Predictions Galore

These are some numbers the media has been predicting. Surprisingly the numbers are more or less similar to each other giving UPA a miniscule lead over BJP. History is all set to repeat itself as we see another coalition government in the making:-

• BJP internal poll: NDA 217
• Congress internal poll: Congress 160
• Headlines Today: UPA 191, NDA 180
• Star-AC Neilsen: UPA 199, NDA 196
• India TV-C Voter: UPA 189-201, NDA 183-195
• CNN-IBN-CSDS: UPA 185-205, NDA 145-160
• The Times of India: UPA 198, NDA 183

This was Hitesh's prediction of the number game earlier on this blog. 

INC's many possible PMs

Considering the likely scenario where the Congress is forced to seek the support of the Left in addition to its allies in the UPA/fourth front, it is possible that the Congress has to come up with a candidate other than Dr. Singh. Reasons:

1. The Left, especially Karat, believe that the divorce over the nuclear deal was something precipitated by Dr. Singh personally, that it was Dr. Singh's single minded obsession over sealing the deal that forced the hand of Sonia Gandhi.

2. Also, one would notice a curious trend in the Congress's behaviour towards allies. While it has refused to go ahead with 'humiliating' seat sharing arrangements in UP & Bihar with allies that have been loyal (RJD & LJP) or allies they should be indebted to (SP), they have accepted such a humiliating deal with a serially-disloyal ally (TC) in West Bengal (despite holding 6 seats from the state in the outgoing Lok Sabha, the Congress has given nearly 2/3rd the seats to TC which had just one MP). This would indicate that defeating the Left seems to be even more important that defeating BSP/BJP in Congress's scheme of things. That Sonia cleared the alliance with TC despite Pranabda's objections has been taken to mean Dr. Singh pressurizing her.

In this light, the Left may insist on a different PM if they do extend support to the UPA - something not lost on other constituents of the UPA if recent statements of Pawar, Lalu and Paswan are anything to go by.

Some idle speculation on who could be the Congress's choice if its hands are forced (and what stands for and against them):

1. Manmohan Singh: The incumbent and INC's PM candidate, Manmohan is the front-runner for the PM's post in a INC-led dispensation. His squeaky clean image and central role in the ushering in of economic reforms in 1991 means that he is held in high regards by the Indian middle class. Five years in office have taken off some sheen though - while the media may have
discovered the agressive new Manmohan Singh only recently (much to their delight) the Left saw the same last year (much to their consternation).

While the First Family's public endorsement is his trump card, extremely poor relations with the Left may upset his plans of becoming PM. His ill health is another concern for some - and may become the excuse if he needs to be eased out in someone else's favour.

2. Pranab Mukherjee: Abhishek Manu Sighvi often remarks that LK Advani is the BJP's perpetual PM-in-waiting. Well Pranabda would be the INC's answer to Advani then! He voiced his hope of becoming PM in 1984 (after Indira Gandhi's assasination). Rajiv never forgave him for that, and the way Sonia chose not to have an acting PM when Manmohan was recuperating from cardiac surgery, Sonia hasn't forgiven him either. But this head-of-more-Group-of-Ministers-than-anyone-cares-to-remember has one big trump card - acceptability to the Left. His lukewarm response to the Mahajot in WB only further endears him to the Marxists. If Marxists refuse to let Dr. Singh be PM, Sonia may finally reward him for his years of yoeman
service to the party and the country.

3. AK Anthony: Now that Shivraj Patil is out of favour and disgraced, AK Anthony is second in Sonia's list of sychophants with a Mr. Clean image. However, he is no Manmohan Singh and has few achievements (save his 'clean' image) to list in his career. Besides, he has a pre-ponderance towards resigning on the flimsiest of moral grounds - something that does not gel with INC's constant refrain of stability.

4. P Chidambaram: While a Sonia supplicant, intelligent, suave and 'Mr. Clean', his young age goes against him. Sonia would rather prefer an aging politician who would simply retire from politics when her decides to take up the mantle of PMship.

5. Sheila Dikshit: Much has been made about her bucking anti-incumbency to return to power in Delhi for a thrid consecutive time. However most of those who exult over her victory probably forget that when she had returned to power last time, Sonia Gandhi had made her run around for over a week before confirming her as the next CM - just to put her in place. There is little
evidence that Sonia trusts her more. And Sheila Dikshit as PM would be a veritable challenge to Sonia Gandhi's popularity - widowed mothers from political families that they both are. Sonia may not want to risk this.

6. Sushil Kumar Shinde: The darkhorse who could make it. In addition to being a supplicant of Sonia Gandhi, he has been Chief Minister, Union Minister, Governor and even a candidate for the office of Vice President (he lost to Shekhawat). Just like Pratibha Patil being a woman made Left drop objections to a Congressi President, his Dalit background would do the same (not to mention blunt Maya's campaign for a Dalit PM). Also he is a Maharashtrian - Pawar may have no choice but backing him.

So I think that if it is not Manmohan Singh, it would be a choice between Shinde & Antony. What do u think?

And Then One Voted

What I had to go through to get my voter ID card will take up two and a half blog posts, but after having cast my vote now, I feel it was worth all the effort.

Here's to Indian democracy -







Wrong finger?




















Thank you very much, DNA. Huh.




















Old Airport Road, Bangalore at 6:45 am.
































The Polling Station


















List of candidates and alternate ID proofs.


















The polling booth at 7 am. There were problems with the EVM and polling began only by 7:15.

























Heartening to see the queues getting longer!







Do share your voting experiences!

Bangalore Goes To The Polls | Speculation Over Results

Honestly, one hasn't been able to spend the time following the elections at a closer level. But then, from what it looks like, one might also not have to wait for five years for the next general elections. God(and voters) forbid, hope that doesn't happen and we get a clear mandate for a government to rule us for the next five years. That's probably asking for too much.

Constituencies in Bangalore go the polls tomorrow and one is (terribly) excited to vote for the first time. One's name is included in the voters list and one sees no reason why he should not vote. One hopes that it is worth all the effort that one had to do to get the voter ID issued.

As much as one would loved to come up with an analysis and my prediction for these polls, like this excellent one by Our Psephologist In The Making (Seth, we'll make you one even if you don't want to be. Heck, you are already one), I'd like to share my sense of what is a more probable outcome at the end of the elections (One is being very careful in choosing the words).


As Dolby mentions in his comment to Seth's considered opinion, NDA will probably be able to cobble together a majority if it is able to put together the NDA that it was during Atal Behari Vajpayee's Pramod Mahajan's time. Whatever the current posturing of parties like BJD, TDP, AIADMK, BSP, even JD(S) may be, they would not, in my opinion, hestitate to be a part of a BJP-led government if they are able to enjoy power. Also, it is Advani's last shot at glory and one gets the sense that the entire party is clearly rallying around him to ensuring the PM's post for him by hook or by crook (necessary to mention this?). So there you go, one's feeling is that, *eventually*, the NDA will come to power with a thin majority.

As for the two great politicians mentioned in the above paragraphs, BJP knows how much they are missing Mr. Mahajan's networking and organization skills and only much much later, when it is too late, will our learned media realise that they have not giving Mr. Vajpayee his due. A post each on M/s Mahajan and Vajapayee and on the lack of proper political history documentation in India due for later.

As far as Karnataka is concerned, one would not be surprised if a few of the Congress bigwigs(don't think any of them wear wigs) from among M/s Dharam Singh, Mallikarjun Kharge, Veerappa Moily, S Bangarappa, Janardhan Poojary and Mrs. Margaret Alva lose in these elections. The BJP could end up winning more seats than what is being projected.

One would also be keenly following the response of the urban, educated voters who are supposedly more aware of the issues and now have been woken by these guys, drinking their tea and with our poster and reel boys and girls doing their bit of preaching. One would love to be proved wrong on this one, but one doesn't think the apathy of the urban voters towards particpation in our democratic process and public institution has gone away and it will still be rural, poor voters who will come out in large numbers and vote. One is glad that it is that way, at least those people come out and vote for some reason they believe will be to their benefit. One's worst fear is voting being turned into a cool, fashionable thing to do for our young, upwardly mobile crowd. We'll know tomorrow.

PS. One's constituency, Bangalore Central is apparently the most urban of the constituencies in Bangalore. Here's a glimpse of the BJP's campaign. No signs of other parties campaigning, at least close to where one lives and works. Urban, did someone say?








































Call me racist, but this is proof that China has the highest population in the world. They don't get to vote in China the way we get to in India, do they?

My considered opinion on the possible outcome of the Lok Sabha polls

I know it’s a risky proposition to stick one’s neck out and give numbers to each alliance’s performance in the Lok Sabha polls, but what the heck! Its not like I am looking for a career in psephology anyway! So here goes my ‘prediction’:

Margin of error: +/- 5 seats for the All India total

Yup, the BJP may emerge as the single largest party. But the difference between the Congress & the BJP numbers falls well within what I think is my margin of error. So what I can say for sure is this:

· Cong & BJP will both get between 140 & 150 seats each

· With about 200 seats, the UPA is by far the largest coalition (for the purpose of this analysis UPA includes the SP, RJD, LJP and JMM for they haven’t formally broken

off their ties with the UPA)

· The NDA, about 25 seats lesser than the UPA, is a distant second

· The much vaunted Third Front may just about manage to make the 100 mark. A weak performance from the Left is responsible for the same

· The lower side estimates for Cong and the BJP (i.e. 140) means that both put together would be above the halfway mark. Thus no true non-Cong, non-BJP govt. is

theoretically possible.

· For the UPA to form a govt., the only way would be to get the support of the Left Front, AIADMK+MDMK+PMK, TRS, JD(S), RLD, JD(U), BJD and BSP. In the process it will lose the support of Trinamool, DMK, RLD and SP. This entire process will bring an additional 71 seats to the UPA – just enough to form the government.

o That the JD(U) (whose govt. in Bihar depends on the BJP’s support), BJD (whose principle foe is the Congress) and BSP (who has had one too many run-ins with the Gandhi family) would support the UPA is for from certain

· If instead the Cong agrees to support a Third Front + rest-of-UPA govt. from outside, on may see also see the participation of TDP & AGP – maybe even the Akali Dal. With a buffer of about 20 seats above the halfway mark, such a government would be most likely to win a confidence vote.

o However the belligerence the Cong has shown with SP, RJD & LJP would suggest that the Congress wishes to avoid this possibility. Even if they do support such a government they would have enough of an influence over the govt. to ensure that potential threats like Mayawati are nowhere near PM-ship.

· Even with the support of AIADMK+PMK+MDMK, TDP+TRS and BSP, the NDA would not be able to muster the numbers needed to form a government. Advani may have lost his last chance at the top job.

· However the greatest likelihood is that no government would take shape and we would see another election by the end of this year.

o All this analysis has not factored in the potential for horse-trading. The Congress could, for example, choose to forego the chance of tying up with the BSP in favour of Amar Singh’s considerable political management skills. Upper-caste members of the BSP as well as Congress rebels in the BJP (a considerable number of these are being fielded by the BJP in Karnataka & Gujarat) could be easy targets. The political life of such a govt. is questionable and we may see early elections anyway.

What does the fact that this Lok Sabha is not destined for a full term mean for the big players? If elections are held again before 2010, we may see a postponement of Rahul Gandhi’s ascension to the elections after that. Advani would retire from politics and the powerful performance of the Modi faction in Gujarat, Maharashtra, HP & Karnataka could propel Narendrabhai to the driver’s seat in the BJP. Mayawati may suffer most – while she would remain a big player in any future Lok Sabha, her PM ambitions would be severely dented.

Where I could go wrong:

What to look out for:

An interesting view from the 'other-side'

Found an interesting read here – A transcript of Bill Clinton telling the U.S. Senate of a few things to learn from Indian Elections!

Jai Ho!

Friends of BJP Meet, April 13th, New Delhi

Having missed the last Friends of BJP meet because of prior engagements, I made it a point to attend the meet yesterday at Siri Fort Auditorium. The auditorium was full, although not overflowing like the last such meet in Delhi (probably because yesterday was Baisakhi).

Friends of BJP claims to be a 'subset of the educated civil society that is BJP-leaning, and willing to be vocal about it'. It is not officially a wing/organ of the BJP, neither does it agree with the BJP on all matter. However it is their belief that 'at this point of time the BJP is a better alternative'. The core team consists of middle & upper class professionals - lawyers, bankers, entrepreneurs and even the winner & a finalist of ToI's Lead India thingie! The Friends of BJP seeks to be all weather body which works closely with the BJP during elections as well as otherwise. More about them here.

Among those who spoke were Rajesh Jain (who sold IndiaWorld to Satyam for $115 million in 1999) from the organizers. His speech was centered around not so much the virtues of the BJP as the apathy of what he called 'Middle India' - how they refuse to vote, take little interest in matters of national interest and generally take comfort in the 'kya farak padta hai' and 'sab neta chor hai' philosophies. Consequently his main exhortation was that this class vote - to whichever party, but vote.

Arti Mehra (Mayor of Delhi) and Vijay Goel (ex-Union Minister and BJP's candidate for the New Delhi seat) also spoke. While the latter concentrated of on his work in the then Chandni Chowk constituency, the former stuck to extolling the star speaker of the evening - BJP GenSec Arun Jaitley.

Arun Jaitley's didn't dissapoint. From a tirade against 'Majboor' Dr. Singh to paens to 'Mazboot' Mr. Advani, from lambasting the UPA to dismissing the Third Front, he did it all. However what I found really heart warming was the part of his speech dedicated to us professionals. He referred to BJP's manifesto - which promises raising tax exemption to 3 lacs and reducing interest rates on housing & education loans - and pointed out that other parties haven't even bothered to promise anything concrete and have chosen to 'merely pay lip service to the power of the youth'. Jaitley pointed out, Dr. Singh outrightly dismissed the idea of a low tax, low interest-rate regime as 'wishful thinking'. Excerpts of Jaitley's speech can be found here.

My account here may be tinged by my soft corner for the BJP, but the truth is that the BJP is the only one even trying to directly engage us young professional. While the viability of the Friends of BJP's viral marketing effort (the want the 50k registered members to each talk to 25 others and so on about the need to vote and vote for the BJP) is yet to be determined, the using of new age media to achieve the same is commendable.

A visit to their website maybe interesting, if for nothing else then for their interesting write-ups on 'What you can do this Election', 'Hosting Drawing Room Conversations', 'Conducting Small Meetings', etc.

Bhay Jo - BJP's Counter To Jai Ho

Saw this on the bus at the Chennai Airport. Quite nice, I think. What do you think?





If the BJP wins, a BJP led alliance comes to power, their media cell and their ad agencies - Frank Simoes-Tag and Utopia deserve huge credit for the performance. They have made sure that they reach voters through all possible media and I must say, they are doing a smart job at it. Whether these efforts will pay off, only time and the EVMs will tell.

Weekend Read - Manifestos of BJP, Congress, CPI and CPM and

Now that the BJP has released its manifesto, one plans to spend some time this weekend in going through the manifestos of the major political parties. Here are the links if you wish to do the same, not just on this weekend, but even after that!

BJP Manifesto

Congress Manifesto

CPI Manifesto

CPM Manifesto

In related news, BSP does not issue manifesto, but 32-page 'appeal' to voters.

Happy reading!

Getting The Voter ID Card

Finally, after four trips, numerous arguments, quiet persuasion and lots of stubbornness, I got the Voter ID Card. Had to spend more than 15 hours for an activity which took less than 3 minutes.

Have enough material to write an entire book on the experiences in getting the Voter ID Card. I can now understand those who distance themselves from the system because things don't work, don't seem to work as fast as they want them to. But then, that's the beauty of India. That things work and there is a certain way to get things done. If you know the right way, and more importantly, the right people, things will always happen. If anything, my experiences during this exercise, though very draining, have only further strengthened my faith in the system and though it will take time, I am hopeful that things will eventually change for the better.







Queue at the BBMP Office on a Sunday afternoon




















Is there a queue equivalent of tip of the iceberg? The previous photo was that!



















Make hay while the sun shines. The tender coconut seller knew it better than anyone else!















Bad Timeing, definitely.












Searching counter.













Mera number kab aayega, literally!























I will write further on the experiences, but all I can say is that clearer and smoother communication would have made life easy for everyone involved. Nevertheless, I am happy that the card is finally issued to me I got my card issued and very excited about voting for the first time.

The end for exits and opinions

Article 19(1)(a) – the epitome of banter rights in India shrunk a little. Opinion polls and exit polls have been recently banned by a notification from the election watch dogs 48 hours prior to the date of Assembly or Lok Sabha elections.

Following is an excerpt of the notification :
“No result of any opinion poll or exit poll conducted at any time shall be published, publicised or disseminated in any manner, whatsoever, by print, electronic or any other media, at any time during the period of 48 hours ending with the hour fixed for closing of poll in an election held in a single phase; and in a multi-phased election, and in the case of elections in different States announced simultaneously, at any time during the period starting from 48 hours before the hour fixed for closing of poll in the first phase of the election and till the poll is concluded in all the phases in all States.”

Some immediate questions:

1. How does a voter decision change only in the last 48 hours by watching what Prannoy, Rajdeep or Arnab have to say? Obviously 5 years of fooling around by the government is of no consequence.

2. Is it not a part of our fundamental right to free speech to hear and to be heard?


3. Will a comment from Prannoy saying “I think BJP will lead by 007 seats in UP” lead to “dissemination” of opinion poll information? So what can can the channels and papers actually say?

We can expect some mindless and directionless banter from our channels (perennially lacking in content) in the days preceding the elections, since they essentially cannot talk about who might win.

Also interesting to see will be some mudslinging and erratic litigations by losing parties on news channels for comments made by them.

-Shashank Bijapur

About The English Media And The Elections

How much influence does the English media - news channels, newspapers, weekly and fortnightly magazines all put together have on the electorate?

• My sense is, not much not at all. It is perhaps the same set of people who follow all of these and the audience is not mutually exclusive. At the end of the day, (the day never ends though, for these 24 hour news channels!), I don't think it really matters to the electorate how loud, obscene, shrill, vicious the English media is, while the media would like to believe otherwise. And what about the urban areas where they seem to have some influence? Two things, one - the urban constituencies aren't necessarily urban in terms of their voter profile. While there may be pockets of prosperity, there are large areas which are underdeveloped and people will still continue to vote based on factors they have been for years - caste, alcohol, free television sets, money, promise of better food, clothing and shelter. Second - I am yet to find enough proof to be convinced that the urban audience, your young, upwardly mobile, techie/executive type is honestly bothered about anything other than where the next party is, no not the political party. Alright, I am exaggerating, but then it's sad to see little or no involvement from the urban audience in trying, first to understand the functions, actions and people in our governance processes and then trying to change what they do not like by being a part of the system. Can't blame them either, if what they rely on for information and opinion, does not do a good job in the first place. And what about initiatives like these and people like these? Good for feeling good, eyeballs and higher TRP ratings, but what after the elections? It's back to their business and the media will find something else to write, show and scream about. I pray I am proved wrong and something helpful comes out of it.

I am totally dismayed at the collective disdain and lack of acceptance tolerance and respect the news channels and some of their prominent anchors have for those from the BJP. While that doesn't take me any closer to the BJP, one gets a feeling as if all of them have taken a decision to ridicule, rile and object to anything that those representing the BJP say on the talkshows. Sudheendra Kulkarni, Swapan Dasgupta, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Arun Jaitley are probably some of the most articulate, intelligent and coherent people one has come across on Indian television in recent times. What scores for me is how gracefully they carry themselves in the middle of the mud and noise floating around. Compare that with how Manish Tewari, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Jayanthi Natarajan and Ashwini Kumar carry themselves and you get the feeling that their agenda is not to convey to the audience what their points of view are, but to rubbish what their opponents say, with their trademark wry smiles and arrogant smirks. Also, the BJP team appears to be well-prepared and seems to have been briefed properly, for they seem to speak in one voice. The Congress team, on the other hand, pun unintended, seem to have not gotten their act together yet.


PS. Have to write about my experiences in applying for the voter ID card and now waiting to get it. It has been a lot of effort, mostly due to lack of proper information and clear communication from the authorities, but I do hope to get the card soon.

Choosing 'No Vote' | Multi Seat Constituencies | Compulsory Voting

Choosing No Vote

A lot of us might have received the chain mail about choosing not to vote and suggesting that if the number of people who invoke the right to 49-o is more than the winning candidates vote count, a re-poll is ordered with something amounting to a permanent ban on the previous candidature.

I'm sure we'd have liked the idea, considering the huge disgust for our politicians , believing that it serves our non-serving politicians well. (Huh! Pun).

Well, Ladies and Gentlemen (and not children, because they can't vote!), that is not the right interpretation of Rule 49-O which the chain mail (or the person who started it) considers to be rule for such no vote.

Kind folk(s?) at 49-O - The Real Deal have taken the trouble of clarifying this to us. Here are the details -

What is Rule 49-O of the Conduct of Elections, in a nutshell?

There are a couple of different explanations that people have adopted to make sense of 49-O, the one we found most convincing was posted by a Lawyer based in Mumbai. I’ve tried to keep this as simple as possible, so as not to read like a government regulation.

Prior to 1992, India voted physically, not electronically. So every single vote was accounted for on paper, given the fact that the voter was signed into the polling station physically and a ballot paper with the selected candidate was physically accepted from him/her. Today, India votes electronically.

Now given the present scenario, a voter is physically signed into the station but votes privately, by pressing a button on the EVM (Electronic Voting Machine). What stops him from NOT pressing that button in the event that he doesn’t wish to vote for the contesting candidature. This STILL isn't where the problem lies. Now you have X number of people signed in, and X-1 votes. Nobody can trace who didn’t vote, hence that vote can be misused. It is for this reason that Rule 49-O exists. Via this rule, a voter is given an opportunity to sign a separate form (Form 17-A), and submit it to the presiding officer, thereby putting this decision on record. This clears up the haze when votes are being tallied.

And this is by far, the only purpose of Rule 49-o of the Conduct of Elections in India.

Thanks folks for the good work. There have been proposals for reforms of this rule, but things have not moved and there is a petition that is being planned to get things moving. Head over to the site and do your bit if you feel about it.


Multi Seat Constituencies

From this Wikipedia Page on Indian Election System -

The first general elections were conducted in India in 1951, for 489 constituencies representing 26 Indian states. At that time, there were a few two-seat and even a three-seat constituency. The multi-seat constituencies were discontinued in the 1960s.

Very well!

Compulsory Voting

Voting is not compulsory in India and in my opinion, it should be. That way, I would have gotten my Voter ID sooner.

In countries where voting is compulsory, here are the steps taken to ensure that everyone votes.

• Belgian voters who repeatedly fail to vote in elections may be subject to disenfranchisement.

• Goods and services provided by public offices may be denied to those failing to vote in Peru and Greece.
  

• If a Bolivian voter fails to participate in an election, the citizen may be denied withdrawal of his or her salary from the bank for three months.

• In Turkey, according to a law passed by the parliament in 1986, if an eligible elector does not cast a vote in the elections, he or she has to pay a fee of about 5 YTL (3 US dollars).

(Source)

Why The Third Front Won't Fly? And A Few More Thoughts

Simply because the English media doesn't have enough people who work for them to vote for the constituents of the Third Front. Even if each and everyone remotely connected to the English media were to vote for those from the Third Front, that will still not be enough for the Third Front to get enough seats to justify the newsreel and the newsprint being wasted used for their coverage.

Except for the English media, I don't think anyone, even those who belong to the Third Front, seriously believes that the Third Front will be a formidable force in determining the power structure in the 15th Lok Sabha. With BJD, BSP and AIADMK not having openly come out in full support of such a front, all the bargaining that the Third Front could do will be on the strength of the TDP-TRS combine in Andhra Pradesh. Without the full support of the BJD, BSP and AIADMK and a common policy document to hold the constituents together, which hopefully they truly believe in and follow, the Third Front will continue to remain a motley bunch of have-beens and trying-to-bes whose idea is bought only by their heads and by the English media.

But then, these are elections in India, and like they say, anything can happen! Whatever happens, it will be a delight for those following the Indian politics closely.

Trivia: The polling station in Banej village in the Una segment of Junagadh Lok Sabha constituency, Gujarat has the unique claim to being the only polling station in the country that caters to only one elector - Guru Shree Bharatdasji Bapu, a priest of a Shiva temple in the middle of the Gir Forest.

PS. Sagarikaji, whatever you may say about Naveen Patnaik in this article is fair, but please take it that Rahul Gandhi will not be able to make any difference to the electoral fortunes of his party. Why am I saying this? Because I have a feeling of what is coming next from you and I expect a lot of baba-propping by you. Hope you will disappoint me and talk/write about something that really matters.

PPS. Note to self - Write about experiences from registering for the Voter ID. Fairly smooth and simple process.

PPPS. Can anyone from the English media please come up with a five point four point definition of what exactly is Hindutva Brand Of Politics? I am particularly interested in knowing this from the fresh-out-college-of-masscom college-I-know-it-all-thrusting-mikes-and-questions types. They are better off covering parties and telling us what are people wearing (or not wearing), and not taking political journalism to even lower depths.

PPPS. Note to self - Make a list of all the terms connected to Indian Politics that I hate/begun to hate. Words which are needlessly concocted, words used without the meaning being understood, words used because that brings in more advertising money or that brings in those few thousand eyeballs more and a few hundred clicks more. Example - Hindutva Brand Of Politics, Moditva, Secularism (Huh!) and such.

PPPPS. For all that this man is, the least one expects from a particpant in a TV debate is respect and consideration for people on the other side. I somehow find him to be very self-absorbed, rigid and more often than not, arrogant and that spoils the entire spirit of a debate. But Sir, you are not to be blamed, you are only building your brand and speaking for those who stand to gain from your seemingly articulate and forceful pushing of the agenda. It is the media, who for those few extra TRP ratings, bring you in front of the camera and make a mess of the debate. Here's something more about the man. I know most of the questions in the Q&A columns are cooked by either a very bored or a very excited junior correspondent or a copy editor, but at least the responses should seem to be appropriate. If it sells, so be it. Sad, but it is that way.

But What Will TV Do?

Borrowing the title from K's post on his very informative and insightful blog. The Press Council of India has come out with a set of guidelines for election coverage and K asks - What about the TV channels? Considering the (unfair?) fare they have been dishing out, I am already dreading the prospect of having to follow them for the election news.

What I find interesting from the guidelines is the note on the pre-poll and the exit poll surveys. [My emphasis in bold]

The Press Council, therefore, requests the Press to abide by the following guideline in respect of the exit polls:
Guideline: No newspaper shall publish exit-poll surveys, however, genuine they may be, till the last of the polls is over.

Again, what about the TV channels? And are we sure that these guidelines will be adhered to? Let's wait and well, watch. I don't quite relish the prospect of watching them though.

From Banners To Ballots

Our generation of young Indians, consisting of those between the ages of 21 to 28, is very lucky to around in India at this time. When the country, in fact, the whole world, is going through really interesting times. And more than just being witnesses, we have the chance to be a part of the the events that will shape our future, for the good or for the bad. Only time will tell which way we go, but time will also tell whether we tried or not. Trying, is what I am doing, by being a part of the events leading up to and during the General Elections and chronicling my observations and views based on my experiences.

And that begins with my efforts to get the Voter ID Card. Voting is the best way to express our opinions about our elected representatives and unless one votes any criticism of our elected representatives, their work or the lack of it and any blame on the political system holds no moral value. I hope to get my Voter ID Card as soon as possible and vote for the first time. Feel terrible for not having gotten my ID and voting during elections for the last six years, even though I was eligible.

I also hope to capture various activities from the ground on how parties mobilize workers and voters, on how the rallies and other campaign activities are held, how various media - different forms, languages and affiliations are reacting to the the election events and what do those who matter the most - the people have to say, or not have to say about the elections. I will also be keen on observing how the urban youth respond to the election activities and see how much of an interest they have in contributing to the most important activity in our democratic process - the elections.