Both the states Kerala and West bengal prefer left parties and they somehow are ok with living with them for 7 years. Somehow the people of West Bengal are not really inclined to any change and the dictum of anti-incumbency is a misnomer in their case. What is the point in having them rule when left has always been opposing for things that contribute to obvious developments and investments.
Kerela is even worse, both the party that lost and the party that gained are from the left . Guess there is something that connects both West Bengal and Kerela. Both states have only god’s nature and forest reserves to attract investors. Like timber companies. Kerela is actually getting a CM only for 2 years, a very old man called Achutanandan who would be replaced by someone ‘younger’ ( read few years younger) without any elections and/or public participation. A basic flaw in the Indian system I guess
Then there is Tamil Nadu who simply because the timing of the election manifesto was on time resulted in DMK coming to power when clearly J Jayalalitha did a lot of good for the people, in terms of per-capital income, infant mortality, Tsunami rehabilitation and even in the infrastructure investment front.
I personally think that DMK came to power simple because of the temptation factor of free colour TV and Rs 2/ Kg rice. They went overboard with their finances and included all those in the manifesto as well. AIADMK was merely a 'me-too' candidate and provided free computers. This copycat tactic boomeranged. People of Tamil Nadu can be such silly at times. Just look at the way Chennai functions, the bus numbers change to match the incumbent Chief Minister’s initials. So if Jayalalitha is in power it would 1J and when Karunanidhi comes in the same bus would bear the number 1K! The quantum of stupidity is even worse in the rural regions of the same. One more silly reason for DMK gaining power – Sun TV is more popular than Jaya TV. According to a survey, 22% of the folks in Tamil Nadu think that Sun TV bought over Doordarshan and that is why there is no Doordarshan in Tamil Nadu.
Anyway, Jayalalitha went underground for sometime unable to face defeat. She eventually did emerge to submit her resignation but that was not a gracious acceptance of defeat I must admit.
In TN, the left is providing outside support and not really be part of the final government. Something that is quite non-CPI. The left wants to support the DMK in Tamil Nadu because according to some sources unemployment had gone up in the state. As usual, one report always contradicts the other! But one thing that comforts is that MK Stalin is not the CM in this case, something that can happen only in Karnataka. Remember, son taking over father and father issuing contradictory statements. Not sure ? Read this here http://wiredbeats.com/blog/?p=22
My gut feeling is that Jayalalitha would be a stiff opposition. She is an iron lady. Going by her fighting spirit in her 1996 election wash-out and how she recovered she would not let Karunanidhi sleep.
One place where we need to keep track on is the holy ground of Rae Bareli. Sonia Gandhi beats her own record. Folks in congress were so jubilant that Ajith Singh wanted Sonia to be the Prime Minister. Soon Sonia called him and asked him to shut-up. Sonia is now contemplating on her next moves. She knew that she would win, she said the same day when the whole Office of profit issue exploded on her face. However, this time she would like have both – her God mother status in Rae Bareli and her so called office of profit. And how would she go about doing it – Simple, amend the law. Sonia is dynamic, she sends her children in the scorching heat. Rahul Gandhi conducts the campaign and his sister Priyanka has to merely look good. She remote controls and beats her own record. People say she is ‘sacrifice personified’. I don’t know how?
Now with Mr Rahul Gandhi with his extensive experience in election campaigning for just one election, he would get promoted to a senior role on a national scale. How about Deputy PM! Talk of out of turn appraisal and we have a winner.
Finally, I saw this guy Mythreyan, a leader in AIADMK say “Whether it's a coalition government or a minority government the people of Tamil Nadu have lost” Basically, it means that since AIADMK lost in their campaign, its not their loss but it is the very people of Tamil Nadu who lost. Well said.
I found this poster somewhere in the city
