Elections through the regional prism

BY Darius Nakhoonwala| IN Opinion | 12/03/2014

Thus it came about that the 'Telegraph' held forth on politics in the east, the 'Hindu' on politics in TN, the 'Pioneer' on Kerala and the TOI on the politics of the Thackerays,

reflects DARIUS NAKHOONWALA. PIX: The edit from the TOI

You don’t say!
Darius Nakhoonwala

My heart goes out to leader writers. The silly season has begun for them: there is nothing to write about.

What distinguishes it from the busy season is that more than one thing happens in the country, instead of just politics. Then they all hold forth on the same subject on the same day or close enough.

But if you look at the edits over the last two weeks, there is hardly any commonality. Like the hero in Stephen Leacock’s novel, they are all rushing madly to their keyboards and rushing madly off in all directions.

Thus it came about that the Telegraph held forth on politics in the east, the Hindu on politics in Tamil Nadu, the Pioneer on in Kerala and the Times of India in Bombay.

The result, I must say, was pleasing because they were writing about things they understand better than anyone else.

The Telegraph noted that it wasn’t surprised at the Trinamool Congress and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha drifting apart. “The demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland has been the GJM’s political lifeline. For the TMC, a division of West Bengal was never a part of any bargain with the GJM.” Then it offered this advice: “Mamata Banerjee and Bimal Gurung should put the interests of peace and development above the electoral contest in Darjeeling…Mr Gurung had just two options — to put a GJM nominee or to support a BJP candidate — because no other party supports the demand for Gorkhaland. But even a BJP-led government may find it tough to act on Mr Gurung’s demand.”

The Hindu, meanwhile, focused on the 39 Lok Sabha constituencies in Tamil Nadu. It said there was churn in the State’s politics because the fight had gone from a triangular one to a multi-angular one. “As things stand today, Jayalalithaa… is in maximalist mode, staking claim for all the 40 seats, leading an independent front, after it dramatically bid ‘goodbye’ to the main Left parties…the sudden collapse in seat-sharing talks came as a blow to the ‘third front’ idea.” The DMK, meanwhile has “decided against any alliance with either the Congress or the BJP…The BJP for the first time is set to lead another big front, with the Vijayakant-led DMDK, the PMK and the MDMK.” In sum, TN MPs will not be a monolithic bloc.

The Pioneer, in keeping with its dislike of the Left, reviewed the position in Kerala. The Kerala unit of the Revolutionary Socialist Party, a national ally of the Marxists, quit the CPI(M)-headed Opposition Left Democratic Front over a dispute over the Kollam Lok Sabha seat. The paper said that “In the LDF, minor partners have never shown the courage to question the practice of the CPI(M) and the CPI of sharing in the proportion of 16:4 the 20 Lok Sabha seats in the State. The duty of the other LDF constituents was limited to just applauding this drama. However, the RSP last weekend decided that enough was enough… and, quite predictably, walked straight into the tainted tent of the Congress-led ruling United Democratic Front.” This, the paper thought, would lead to a chain reaction on other LDF partners. “It will be interesting to watch how the RSP, still a CPI(M) ally nationally, will balance its act between the Kerala unit's support to the Congress and UPA and its anti-Congress stand at the national level.”

The Times of India looked at the Shiv Sena and the MNS. “When Raj and Uddhav met at Bal Thackeray's funeral, it raised expectations that they would bury the hatchet… Modi and Gadkari made concerted efforts to engineer this rapprochement. But Uddhav wasn't biting…So while BJP has indeed persuaded MNS to support Modi's prime ministership… Raj will still be going head to head with Shiv Sena. This feud fed a resounding defeat for BJP in Maharashtra in 2009…”

The paper made the important point that “family feuds will play a key role in shaping the new Lok Sabha.” It then cited examples from Bihar and Tamil Nadu, which between them account for 79 seats.

Such articles are only possible because of your support. Help the Hoot. The Hoot is an independent initiative of the Media Foundation and requires funds for independent media monitoring. Please support us. Every rupee helps.