Smaller, regional parties get an adequate opportunity to
voice their opinions and represent their regions in Parliament? How
much do smaller parties participate in parliamentary proceedings?

Comrade Salim and family own assets worth Rs.92 lakh

He has accounts in three state-run banks, including a term-deposit
of Rs.36,26,558 with Parliament House branch of the State Bank of India
(SBI) in New Delhi.

Salim, who holds a post-graduate degree in philosophy, has assets
worth Rs.595,250 in various mutual funds. He has two life insurance
policies totaling Rs.200,000 and jewelleries of value Rs.5,000.

He does not own any car and there are no criminal cases against him.

His spouse, Rosina Khatun, has Rs.12,000 in cash besides accounts in
five banks, including multinationals American Express and Standard
Chartered.

She has a fixed deposit of Rs.71,480. Her total bank deposits add up to Rs.511,233.

Khatun has Rs.840,236 in bonds and debentures and her deposits in
other financial instruments and Life Insurance Corporation of India
policies amount to Rs.11,96,746. She owns jewellery worth Rs.300,000.

Khatun also has an under-construction flat, measuring 1,219 sq ft,
in the upscale satellite township of Salt Lake, for which she has so
far paid Rs.970,000.

The autopsy report Monday described it as “death by hanging” and
hinted at “suicide”.

Qureshi said polls in all Maoist dominated areas were deliberately
held simultaneously. “Naxalite violence could have taken place in a
much bigger way. But as part of our three-month long strategy we
decided to conducts polls in the Naxal-infested areas on the same day.”

He said the idea was to prevent Maoist movement from one state to
other, he added. In the first phase of polls April 16, 19 people were
killed in Maoist violence.

Qureshi also thanked the media.

“On several occasions, we have taken action only after viewing TV
news clippings and on the basis of media reports. Media serves as our
eyes and ears,” said Qureshi.

Qureshi said in the next phase, 17 parliamentary constituencies
spread across 20 districts in Uttar Pradesh will go to polls and 324
candidates, including 15 women, are in the fray.

The 49-year-old actor was barred from contesting the elections by the
Supreme Court last month. He has been slapped with a notice for
violating the model code of conduct by making derogatory remarks
against a woman. Dutt is required to submit a reply within three days.
This is the second FIR against the SP general secretary in less than a
week.

Reacting to the move to book actor Sanjay Dutt for his alleged remarks
against UP CM Mayawati, Pinki Jowel, Pratapgarh district magistrate
said, “We have issued a notice to Dutt for violation of the model code
of conduct for his objectionable remarks against the chief minister.
His statement goes against any woman.”

On April 14, a case was filed against him for allegedly making communal
remarks at an election rally in Mau district. Dutt had allegedly told
the meet that in police custody, he was given third degree torture
because his mother was Muslim.

The latest FIR was lodged by an administrative officer Riyazuddin under
section 294 of the IPC (obscenity in public place) and is punishable
with imprisonment of three months or fine or both.

Samajwadi Party leader, his supporters join BSP

Kanchal, who is the chief of Uttar Pradesh Udyog Vyapar Pratinidhi
Mandal - the traders’ wing of the Samajwadi Party - told reporters that
he decided to join the BSP after finding his own party oppressing
businessmen.

Welcoming Kanchal, Mayawati said her party would do everything in the interest of the business community.

“I assure the business community that our party and our government would continue with its effort for their welfare,” she said.

Mayawati also expressed hope that the new members would reach out to traders and apprise them about the party’s ideology.

India polls: BBC beats Twitter, Indian sites; turnout 58-62%

I tried following the Indian elections on Twitter yesterday,
searching both “India” and “Indian elections” for election news. News
came fast from various sources. But the BBC was the best, providing
live coverage, interactive maps as well as in-depth analysis.

Analysis and perspective have become more valuable than ever because breaking news is so easy to get.

That’s
why I wasn’t tempted to post a video of the slipper hurled at the Hindu
nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party leader Lal Krishna Advani, who wants
to be India’s next prime minister. (Videos here in Hindi and in English.)

Interestingly,
almost half the eligible voters voted in Jammu and Kashmir — and more
than half in Arunachal Pradesh, which is claimed by China – according
to the Hindu. Here’s how Jammu and Kashmir was covered by the Chinese
news agency, Xinhua. Thousands voted in Jammu, said another Xinhua report.

It
was the Maoist rebels who waged a violent campaign to disrupt the
polls, killing 16 people, including eight policemen, yesterday deep in
the Indian countryside, reported The Times of India.
Isn’t that ironic? The worst-hit were the Maoist strongholds in
Chattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar. The Maoists want revolution, not
democracy.

The Hindu reports 58 to 62 percent turnout:

65
percent in Andhra Pradesh which includes the IT hub, Hyderabad; 62
percent in Arunachal Pradesh and Assam; 60 percent in Kerala; 50
percent in Uttar Pradesh, India’s biggest state whose chief minister,
Mayawati, wants to be the next prime minister; 48 percent in Jammu and
Kashmir; and 46 percent in Bihar. Parts of Bihar are inside what the
BBC calls the Red Corridor – controlled by the Maoists.

Curiously, the Election Commission of India
is not giving polling percentages in the publicly accessible sections
– maybe because the elections don’t end till May 13. Elections were
held only in 124 of the 543 constituencies yesterday.

Apart from the BBC, the other go-to site is Rediff’s India Votes 2009. The Hindustan Times has the most interactive features among the Indian newspaper sites.

The bad news:

• The National Election Watch
  reports 222 election candidates — 16 percent of the 1,425 people
  standing for election — have criminal records. Congress is fielding
  24 and the BJP 23 candidates with criminal records.

Incidentally,
the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which opposes America and
supports China, wants a weaker Indian government. “We favour a truly
federal structure in a country as vast as India,” the Marxist leader Prakash Karat
told the BBC. He wants more power for the states, three of which –
West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura — have Marxist governments.

The
CPI (M) has formed a Third Front with Mayawati and her BSP, the former
Tamil film star Jayalalitha who leads the AIADMK strong in Tamil Nadu,
and the Telugu Desam Party leader Chandra Babu Naidu who claims credit
for the technology boom in Hyderabad. They make up the Third Front
fighting the outgoing prime minister Manmohan Singh’s Congress party as
well as the opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.

Meanwhile. the Times of India website leads with the news: Heed India, young and affluent wake up to vote.
The young and the rich are voting like never before, it reports from
Hyderabad. Elections in the other big cities – New Delhi, Mumbai,
Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore – will be held later.

This Google map of India is useful, showing the places in the news as the elections continue.

Wealth & Assets Of Candidates In India General Elections 2009

April 17, 2009 at 3:37 am · Filed under Democracy, Elections, India, Pune City

Below are the affidavits of the candidates contesting for the Pune Loksabha Seat in India’s General Elections
2009. Click on the names to open the scanned PDF documents. You can
check the details of the wealth, holdings, assets of the candidates and
their criminal record, if any. Use these links to have a look at
candidate affidavits across - Pune, Maharashtra and  India .

.No	Name	Sex	Address	Party Affiliation	With Affidavite or without Affidavite Yes/No
1	Anil Shirole	M	1201/1A, Ghole Road, Shivajinagar, Pune-411004	Bharatiya Janata Party	No
2	Kalmadi Suresh	M	Kalmadi House, 42/8, Dr. Ketkar Road, Erandwana, Pune-411004	Indian National Congress	Yes
3	D.S.K. Alias D.S. Kulkarni	M	Hariyali, 161/1, Plot No. 8 Ganeshkhind Road, Shvajinagar, Pune-411005	Bahujan Samaj Party	Yes
4	Arun Bhatia	M	D-302, Blue Hills Nagar Road, Yerwada, Pune-411006	People’s Guardian	Yes
5	Gulab Tatya Waghmode	M	Vastushilp No.2, Flat No.18A, Jadhav Nagar, Wadgaon Bk. Pune-411041	Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh	Yes
6	Bagban Javed Kasim	M	1123, Raviwar Peth, Pune-411002	Indian Union Muslim Ligue	Yes
7	Vikramadittya Omprakash Dhiman	M	Flat No.3, Jeevan Darshan, Neeta Apartment, Bhau Patil Road, Bopodi, Pune 411020	Rashtirya Samaj Paksha	Yes
8	Vinod Anand Sinha	M	108/1020, gokhalenagar, Pune-411016	Proutist Sarva Samaj	Yes
9	Shirole Ranjeet Shrikant	M	1121, Model Colony, Shivajinagar, Pune-411005	Maharashtra Navnirman Sena	Yes
10	Savita Hajare	F	120, Rasta Peth, Pune411011	Pyramid Party of India	No
11	Sangharsh Arun Apte	M	Mohite Niwas, Buddhghosh Housing Society, Juni Sangavi, Pune-411027	Prabuddha Republican Party	Yes
12	Ajay Vasant Paithankar	M	203, Guruwar Peth, Pune-411042	Independent	Yes
13	Adagale Bhausaheb Ramchandra	M	S.No. 22, Sanjay Nagar, T-1/1, Dr. Ambedkar Vasahat, Nigadi, Pune-411044	Independent	Yes
14	Ashok Ganpat Palkhe Alias Sutar	M	512, Bhavani Peth, Harkanagar, Pune-411002	Independent	No
15	Kamtam Ishwar Sambhayya	M	House No. 1127, Bhavani Peth, Pune-411042	Independent	Yes
16	Kulkarni Kaustubh Shashikant	M	79, Rasta Peth, Pune-411011	Independent	Yes
17	Khan Amanulla Mohmod Al	M	S.No. 14, Tatya Tope Society, No.2, shivarkar Rasta, Wanvadi, Pune-411040	Independent	Yes
18	Khan Nissar Taj Ahmad	M	S.No. 14, Tatya Tope Society, No.2, shivarkar Rasta, Wanvadi, Pune-411040	Independent	Yes
19	P.K. Chavan	M	Shkuntala Niwas, Survey No.154/2, Plot No.22) Genubhau Mojhe Nagar, (Maji Sainik Nagar), Near Pratik Nagar, Yerwada, Pune-411006	Independent	Yes
20	Choudhari Sunil Gulabrao	M	B-2, Hormany Terraces, Anandnagar, Sinhagad Road, Pune, 411051	Independent	Yes
21	Choure Vilas Chintaman	M	227, Mangalwar Peth, Pune411011	Independent	Yes
22	Tatya Alias Narayan Shankar Wambhire	M	S. No. 88/7, Gujrath Colony, Kothrud, Pune-411038	Independent	Yes
23	Tamboli Shabbir Sajjanbhai	M	224, Mangalwar Peth, Pune	Independent	No
24	Dattatraya Ganesh Talgeri	M	13/99, Agarkar Nagar, Pune 411001	Independent	Yes
25	Bagade Sachin Maruti	M	131/1, Panmala Sinhgad Road, Pune-411030	Independent	Yes
26	Balu Alias Anil Shirole	M	58, Puna Station, Juni Khadi Machine, Shramik Nagar, Ganesh Appartment, Pune-	Independent	No
27	Bharat Manohar Gavali	M	636, Bibavewadi, Pokale Vasti, Behind A to Z Beckeri, Pune 411037	Independent	Yes
28	Bhagwat Raghunath Kamble	M	Market Yard, Gultekadi, Pune-411037	Independent	Yes
29	Rajendra Bhagat Alias Jitu Bhai	M	3/B/64, Ganeshnagar, Yerwada, Pune-411006	Independent	Yes
30	Vikram Narendra Boke	M	801, Indus Appartment, Front of Baner Telephone Exchange, Baner, Pune-411038	Independent	Yes
31	Shinde Rajendra Baburao	M	238, Mangalwar Peth, Pune-411011	Independent	Yes
32	Shaikh Altaf Karim	M	1159, Shimpi Ali, Centre Street, Pune-411001.	Independent	Yes
33	Shrikant Madhusudan Jagtap	M	2/481, Naik Chawl, Ganesh Nagar, Bopodi, Pune-411020	Independent	Yes
34	Sardesai Kishorkumar Raghunath	M	J-38, Sneh Paradise, Rambag Colony, Kothrud, Pune-411038	Independent	Yes
35	Subhash Narhar Godse	M	S.No.20/1, Dhankavadi, Punyainagar, Near Shankar Maharaj, Saisadan, Pune-411043	Independent	Yes
36	Santosh Alias Somnath Kalu Pawar	M	61/66, B.D.D. Chawl Dr. G.M. Bhosale Marg, Worli, Mumbai-400018	Independent	No

Source - Election Commission of India

The asset figures unfortunately do not show the true picture, as
politicians across India seem to have found effective ways to hide
wealth and still comply with the election commission norms.  Apart from
the black money option, the primary ways to hide wealth seem to be 1)
True market values of assets is not shown 2) Netas keep their wealth in
the form of trusts and similar legal entities over which they have
absolute control but as such do not own on paper.

Total worth of two BSP candidates from Delhi is around Rs 750 crore; amount can fund infrastructure projects

They
may not stand a chance of winning in Delhi but if the two Bahujan Samaj
Party (BSP) candidates from the Capital merged their assets, they could
have qualified to bid for the ailing IT giant Satyam.

The two
BSP nominees Kanwar Singh Tanwar and Deepak Bhardwaj have declared
assets worth Rs 150 crore and Rs 620 crore respectively. The amount
totals to Rs 750 crore, the base bid price for Satyam Computers as
fixed by  the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

A
little mathematics reveals that apart from the Satyam bid, the total
assets of the two candidates can fund many infrastructure projects (see
What the two leaders can fund) like the Delhi-Dwarka flyover or the
27.7-km-long Delhi-Gurgaon highway.

Tanwar, who is the BSP
candidate from South Delhi, was proud of his Rs 155.27-crore gold pot.
“I am not like other candidates who own property worth millions and
mention only in thousands. I have paid income tax to the government for
the assets I own. I do not need to hide the details,” said Tanwar.

The
other BSP leader, Deepak Bhardwaj trying his luck from West Delhi
constituency, declared assets more than Rs 620 crore while filing his
nomination papers. “I can assure my voters a fair leadership as I have
everything and will not steal their money,” said Bhardwaj, who is the
richest candidate in the country.

Tanwar runs a flourishing medicine business and is into real estate. Bhardwaj owns agricultural land
and has many hotels to his family’s name.

What the two leaders can fund
Delhi-Dwarka flyover project Rs 100 cr
Andrews Ganj-Khel Gaon Marg flyover project Rs 45 cr
The Delhi-Badarpur signal-free flyover project Rs 340 cr
Naraina flyover project Rs 120 cr
The 27.7-km-long Delhi-Gurgaon highway project, including nine flyovers, Rs 550 cr

Cyber campaigning seen coming of age in Indian elections

The use of internet for campaigning, being tested in India in the
ongoing general elections, will emerge as a powerful medium when the
world’s largest democracy is ready for the next polls in 2009,
concludes a leading tech publication.

‘Cyber campaigning may come
of age in 2009 elections if politicians see marginal gains by using
Internet and mobile technologies,’ says Ibrahim Ahmad, group editor of
Dataquest, which has done a report in its e-governance magazine.

‘Their faith in e-governance could go up significantly.’

The
magazine says parties are now moving to the next stage - from static
websites to interactive net strategies by building online communities
and social networking sites to actively use technology to reach out to
the electorate.

In a way, all major political parties are
trying to reach out to mass and class and the use of the online medium
has become an inseparable part of election campaign this year. The
biggest motivator is the cost factor, the magazine says.

‘A
spend of Rs.300,000-400,000 can get you around four million impressions
- far cheaper compared to other media,’ says Mrutunjoy Mishra,
co-founder of Internet research firm, Juxtconsult.com.

‘So, it makes good sense as well.’

Dataquest
says parties can draw other advantages by using the Internet, such as
reaching out to voters even when balloting in on. The reason: the
election code is unclear on how to stop promotions on the net 24 hours
before polling.

Party supporters also chip-in with
updates on different websites like You Tube and Orkut.

 Finding
that nearly 60 percent of the 40-50 million Internet users live in top
eight cities and could impact some 50 Lok Sabha seats.

Prime ministerial wannabe Mayawati is expected to launch
her own blog. But large number of intellectual SC/STs all over the world use groups such as Yahoo etc. and have created websites such as http://sarvajan.ambedkar.org etc. to propagate for BSP. In fact they out number other party supporters. They simultaneously link with their traditional caders who personaly meet the voters and lead them to the polling booths to ensure victory for their party chief to become the Prime Minister.

Samajwadi Party, whose chief Mulayam Singh Yadav has
come out strongly against the use of computers, appears oblivious to
the power of the net, so it seems is the case with other regional
parties, save exceptions like Telugu Desam Party (TDP).

If 2009
general elections was the ‘beta launch’ for parties using the Internet
to reach out to the electorate, the next round is expected to see this
medium ‘go live’ to emerge as an effective tool for campaigning - as
Barack Obama experienced during the 2008 US presidential election.

Rahul Gandhi, YSR pray at Tirupati temple

Gandhi, one of the key campaigners for the Congress party, made an
unscheduled visit to the temple located on Tirumala Hills around
midnight.

The young MP from Amethi reached the temple town Thursday night
after addressing a series of election meetings in coastal Andhra and
Rayalaseema regions.

Officials of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), which manages the
affairs of India’s richest temple, said Gandhi spent 20 minutes during
his first visit to the shrine.

The Congress leader had a night halt in the temple town and left for campaigning Friday morning.

YSR, as the chief minister is popularly known, also prayed at the
temple after seeing off Gandhi. He later resumed campaigning in
Rayalaseema.

FACTBOX - Potential swing states in elections

REUTERS - India goes to the polls in a general election from April 16 to May 13.

Here are details of five most important swing states which account for a total of 243 out of 543 parliamentary seats.

* UTTAR PRADESH (80 seats)

India’s most populous state could be a key election with an
outside chance the chief minister Mayawati could become
the country’s next prime minister.

Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which champions the cause of SC/STs or “untouchables”and now the entire people, cannot be challenged by Congress and
the Samajwadi Party (SP), who cannot defeat Mayawati even after they pool their
vote share, since Mayawati enjoys the pro-incumbancy factor after sharing the wealth of the state amongst all sections of the society.

There is every chance that the current Congress-SP alliance, seen by analysts as a marriage of convenience, may crumble.

 Mayawati will build on her success at the state level and also from all over the country because of the anti-incumbancy factor for the Congress and violent hatred campaign of BJP, she

will become the Prime Minister.

Congress has in the past deployed two of its star campaigners,
party chief Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul, in the state but failed to
make significant inroads.

Party
has decided to contest all 28 Lok Sabha seats

BANGALORE: Even though the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has decided to
field its candidates in all the 28 Lok Sabha constituencies in
Karnataka, in order to make Mayawati as the Prime Minister is more interested in
increasing its vote share in the State than and  winning at least 14 seats.

 We will have real chance in most of the constituencies in
Karnataka, including Bidar, Chamarajanagar, Chitradurga, Bangalore South, Bangalore North, Bangalore Central, etc and we
hope to substantially increase our vote share in Karnataka and lay the
foundation for the party’s growth in the State,” general secretary of
the BSP’s Karnataka unit Gopinath told..

Gradual increase

The BSP’s vote share in the State has been gradually increasing
since 2004.

“We want to more vote share this time around. We hope to touch eight to 50 per cent,” Mr. Gopinath said.

By laying emphasis on increasing its vote share, the BSP is seeking
to reduce the influence of other parties, particularly national parties
such as the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress, which it has
dubbed “Manuvadi” parties.

However, BSP leader Mahesh said the party’s presence in the poll
arena had already started upsetting the traditional voting pattern. In
the 2008 Assembly elections, the BSP not only came second in many seats
but also ensured the defeat of Congress in 14 seats. “The number of
votes polled by the Congress and the BSP in 14 seats was more than that
of the eventual winners,” Mr. Mahesh claimed.

Daily News Events 6th April 2009

http://election.rediff.com/special/2009/apr/17/loksabhapolls-the-songs-of-mayawati.htm

Event Name : Nizam Ali Khan BSP Candidate Filing Nomination in Mysore Event Date : 6th April 2009 Event Description : BSP Candidate Nizam Ali Khan filing nomination for the Lok Sabha Elections at DC Office, in Mysore Photo Date : 6th April 2009 Photo Caption : BSP Candidate Nizam Ali Khan filing nomination for the Lok Sabha Elections at DC Office, in Mysore on Monday 6th April 2009 Photo Credit : pics4news. JD(U) to support BSP candidate Special Correspondent Bangalore: The State unit of the Janata Dal (United) has decided to support Bahujan Samaj Party candidate Vijayaraj Singh contesting from Bangalore Central, which goes to the polls on April 23. JD(U) general secretary Lokpal Jain told presspersons here on Saturday that the party had decided to support Mr. Singh in line with its policy to support candidates who comply with the ideology of the party. Mr. Singh had requested the party to support him as it had not fielded any candidate and the political objectives of the JD(U) and the BSP were similar. The party had agreed to support Mr. Singh considering his political, social and educational background. The party had deliberated a lot about extending support to Mr. Singh. However, in the light of alleged electoral offences and violations of the code of conduct by the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Janata Dal (Secular), the party decided to support Mr. Singh, Mr. Jain said.