General
Elections-2014 starts on 7th April with the
largest number ever of 9 polling phases till 12th of May and the
counting of votes will be taken up on Friday, May 16. In 2009 General Elections
there were 5 phases, but lasted for a period of 73 days as against 69 days this
time. The Chief Election Commissioner of India declared the dates and phases
with all details of polling in different states and union territories of India
at a press conference in New Delhi last morning. The Model of Code of Conduct
is thus being ushered in from yesterday till the end of elections during which
time governments and authorities would be prevented from announcing policies or
any sort of new schemes of development. For most other normal administrative
decisions the consent of the Election Commission of India would be required. The
General Elections will be held along with assembly elections in three states of
Sikkim, Odissa and Andhra Pradesh which had just been divided into Telangana
and Seemandhra. In Maharashtra we will have polling in three phases—10th
, 17th and 24th of April with all the seats in Mumbai
slated to go for voting at the last phase.
***
Political
violence erupted in the capital and other parts as the country
got set for the biggest democratic exercise of the world. The Common Man’s
Party (AAP) showed this time that they could be as violent as any other party. Their
runaway ex-Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal was briefly detained in Gujarat by
the police reportedly owing to a possible violation of the model code of conduct. And as is
usual with the self-styled ‘untouchables’, there was a mix-up with Kejriwal
making allegations against the police of the BJP ruled state where Narendra
Modi has been Chief Minister for three consecutive terms. The AAP workers in
their typical ‘righteous’ spirit attacked the BJP offices in Delhi and other
places leading to ugly clashes. The AAP is now viewed as a party that can
hardly impact at the national level with some following mostly in urban areas
that too seems to be dwindling after that Delhi ‘Governance’ experiment. Maybe,
that is why the party workers are desperate for some consistent media
attention.
***
In
Asia Cup Cricket neither Sri Lanka nor Pakistan came to
India’s mathematical aid and the latter crashed out of the tournament as was apparent. Sri Lanka
routed Afghanistan and Pakistan beat Bangladesh in another incredible thriller
led in the end again by Shahid Afridi. In a match totally devoid of any
importance Team India, of course, defeated Afghanistan yesterday with the expected
bonus point. However, it came a little too late. Indians have themselves to
blame for having to bring their overseas misery back in familiar tracks too. Sri
Lanka meet Pakistan in the Asia Cup-2014 Final this Saturday, 8th of
March. Sri Lanka have already beaten Pakistan in the very opener of the
Tournament, but Pakistan have become more resilient and spirited of late thanks
to thrilling victories over arch-rivals India and Bangladesh. Today there is another inconsequential match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh which is the last league encounter.
