Politics-Cricket: General Elections-2014, Political Violence and Asia Cup!

General Elections-2014 starts on 7^th April with the largest number ever of 9 polling phases till 12^th 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—10^th , 17^th and 24^th of April with all the seats in Mumbai slated to go for voting at the last phase.

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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.

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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, 8^th 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.