Defeated BJP puts up a brave face

            New Delhi: The BJP who faced a drubbing in the general elections, on Friday said that it was well braced to face the ups and downs. "We are a democratic political party, we are an ideological political party, we have seen ups and downs in our career of the party both in Jansangh and BJP, so we have the capacity to observe this setback. We have sat in the opposition for 45 years and then the experience being in power for six years," BJP president Venkaiah Naidu told a news conference in New Delhi. Naidu was speaking after a party meeting to analyse the reasons for the stunning defeat. The BJP and its allies won 185 seats in the 545-member parliament, down 90 seats from the 1999 elections. Shocked by the defeat, the BJP accepted that it had failed to read the pulse of the people and may have overestimated the feel- good factor in the country. But, the party said it would continue to pursue an agenda of development and good governance and would not revert to the hardline Hindu themes which first catapulted the BJP to political centrestage.

Efforts on to cobble up a Congress-led alliance (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: The Left wing played the role of kingmaker on Friday as bids to push the Congress party to power gathered momentum in Delhi. The victorious Congress had, earlier, said there was a consensus among its coalition partners for its Italian-born leader Sonia Gandhi to become the next prime minister. "Left parties are stable partners and Congress is a mature party. But running a government does not depend on majority of numbers. We have a tough battle ahead where we have to fight castism and communalism. So everybody should be taken along," former prime minister VP Singh told reporters in New Delhi even as the communists took over backroom operations to woo like-minded parties. Gandhi held talks on Friday to secure allies for a new government to replace the BJP routed by a rural backlash. Among those being wooed are left-wing groups that Gandhi's Congress party needs to form a government. The leading Left-wing party, the CPM, won 33 seats, more than half the leftist total, and its support will be critical to Gandhi's survival. Party general secretary Harkishen Singh Surjeet was the rallying force as a number of key politcal heavyweights opposed to the ousted BJP's tried to stich a Congress-led alliance. NCP chief and Maharashtra strongman Sharad Pawar and Uttar Pradesh chief minister and SP president Mulayam Singh Yadav visited the veteran communist leader. But Pawar parried questions on the crux of the meeting. "We had only come to meet him we have not discussed anything," Pawar evasively told reporters after the meeting. The NCP has won nine seats and the SP 37.

Left parties say privatisation ministry not needed (Go To Top)

         New Delhi: The CPI-M, which is expected to play a key role in the new government, said on Friday there was no need for a privatisation ministry. "It (privatisation) is a good enough thing. They are also worried about employment. OK, take it up. Why do you need a ministry of disinvestment. Why should there be a ministry, which is only interested in selling national assets," party general secretary A.B. Bardhan said. Earlier, the party had said there should be no further sale of profit-making state-run companies. Left-wing groups are among those being wooed the Congress needs to form a government. The Congress has also tried to allay fears that the leftists would slow or stall the country's economic reforms, concerns which sent the main stock index tumbling more than six percent and weakened the rupee. Meanwhile, major shares slumped six percent as investors worried privatisation and foreign investment could be hit. Bardhan rejected the market trends saying they were mere speculations. "Should market fluctuations rule the government or should the government decide on its policies taking into account what is needed by the people.For that reason you see if the market fluctuates for some time, let it. Because after all that fluctuation is a speculative flucuation by people who thought they would benefit from privatisation. Doesn't matter. Some of the market indexes (indices) we see are speculative indexes (indices)," he said.

Sensex slumps at 330 points at close (Go To Top)

          Mumbai: Soon after touching a high of 5416 on selective buying support during the early morning trades, the BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange) index tumbled from higher levels to remain weak thereafter following correction in most of the old economy stocks. "The reason for today's fall was basically not expected though there is a fall of approximately 55 points on NSE and 120 points on BSE. The reason of the fall is nervousness due to which the retail investors, the domestic funds are also nervous because the amount of selling from FIIs which has come, has affected the market to a great extent," said Anuj Ajmera. The main reason is the FII selling which has taken place, according to Ajmera." In the morning the market, the NSE opened on a positive note but after that due to selling pressure it has gone down by 60 points. In the next ten minutes it was down by 55 points. The nervousness of FIIs is because of the total reform and changes in the government," said Ajmera. He also said that because of this, the overall industry is going to be a bit cautious to get into any positive trend and taking long positions. The market was in total shambles towards the closing hours, as the index plunged below the 5100-mark to touch a low of 5051.

CPM in dilemma over joining a Cong-led Govt (Go To Top)
by Gautam Ghosh

           Kolkata: The CPI(M) is facing a serious dilemma on the nature of support it intends to provide to a Congress-led government at the Centre following the NDA's ouster from the seat of power in Delhi. While moderates like CPI(M) general secretary H.S. Surjeet, former West Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu and the party's leader in the dissolved Lok Sabha, Somnath Chatterjee, do not mind the party joining the government outright, hardliners like Prakash Karat, Sitaram Yechuri, Left Front chairman Biman Bose and chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee are in favour of supporting a Congress government from outside.

          Yet another section of CPI(M) leaders feels the party should provide only issue-based support to the government which is going to replace the BJP-led coalition. The CPI(M)'s ensuing politburo and central committee meetings in Delhi are expected to thrash out the matter and take a clear-cut decision to ensure stability of the new government at the Centre. The Marxists as well as the CPI are happy over the outcome of the Lok Sabha polls, although their hope for the installation of a Third Front government has been belied by the results.

          Both the communist parties had earlier declared their intention to support a Congress-led government at the Centre to keep "the communal forces represented by the BJP and the Sangh Parivar at bay." But two other major Left Front partners like the Forward Bloc and the RSP have all along been against the idea. The Left Front, however, is believed to have reached unanimity in the post-poll scenario on the need for supporting "a secular government at the Centre." The CPI(M) feels the Forward Bloc and the RSP can be persuaded to "fall in line" on the question of supporting a non-BJP government in Delhi. A final decision in this regard is expected to be taken at a meeting of the Left Front partners in Delhi by next week.

          Moderates in the CPI(M) believe that the party's direct participation in a Congress-led coalition government will help it spread in other states where it has virtually no political or organizational existence. At present the CPI(M)'s strength is confined mainly to three states-West Bengal, Tripura and Kerala. The party has succeeded in substantially increasing its tally in the Andhra Assembly elections following an electoral entente with the Congress against the BJP-TDP combine. The moderates have argued that the party should, therefore, take advantage of the post-poll situation and participate in a Congress-led government with a two-fold aim. It can put pressure on the Congress leadership to change its economic policy and make it "people- oriented." The party can also try to implement its agenda by joining the government at the Centre.

          The CPI(M) hardliners, however, are totally opposed to the idea and feel a Congress-led government will never allow them to implement the party agenda even if they decide to participate in it. Besides, they feel the CPI(M) runs the risk of antagonizing its vote-bank in case the new government, with the party as one of the partners, fails to deliver the goods. The hardliners believe that the best option for the party in the circumstances is to provide to a Congress-led government only support from outside. They will be happy to see the CPI(M) playing the role of the Telugu Desham party in the NDA government. The hardliners have taken pains to point out that former Andhra Pradesh chief minister and TDP leader Chandrababu Naidu used to wield considerable influence on the Vajpayee government without directly participating in it.

          According to informed sources, the CPI(M) will insist on the adoption of a "pro-people" common minimum programme as a pre- condition for its support to a Congress-led government. It wants the new government to clearly specify its stand vis-a-vis disinvestment, globalisation and labour laws and wants it to adopt some measures to make the salaried as well as retired people happy and secure. Aware of the serious political implications of becoming the supporter of a Congress-led government, the Marxists intend to play safe and keep all their options open in the event of the new rulers at the Centre refusing to see eye-to-eye with them on crucial issues.

Congress wave in north-east too (Go To Top)

          Guwahati: The Congress wave, which was witnessed almost all over the country, made its presence felt in the northeast too. In Guwahati the winning candidate from the Congress, Kirip Chaliha said that his party wave evident in the rest of the country had engulfed northeast too. "The All-India support that's being exhibited to Congress, especially to Sonia ji's leadership. I think people of Guwahati have also given a mandate to us. Secondly the performance of our government led by Tarun Gogoi has been an endorsement by people here," he said.

          In the 1999 elections, out of the 14 constituencies in Assam, 10 seats were swept away by the INC. These included Karimganj, Silchar, Tezpur, Jorhat and Lakhimpur, while Guwahati went to the BJP where Bijoya Chakrovarty emerged victorious. This time 10 seats won by the Congress, two seats were won by the BJP. AGP and an independent candidate were declared winners on 1-1 seat each in Assam. In Manipur, Th. Chaoba of MSCP came to power whereas on the outer Manipur seat Holkhomang of NCP came out as the winner. In Mizoram Vanlalzawma an independent candidate had won, the seat has been relinquished to BJP this time. Tripura has two constituencies Tripura West and Tripura East. In the 1999 general elections Samar Chowdhary of CPM won the elections.

          In Tripura east also, CPM's Baju Ban Riyan was declared victorious. This trend was maintained by the Left party which again came out as the winner in these elections. Khagen Das, who won from Tripura on CPI (M) ticket, said: "In one sentence I can say that Congress is isolated from people. First of all they are aligned with the terrorist and scessionist forces and they did not do anything for the peopel of the state." Repeating its last time win Sikkim Democratic Front again won the elections in the sole parliamentary seat here. In Nagaland INC' S.K. Asungba Sangtam had come out victorious and this time around the BJP has made its mark in the state. Both the seats in Arunachal Pradesh had been won over by INC candidates in 1999 but this time ,BJP won over both the seats. In Tura constituency of Meghalya, NCP's Purno Agitok Sangma had won in 1999 and he managed to keep his hold on the same seat in these elections too, whereas on the Shillong seat INC's Paty Ripple Kyndiah has won. The contrast in terms of the nationwide poll scenario couldn't have been more striking in Sikkim. The ruling Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) swept the parliamentary constituency seat by defeating the rival Congress by a margin of 1,25,088 votes. The extensive usage of EVMs and unabated enthusiasm of the people who came out of their houses without fear or prejudice were the main highlights of the polls, this time around.