BJP in Delhi is banking on Narendra Modi wave to tide over crisis

NEW DELHI: The Delhi unit of BJP is putting up a united front, even if it is for the sake of appearances, in the run up to the polls on April 10. In fact, its candidates do not have time for bickering.

The final list of candidates has still left many disgruntled. Some of the candidates are new to the constituency from they have got the tickets, including Delhi unit president Dr Harshvardhan. Having contested assembly elections from East Delhi all his life, he is now fighting from Chand chowk.

Party spokeswoman Meenakshi Lekhi pipped heavyweight contenders like Dr Subrahmaniam Swamy and journalist MJ Akbar to contest from New Delhi. Maheish Girri, an Art of Living proponent, was a surprise candidate from East Delhi. Former chief minister Sahib Singh Verma's son, Parvesh, got a ticket from West Delhi. The BJP got two outsiders to contest from the North West (reserved) and North East seats - Dalit leader Udit Raj and Bhojpuri actor Manoj Tiwari. Only the South Delhi c candidate, Ramesh Bhiduri, is a local.

Though it is a mixed bag of candidates, the BJP is hoping to win four to five seats in the capital. In 2009, the party had failed to win even a single seat from Delhi with the Congress sweeping all seven constituencies. "This time is different," asserts senior leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra, who is mentoring Delhi unit of BJP "It is like the 1977 wave which will tide over all differences within the party."
ccording to Malhotra, the party will win all seven seats this time. However, another Delhi leader sounds a word of caution. "Things can change if there is strategic voting by the Muslims, who constitute 19% of Delhi's population," he says. In some of the constituencies, like North East and Chandni Chowk, concentration Muslims is higher.

Harshvardhan, the Chandni Chowk candidate, is confident that his goodwill will help him sailBSE -0.63 % through. He is pitted against sitting MP Kapil Sibal and former journalist Ashutosh of AAP. 

India Ratings says reserves to expand impetus position 2014 polls

 


India Ratings' chief Atul Joshi has said foreign reserves are set to expand thrust after 2014 general elections, but a 'enchantment' work is not likely for the generally financial system in the abrupt prospect.
India Ratings is the Indian entity of universal enormous Fitch Ratings cluster.

Many foreign nest egg are being in custody back as investors are meeting on the hedge for a new government to be bent, but their decisions are improbable to be reliant on any fastidious get-together coming to the influence and would be frequently made on the basis of governance solidity, he said.

Asked whether trade and industry tricks will gain thrust after common elections, India Ratings & Research's Managing Director and CEO, Joshi said: "It will gain energy and definitely some funds are being in custody back".

He said that no large-scale greenfield projects are imminent up, since of a stipulate decelerate as well as the corporates in India creature over-leveraged in requisites of arrears.

Joshi auxiliary said that Indian corporates "need to set their house in order... The corporates need to leave go of their own control. That is a big rationale for corporates not setting up fresh projects. Let's not fault the government single-handedly. The corporates also have a part in that."

India Ratings' chief Atul Joshi has said foreign investments are set to gain momentum after 2014 general elections, but a 'magic' work is unlikely for the overall economy in the immediate future.

India Ratings is the Indian unit of global giant Fitch Ratings group.

Many foreign investments are being held back as investors are sitting on the fence for a new government to be formed, but their decisions are unlikely to be dependent on any particular party coming to the power and would be mostly made on the basis of governance stability, he said.

Asked whether economic activities will gain momentum after general elections, India Ratings & Research's Managing Director and CEO, Joshi said: "It will gain momentum and certainly some investments are being held back".

He said that no large-scale greenfield projects are coming up, because of a demand slowdown as well as the corporates in India being over-leveraged in terms of debt.

Joshi further said that Indian corporates "need to set their house in order... The corporates need to release their own leverage. That is a big reason for corporates not setting up new projects. Let's not blame the government alone. The corporates also have a role in that."

Modi, Advani share dais at Bhopal rally

 
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) tried to put up a show of togetherness at a massive rally in Bhopal, where Narendra Modi was the star. The rally was the first to have party patriarch L K Advani share the dais with Modi, who seemed to do all the right things by referring to Advani as the BJP’s guiding light and publicly touching his feet (although almost as an afterthought, after seeing Shivraj Singh Chouhan doing so). Elsewhere, squabbles within the BJP broke out over the question of its allies, suggesting the road to forming a government at the Centre was not easy.

In his speech, Advani referred to the power sector reforms pioneered by Modi that ensured 24-hour power supply, a model then followed by other BJP-ruled states including Madhya Pradesh. He said on all indices of governance, the BJP-ruled states had stolen a march over others. Recalling the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee formed the government at the Centre in coalition with many parties and that BJP came to power in many states under a similar arrangement, Advani said no other party can challenge BJP’s performance and track record.
“In the coming assembly and Lok Sabha elections, we will win on the basis of the record of the BJP and NDA. No other party can compare with BJP or NDA... It is our achievements, which will fetch a victory for us. We will not win elections merely on the basis of speeches but on the basis of the performance, leadership, achievements and the work done by us,” he said.

Party president Rajnath Singh said BJP workers and sympathisers had been booked under the specious charge of Hindu terrorism and harassed. Singh, who spoke after Advani, said: “Modi can become the Prime Minister of the country and Chouhan the chief minister in Madhya Pradesh only if the worker of the BJP at booth level works hard.”

Party leader Uma Bharti also sought the blessings of the people to make Chouhan the chief minister and Modi “the destiny-maker of the nation”.

The rally was largely a congregation of party workers, called Karyakarta Mahakumbh.

Modi also shared his concerns about the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). He said the Centre would not hesitate to use the CBI against political rivals, so the BJP needed to be conscious of this. Modi’s remarks were in the context of the case against former Gujarat home minister Amit Shah for his role in fake encounters after former DIG D G Vanzara turned against Modi and Shah.

Asking workers to make India ‘Congress-free’, Modi said: “I throw a challenge to Congress leaders: that they may choose any tactics in the coming polls but India’s voters will pay them back for each of their misdeeds during the last 10 years.”

In his typical style, he said during the United Progressive Alliance’s regime, there was a scam for every letter of the alphabet. If one were to count the money that the UPA-led government had siphoned off from the average Indian, the counting would start from Bhopal and end at Jan Path in Delhi (residence of Congress president Sonia Gandhi), he added.

“Mahatma Gandhi wanted to dismantle Congress after Independence, but the party did not honour his wish. We will have to work to make his dream come true and rid the country of the Congress party”, he said amid wild applause.

While ‘togetherness’ was the theme of the Bhopal rally, in Andhra Pradesh, the party unit sounded the bugle of rebellion when it rejected the overtures being made to Telugu Desam Party leader Chandrababu Naidu.

BJP’s Andhra unit president Kishan Reddy said the TDP was a ‘sinking ship’ and the BJP would make sure there would be no alliance with it. “If necessary, I will go to Delhi and explain why the alliance will hurt the BJP,” Reddy said in Hyderabad.

Modi said: “Congress harps on inclusive growth but one must know that the term had come out of BJP-ruled states like Madhya Pradesh where leaders like Chouhan have done tremendous work for the poorest of the poor. Those state governments that are working in the interest of the poor in country either belong to BJP or are part of the NDA. It doesn't suit them (UPA) to talk about inclusive growth.”

 

But while togetherness was the theme of this rally, in Andhra Pradesh the BJP unit sounded the bugle of rebellion when it rejected the overtures being made to Telugu Desam Party leader Chandrababu Naidu.

 

BJP AP unit President Kishan Reddy said the TDP was a sinking ship and the BJP would make sure there would be no alliance with it. “If necessary, I will go to delhi and explain why the alliance will hurt the BJP” reddy said in Hyderabad, putting the TDP leaders’ back up immediately.