslide victory in the state by the Trinamool-Congress combine led by Mamata Banerjee.
But he stressed that the uninterrupted 34-year rule of the Left Front is a "record" not seen anywhere in a democratic system.
"As far as West Bengal is concerned, 34 years of rule by the CPI-M is a record. And a similar record is not present anywhere else in this democratic system," said Yechury, adding, that the party's politbureau will meet July 16 to analyse the results.
"We will analyse the election result in detail and will see the factors for this defeat," he said.
"But for these 34 years, the Left Front rule has ensured big gains for the people of Bengal. And these gains will be defended. Unlike the post-Lok Sabha election period when there was large scale violence against the Left Front supporters and cadres, we are appealing to the people of Bengal to remain calm and peace and accept the democratic verdict which should be the way in a democracy," he said.
Puducherry Election Results 2011: AINRC set to unseat Congress
Puducherry . On course to unseat Congress, All-India NR Congress-AIADMK combine was today looked set for a simple majority winning 11 constituencies and leading in five more in the elections to the 30-member Assembly in the Union Territory of Puducherry.
Steering his party to on impressive electoral debut, former Chief Minister N Rangasamy, who broke away from Congress to float his own outfit on poll eve, won both seats he contested.
Of the 24 seats for which results and trends were available at 2 pm, AINRC, which contested 17 seats, was ahead in five.
On the verge of defeat, Congress front including DMK managed to win six seats and was leading in two.
Rangasamy, who was replaced as Chief Minister by the party high command two years ago after a revolt by partymen including his cabinet colleagues, emerged victorious in Indira Nagar and Kadigamam constituencies.
Chief Minister V Vaithilingam, who succeeded Rangasamy, and Health Minister E Valsraj won Kamaraj Nagar and Mahe constituencies respectively but Welfare Minister M Kandasamy was trounced by AINRC rival R Rajavelu in Embalam.
PWD Minister M O H F Shajahan was trailing his nearest AINRC rival in Kalapet.
West Bengal Elections 2011: Jubilation before Mamata's residence, gloom at CPI(M) HQ
As Trinamool Congress today appeared all set for the victory in West Bengal Assembly polls, jubilation erupted at Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee's modest residence here, while gloom descended on the CPI(M) headquarters where Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was closeted with party leaders.
Trinamool Congress workers and supporters sang, danced and smeared each other with green gulal to the shouts of the 'Ma, Mati, Manush' slogan coined by the TC supremo and waved party flags before Banerjee's Harish Chatterjee Street residence.
Sweets were handed out and conches were blown as the area wore a festive look. Securitymen had a tough time, but there was no disorderliness.
Many women party supporters were seen wearing saris printed with the party's symbol 'Jora ghasphool' (grass and flowers).
This picture of jubilation was witnessed earlier in 2009 when the Trinamool Congress won 19 Lok Sabha seats.
Hordes of mediapersons from abroad were here to cover the historic win of the Trinamool Congress which fought the Assembly elections in alliance with the Congress.
The scene was in total contrast at Alimuddin Street, the CPI(M) party headquarters, as trends indicated a debacle for the Left Front after 34 years of uninterrupted rule.
CPI(M) sources said that the chief minister was with party leaders at the party headquarters.
Left Front chairman and CPI(M) state secretary Biman Bose had yesterday asserted that the Front would secure nearly 200 of the 294 seats.
The Left Front would meet at 4:30 pm to review the election results.
The CPI(M) sources did not comment on the trends and said that most ministers were in the districts.
Anna Hazare is anti-Dalit: Mayawati
LUCKNOW: Social activist Anna Hazare has laid bare his anti-Dalit mindset by not including even one member from the community on the anti-graft Lokpal Bill drafting committee , Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati said Friday.
Addressing a special function to mark the completion of four years of her government here, she said: "Just as the Congress-led central government displayed its anti-Dalit approach by not caring to include a Dalit in the Lokpal Bill draft committee, so did Anna Hazare, by not bothering to have a Dalit on his civil society panel, which reflects his anti-Dalit mindset."
According to her, "the exclusion of Dalits from the draft committee as a whole is a betrayal of the entire Dalit population of this country".
"While I welcome the various anti-corruption movements across the country, I am intrigued about the intent behind Anna Hazare's move to use Uttar Pradesh as a launch pad for his movement.
"Even though Anna Hazare belongs to Maharastra, where there is no dearth of scams, and likewise, there are scams in several other states too, yet he launched his anti-corruption campaign in UP, where not a single scam has taken place," the chief minister said.
"It appears that some people in Anna Hazare's civil society were politically motivated and they had chosen UP as a battleground for their campaign only under the influence of certain political groups.
"No wonder, the much hyped anti-corruption campaign is fast getting reduced to an anti-Dalit exercise," she said.
Election results 2011: FICCI leader Amit Mitra, Kolkata mayor win
Leading economist and secretary general of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) Amit Mitra won the West Bengal assembly election beating state Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta by an emphatic margin of 26,154 votes.
Mitra, who contested from Khardah in North 24 Parganas district as a Trinamool Congress candidate, baged 83,608 votes while the Communist Party of India-Marxist rival Dasgupta got 57,454 votes.
Dasgupta had been winning the seat since 1987.
Kolkata Mayor Sovan Chatterjee retained his Behala (East) seat defeating CPI-M's Kumkum Chakraborty by a thumping 48,207 votes.
Chatterjee won 116,447 votes while Chakraborty got 68,240.
Health Minister and CPI-M state secretariat member Surjyakanta Mishra (89,804 votes) retained Narayangarh of West Midnapore defeating Trinamool Congress' Surya Kanta Atto (82,695) by a margin of 7,109 votes.
Election results 2011 come as balm for troubled Congress
The results of the Assembly elections in Assam, Kerala and West Bengal may have come as a balm for the Congress that was badly battered by a series of scams in the last few months.
The news of victory in the three states is a matter of cheer for Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ahead of the second anniversary of the UPA-II on May 22.
The image of the Congress and the UPA government had taken a severe beating with scam after scam and controversy after controversy forcing it to go on the backfoot.
The defeat in Tamil Nadu could be a blessing in disguise for the Congress as today's verdict is bound to weaken DMK's at the Centre and that party may have to be dependent on the dispensation in Delhi.
DMK is the third largest constituent of the UPA after Congress and Trinamool Congress and its leader and former Telecom Minister A Raja is currently in jail in the wake of the scam while a special court will pronounce verdict on the bail plea of Kanimozhi, DMK MP and daughter of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi .
In West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress-Congress alliance has made history by ending the 34-year Left rule while in Assam, Congress has registered a spectacular win bettering its position by coming to power for the third successive time.
News from Kerala boosted Congress morale despite the fact that the party only managed to a wafer-thin majority in the face of stiff oppposition by the LDF.
Adding to the humiliation in Tamil Nadu, Congress lost power in the tiny Union Territory of Puducherry where it ruled for the past decade.
The damage there came from the exit of party veteran N Rangasamy, who teamed up with AIADMK to oust Congress from power.
Analysts feel that the results of the Assembly elections have given a breathing space to the Congress and the party-led coalition at the Centre to put up their house in order with a number of Assembly polls set for the next year including that in Uttar Pradesh.
Home Minister P Chidambaram described the victory of TMC-Congress alliance in West Bengal and Congress in Assam as "spectacular". He termed the poll results in Tamil Nadu as "disappointing".
In a statement, he said in West Bengal, it was the expected vote for comprehensive change and in Assam, it was the expected vote for continuity.
Election results 2011: A Raja upset over DMK defeat in Tamil Nadu
NEW DELHI: Former Telecom Minister A Raja on Friday appeared upset over the results of the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections in which his party DMK got severe drubbing at the hands of arch-rival AIADMK.
"I am in judicial custody so I cannot answer questions. How can you question me?" Raja, who looked disturbed, retorted when mediapersons sought his comment on the poll outcome.
On persistent queries by reporters in courtroom, where he appeared before special CBI judge O P Saini, Raja said, "I did not see the results. Somebody informed me so I got to know."
When asked whether he was expecting a clean sweep for the AIADMK , he said, "They have already got it."
Raja was appearing before Saini in connection with the scrutiny of documents relating to the day-to-day proceedings in the 2G spectrum allocation case.
While journalists asked for reactions from Raja on the poll results, co-accused Shahid Usman Balwa of DB Realty interrupted and asked the media not to put questions to the DMK leader.
"You are not allowed to question the accused under the law," Balwa said.
Election results 2011: Pranab Mukherjee's son Abhijit Mukherjee wins in Bengal
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's son Abhijit Mukherjee won from Nalhati in West Bengal's Birbhuum district by defeating Forward Bloc candidate Dipak chatterjee by a margin of 15,160 votes.
Congress candidate Abhijit got 76,047 wins while Chatterjee could manage only 60,887.
Election results 2011: Return of lawmakers could mean trouble for Yeddyurappa
BANGALORE/NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday restored the membership of 16 disqualified Karnataka legislators, a development that could threaten continuation of B.S. Yeddyurappa as chief minister.
The 16 lawmakers, 11 of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and five Independents, were disqualified Oct 11, hours before Yeddyurappa was to seek confidence vote in the assembly following their withdrawal of support to him.
Most of the 16 lawmakers, who were in New Delhi for the keenly awaited verdict, told reporters that they would meet late Friday to decide their future course of action. They did not give a direct reply to whether they would again seek removal of Yeddyurappa.
"We will discuss and take a decision," Belur Gopalakrishna, a legislator from Sagar in Yeddyurappa's home district of Shimoga, about 280 km from Bangalore, told reporters.
The court verdict dampened celebrations by Yeddyurappa and his supporters over winning all the three assembly by-polls Friday. Voting had taken place for the three seats April 9 and counting was held Friday.
Excluding the 11 party lawmakers whose membership was restored Friday, the BJP has 109 members in the 225-member assembly (including one nominated) and enjoys the support of one independent. The Congress has 71 members and the Janata Dal-Secular 26. One seat is vacant.
The victorious 16 lawmakers now hold the key to the fate of Yeddyurapa, who is already facing increasing dissidence over his continuation in view of various charges of corruption and illegal land deals against him.
In Bangalore, BJP spokesperson and special representative in New Delhi V. Dhananjaya Kumar said there was no threat to Yeddyuappa as the 11 legislators who won their case remained BJP members.
After the apex court verdict Yeddyurappa held a meeting with ministers and legislators supporting him to discuss the impact and decide on steps to win over as many as 16 lawmakers to supporting him.
12 MAY, 2011, 01.23AM IST, DEVIKA BANERJI,ET BUREAU
States not sure about receiving funds under MNREGA on time
NEW DELHI: States are not sure if they will receive funds under the government's flagship rural employment programme on time this year.
Glitches in a government-developed software last year had delayed the digitised submission of progress reports by states, which is mandatory for sanction of funds under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme ( MGNREGA .. The ensuing delay in sanction of funds stalled ongoing work and affected implementation of new ones.
The rural development ministry, which calls these issues teething troubles, has called a meeting with states on May 23 to discuss the matter.
"The system was imposed on us last year, but most of the states were not able to upload all the data due to server and software problems," said a state-level official.
In 2010-11, the number of households that had completed 100 days of work under the scheme fell 24% to 53 lakhs.
Management Information System (MIS), a web-enabled software, was introduced by the government to make data on NREGA transparent and available in the public domain. The government also sees it as an effective tool to monitor the scheme.
The data is used as a parameter for release of funds in the second half of the fiscal - which is the peak season of demand under MGNREGA.
In 2010-11, MIS was made mandatory by the rural development ministry, but it had to be dropped in January as states were unable to meet the requirement. The ensuing delay in sanction of funds led to states having around 17, 000 crore in unspent money, as only 60% had been utilised, against 76% in 2009-10.
"Most states had received the money after the peak season was over, and the primary reason was the inefficiency of the MIS and it being made mandatory," said an official in the rural development ministry of a southern state.
The period from November - February is the peak season for the scheme.
The system requires project and worker data to be uploaded for around 2.5 lakh gram panchayats, 6465 blocks , 619 districts and 34 states and union territories. The data flow often leads to server crashes and over-loading.
12 MAY, 2011, 08.44AM IST, SUBODH GHILDIYAL,TNN
Congress hopes to ride on farmers' agitation in Uttar Pradesh to unseat Mayawati
NEW DELHI: With Mamata Banerjee said to be on the cusp of a revolution triggered by land acquisition-fuelled agitation, it was no coincidence that Congress embraced the Nandigram formula on Wednesday to regain relevance in Uttar Pradesh .
The party went the whole hog -- led by heir apparent Rahul Gandhi -- in the unrest sweeping western UP, baring its intent to tap the anger to springboard itself to the centrestage for 2012 polls. With less than a year left, the sensitivity of land disputes raised hopes of a shortcut to the otherwise long road ahead. Nandigram-Singur is the mantra.
Rahul and Digvijay Singh played on farmers' resentment to the hilt at Bhatta Parsaul in Noida, painting Mayawati as being in league with industrialists and robbing them of their wealth.
The party thinks such accusations amplify their corruption plank because of the wider appeal of farmers as a pan-state community. Rahul plans to tour across districts on May 17-18 to further work on the strategy.
But more importantly, they help weaken the rival' caste web. The anger among landowners spills across caste lines and forms a better antidote to BSP's "social engineering".
That top guns were pressed into action showed as much a Congress bid to gain leadership of the splintered opposition as to underscore the potential it sees in the issue.
The western region is crucial because BSP has entrenched itself here like few before. Mayawati broke the traditional social clout of landed Jats by networking the numerical superiority of non-Jat backward classes and came out triumphant in 2007.
But the protests are not a good augury for her. As in Tappal in Aligarh, Bhatta Parsaul paints the Mayawati regime to be exploiting farmers for industrialists.
Observers say the perception among farmers of an exploitative government threatens to consolidate groups across caste lines and thereby landing the leadership to Jats in view of their clout. Such a turn would neutralize the 'Jat vs non-Jat' politics Mayawati effectively created to her benefit.
She drew on partnership between dalits, sharing a bond with their local biggie from Badalpur, and Gujjars, with a sprinkling of upper castes driven by hostility for Mulayam Singh Yadav .
The BSP chief moved further on that course when she brought Jat-farmer icon Mahendra Singh Tikait to his knees for caste abuses. It was seen as upturning the age-old social pyramid.
Congress hopes that its befriending of the farming community in western region, with a possible tie-up with Jat strongman Ajit Singh of RLD, can put it in a position of relevance and reverse the Mayawati formula.
TDP leader urges Rahul Gandhi to take up farmer's cause in AP
VIJAYAWADA: After the AICC General Secretary Rahul Gandhi was arrested in Uttar Pradesh for supporting farmers' agitation in Bhatta Parsaul, TDP President N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday invited him to Andhra Pradesh to support farmers' agitation against land acquisition for SEZs by the state government.
Naidu said this during his visit to Veeravalli, Hanuman Junction and Nuziveed villages in Krishna district to interact with farmers.
"Instead of agitating at Noida in Uttar Pradesh, Rahul Gandhi should come to Andhra Pradesh to fight against indiscriminate acquisitions of farmers' lands by the state government at a throw-away prices, for the benefit of industrialists, over the past six years" Naidu said.
Naidu also said that the Congress-led state government was forcefully acquiring these agricultural lands.
The TDP leader also made an appeal to the farmers in those villages to fight against the state government until their paddy is procured at minimum support price. He also assured his support in the agitation.
Govt panel meet on Cairn-Vedanta deal likely on May 27: Sources
A panel of ministers is likely to meet on May 27 to consider Cairn Energy's sale of a majority stake in its India unit to Vedanta Resources , government sources said on Friday.
Cairn and Vedanta have a May 20 deadline for the $9.6 bn deal.
Cairn India declined comment. Cairn Energy and Vedanta were not immediately available for comment.
Cairn Energy agreed in August 2010 to sell a majority stake in Cairn India to Vedanta, but the deal has been delayed due to a dispute over royalty payments with Cairn India's partner, state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp.
ONGC, which has a 30 percent holding in the Cairn-operated Rajasthan fields in western India, pays 100 percent of the royalties.
The ministers' panel is looking into two options suggested by the oil ministry to allow approval of the deal -- either to give conditional clearance with a 70:30 split in royalties or to clear the deal and separately sort out the royalty issue.
Last month, India referred the deal to the panel of ministers, headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, whose recommendations would be submitted to the cabinet for a final decision.
India's oil ministry has been pushing to share the royalty burden between ONGC and Cairn India but this is opposed by both Cairn and Vedanta. Any change in the royalty structure would impact valuations and could jeopardise the deal, analysts have said.
13 MAY, 2011, 12.00AM IST, DEEPA VENKATRAGHVAN,
Answers to question in all NRIs' minds - 'What to do when you become an NRI'
Everyone is an authority on everything these days. Take weight loss for instance. Everyone will have a tip or two to offer, much of it common sense; eat healthy, exercise daily, sleep well. The problem is, when it comes to things that are beyond common sense, there is very little advice out there; things like tax issues, legal matters and procedural affairs. That's why, when I saw a large number of discussions about 'what to do when you become an NRI' on various online forums, I decided to dive deep into the topic.
So if you've got the opportunity to work and live outside India for a few years, among all the planning and packing, don't forget to tie-up a few financial loose-ends. Here are five things that you must do before you get on that flight:
1. Convert your bank savings account into an NRO account
Why: Because the Reserve Bank of India says so in its circular: RBI/2007-2008/242 Master Circular No. 03 /2007- 08 .
What is an NRO account: An NRO account is like your regular bank savings account but has certain restrictions. In this account you can deposit your rupee earnings from India such as rent, interest, dividends etc. You can also deposit funds from abroad that are in the form of freely convertible foreign currency. You can issue cheques for all local payments, EMIs or investments through this account.
Repatriation: You can repatriate (that is transfer to a bank account outside India) all current income such as rent, interest, dividends etc that you earned in India. Apart from that, if you made any capital account transactions like sale of property or investments, and if you got the sale proceeds in the NRO account, you can repatriate up to USD 1 million per calendar year. However, you would need to produce a certificate from your chartered accountant declaring that all taxes on the funds have been paid. Only then will the banker permit the repatriation.
Interest rates and taxability: The interest will be the similar to the interest on a regular savings bank account, that is, around 3%. The interest will be taxable and tax will be deducted at source at the rate of 30.9%.
How to convert: Visit your bank branch and fill up the required forms. You would need to submit two photographs, a copy of your passport and copy of your visa.
Already moved abroad? If you have already moved abroad without completing this formality, you can get copies of all your documents attested by the Indian Embassy or Notary and send them to the branch.
2. Close your existing demat account, open an NRO demat account and open a new demat under PINS
Why: Sandeep Shanbhag, Director, Wonderland Investments and an expert on NRI matters explains, "An NRI has certain restrictions when it comes to investing in Indian equities. For instance, an NRI cannot invest more than 5% in the paid up capital of an Indian company. In order to keep track of these restrictions, the RBI requires you to make these changes in your demat accounts."
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/nri/working-abroad/answers-to-question-in-all-nris-minds--what-to-do-when-you-become-an-nri/articleshow/8271141.cms
Mamata express decimates communists of Bengal
India Blooms News Service
Mamata Banerjee's over two decades of tirade against the communists in West Bengal, finally bore a tangible result on Friday, riding on the anti-car factory movement, as she ended the over 34-year rule of the Left Front in the state, scripting a historic win.
Nothing can beat the contribution of Nano, the cheapest car of the world from Tata Motors, to the win of Mamata Banerjee and the loss of communists as the wonder automobile proved dearest for the Left whose misfortune started with the forcible acquisition of the farmlands of Singur for the project in 2006.
The Left could retain neither the Nano nor their flagship state.
Now, the firebrand leader and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee would be the next chief minister of West Bengal. She called on Governor MK Narayanan in the evening.
The communists survived the fall of Berlin Wall and collapse of Soviet Union, but the struggle that began in the green fields of Singur and travelled through the bloodied Nandigram hamlets, finally ended in a landslide and truly historic victory of Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee.
"This is the victory of people, of Ma, Mati and Manush [Mother, Soil and People]," said Mamata Banerjee, reiterating her favourite slogan, after it became certain that she is all set to be the next chief minister of West Bengal.
Her alliance partner Congress also did not try to take away the credit.
"Mamata has struggled a lot. This victory is the result of her struggle," Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said.
"The people of Bengal voted for Mamata and it is mandate for Mamata," he said.
Wild jubilations by Trinamool Congress supporters swept the state as people blew conch shells and played with green (the colour of Trinamool) abir and thronged the Kalighat residence of Mamata Banerjee.
West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee lost his seat by over 16,000 votes in Jadavpur and resigned as the chief minister.
He drove out of Raj Bhavan at around 1-13 pm after putting in his papers to the governor, reports said.
According to the final result tally, the Trinamool Congress-Congress combine has won 226 seats while the Left Front managed 62. Other parties won five seats.
However, the final results are yet to be declared by the Election Commission as many put the final tally of TMC-Congress at 227 and the Left at 61.
Set to become the next Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee on Friday said the state finally got freedom from communist rule.
"After 35 years people got freedom in West Bengal. All of you remain quiet, be calm. We will maintain peace," Banerjee told her supporters and the people while addressing a huge gathering in front of her south Kolkata residence here.
"This is the year of 150 years of Tagore's birthday. Let us dedicated it to Tagore and Nazrul. I dedicated this victory to people. We will provide good governance. We will establish democracy. Sare Jahan Se Accha, Hindustan Hamara," she said.
She said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi have already congratulated her on her victory.
"I got message from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. I thank them," Banerjee said, adding that Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina also congratulated her.
"It is a victory of democracy, victory of mother, soil and people. We dedicate the victory to our motherland. It is a people's verdict, people are the winners," Mamata said.
" Let us remember the martyrs of three decades of struggle, we salute them. Let us remember the poor. We thank all the people with humility. This joy will bring happiness in Bengal."
Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) leader Gautam Deb on Friday welcomed Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee as the next chief minister of West Bengal.
"I congratulate Mamata Banerjee. I even called her. We want West Bengal to have 'poribarton' (change), and that change should come under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee. We will support her in all developmental works," said Deb.
Reacting to Left Front's defeat in the assembly polls, Deb said: "This vote was not against the negative performance of Left Front, but a positive endorsement of a new government under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee. Hope she lives up to her image."
"We have failed to win confidence of our people. May be, they thought we are indifferent towards them. We didn't correct our mistakes as per their expectations," the CPI-M leader said.
Deb said it's the 'fighter image' of Mamata that has drawn mass support.
He even conceded Mamata's stand in Singur.
"Now it's proven that she was right and we were wrong…we should have left 400 acre land, factory or no factory," said Deb.
While Deb admitted the mistakes of Singur, West Bengal Land Reforms Minister Abdur Rezzak Mollah was unforgiving in slamming his party's outgoing chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and his industry minister Nirupam Sen for pursuing land policy that led to the downfall of the government.
"They cannot catch a small snake and had set out to catch cobra," said Mollah in a scathing attack, ridiculing the industrialization policy of Bhattacharjee and Sen.
(Reporting by Sujoy Dhar and Sreya Basu)
http://www.indiablooms.com/NewsDetailsPage/newsDetails130511o1.php
Live Blog: Friday, the 13th, Assembly Poll Results 2011
It's Friday, the 13th, and the numbers have spoken. Mamata Banerjee's TMC will sit at Writers' Building, ending 34 years of Left rule in Bengal. DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi has bowed to arch-rival J Jayalalithaa who is headed for a landslide win in Tamil Nadu. Tarun Gogoi will remain CM in Assam, and the winds of change have swept across Kerala.
All right, that's it. It's been a very interesting day. One regime has fallen and another has returned. The most riled political party of recent times, the Congress, has stormed to victory in one state and scraped through another.
I hope you all have enjoyed this continuous coverage. On behalf of contributors Shankar Raj, Rajesh Vishwanathan, Raj Narayan, E Jayakrishnan, Swagata Sen and Murali Gopy, this is Dipankar Paul signing off.
Go to
West Bengal | Tamil Nadu | Kerala | Assam, Puducherry and Kadapa | Results Table
Live Blog: Friday, the 13th, West Bengal Assembly Poll Results 2011
Write to us and tell us what you think. Or air your views on the MSN forum. Is Mamata Banerjee the ideal chief ministerial candidate? Will she bring Bengal back on track?
4 pm: Nepal is taking lessons from the Left rout in Bengal. The country's ruling Left government said communists all over South Asia should heed the lesson taught by the debacle of Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's government.
2.30 pm: It's official. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee lost his seat and is only the second chief minister inBengal's history to lose an assembly seat. Prafulla Sen, the third chief minister of Bengal, was the first to lose.
1.53 pm: Mamata calls this Bengal's second Independent (sic) day. She said of the CPM: "Woh jab power mein rahata hai bodmaishi karta hai, aur jab nahin rahata hai tab bhi bodmaishi karta hai."
Haha!
"Mera to zindagi barbaad kkar diya thha," added the impulsive, politically incorrect leader.
1.50 pm: Will Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee go back to writing plays and poetry now that he will have more time on his hands? We hope so.
1.30pm: Tweet time
fakingnews: Lalu Yadav has just joined Trinamool Congress, hoping to be Railways Minister again
1.21 pm: West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee hands over his resignation. Thus ends the 34-year Left rule in Bengal. All eyes on Mamata now. Sources tell us she will take oath on May 18.
1.04 pm: Didi's fact box
The Left are all set to lose 157 seats that they had won in 2006. The TMC is set to gain 162 seats from last time.
1.03 pm: Slightly radical views coming in from Murali Gopy aka Cheta
Mamata Banerjee can finally switch from her "Ekla Cholo Re" to the more relaxing tunes of Rabindra Sangeet. It is sweet revenge. But will this be the start of an anarchic epoch? Will Maoists now have an official address in India? Will Blood replace Red?Will the Draupadi of Bengal ask for the intestines of the CPM, in addition to its deathly screams? Will Rahul Gandhi take a bike rally to the forbidden fortress of the East?
12.55 pm: Joke of the day: Chandan Mitra of the BJP says his party "will play the role of an opposition in Bengal." And how are they going to do that without a single seat?
12.50 pm: Can we stand for a moment and admire the fact that Mamata Banerjee will be the first woman chief minister of West Bengal, a fact now confirmed by one of her senior leaders on national television?
12.45 pm: Didi asks Does one feel a tinge of regret that the world's longest standing Communist government finally fell? Maybe the whole concept of Communism if flawed at one level. Maybe we should ask Castro what he thinks of it.
12.35 pm: TMC's Saugata Roy feels "emanicipated after 34 years of strong Stalinist Communist rule." He also assures the people of the state that there will be no violence from TMC's side at least.
12.31 pm: The BJP has not been able to get the single seat it usually gets, this time. Why did they not make inroads into the state? It was an opportunity staring in the eye!
12.20 pm: Derek O'Brien tweets: The one traffic light in the world that was red for 34 years, just turned green in Bengal
12.06 pm: Mamata dedicates victory to the people of her motherland and mentions Sonia and the prime minister in her victory speech
11.58 am: Where will Bengal's new chief minister live? The offficial residence, Indira Bhavan, where Jyoti Basu breathed his last, is all set to be converted to a memorial. Buddha operated out of his low income group flat for the last 10 years. Will Mamata also slum it out? Or is a grand CM's residence in the offing?
11.55 am: Didi asks So let's ask the biggest question now. Will Mamata Banerjee be able to resist the temptation to be Bengal's chief minister? Most would say the answer is no. Then who becomes railway minister? We'll have to wait and watch.
11.54 am: Mamata Banerjee's first reaction after victory to the TMC website: "We are humbled. We are thankful. This is a victory for 'Maa Mati Manush'."
11.39 am: Actress and first time contestant Debasree Roay all set to defeat Left heavyweight Kanti Ganguly
11.37 am: West Bengal CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to quit after high-level meet. The end of an era forthe Left Front.
11.30 am: Left concedes defeat; Somnath Chatterjee says CPM misread people of Bengal
11.25 am: Time for some poll Tweets:
Balakumar: Today is the 10th death anniversary of R K Narayan. How apt that "Swamy and his (AIADMK) Friends" are the talking point in TN.
Pragmatic D: It was a tragedy that Laloo could not do to Bihar what he did to Railways. It'll be a tragedy if Mamata does to Bengal what she did to Rlys.
Pritish Nandy: Interesting to note that Congress is part of the winning team, in however small a role, in 4 out of the 5 victories.
MS Narain: Q: How many DMK MPs will be needed to change a light bulb? A: Sorry.. but they're all in Tihar.
Madras Chap: Kalaignar TV stops all election coverage, plays "Maan Aada, Mayil Aada
11.15 am: News of the day: CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee trailing in Jadavpur behind little known ManishGupta
11.08 am: Pritish Nandy tweets: A TMC supporter wants Writers Building to be painted green!
11.07 am: Like father, like son. Pranab Mukherjee's son Abhijit, a first timer in politics, leads in Naihati
11.00 am: Out for a short tea break and as I come back I realise the lead is quite remarkable for AIADMK. The battle is on, you will have to say. No, not between Jayalalitha and Karunanidhi but between 'Amma' and 'Didi' as to who will win the polls with a better margin. Mamata Banerjee's TMC has 216 to left's 67 at this moment, which translates to nearly 70% margin and Jayalalitha's AIADMK has 187 to DMK's 39, which translates to nearly 75%. It sure looks like 'Indian Women's day' today
10.53 am: TMC leader Partho Chatterjee says it is time to rebuild Bengal. Hmm, they are starting with building a massive stage at Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata for Mamata Banerjee's swearing-in!
10.47 am: Did Congress just take the credit for TMC rout in Bengal? Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwary says Mamata's win is a result of Cong-TMC teamwork!
10.36 am: This one from Twitter
"2009 was a vote againt the Left... this time it is FOR Mamata"
10.05 am: Kolkata a sea of green as Mamata Banerjee prepares to take over the Chief Minister's seat.
9.50 am: Anna on Women Power! Amma and Didi are turning it on this time around. Just a short while ago, we had thought Amma would be happy with a simple majority unlike Didi who is heading for a landslide one. Leads coming in now are pointing to a humongous win for Jayalalitha. AIADMK is leading in 79 constituencies and DMK in just 33. Seems, the 2G effect is there to see.
9.48 am: TMC workers break out in celebration at Mamata Banerjee's Kalighat house with their trademark green gulal.
9.41 am: Didi making our mouths water! Mamata Banerjee always served delectable piping hot samosas during press conferences at her house in Kalighat. Will PC food take a turn for the gourmet once she becomes CM? One hopes not.
9.35 am: Didi's observation The tally is religiously sticking to exit polls. The TMC is leading in close to 140 seats, and the Left in just over 50.
9.30 am: Former Speaker and CPIM leader Somnath Chatterjee concedes TMC holds the edge and is set to win the elections.
9.25 am: Senior TMC leader Saugata Roy says the people of the state have rejected the CPM and the Left Front. Rubbing it in after, we say, after TMC takes the lead.
9.20 am: If the Trinamool wins, Mamata Banerjee wants to take oath at Brigade Parade Grounds instead of the governor's residence,the Raj Bhawan, so that an overwhelming crowd can be accommodated to witness the ceremony.
9.10 am: Exciting views from Didi: Will it be finance minister Asim Dasgupta or FICCI heavyweight Amit Mitra from Khardah? Mitra might just have the edge, and a post of the new finance minister waiting for him as well. Dasgupta is trailing, by the way, and looks to lose after 5 wins on the trot.
If all goes well, Sabeer Bhatia may end up becoming the IT minister of Bengal. You heard it here first!
9.05 am: TMC ahead of Left in first hour of counting. Sign of things to come?
9.03 am: Didi's point So trends are pouring in and exit polls seem to have won first round. Right now, TMC-Congress seem to be leading in 20 of the 30 seats that are ebing counted. But it's too early to say anything yet.
9.01 am: TMC leader Dinesh Trivedi says Mamaya Banerjee will emerge victorious in a matter of hours. Onthe other hand, CPM's Nilotpal Basu predicts that the people will once again vote for the Left.
8.45 am: Trivia from Didi 2.0 Swagata Sen
The youngest candidate this elections is a 25-year-old student, Shatarup Ghosh, who is pitted against Trinamool heavyweight Javed Khan at the Kasba constituency. The total money he had at the time of filing his nomination papers was Rs 308.90 - Rs 250 in hand and Rs 58.90 in the bank.
8.40 am: TMC leaders are huddled in the party office as counting starts
8.15 am: Left chairman Biman Bose confident of victory; "Will win by 2006 margin"
7.45 am: Finally that hour is here. Today, any which way you look at it, history is in the making. In a few minutes, the counting in the five states which went to polls in the greater part of the last two months will begin. One of the most awaited results is in Bengal, where Mamata is set to end more than three decades of Left's rule. Truly momentous. Fasten your seat belts. We bring you live coverage, as the events unfolds.
Go to
West Bengal | Tamil Nadu | Kerala | Assam, Puducherry and Kadapa | Results Table
Go to
West Bengal | Tamil Nadu | Kerala | Assam, Puducherry and Kadapa | Results Table
Live Blog: Friday, the 13th, Tamil Nadu Assembly Poll Results 2011
Write to us and tell us what you think. Or air your views on the MSN forum. In the wake of 2G and the DMK rout, will Amma bring change to Tamil Nadu?
3.57 pm: Victorious AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa lashes out at DMK. She says her win shows the anger people had for the DMK government. "Money power has lost this election," says the former actress.
2.45 pm: DMK patriarch and Tamil nadu Chief Minister has resigned from his post
1.55 pm: Reaction coming in from AIADMK leader Thambidurai. He says that the party has no intention of sharing power with allies and would go after the DMK's first family on the issue of corruption. We are still awaiting a detailed reaction from Jayalalitha and should get that sooner than later.
1.45 pm: DMDK is actually leading in 26 seats. This is an incredible performance from the Vijayakanth party. Last time, they just had 1 seat and this time is absolutely astonishing. And all of this in just 6 years of forming the party.
Break-up of the allies
AIADMK front = 196
AIADMK 150, AIFB 1, CPI 6, CPIM 10, DMDK 26, MAMAK 1, PT 2
DMK front = 36
DMK 23, Cong 8, PMK 5
1.34 pm: Vijayakanth's DMDK is having a really good election, this time around. The party had managed to win only one seat when the leader himself won from Villupuram in the 2006 elections but the others did manage to garner considerable vote share of 8.38%.
This time around, there are at least DMDK contestants leading considerably in their constituencies and that is a tremendous improvement for the party, which had joined hands with AIADMK.
1.11 pm: It gets better and better for Jayalalitha and AIADMK. The party is now leading in 196 seats and is just 4 short of making it to the double century. DMK suffers further setbacks as their leads are now reduced to just 34 seats. It is not just a defeat, it looks a massive embarrassment for Karunanidhi. Easily, the worst day in his long political career that began 5 decades ago.
1.09 pm: Murali Gopy says
The Marans, the Mozhis, the Nidhis and the Rajas are all washed out in the Jayalalithaa tsunami! Rajnikanth has been spotted atop a palm tree. A "Vengai" is on the prowl; the name is Vijayakanth. Vadivelu has been admitted to the refugee camp. This is Napoleon's Waterloo. Sarathkumar and Radhika are on a rain duet. And Vijay is now the 'Kaavalan'.
12.57 pm: Jayalalitha is all smiles as she comes out to the first-floor balcony of her residence and waves to her fans. This is a massive moment for the AIADMK. There is a huge rush at Veda Nilayam at the posh locality of Poes Garden in Chennai.
12.46 pm: There is an interesting perspective from one of our Users Goutam as to what could have led to the DMK rout in Tamil Nadu. He says the three levels rich, middle class and the poor are all seemingly angry with the DMK for different reasons.
He adds that the rich are upset due to the 2G and corruption issues while the poor are upset due to spiralling prices and the biggest of the lot, the middle class is angry due to frequent power cut problems in Tamil Nadu over the last couple of years.
That is a very interesting angle to the whole story and perhaps a message for the politicians. If a ruling party indulges in power cuts, what do the voters do? Cut their power!
12.45 pm: Kuttappan's take on Jaya's landslide
Jaya ho!
It isn't over till fat lady sings!
Oh, she has, with a yelp and all the wings,
Karuna will go into a sulk,
So will his kith, kin and the ilk.
God knows that Jaya can deliver any day,
but will she keep Sasikala at bay?
Or, will she go astray for us to regret on the morrow,
Leaving us to beg, steal & borrow.
Let's hope that god shows her the way,
Keep corruption & poverty at bay,
Here's a toast to the Lady from Poes Garden,
Pray she frees the state from all burden!
As for Karuna, too soon to write his obit,
Will he survive with Sonia and his wit,
There is trouble brewing for Kani & the Marans,
Likely to get the loosies and the runs!
12.35 pm: During the last election in 2006, Vijayakanth had just about announced his arrival on the big stage by gaining good vote share of 8.38%, which proved instrumental in indirectly helping the DMK come to power although there wasn't any alliance between DMDK and any party at that time. And before this election Vijayakanth formed an alliance with AIADMK with the sole motto of ousting the ruling DMK.
His party DMDK looks like is ready to scale up to the next level. Vijayakanth leading in Rishivandiyam by 12000 votes and looks set for a convincing win
12.21 pm: Some big names for DMK are biting the dust in the elections. Ministers Panneerselvam, Anbazhagan and K N Nehru are all trailing while Karunanidhi's son MK Stalin is leading his AIADMK rival Doraiswamy in Kolathur by a mere 800 votes.
12.15: Consolation for DMK. Outgoing Chief Minister Karunanidhi is leading in his Thiruvarur constituency with a lead of over 10,000 votes over his AIADMK rival Rajendran.
12.01 pm: Conflicting views within the Congress on the reason for the miserable performance of DMK in Tamil Nadu. Jayanti Natarajan says, "Corruption let DMK down." Another Congress voice, Ghulam Nabi Azad dismisses the corruption theory. He says, "Corruption was not an issue at all but it was only anti-incumbency factor."
How does it matter? The end result matters and Jayalalitha would now be smiling her way to cloud nine
12.00 pm: AIADMK is leading in 193 out of 234, which means the party leads by a margin of 82%. This is astonishing and is way ahead of the 76% margin of DMK in their maiden win during the revolutionary 1967 elections held then for the Madras State legislative Assembly. In a way, this is a record of sorts for Jayalalitha and AIADMK.
And there in West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee's TMC is leading in 219 out of 294, which translates to a lead margin of 75%
Interesting, isn't it?
11.45 am: Latest leads and trends: AIADMK leading in 193 and DMK in 39 and we have leads coming in from all 234 constituencies. The big point of interest now is whether AIADMK can race to the double century mark. Looks tough but like in cricket, anything's possible in the world of elections as well. After all, who predicted such a landslide for 'Amma' and 'Didi', both on the same day
11.39 am: Anti-incumbency the lone factor? That sure cannot be the singular reason for the defeat of DMK? Tell us MSN Users, what do you think led to the defeat of DMK in Tamil Nadu? Anti-incumbency alone or were there many more reasons? Share your thoughts with us by signing in below
11.33 am: Congress blames the anti-incumbency factor for defeat in Tamil Nadu. It is true in a sense as Tamil Nadu has always been like that over many decades of elections. Despite the drubbing, Congress maintains that the alliance with DMK is there to stay.
11.20 am: DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi trailing in his own constituency in Tiruvirur. He's seen better days, I'm sure.
11.09 am: AIADMK says the mandate is an end to corrupt government. Interestingly, Jayanti Natarajan ofCongress is extending her good wishes to Jayalalitha and says 'corruption was an important issue in TN'. Should we read something in between the lines there?
10.40 am: Anna says Jayalalitha with her first reaction. She slams Karunanidhi and says that DMK Supremo had disregarded the will of the people. Now, that is a fairly soft reaction to begin with. You can sure expect a war of words to break out in the next few days. It's always been that way in Tamil Nadu, hasn't it?
10.36 am: Attention will now turn to the immediate couple of questions. What will happen to the protection DMK's 'daughter' Kanimozhi has been getting? Will the Congress ditch the DMK and join hands with AIADMK?
(Remember, Jayalalitha had made an open offer to the Congress only a few months ago with a rider that if the Centre decides to act against Raja, she would ensure nothing happens to the government). So many possibilities still lurking although one of them is quite clear and decisive. That AIADMK will form the government in TN
10.30 am: Jaya celebrates victory with a jibe: Hope Karunanidhi realises his follies
10.27 am: Wild celebrations in Chennai outside Jayalalithaa's residence
10.18 am: Anna says This is incredible from AIADMK. Exit polls, even the most optimistic ones were tipping the party to get a maximum of 130 seats. And what is happening now? The party is leading in no less than 131 seats and we are getting leads from only 175 out of 234 constituencies. Can safely assume it is going to be an explosive win for 'Amma'.
10.00 am: From the DMK camp: MK Azhagiri upset with leads in Tamil Nadu, refuses to talk to the media
9.55 am: Party workers have started distributing sweets as news of strong lead for Jayalalitha spread. Exit polls had predicted a close fight but seems like they haven't discounted the fact that the Indian voter today is different like was seen during the Bihar elections a few months ago. Is the DMK paying a price for the 2G?
9.38 am: Anna says Why is Congress smiling despite DMK trailing? It clearly looks like they are keen to align with Jayalalitha and get rid of the 'excess baggage' called DMK. After all, UPA's dream performance in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls were completely tempered with what followed in the form of the 2G scandal that had even PM Manmohan Singh worry about so-called coalition politics.
9.15 am: After an hour of counting, we are yet to have any serious leads in Tamil Nadu. Unlike Kerala, where leads are blazing at the speed of 3G literally speaking, Tamil Nadu still seems to be stuck in 2G! But, early indicators are pointing to a handy lead for Jayalalitha. AIADMK seems to be leading in 10 constituencies out of 18.
9.13 am: After a bad start, it looks like DMK is trying hard to make a comeback. They were trailing by 5-10 early on and now are still training but by 25-35. Jayalalitha is definitely not doing a Mamata Banerjee so far and looks like she would be happy to just finish with a simple majority and nothing more extravagant.
9.01 am: Nearly an hour since counting should have started as per EC norms but we are yet to have any serious leads in Tamil Nadu. Unlike Kerala, where leads are blazing at the speed of 3g literally speaking, Tamil Nadu still seems to be stuck in 2G! But, early indicators are pointing to a handy lead for Jayalalitha.
Leads have started coming in 18 constituencies and AIADMK seems to be leading in 10 constituencies while the ruling DMK is up in 6.
8.55 am: Anna says Alliances in Tamil Nadu are never permanent and now it looks they cannot be temporary either. There is an interesting development already as counting starts. Sources indicate DMK has initiated talks with Vijayakanth's DMDK should a situation arise where they are very close with AIADMK but fall just short of the required numbers. Now, that is some 'loyalty' or is it?
8.35 am: Rajesh 'Anna' Vishwanathan says, A quick reminder at what is at stake this morning. DMK plus 8 allies are slugging it out with AIADMK plus 11 allies for the 234-seat Tamil Nadu Assembly. Exit polls are throwing in a mixed bag at this stage. While Headlines Today-ORG poll is tipping DMK+ to win 115 to 130 seats and AIADMK+ to end with 105 to 120 seats, CNN-IBN -The Week poll is projecting AIADMK+ to win 120-132 seats and DMK+ to finish with 102-114 seats.
8.20 am: AIADMK has booked a venue for Jayalalithaa's swearing-in ceremony, sources say
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Live Blog: Friday, the 13th, Kerala Assembly Poll Results 2011
Write to us and tell us what you think. Or air your views on the MSN forum. Is Congress the alternative Kerala has been looking for?
4.03 pm: Today's outcome has given the slenderest majority to either of the coalitions that ruled the state alternately in the last three decades. In 2006, the LDF won 98 seats and UDF 42.
3.50 pm: Muslim League supporters are painting north Kerala green. PK Kunhalikkutty, having posted a thunderous win, is getting ready to settle scores. For him, VS is not Sachin Tendulkar but a hideous Van Helsing. And it is now time to play Dracula. But then, Mr. Kunhalikutty, we all know how that story ended!
And the usage has always been "to paint the city red".
3.45 pm: Kerala CM VS Achuthanandan to submit resignation tomorrow
3.30 pm: Oommen Chandy looks like the flummoxed purchaser at a Mercedes showroom whose purse got stolen enroute. MV Raghavan, KR Gowriamma, -- mighty pre-poll bargainers -- are ready to take Vanaprastha. Or is it Samadhi for them? Ramesh Chennithala looks like a Holocaust escapee; he just about scraped through.
Muraleedharan, the Karunakaran issue, is getting ready to sing a paean. The song on his lips seems to be "Chandy jaisa rang hai tera...."!
3.20 pm: Murali Gopy says
Watching V 'Sachin' Achuthanandan addressing the loser's press meet. In front foot on all questions in Malayalam; back foot defense for English queries. Ear-to-ear grin in place. Sarcasm in place. Lashing out at his favourite victim: the sexual abuser (read PK Kunhalikutty). Wishing Oommen Chandy incessant strikes, lock-downs and gheraos.
Winking occasionally at familiar journos. And giving a big "Namaste" to an adoring scribe who calls him "the savior of the Left". LOL Salam, Comrade!
2.46 pm: Kerala CM VS Achuthanandan: We tried to correct out mistakes but could not.
2.45 pm: Congress-led UDF gets simple majority in Kerala
1.08 pm: Murali Gopy will not leave Kerala behind
It is the Kerala Premier League! The UDF, with all its great batsmen, were hoping for a landslide victory. Only one man, with a willow as wide as his mouth, stood in between Congress and ultimate glory. Let us call him V 'Sachin' Achuthanandan! It has been like a 20-20 showdown. And it is a tie.
Now, the Third Umpire will dictate terms in Kerala: The Speaker!!!
12.30 pm: All eyes on Thirthala as voting machines go out of order. Only 40 per cent counting over when trouble started. Last reports said UDF was leading there when counting was stopped
- Even if UDF wins in Kerala, CPM to give the new government a tough time.
- Will Kerala go back to the days of bandhs and hartals?
- With a government that does not have a comfortable majority, private investments to get a big setback.
- Why not ban elections in Kerala? In all elections, voters boot out the incumbent govt. It is either the UDF or the LDF.
12.02 pm: Kerala heading for a hung assembly. Leads indicate a close call. Six booths to decide Kerala's fate
- Finance Minister Thomas Isaac leading in Alapuzha
- BJP goes down fighting in Kasargode and Neyyamam in Thiruvanantapuram
11.15 am: Kerala heading for an ODI type of close finish with the UDF leading in 74 seats, LDF in 66. The half way mark is 71 in the 140 member Assembly. Five districts to decide the fate of the next government.
Hibi Eden of Cong wins Ernakulam by over 30,000 votes defeating Sebastin Paul of CPM. Hibi is the son of the late George Eden and the youngest candidate in Kerala. He was selected to stand from Ernakulam, the seat held by his father, by Rahul Gandhi.
11.11 am:
- M V Raghavan of CPM loses Alathur in Palakkad district
- Cong State president Ramesh Chennithala establishes a lead of 2000 votes in Haripad
- Controversial former minister P K Kunjalkutty involved in ice-cream sex scam wins by a huge margin from Vengara in Kozhikode district
- G Sudhakaran CPM of Cong leads in Ambalapuzha
- V S Sivakumar CPM bags Thiruvananthapuram
10.42 am: Kozhikode district breakup: LDF 10, UDF 3
- Cong State president Ramesh Chennithala establishes a huge lead in Haripad
- K M Mani of Mani Congress wins Palai by over 4,000 votes
10.41 am: Hibi Eden, the youngest candidate and Rahul Gandhi's 'Amul baby', leads by a huge margin
Kannur results: LDF 6, UDF 5. Cong manages to make major inroad in CPM bastion
10.40 am: Twitter buzz
"#EVMs make counting so much fun, like instant noodles - 2 mins mein results taiyyar!!"
10.30 am
- Leads UDF 72, LDF 68, BJP 0
- C Sivankutty of CPM defeats former O Rajagopal of BJP in Neyymam
- Former minister Ganesh Kumar leading in Kollam
- Tough fight in Kasargode between BJP and UDF
- Mons Joshep of bags Kotttaym
- LDF leads in almost all seats in Palakkad district
10.21 am: Kerala CM V S Achuthanandan wins in Malampuzha of Palakkad district
10.17 am: Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan establishes a huge and unassailable lead in Malampuzha of Palakkad district
- Former O Rajagopal of BJP narrows lead in Neyymam
- Former minister Ganesh Kumar leading in Kollam
- Tough fight in Kasargode between BJP and UDF
- Azhikode goes to K M Shaji of UDF
10.15 am: Rajettan says The way the UDF and LDF are going in Kerala, they might soon need a UDRS to confirm who won! Imagine the President of India trying to play that role!!!
10.08 am: Kerala CM VS Achuthanandan says he will not comment till the results are out. Good ploy, we think, considering the close battle the state is seeing at the moment
9.46 am: K Muralidheeran of Congress and son of former CM K Karunakaran wins Vattyurkavu in Thiruvananthapuram
9.40 am: The results are pouring in
- First minister in Kerala defeated; AP Abdulla Kutty beats Kadanapally Master in Kannur
- M K Muneer wins south Kozhikode
- Oomen Chandy wins in puthupally
- Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan wins
- Speaker Ramakrishnan wins from Thirssur
9.36 am: More quick fire updates
- Leads: UDF 65, LDF 73, BJP 2
- Heavy focus on Kasargode and Neyam in Thiruvanathapuram where BJP is making a headway for the first time
- Jayalaksmi of BJP leading in Kasargode by over 3000 votes
- O Rajagopal continues in Neyam in North Thiruvananthapuram by more than 1200 votes
- Oomen Chandy leading in Puthupally
- UDF sweeping Malapuram
- Controversial former minister P K Kunjalkutty leading
9.35 am: Kalaignar Raj crosses borders and draws a what-could-be: "Freudian situation in Kerala#stateelections .. LDF 69, UDF 70 and BJP 1... Will O Rajagopal support the UDF to cross halfway house?"
9.26 am: Minister AK Balan of UDF wins.
9.22 am: Quick-fire updates
- BJP making in-roads in two seats in Kerala for the first time in Kasargod and Thiruvanathapuram.
- Mamantaawady in Wyanad goes to Vijayalakshmi of Congress.
- Chief Minster V S Achuthanandan establishes a massive lead
- O Rajagopal of BJP leading in Thiruvananthapuram North
- Varkala goes to UDF
9.10 am: Kerala's MA Baby says Left will get at least 70 seats
9 am: 'Kuttapan' Jayakrishnan is back!
BJP's O Rajagopal leading in Kerala. Will it be BJP's first win ever in a Kerala assembly seat?
8.50 am: Early polls indicate close battle between UDF and LDF in Kerala
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Live Blog: 2011 Assembly Poll Results for Assam and Puducherry, Kadapa by-polls
Write to us and tell us what you think. Or air your views on the MSN forum. Will Tarun Gogoi prove hisstatement that he is the "best CM Assam has ever seen"?
4.05 pm: Case of sour grapes in Assam. Asom Gana Parishad has blamed "manipulation of EVMs by the ruling Congress party" for its rout today.
"We knew the Congress would do something and they did so by manipulating the EVMs. Otherwise such a result would not have come," former two-time chief minister and senior AGP leader Prafulla Kumar Mahanta told reporters.
1.07 pm: Murali Gopy turns his attention to Kadapa
Jaganmohan Reddy, the dutiful son of YSR; the prodigal protégé of Mother Sonia; the rebel of Andhra. Beware! Deccan has always given sleepless nights to the Throne of Delhi. It was a dire concern for Jalaluddin Mohammed Akbar. It was the worst nightmare of Aurangazeb. Now, it is Jaganmohan Reddy.
The name itself is enough. It means "the one who charms the world"!
12.48 pm: Jagan has stretched his lead to over 3 lakh votes now. Latest leads from Kadapa Lok Sabha Constituency
- YS Jagan (YSR Cong) - 429361
- DL Ravindra (Cong) - 104056
- Mysoora Reddy (TDP) - 79876
Pulivendala assembly Constituency
- YS Vijayamma (YSR Cong) - 71839
- YS Vivekananda Reddy (Cong)- 17598
- B Ravi (TDP) - 6415
12.05 pm: Latest leads from Kadapa Lok Sabha Constituency
- YS Jagan (YSR Cong) - 355744
- DL Ravindra (Cong) - 86854
- Mysoora Reddy (TDP) - 65417
- Pulivendala assembly Constituency
- YS Vijayamma (YSR Cong) - 57472
- YS Vivekananda Reddy (Cong)- 13639
- B Ravi (TDP) - 5233
12.03 pm: Long time since we gave you an update from Andhra Pradesh. This election has been so much about 'Amma' and 'Didi' but quietly in Rayalaseema region, one new political hero is emerging. YS Jagan, who defied the Congress, walked out of the party, resigned from his post and floated his own party all in a matter of 6 months, is sending out a strong message to not just the state Congress unit but also to the Centre it seems.
He is presently leading in Kadapa Lok Sabha constituency by 2.75 lakhs votes and his mother YS Vijayalaxmi is leading from the Pulivendala Assembly constituency by 43000 votes.
11.32 am: : Latest from Kadapa Lok Sabha by-poll: YS Jagan has stretched his lead to over 2 lakh votes now. The latest figure mid-way through the counting process puts his lead at 2,25,655 votes. Big setback for DL Ravindra Reddy of Congress and Mysoora Reddy of TDP.
11.10 am: Update from Kadapa. It gets wider and wider, the margin for YSR Congress. YS Jagan is leading by 147000 votes and his mother YS Vijayalaxmi is leading by 38574 votes against her late husband's brother YS Vivekananda Reddy. Problems aplenty for Congress in Andhra Pradesh at this stage.
10.23 am: CM Tarun Gogoi thanks the people for showing faith in his government
10.19 am: Latest update from Kadapa indicates YS Jagan is leading by a mammoth 80000 votes at the end of round five and his mother YS Vijayalaxmi is leading by 20000 votes in the Pulivendala Assembly Constituency. More significantly, in both these places, the Indian National Congress has been pushed to the third spot. Now, what does this indicate? Jagan's stand vindicated?
TDP better than Congress? Tough times ahead for CM Kiran Kumar Reddy and Congress President Sonia Gandhi as far as Andhra Pradesh is concerned
9.58 am: Congress' Tarun Gogoi to form government again in Assam
9.53 am: The only place where Cong will feel bitter looking at the numbers. YS Jagan is currently leading by 48800 votes and after two rounds, he is leading the TDP by 50000 votes. Congress has been marginalised to third place. This is really bad news for Congress in AP as pro-Jagan faction within the Congress starts feeling more confident of aligning with the YSR Congress.
9.45 am: And the answer is here. YSR had beaten TDP's Kandula Rajamohan Reddy by 5000 votes in the 1996 Lok Sabha poll for Kadapa Constituency. Just a few days ago, the same candidate who had given YSR a tough fight in 1996 ran into differences with TDP Chief Chandrababu Naidu, quit the party and joined the Congress in Andhra Pradesh. This happened just a month before the by-poll.
9.40 am: Trivia: When YS Rajasekhara Reddy won the 1996 poll for the Kadapa Lok Sabha Constituency, what was the margin of victory? Keep thinking and whoever knows it, can sign in below with their answer. We will come up with the answer in our next update within a couple of minutes.
9.32 am: Anna says It's starting to prove ominous for Congress and TDP in Kadapa and Pulivendala. Both YS Jagan and his mother Vijayalaxmi have started stretching their leads. Jagan is now leading by 22000 votes and Vijayamma is leading by 9000 votes and these are early days still in the counting process. Looks like the point of interest now is on the margin of victory.
9.12 am: Anna says YS Jagan is stretching his lead as second round of counting is underway. His mother YS Vijayalaxmi has established a lead of 3000 votes after round one in the Pulivendala Assembly constituency. Jagan is seen strong in all the YSR strangleholds like Proddatur, Pulivendala and Jammalamudugu.
8.56 am: YS Jagan leads by 18000 votes at the end of Round 1 of counting for the Kadapa Lok Sabha constituency. Double joy for YSR family as Vijayalaxmi is also leading in the Pulivendala Assembly constituency. This is a very promising start for Jagan and his mother and looks like the Congress or the TDP will have a tough time covering the margin. Early days though. Still 16 rounds to go.
8.30 am: Jagan Mohan leading by 18,000 in Kadapa
8.20am: Assam CM Tarun Gogoi seeks blessings before counting begins
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All you need to know about the Assembly Polls 2011: The gossip, the news and the views
11.15pm West Bengal
Didi on 'Different Strokes':
Not many know, but Mamata Banerjee also paints when she has free time. During the Singur controversy, she even held an exhibition of her paintings. Each painting was priced at Rs 1 lakh, the same amount that one had to pay to buy a Nano that was to roll out of Singur
10.36pm Tamil Nadu
Anna asks, "What will become of Kani?"
The results are likely to have massive ramifications in Tamil Nadu. Political experts feel if Jayalalitha comes to power, Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi could be the immediate target and it will become very hard for the DMK family to protect Kani. On the other hand, if DMK comes to power, Kani could be protected by the family.
9.58pm West Bengal
Didi comments on the numbers game:
The Left numbers are pretty dismal. Ananda Bazar has kept its prediction tally at 60 seats, with 47 seats for CPM, the main Front partner.
9.32pm Tamil Nadu
Anna is back with yet another question. Speak up readers!
Tell us MSN Users, who do you think will win the Tamil Nadu polls this time around? And do you buy into the free sops offered aplenty by both parties? Sign in below to come up with your thoughts.
9.15pm West Bengal
Didi foresees a 'freaky Friday' for Mamata!
UP CM Mayawati had taken oath as chief minister on Friday the 13th, in 2007. This Friday the 13th will seal the fate of Mamata Banerjee who may join the list of India's women chief ministers for the first time in her career.
8.47pm West Bengal
Didi rats out Mamata's beauty regimen?(!)
In her 56 years (yes, that's how old the lady is), Mamata Banerjee says she has never spend money on cosmetics and jewellery. She was first elected as a Congress party MP in 1984 at the age of 29.
8.35pm Kerala
Kuttappan cites some election trivia:
A total of 971 hopefuls are in the fray in 'God's own country' for a total of 140 assembly seats. The three CM aspirants - V S Achutanandam of the CPM, Oomen Chandy & Ramesh Chennithala of the Congress - are contesting from Malampuzha, Puthupally and Haripad, respectively.
Interestingly, the BJP is contesting the largest number of seats 138, two short of the total. This is because the party is fighting on its own and is not part of an alliance or a Front.
Incredibly, far from its status as a national party, the lotus has never bloomed in Kerala; BJP is yet to open its account in the state. This election is slated to change that. The BSP, which is also going alone, has the second largest number of candidates in the fray with 122.
8.27 pm West Bengal
Didi says Buddhadeb may be shown the door.
Are exit polls predicting a win for chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee? Surprisingly, no. Most exit polls say the current CM may be defeated, as may finance minister Asim Dasgupta and industries and commerce minister Nirupam Sen.
8.13pm Tamil Nadu
Time for a Tamil Nadu tidbit again!
Interestingly, Bahujan Samaj party had decided to field candidates in all 234 constituencies and Mayawathi had said the party will go on its own in TN elections.
7.55pm West Bengal
Didi believes Bengal's 'Red army' misses Basu
CPM party workers are missing their one leader right now. A worker was quoted as saying that the late former chief minister Jyoti Basu had managed to keep the Left Front partners together "very skilfully". "But now, there is nobody of his calibre in the party. In the trying times that are coming, it will take more than that skill to keep the squabbling partners together."
7.46pm Tamil Nadu
The Tamil Trimurthi: Amma, Kalaignar, Captain
Constituencies where biggies are contesting: Jayalalitha from Srirangam in Trichy district, Karunanidhi from Thiruvarur in Thiruvarur district and Vijayakanth from Rishivandiyam in Villipuram district
7.33pm West Bengal
Didi doles out the media buzz:
The Ananda Bazar Group-run Star Ananda television channel, West Bengal's most prominent media house, has predicted that the Trinamool Congress-Congress combine is set to win 225 out of the total 294 seats. Another channel, Mahua Khabar has predicted 187 seats, while even 24 Ghanta, a pro-Left channel, have not denied a Trinamool wave.
7.19pm Kadapa
Another 'Jagan Juggernaut(?)' quip from Anna:
After casting his vote in his constituency on May 8th, Jagan once again took a pot shot at the Congress Leadership for fielding his uncle Vivekananda Reddy against his mother in the Pulivendala Assembly Constituency. Speaking to a national news channel, Jagan had said, "Sonia Gandhi has to answer for causing division in the YSR family".
7.07pm West Bengal
A 'national wipeout' in store for CPM?, ponders Didi
The CPM is worried that if they lose to the Trinamool, their representation at the Rajya Sabha would also be in jeopardy. Fourteen of the Left's 16 Rajya Sabha MPs are from Bengal. If the exit poll projection of 60 seats for the Left is borne out, the front won't be able to get more than one candidate elected to the Rajya Sabha.
6.54pm Kadapa
Dear MSN reader, Anna wants you to have your say!
Tell us MSN Users, what do you think is likely to happen in Kadapa and Pulivendala? Will the result have a bearing on the Congress at the state and centre? To come up with your views, sign in below and respond.
6.46pm West Bengal
Didi: Won the polls? Let's dig in then!
The Chief Election Commissioner, S Y Qureshi, has promised the results by early lunch tomorrow. Which means that the winners can be ready with their ilish maach by then to celebrate.
6.31pm Tamil Nadu
Anna's campaign cocktail: Sun, Sand & Superstars!
Campaigning was very hot in Tamil Nadu this time around as celebrities joined in the fray to defy the hot and dusty summer. Star hero and leader of DMDK party, Vijayakanth, comedian Vadivelu, actress Khushboo were among the star attractions during the campaigning process.
6.23pm West Bengal
Don't "help thy neighbour", You'll thank Didi later!
Actress-turned-politician Debasree Roy finds trouble barking at her high heels. The Barasat court has issued an arrest warrant against Roy, the Trinamul candidate from Raidighi, and her brother for failing to comply with an order to return six dogs they had "rescued" from their master. Some residents of Arifbari in Barasat had in September last year reportedly sent an SOS to Debasree to rescue the dogs that were in distress in the house of a Rajnarayan Sharma. Sharma now wants his pets back.
6.11pm Tamil Nadu
Raj Anna shows 'Who's Boss'!
A local scribe who covered several state elections claimed that mega star Rajnikanth was the only one who can make an impact on the outcome now. Both the DMK and AIADMK are hoping that "Sivaji-The Boss' could do a death trick like the one he performed in that celluloid flick some years ago. Because, any news about Rajni would have resulted in the whole elections being countermanded! Of course, he would have later come back and launched his own version of the DMK.
5.56pm West Bengal
'Jumbo jackpot' for EC this time, comments Didi
The Election Commission, along with income-tax and other officials, seized Rs.74.27 crore unaccounted money this election, of which Rs.8.35 crore was seized in West Bengal.
5.46pm Tamil Nadu
It's a tight finish!
Leading Exit Polls are presenting a mixed bag. Headlines Today-ORG poll is tipping DMK+ to win 115 to 130 seats and AIADMK+ to end with 105 to 120 seats. CNN-IBN -The Week poll is projecting AIADMK+ to win 120-132 seats and DMK+ to finish with 102-114 seats.
5.31pm West Bengal
Didi: Does my namesake care about Gorkhaland?
The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha says it would request Mamata Banerjee to let the party join the new government in case her alliance came to power, but only if the new government accepted in principle the party's Gorkhaland demand.
5.19pm Tamil Nadu
Anna predicts it could swing either way
Exit polls are indicating a close fight in the state. This is in complete contrast to what had happened during the pre-poll surveys, which had put Jayalalitha in complete control. She was projected by a Headlines Today-ORG pre-poll survey to win by nearly two-thirds majority. But, dramatically, in post-poll surveys, projections have gotten extremely tight and hard to figure out who could win the elections.
5.07pm Kadapa
Exit poll indicators:
Total votes in the constituency - 13.5 lakh.
Votes polled (Data according to EC) - 10 lakh
YS Jagan (YSR Congress)- 6 lakh
Mysoora Reddy (TDP) - 2.5 lakh
DL Ravindranath Reddy (Congress) - 1.8 lakh
4.54pm West Bengal
Didi applauds record voter turnout
This is the highest Assembly elections polling turnout for WB. The state recorded 84.46 per cent voter turnout this time, in 2006 Assembly polls it had 81.97 per cent polling.
4.37pm Tamil Nadu
Who are Amma's 'frenemies' this time?
Tamil Nadu: AIADMK, under the leadership of J.Jayalalitha has 11 alliance partners and these include, AIADMK, DMDK, CPI, CPI(M), MMK, RPI, Puthiya Tamilakam, AIMMK, All India Forward Bloc, SMK and TMKLP
4.20pm West Bengal
And Didi says:
This is the most peaceful Assembly Elections the state has ever seen. Not a single death or incident of grave violence was recorded during the six-phase election. Many say the Election Commission is the real winner.
4.12pm Kadapa
Anna's two-bits on the Congress gamble:
Late YSR's wife YS Vijayalaxmi is contesting from the Pulivendala assembly constituency and this is another interesting battle as the Congress has pitted YSR's Brother YS Vivekananda Reddy against her. Political Pundits are calling the Congress' move to field YSR's brother a bizarre one as a likely defeat could prove counter-productive not only for Vivekananda but also for the INC while also helping Jagan faction gain further momentum with the electorate.
3.57pm Tamil Nadu
'Cash for votes': Raj Anna's take
An interesting observation on TN polls came from a veteran journalist-cum-actor and known supporter of Jayalalithaa. Cho Ramaswamy claimed that DMK supporters are quite peeved by the so-called Thirumangalam model of "money for votes". They say, if the 'Kalaignar' and his family made 1.76 lakh crore via 2G sales, they could at least share a few hundred rupees more with the cadre and voters for that press of the button! How can DMK be so stingy?
3.44pm West Bengal
From Didi's kitty: CPM's 'Confusing' Musing
CPM's Rabin Deb has rubbished exit polls, which say that the Left will retain about 60 seats. He claimed that the exit polls were manipulated. "They serve no purpose other than confusing voters. Exit poll results have never been correct for West Bengal and this time it won't be any different," he was quoted.
3.32pm Tamil Nadu
Know your 'Rising Sun':
DMK and allies comprise of 8 parties, which include DMK, INC, PMK, VCK, IUML, MMK, KMK and PMK (Perunthalaivar Makkal Katchi).
3.20 pm West Bengal
Didi's favourite picks(?)
Ficci secretary general Amit Mitra is a first-time contestant this elections, running as a Trinamool candidate from Khardah. To prepare for long hours on the go, he has been practising yoga for more than an hour daily for the past four years to boost his energy and endurance level. He also has lots of lemonade to balance the water content in his body.
3.05 pm Kadapa
Anna's post-lunch musings:
TDP is hoping to gain on split in the Congress vote. After the differences between YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and the subsequent walk-out by the 'YSR Jr', political experts are predicting some kind of a split in the Congress vote. Now, whether that will help TDP is a million dollar question. But, looking at the way it is going at the moment, YS Jagan only seems to be gaining further ground. Betting market is predicting a margin anywhere between 1 lakh and 3 lakhs for Jagan. Sources close to us indicate bets are largely confined to the margin of Jagan's victory and that the victory itself is certain for him.
2.41 pm Tamil Nadu
We have a new 'expert'. All rise for Raj Anna!
It seems Oscar-winning musician Ar Rahman is on the wrong side of the DMK these days. And the poor guy is not even sure why the Rising Sun is looking to set his fortunes in the Tamil movie industry, controlled by one of the Maran scions. Well, grapevine suggests that Rahman's hit song "Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionnaire was thought of by DMK cadres as a clarion call for ensuring arch rival Jayalalithaa's victory. Jaya Ho?
2.23 pm Kerala
Can Kuttapan be far behind:
Orphaned as a child, VS Achuthanandan made a living by working as a daily wager.
2.21 pm West Bengal
GK session:
The Left's performance during the 2009 parliamentary election was dismal to say the least. It lost nearly 7.4% vote share in the parliamentary constituencies. The losing trend continued even after 2009 Lok Sabha poll. Left lost heavily in the Panchayat elections signalling that people in the state were serious about change.
2.10 pm Kadapa
Anna in on the act, too:
In both Kadapa and Pulivendala, it is a plain simple three-way battle between YSR Congress, Congress and Telugu Desam. Other parties are unlikely to have any impact whatsoever. Ironically, Jagan's challenger from Congress is a YSR Loyalist and State Health Minister, D.L. Ravindra Reddy. With Telugu Desam fielding a high profile candidate in MV Mysoora Reddy, who is a former Congressman himself, some serious contest was expected initially. The former State Minister Mysoora reluctantly agreed to contest against Jagan as he felt such a contest could prove detrimental to his political career. He had done something similar in 2004 when he took on YSR's brother YS Vivekananda Reddy for the same Kadapa Constituency but he lost by a certain margin.
1.52 pm Kadapa
Anna with some serious 'gyaan':
No serious exit polls from Kadapa unlike many other constituencies but a couple of them are predicting a landslide win for Jagan. With 69.5% voters exercising their franchise in the district, political pundits are tipping Jagan to come out trumps. Moreover, Pulivendala assembly constituency, which too is wiTamil Naduessing by-poll after YSR's wife YS Vijayamma had resigned, recorded an astonishing turnout of 81%, clearly indicating the YS family is calling the shots at this stage.
1.50 pm West Bengal
Another snippet from Didi:
Two polling officers died of heart attack in separate booths in Jalpaiguri district during the first phase of Assembly polls in West Bengal. Pramod Roy was a school teacher, and Maneswar Roy was an inspector with the food and supplies department.
Bengal is tense to say the least.
1.45 pm
Anna's Tamil Trivia 101:
Any time you speak about Tamil Nadu elections and the first thing that comes to mind is the manifesto. After all, DMK had hit many a headline for promising television sets if they came to power during the last elections. This time around, Karunanidhi, on the part of DMK has promised free laptop for all college students and a free mixer-grinder for all women should DMK come to power. Jayalalitha on the other hand has promised a deluge of sops. 20 kilograms of free rice for ration card holders, laptops for students, mixer-grinders to all, mineral water for all BPL candidates to name a few.
1.40 pm Kerala
Kuttapan on his (favourite?) Achuthanandan:
CM Achuthanandan is the only living founding leaders of the CPM in India which also makes him the senior most party leader. He had a very brutal childhood - he lost his mother when he was 4 and his father when he was 11. Orphaned, Achuthanandan made a living by working as a saily wager in a cory factory. However, he was not far from starvation during those years. He has come a long way, hasn't he.
'Achumama', as he is fondly called, also became the first Communist CM of Kerala to visit the 4,000-year-old hill temple of Sabarimala - a strict no-no for Communists.
Note: The Sabarimala 'divine' light has been proved not so divine. Is that a sign for Achumama?
1.30 pm
Profound question from Kuttapan:
Kerala is known as 'God's Own Country', amply blessed as it is by nature. But, under the misrule of the Left (and according to what the Congress wags say) it's become a state where 'only the gods can live' -- not for mere mortals. Will the change that is in the air change that?
1.29 pm West Bengal
Didi on the other Dada: Sourav Ganguly
Never mind the politicians, even Sourav Ganguly found himself in the eye of storm this elections in West Bengal when he did a campaign with the Election Commission. The controversy started because CPM leader Ashok Bhattacharya said the cricketer would campaign for him too. Ganguly's neutrality went for a toss and the Trinamool didn't take it too kindly.
Thankfully, the Prince of 'Calcoota' (a la Geoff Boycott) has better things to do now, such as lending some respectability to the Pune Warriors...
1.20 pm Kadapa
Over to Andhra Pradesh and the great Jagan Mohan-Congress battle. Anna says:
Of all the constituencies that have gone to polls over the last month or so, this one in Andhra Pradesh is just a by-poll but is easily the most important one for the Congress. Some are calling it the 'Battle between YS Jagan and Sonia Gandhi', others are calling it 'Pride at stake' while some more have termed it the 'Battle for YSR legacy'. Whatever it is, Friday, the 13th could prove decisive for either Congress or Jagan.
1.18 pm West Bengal
Didi's tidbit from Bengal:
Do you know Buddhadeb Bhattacharya doesn't have a bank account and doesn't even own a two wheeler of his own? Do you also know Mamata Banerjee still lives in a slum? It is almost a contest between them to decide who is poorer. Maybe, it's the voter, who has to choose between them.
1.17 pm Tamil Nadu
Anna strikes again:
It is battle royale again in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. And this year's election assumes that much more significance after all the rhetoric related to the 2G spectrum, spiralling prices and the kind of action that has followed since. Elections were held to 234 constituencies in the state on April 13th and the whole process was completed in a single phase.
1.16 pm Tamil Nadu
Rajesh 'Anna' Vishwanathan says:
Will it be DMK again or like it has been with Tamil Nadu many times in the past, will the anti-incumbency factor come into play again? Interestingly, the turnout has been exceptional and has broken all records in the state. With nearly 78% polling, this has broken the previous record of 76.5% in the 1967 elections, which was fought for the Madras legislative Assembly then.
That was when the DMK Godfather Annadurai had won a landslide victory by thrashing the Congress. Interestingly, the main theme then was rising commodity prices, which in many ways has been one strong theme in the 2011 election campaign as well.
1.15 pm, West Bengal
Kuttapan switches attention to Bengal with a ditty
Didi is on the upswing,
And, they say change she will ring,
Polls say she will win by a landslide,
And, will hurt the Left's pride.
Around her she has a good men,
That is a real omen,
Will they flatter to deceive,
Or, will they give Bengal a reprieve?
In an year we will know,
Whether Didi is the Bengal Tigress,
Or, will she go the way the railways did,
In which case, of her we will get rid.
1.01 pm, West Bengal
This time from Bangla land. 'Didi 2.0' Swagata Sen says:
Most television exit polls pitch Mamata Banerjee as a clear winner and say it'll hardly be a contest. I disagree. I still predict a neck-to-neck CPM-Trinamool face-off. Now you decide who's good and who's evil.
Hmm, is Bengal in the out-of-the-frying-pan-into-the-fire. Are the Bengalis between a rock and a hard place? Well, the cliches are running thick, as are the people's heart rates.
1.00 pm, Kerala
First comments coming in already. Our Kerala expert, 'Kuttapan' Jayakrishnan says:
Who will be the Kerala CM if the Congress triumphs in Kerala? The party has not really projected anyone. Speculation is it will be either Oomen Chandy or Ramesh Chennithala. I would go for Tweet-King Shashi Tharoor. Why not? Modern, urbane, articulate with the right ideas, can't think of a better candidate than him. Plus, as a newcomer he is free of the baggages of the cynical state politics. Over to Sonia on this.
Why the Left lost West Bengal
One need not hunt for many reasons for the huge loss of face for the Left Front in West Bengal. Just two factors would sum up the reasons for the rout: Singur and Nandigram. Of course the ghosts of Singur and Nandigaram would come to haunt Mamata Banerjee too very soon.
So, why did the Left parties get mauled by the 'Bengal Tigress'?
The Left parties had laid a strong and impregnable foundation through massive and revolutionary land reforms after storming to power in 1977. The Left handed over power to the panchayats (rural bodies), thus empowering the people.
The Left could afford that move in the later part of 1970s to early 2000. But the economy started changing all over with the crumbling of state control and the licence raj. The economy's DNA underwent a massive change with a sharp focus on industrialisation and the role played by private parties. But Bengal found itself caught between two stools. On the one hand the State needed massive influx of funds as the Treasury was doing just two things - distributing salaries and pensions; on the other, the State did not have lands in its hand.
For industrialisation, the State needed to attract private players, but the land was with the people. Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee tried to change the rules of the game in 2000 by trying to rope in big industries and forcefully taking over land. That is when trouble started; the land reforms that the Left parties heralded in 1977 became its nemesis 34 years later.
"Forcible land acquisitions were not accepted by the people. We went for industrialisation without any land map and land bank," said Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) leader and state Public Works Minister Kshiti Goswami.
Does he blame Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee for pushing hard his dream of industrialisation and thus leading to a string of electoral losses for the Front since 2008?
"It's not about blaming someone but the decisions were wrong. There was no clear planning, people were forced to leave their land...this is not right. The Left Front base was cemented by land reforms and distribution of land to the landless," he said.
Goswami feels "Nandigram, Singur were blunders. Our government went there without any plan and roadmap. People were against it and that is why we are all paying a heavy price," said Goswami.
Nandigram in East Midnapore district witnessed widespread violence in January 2007 when the region erupted in protest over proposed land acquisition for a special economic zone (SEZ).
Since then, a turf battle between the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and the anti-acquisition grouping of farmland supporters backed by the Trinamool Congress led to repeated violence in the region.
Singur in Hooghly district too saw violent stirs against land acquired for Tata Motor's Nano small car project, forcing the company to shift its plant to Gujarat.
These two agitations reversed the state's electoral script. The Left Front, which has been winning all elections since 1977, was battered in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections and last year's civic polls, besides losing a series of assembly by-elections.
Goswami said the main reason behind the Left Front's elephantine majority in the 2006 assembly elections was division of opposition votes.
"Last time the difference of votes between us and opposition was less than 1.5 percent, but we gained because of division of opposition votes," he said. But he feels that justice was not done to the massive mandate.
"Sections that had earlier supported the Left turned against them," analyst Mahesh Rangarajan told IANS, referring to the results of the 2009 Lok Sabha polls and the civic elections last year.
While 14 people lost their lives in March 2007's police firing in East Midnapore's Nandigram during a protest against land acquisition for an economic zone, a sustained Trinamool-led farmer agitation in Singur in Hooghly forced Tata Motors to shift its small car Nano factory to Gujarat.
Two years earlier, when the Left suffered its biggest setback till date, in the Lok Sabha election, it bled heavily in nine districts: Murshidabad, Nadia, North 24 Parganas, Kolkata, South 24 Parganas, East Midnapore, Howrah, Hooghly and Burdwan. In 2009, of 24 Lok Sabha seats, the Left was defeated in 22 seats by the TMC in this area.
This is a prime agricultural area, with small per capita land holding. The population comprises mostly farmers with modest income. This densely populated region has a majority of farmers from either scheduled castes or the minority community and since 2006, four major anti-Left peasant movements -- Singur (Hooghly district), Nandigram (East Midnapore), Bhangar (South 24 Parganas) and Katwa (Burdwan) - took place in this area. Scheduled castes and Muslims together form more than half the state's total voting population and their growing discontent had started eroding the support base of the Left in rural Bengal.
According to the internal assessment by the CPM, the "electoral killing field" had spread further with the Left clueless on what to do. The anti-Left sentiment made inroads in Burdwan, Hooghly and Birbhum, otherwise known as traditional strongholds of the Left. In the municipal elections of 2010, the Left had lost a number of municipalities in this area to the TMC.
Centre for Media Studies chairperson N. Bhaskara Rao said the Left had a better understanding than the Congress of people's issues when they came to power in 1977.
"They gave impetus to land reforms and distribution of wealth. These programmes touched a large section of people. They had better organisation at the grassroots," he said. Rao added that the Left Front used organisational strategies to gain support and retain control but did not reorient these strategies to the changing situation. He said Nandigram and Singur were the turning points in fostering anti-Left sentiment.
Shakeel Ahmed, the Congress in-charge of West Bengal, alleged that the Left Front had won so long by resorting to rigging and terror tactics and the 2011 polls "marked the beginning of its end in the national polity".
Nilotpal Basu of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), however, disagreed. According to him, the CPI-M-led coalition has survived seven terms because its rule has benefited an overwhelming majority, particularly the poor. "The government attained success in agrarian reforms, land distribution and recording of land of sharecroppers. Majority of beneficiaries are poor," he said. He has accused the Trinamool of confusing the people and stopping industrialisation.
Source: India Syndicate, IANS and Business Standard
Congress scored a spectacular hat-trick in Assam bagging a near two-third majority to retain power and managed to wrest power from the Left Democratic Front in Kerala by a wafer-thin majority but lost Puducherry to its rebel.
Riding a wave of change in a State where Left ideology ruled the roost for over three decades, Ms. Banerjee along with allies Congress and SUCI gave a severe trashing to the Left Front. The Banerjee-led alliance was set to capture over two-thirds majority by winning over 225 seats in the 294 seat Assembly. Ms. Banerjee, Railway Minister at the Centre, did not contest the elections.
Trinamool Congress has won 142 seats and was leading in 44 more seats, while Congress has bagged 36 and was ahead in five. On the rival side, the CPI(M), which headed the Left Front, has won 32 seats and was ahead in eight seats.
The CPI(M) suffered humiliation when a number of its bigwigs, including Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, bit the dust. Shortly after defeat, Mr. Bhattacharjee resigned.
With defeats in West Bengal and Kerala, the Left will have power only in Tripura.
Tamil Nadu lived up to its 'winner takes all' reputation as Ms. Jayalalithaa swept back to power with a landslide victory with her alliance set to cross the 200 mark in the 234-member Assembly.
AIADMK on its own is set to get 150 seats. The party has won 73 seat and was leading in another 77 seats.
The DMK has won 10 seats and was ahead in 13, while ally Congress which contested 63 seats could manage only four wins and was leading in one. State Congress President K V Thangkabalu was trailing by over 30,000 votes in Mylapore in Chennai.
Source: PTI
Cabinet reshuffle on cards after Mamata's victory
Banerjee, who heads the Trinamool Congress, has already indicated that her party will prefer keeping the portfolio.
"We wish to keep the railway ministry with our party only as part of the UPA (United Progressive Alliance). We have only one union ministry so we want to keep it with us. We think we deserve it. But the prime minister will take the decision in the cabinet," said Banerjee in an interview to a private Bengali news channel, soon after her landslide victory in the West Bengal elections, dislodging the Left Front government in power for 34 years.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said afer the cabinet reshuffle in January that "a more expansive" exercise will take place after the budget session. However, the budget session was curtailed due to assembly polls in five states.
Congress sources said cabinet reshuffle is expected to take place before the monsoon session of parliament, which is likely to start in the second week of July.
They said that Trinamool Congress could get another berth in the council of ministers.
Tribal Affairs Minister Kantilal Bhuria has been made chief of Congress in Madhya Pradesh and is expected to be replaced in the cabinet, the sources said.
They said that contours of the cabinet reshuffle will be finalised by the prime minister and Congress president Sonia Gandhi and some major changes cannot be ruled out.
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