Poll Pourri

Nanakshahi Calender
The 25th anniversary of Operation Bluestar is round the corner and so are theelections. With a ‘panthic’ party at the helm in Punjab, it is unlikely thatthe ruling Akali Dal would let go of an opportunity like this to play politics.And, if alliance partner BJP is uncomfortable with Shiromani Akali Dal’s (SAD)present inclination to play up ‘martyrs to the Sikh cause’ the formercouldn’t be bothered. The operative credo: everything is fair in elections.So, even as radical Sikhs organizations in Punjab are chalking out an elaborateprogramme to mark the occasion, the SAD has pre-empted them. The Akali Dal’sreligious arm, the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) has releasedthe ‘Nanakshahi calender’ (Sikh solar calendar) which carries a prominentpicture of a the Akali Takht (supreme temporal seat of Sikhs) as it was damagedduring Bluestar. The calendar also mentions the assassins of Indira Gandhi andGen AS Vaidya as ‘shaheeds’ (martyrs) besides carrying derogatory remarksabout the army.

The unstated aim of releasing the calendar -- which starts from March 14th --at this time is clearly to woo the radical Sikhs who are currently atloggerheads with the Akali Dal over a perceived dilution of the latter’sresponsibility towards Sikhism. And what of the BJP? It had earlier successfullyprevailed upon the SGPC to withdraw its own resolution to raise a memorial toOperation Bluestar in the Golden Temple complex. The BJP had also expressed itsreservations when a portrait of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was installed in theSikh museum in the Golden Temple complex. 

Fewer Women Voters in Jatland
Haryana has never been a woman friendly state, having one of the lowest femalesex ratios in the country. Things, it seems are much worse than previouslyimagined because the state election commission found that the number of womenvoters in the state has declined from 56.60 lakh in 2004, to 54.84 lakh thistime. The election commission has ordered a door to door survey over this trend,to find out the reasons for the decline, the Times of India reports. Onepossible reason is the inherent bias against women which is reflected in theparents’ apathy towards getting their daughters and daughters in law enrolledin the voters lists. Whatever the reason, sociologists are worried at theprospect of women having a lesser say in the democratic process in Haryana. 

Cricket in Hamirpur 
Pit a cricketer against another one and watch the fun. If the Congress inHimachal Pradesh has its way, the Hamirpur electoral battle in the state will bebetween two cricketers. The foremost contender for the Hamirpur constituencyticket is Madan Lal veteran cricketer, who has emerged as a hopeful after PrietyZinta (owner of King’s IX Punjab IPL cricket team) refused. Congress isdesperate to get somebody from the cricketing world for Hamirpur because chiefminister Prem Kumar Dhumal’s son Anurag Thakur of the BJP who won the seat bya huge margin less than a year ago, in a bypoll, is a cricketer and presentlypresident of the Himachal Cricket Association. Thakur has managed anotherfeather for his cap by managing to get, for the first time, two IPL matches toDharamsala this season. 

Trouble in the Family 
Haryana’s strongman, and former chief minister the late, Bansi Lal’s clanhas ensured that their dad would be tossing in his grave this summer, as hisheirs engage in a public slugfest over his political legacy. The venue isBhiwani parliamentary constituency for which his socialite daughter-in-law KiranChaudhary, also a minister in the Haryana government, wants her 20-something,daughter Shruti to get the Congress ticket. Bansi Lal’s elder son RanbirMahendra (former BCCI president) who is a legislator from Mundhal Khurd is alsoangling for the same ticket. The two, Kiran Chaudhary and Ranbir, have also beenengaged in a bitter property battle in Bhiwani over Bansi Lal’s ancestralhouse. So far, Kiran has been on top, mainly due to her rapport with 10 Janpath.Even the chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda does not like to tread on hertoes. If Shruti does get the ticket, she will be pitted against Ajay Chautala,elder son of another former chief minister, Om Prakash Chautala of the IndianNational Lok Dal. 

Arms and the Akharas
Come elections and it's time for district officials to get people to deposittheir arms with the local police. It turns out that there has been a steep risein the arms licenses made during the last six months, with the border districtsof Ferozepur and Taran Taran topping the list. Out of the 8,727 arms licensesissued in the last six months, Ferozepur accounts for 1145 and Taran Taran 1106.Owning a licensed weapon is the macho thing to do in Punjab, and election timeis a good time to pressure the local politician to help them obtain one. Buteven by Punjab standards, the huge number of licenses issued in the last fewmonths is making the electoral machinery sit up and take notice. 

Ditto for Haryana’s famous ‘akharas’ who are have earned much notorietyfor supply well endowed wrestlers to politicians of all hues during elections.Mainly concentrated in the jat heartland of Rohtak, these ‘akharas’ havebeen put on watch by the police. The shady ones are being monitored and wellknown musclemen with previous electoral exploits to boast about are beingtracked. 

BPL families and the Congress
The minions of the Haryana government were acting in good faith when theypainted the front gate and walls of houses of BPL families in the state, saffronwhite and green. They had initially marked these houses with a yellow rectanglebut when Haryana Janhit Congress formed by Congress rebel Bhajan Lal choseyellow for its party flag, the government machinery in the Congress led statequickly decided to paint the houses with the Congress colours instead. But theHJC went and promptly complained to the Election Commission and the state ishaving to do much explaining, says the Hindustan Times.