By Saurabh Gandhi:
Political
newbies seem to be the flavor of the election season in India. Be it a Union
Territory like Chandigarh or the urban constituencies of Bangalore or the hills
of West Bengal, some of the candidates declared by the political parties are generating
a lot of interest, and rightly so, because at the end of the day, whoever wins
the election at the MP (Member of Parliament)’s level will determine the
overall national picture. And the local candidate can very well swing the votes
one way or the other. This week, we bring to you a list of 3 Lok Sabha Contests
to Look Out For:
1.
Gul
Panag v/s Pawan Kumar Bansal (Chandigarh Constituency) – One is a former Miss India.
The other is a former Union Railways Minister. One is contesting on a ticket of
the newest political kid on the block, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The other on
a ticket of the Grand Old Party (INC).
Let us look at their pluses and minuses:
Gul
Panag:
Pluses: A model and an actor, she is
literally what you call a ‘fresh face’. She was born in the city and hence has
the local connect. Her age (35 years), profession and her known craze for
fitness give her the ‘youth connect’. Add to this the fact that she hasn’t been
un-opinionated on current issues.
Minuses: It is this trait of being vocal
about politics that has raised certain questions about her choice of party. In
2012, she had endorsed Narendra Modi for PM on Twitter. In her defense, she
says, "That was when there was no
AAP around. You look for no alternative and find the one-eyed in a land of the
blind (andhon me kaana raja). It is not a choice. Narendra Modi for PM was
something that came from resignation and a sense of fait-accompli.'' Apart
from this, the lack of support from the local workers of AAP (many of whom feel
she was parachuted as a candidate) could hamper her chances.
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| (image source: news.oneindia.in) |
Pawan
Kumar Bansal:
Pluses: He is the sitting MP from the
seat. In fact, he has represented the constituency four times in the Lok Sabha.
His political experience and the strong organization of the party in the area
are his only advantages.
Minuses: His image (along with his
party’s) took a hit when he had to resign as Railways Minister after an
allegation of bribery involving his nephew (the quintessential “bhanja”) surfaced. Presently, there is
no case against him as the CBI cleared him and the same has been accepted by
the court.
X-Factor:
The
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has not yet declared its candidate for this
constituency.
[Update] The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has recently declared actress Kirron Kher as its candidate for this constituency. There is widespread discontent in the local party workers regarding her nomination. If she can overcome that, she would be a formidable force.
2. Nandan Nilekani v/s Ananth Kumar (South Bangalore Constituency) – One is a successful businessman. The other, a full-time politician. South Bangalore will witness a fight to the finish between INC’s Nandan Nilekani, former Infosys technocrat and Head of the Aadhaar initiative of the Government of India (he has already resigned as UIDAI chief) and the five-time sitting MP of the BJP, Ananth Kumar.
Nandan
Nilekani:
Pluses: He may be a newbie in electoral
politics, but he has had experience in dealing with politicians as UIDAI chief.
Apart from the good work done by him and his wife in the field of philanthropy,
his clean image, along with administrative acumen (which he highlights by
mentioning the fact that he headed the effort which made it possible for 60
million people to get the Aadhaar number) and his positive campaign till now
(he has focused on public utilities, transport and employment) are his pluses.
Minuses: His choice of party might be a
stumbling block in his victory. Though he is confident of winning and cites his
ideological familiarity as the reason for choosing INC, the local connect might
be a problem. Although he is a Bangalorean, he tries hard to sound natural
while speaking in Kannada. Just today, he conceded in an interview that his
hi-tech campaign was not good enough. One still had to go and knock on people's
doors and ask for votes, he said.
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| (image source: news.oneindia.in) |
Ananth
Kumar:
Pluses: A National Secretary of the BJP,
Ananth Kumar is a five-time sitting MP from the constituency. The fact that the
INC has not won this seat since the past 25 years speaks volumes in his favour.
Minuses: In comparison to Nilekani, he
may fall short in the urban connect. Nilekani has all characteristics that
today’s youth look for: he got into an IIT on merit, co-founded an IT company
and made it successful with his skill and hard work and even contributed
towards building Bangalore’s infrastructure as part of a task force in the
past. Kumar, on the other hand, is a full time politician since a young age.
X-
Factor:
The
good news for Nilekani is that the state of Karnataka has always bucked the
trend. Whenever, the people of India choose the INC at the Centre, the people of
Karnataka choose the BJP. When INC loses at the central level, Karnataka offers
a saving grace to the INC.
3.
Baichung
Bhutia v/s S.S. Ahluwalia (Darjeeling Constituency) – This is one constituency which didn’t
have a local candidate in 2009 and it won’t have one in 2014. The people of
Darjeeling will have to choose between former Indian football team captain Baichung
Bhutia fielded by All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) and BJP’s National
Vice-President, S. S. Ahluwalia.
Baichung
Bhutia:
Pluses:
In comparison to
his rival, Baichung Bhutia can claim that he is less of an outsider as he hails
from the neighboring state of Sikkim. Add to that the fact that he is a
well-known footballer with huge fans all over the country, more so in the
eastern part of India.
Minuses: Bhutia has shifted the goal
posts by entering politics. His lack of political experience can be described
as a minus. Other than that, he does not carry any baggage that may go against
him.
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| (image source: indiatvnews.com) |
S.S.
Ahluwalia:
Pluses: He has been a Lok Sabha MP from
both Bihar and Jharkhand. He has also served as a Rajya Sabha member. In short,
he is not short of political acumen.
Minuses: He is a complete outsider. Add to
that, the fact that the BJP doesn’t have much of a presence in West Bengal.
X-
Factor:
The
local dominating political party in Darjeeling, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha
(GJM) has declared its support for the BJP candidate. Even in 2009, the GJM had
supported Jaswant Singh (BJP) and he had won. GJM demands a separate state of
Gorkhaland and BJP is in favour of creating such a state. But Mamata Banerjee’s
AITC cannot be ignored this time as they handled the statehood demand quite
strongly and the CM has given special attention to North Bengal.
Author’s
Note - That was
it for today. If the news in political circles is to be believed, then BJP might
declare Narendra Modi’s candidature from Varanasi today itself. AAP leaders
have already hinted at Arvind Kejriwal contesting against Modi from the same
constituency. Just thinking about it gives me the chills. That would be one
hell of a write-up.
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