Carnage 84

Let's Tackle Hate With Love

by H.S. PHOOLKA, Esq.

In 2009, it's difficult for young people to conceive of a time when no member of the Sikh community was safe in any corner of India's sprawling capital. But this was the terrible reality of November 1-3, 1984.
Lt. Gen. Jagjit Singh Aurora, the legendary war hero, could not sleep under his own roof on those nights; he took refuge in the home of I.K. Gujral. The eminent writer Khushwant Singh found shelter at the Swedish embassy; Justice S.S. Chadha, a sitting judge of the Delhi High Court, had to move to the high court complex.
I, only a young, budding lawyer at the time, was even more vulnerable to the mobs roaming the streets, baying for blood after Indira Gandhi's assassination. Miraculously, I escaped them on the evening of October 31, but on November 2, my house was attacked. Thanks to my Hindu landlord, who hid us in his storeroom, my pregnant wife and I were saved.
I was lucky, but nearly 4,000 of my fellow Sikhs were not. (Though the official death toll in Delhi is 2,733, in 1985 we submitted a list to the Ranganath Misra Commission, of 3,870 persons killed.) The worst affected was Delhi's east district where, according to official figures, over 1,200 Sikhs were killed on November 1 and 2.
Where was the police, you might ask. Well, the police made 26 arrests here, but, unbelievable though it may sound, those arrested were Sikhs - members of the very community being targeted and slaughtered by the mobs!
Logbook entries and evidence from the police control room later showed the police only went to places where they got information of Sikhs defending themselves. For three days, mobs killed, looted and raped openly and not one member of a mob was arrested for the first two days. The arrests began only on November 3, when the government decided to control the violence - and within hours the situation was under control.
A glaring example of the police-mob connivance was at Pusa Road in the Patel Nagar area, where a Mahavir Chakra awardee, Group Captain M.S. Talwar, fired at a mob that had set his house ablaze. The police failed to come to his rescue despite repeated calls, but after he fired at the mob, police and army arrived, led by the commissioner of police, arrested Talwar and jailed him for over two weeks.
Not a single member of the mob was held.
When I asked the SHO of the area, who appeared before the Nanavati Commission, why no one from the mob was arrested, his answer was, the police was outnumbered. How two truckloads of soldiers and policemen were outnumbered remains a mystery.
That very month, as a junior lawyer, I began pursuing cases relating to the carnage and have been pursuing them since. They are unlike any other cases I have handled, in that, for years they were simply not allowed to proceed.
Extraordinary though it sounds, a single FIR was filed for 292 murders committed at different places at different times between November 1-3, 1984. This (FIR 426/1984) was registered on November 3 for the killings in different parts of Trilokpuri, one of the worst affected areas.
Over a decade later, in 1995, thanks to an order by Justice S.N. Dhingra, who was then additional sessions judge, the chalaans were split, and this one FIR was divided into 50 different cases. Only after that did some of these cases lead to convictions. Until 1995 - that is, for all of 11 years - there had been only two convictions in the Delhi carnage cases.
In 2002, we saw a repeat of 1984 in Gujarat, but due to the Supreme Court's promptness in appointing an independent special investigation team, cases could not be covered up so blatantly.
In the case of the 1984 carnage, out of 2,733 officially admitted murders, only nine cases led to convictions. Just over 20 accused have been convicted in 25 years - a conviction rate of less than 1 per cent.
One of the basic principles of criminal jurisprudence is that punishment to the guilty should act as a deterrent for the future. Does such an abysmal rate of conviction and punishment serve to act as a deterrent or does it send out the message that one can get away with committing heinous crimes?
Think: if the guilty of 1984 had been punished, perhaps the Gujarat carnage would not have happened.
The year 1984 also completed the evolution of a certain brand of politics of violence - belonging to the ruling party led murderous mobs. It saw the beginning of a disturbing trend of political parties complicit in the mass killing of citizens winning elections with a thumping majority - Rajiv Gandhi's Congress in December 1984, the Shiv Sena in Mumbai in 1993 and Narendra Modi in Gujarat, in 2002.
It was primarily due to the active role played by the media that official connivance in the killings was highlighted in Gujarat 2002. Nothing of this sort happened in 1984. Barring exceptions, the voice of the media was subdued. But recent media responses to the 1984 riots, and equally to the situation in Gujarat after Godhra, have been encouraging.
In 2007, my book When a Tree Shook Delhi: The 1984 Carnage and its Aftermath, co-authored with senior journalist Manoj Mitta, received tremendous response - there was hardly a newspaper or magazine that did not review it favourably.
The Congress party, however, maintained a studied silence, despite all the damaging disclosures in the book. Given its own dubious record, it is no surprise that the so-called secular party could not muster the will to pass the Communal Violence Bill promised in the Common Minimum Programme of 2004. Having pushed our justice system to its limits over two-and-a-half decades, my associates and I have decided to observe the 25th anniversary of the massacre with a life-affirming gesture.
In July this year, we initiated a massive tree plantation programme across Delhi as a tribute to those killed in 1984. We plan to plant and tend 25,000 trees in Delhi through Gyan Sewa Trust, a registered charity.
The 1984 killings were meant to teach a lesson to the Sikh community. The lesson we seek to impart in turn is to respond to hate with love, death with life. We trust the trees we have planted will not only help us remember the victims of 1984 but also prevent the recurrence of such a terrible crime on any community.

[Courtesy: Outlook. H.S. Phoolka is a senior Supreme Court advocate.]
October 12, 2009

Akali Dal wins its first assembly seat in Haryana

Chandigarh: Punjab's ruling Shiromani Akali Dal Thursday scored its first electoral win in Haryana with its candidate Charanjeet Singh getting elected from the Kalanwali (reserved) assembly seat. Charanjeet Singh defeated Sushil Kumar Indora of the Congress by over 12,500 votes. This is the first electoral victory for the Akali Dal in Haryana. The Akalis had an electoral alliance with the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) in the state in this election even though its candidates fought under the Akali Dal symbol. Indora had left the August this year to join the ruling Congress. The only other Akali Dal candidate, Charanjeet Kaur, however, lost the Ambala city assembly seat to Congress candidate and former union minister Venod Sharma by over 35,500 votes. IANS

Kirpan Bill in USA

Sikhs feel let down by Arnold Schwarzenegger

S. Rajgopalan
WASHINGTON: In a major disappointment to California’s Sikh community, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has vetoed a Bill that would have made it mandatory for law enforcement officers to be educated about the ‘kirpan’.
The Bill, intended to help stem the arrests of Sikhs for carrying their article of faith, had been passed unanimously by both Houses of the state legislature and there was a general expectation that the governor will sign the measure into law.
But in a surprise move, Schwarzenegger termed the legislation “unnecessary” and vetoed it, pouring cold water on the Sikh community’s efforts to use the California Bill as a model legislation across the United States in their protracted battle over the ‘kirpan’.
Sikh organisations suspect that the final veto was the result of the law enforcement agencies’ strong desire to avoid promoting the acceptance of Sikhs with ‘kirpans’.
“We have been here in (California) for over 100 years. It’s a shame that we haven’t been able to get even a basic education bill passed,” lamented Prabhjot Singh, the Sikh Coalition Board Chairman.
Activists of the Sikh community, who have been closely following the progress of the California Bill, termed the veto a big blow.
In the enhanced security system that has been in place since 9/11, there has been a marked increase in arrests of Sikhs for carrying ‘kirpans’ with the police treating them as violation of concealed weapons laws, disregarding protestations that the arrests violate Sikhs’ religious rights.
“This loss for the Sikh community is a reminder of our serious lack of political clout in this state.
After months of hard work and 100 per cent support from our lawmakers, the Sikh voice was still not strong enough to overcome the whim of one man,” said Prabhjot Singh.
The Bill, AB 504, was introduced last February by Democrat Warren Furutani in the California Assembly in response to the Sikhs’ long-standing representations.
The Bill did not touch on the legality of the ‘kirpan’, but asked that police officers be trained about who Sikhs are and learn about the significance of the ‘kirpan’, in the hope that religious understanding would decrease arrests.
“The Governor’s response is very disappointing. It shows his lack of support for promoting religious understanding in California.
It is an utter shame that he does not understand the value of educating our law enforcement agencies on the diverse communities they are policing,” said Neha Singh, Western Region Director of the Sikh Coalition.
The Sikh Coalition, which has taken the lead in pushing the legislation, said it hopes to work with lawmaker Furutani to reintroduce the Bill in next year’s session. “I am committed to carrying this legislation again until this or any other governor signs it. I urge the Sikh community to stand with me as we continue this fight,” said Furutani.

The Art Of Firing Blanks

Jaswant Singh’s summary dismissal is a clear sign that the BJP is caught in the midst of an ideological crisis. Will the pragmatists prevail or will the party be claimed by the champions of insular Hindutva?

SWAPAN DASGUPTA,

Senior Journalist

MEMBERSHIP OF a political party”, a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party told me on phone from the venue of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s chintan baithak in Shimla last Wednesday morning, “also involves personal compromises. You must be prepared to accept curbs on your individual rights.”

The suggestion that political activism is not merely a set of entitlements but also involves genuflecting at the altar of the “party line” is known to all those who take the plunge into public life. It is to the credit of Jaswant Singh that he could persist with his individualism and free thinking and, at the same time, climb to the top rungs of the BJP leadership. To a large extent this was due to the remarkable indulgence of his angularities by three BJP stalwarts: Rajmata Vijaya Raje Scindia, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and, most important, Atal Behari Vajpayee. It was Vajpayee who persevered with him despite the misgivings of the RSS and the exasperation of middle-rung BJP leaders who could never quite fathom what he was all about. The cumulative effect was that Jaswant remained his own man, never afraid of undertaking voyages into either uncharted or potentially hazardous waters.
Since 2004, however, the party’s exasperation with his individualism had been mounting. The release of his autobiography A Call To Honour, was accompanied by huge controversies over his version of the Kandahar hijack of December 1999 and his suggestion that there was a “mole” in PV Narasimha Rao’s Cabinet. On both counts Jaswant caused a huge embarrassment to the party, something he disregarded with disdain. He added to his offence by attempting to become a faction player in Rajasthan and campaigning openly for the then Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje’s ouster. Then, following the defeat in this year’s Lok Sabha election, he took the injudicious step of teaming up with Arun Shourie and Yashwant Sinha to ask uncomfortable questions of the leadership. The points he raised weren’t entirely invalid but it prompted too many people to retaliate with the query: “When has he lifted his little finger for the party? For 29 years he has eaten the party’s cream.”
The accusation against Jaswant was that he viewed his privileged status in the BJP as an entitlement, sans obligations.
That Jaswant was undertaking a political biography of Mohammed Ali Jinnah was known since 2005. He had made that public during the row over LK Advani’s misadventure in Pakistan. At that time, he had also let it be known that he would resign his primary membership of the BJP if it failed to back Advani on the Jinnah issue. It never came to that because the Advani tangle was settled — or, more accurately, brushed under the carpet — through some face- saving compromises.
In January this year, when news of the imminent publication of Jaswant’s Jinnah: India-Partition-Independence broke, an alarmed party leadership pressed the author to delay publication till after the Lok Sabha poll. It was rightly calculated that the Congress would have a field day if the so-called “face of Kandahar” was now seen to be heaping lavish praise on the man who created Pakistan. Jaswant obliged. But never for a day did it enter his mind that the publication should be shelved for a time when he was no longer active in politics.
JASWANT’S ASTONISHING reassurance was not bravado; it was based on calculation. He was certain that the BJP faithful would take a dim view of any reappraisal of Jinnah that made him appear as just another canny politician. The demonization of Jinnah has, after all, become a part of the broad nationalist consensus, just as Jawaharlal Nehru always wanted. However, this storm, he believed, would be managed. The BJP, he believed, would dissociate from the book, perhaps drop him from the Parliamentary Board, but would then allow the storm to pass. Jaswant took solace from the belief that the BJP would not really like to resurrect the Jinnah debate because Advani too would suffer collateral damage.

In hindsight it was a colossal miscalculation. The first part of the script went perfectly when BJP stalwarts stayed away from the book release at Teen Murti and so did the second act when, first Sushma Swaraj and then Rajnath Singh dissociated the party from Jaswant’s views. But things had already started going wrong. Jaswant’s interview to Karan Thapar on CNN-IBN on Sunday night and its reports in the next morning’s newspapers fuelled anger in the BJP ranks in much the same as when Advani uttered his praise of Jinnah at the mausoleum in Lahore four years ago.
The party faithful were incensed on a number of counts: the description of Jinnah as “secular”, the suggestion that Muslims were yet to be regarded as equal citizens in India and, most important, the inclusion of Sardar Vallabbhai Patel as a man also responsible for the Partition. That Jaswant’s view of the Muslim plight in India was actually a subtle indictment of a two-nation theory which had led to an unending spiral of minorityism was too subtle for ordinary comprehension need hardly be stated. Read in isolation and without reference to the arguments in the book, it seemed very much like an endorsement of religion-based fragmentation.

Of greater consequence was the inclusion of Sardar Patel among the architects of Partition, along with Nehru and Lord Mountbatten. Since 1989, the BJP had very consciously tried to appropriate the legacy of Sardar Patel by including him in their pantheon of national heroes. At one time, Advani had cast himself as another Iron Man in the mould of Patel and after 2002 Narendra Modi had been deified as the Chhote Sardar.
To be fair, Jaswant does not deal at length in his book on the culpability of Patel. He is included as a part of the larger Congress leadership that had to finally acquiesce to Partition as a way out of spiralling sectarian riots that followed the Muslim League’s Direct Action Day in August 1946. Yet, the perception, gained from a reading of his interview with Thapar, that Jaswant had tarred Patel with the brush of ignominy proved too much for the volatile Gujarat unit of the BJP to stomach.
There was another political compulsion that Jaswant never factored: a set of seven by-elections to the Gujarat Assembly where the Patidar (the community to which Patel belonged) vote was crucial. The Congress, which had jumped gleefully into the controversy by dubbing BJP the Bharatiya Jinnah Party, was more than prepared to remind Gujaratis and the Patels in particular that a front-ranking leader of the BJP had insulted their greatest icon.
Had Jaswant confined his indictment of the Congress to a targeted criticism of Nehru — something the BJP does routinely — his worst punishment would have been the withdrawal of invitation to attend the Chintan Baithak and subsequent exclusion from all posts in the BJP. In fact, that is what was contemplated till Tuesday morning. However, by the time Rajnath Singh mustered the requisite self-confidence to communicate the order to stay away from Simla, Jaswant was already ensconced in the very agreeable Oberoi Cecil in Simla.

When the order to stay away was finally communicated at 8.30 am or so on Wednesday morning, it was a case of too little and too late. The party leadership, influenced by reports of BJP cadres burning effigies of Jaswant, demanded exemplary action. This appealed to Rajnath who had seen his own authority successfully challenged by Vasundhara Raje the week before. He too wanted a scalp, if only to establish his claim as a tough, no-nonsense leader. Throughout Wednesday, the party president’s spin doctors kept feeding a hungry media the assertion that it was Rajnath who had decided to crack the whip, emboldened by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s pronouncement that inner-party squabbling must stop immediately.
When the Parliamentary Board members met on the sidelines of the Chintan Baithak at 9 am on Wednesday, Jaswant’s goose was cooked. The decision to expel him from the party was unanimous. Even Advani endorsed it.
From a public relations perspective, the Jaswant expulsion drama was a disaster for the BJP. First, there was the obvious discourtesy involved in communicating a decision of this magnitude by telephone and, if Jaswant is to be believed, with a chuckle from Rajnath. Secondly, the BJP leadership proved utterly insensitive to the perception that Jaswant was being expelled for writing a 600-page treatise which it was common knowledge almost none of the Parliamentary Board had actually read. To the faithful, the leadership had taken the right decision, albeit belatedly, but to the Indians (including BJP voters) unfamiliar with the innards of the party, it seemed an act of intolerance.

THE LEGITIMATE outrage over a party arrogating to itself the role of a thought police has, quite rightly, fuelled speculation about greater RSS control over the BJP and the formal abandonment of all liberal pretensions. The BJP, it is being claimed, has retreated into the shell of a narrow, insular Hindutva and being an extension counter of Nagpur. It is said that it will no longer entertain the “overdose of democracy” that many leaders had in private complained of.
Are these fears real? At present, it is difficult to arrive at definite conclusions but certain factors are worth considering. For some years the BJP has been witnessing a tussle between ideology and politics. There are those who believe that the BJP exists as a Hindu party to uphold Hindu interests, even if such an approach proves electorally counterproductive. By this logic, the responsibility for organising the party should be entrusted to RSS functionaries and that lay RSS members should be encouraged to enter electoral politics in a big way and emerge as trusted mass leaders. The pragmatists who prefer the political approach feel that the 2009 election is an eye-opener. The BJP, they insist, must focus only on those issues that are aimed at winning back the middle classes and the youth — segments that have deserted the party in favour of the Congress. In short, the BJPmust embrace modernity, be in a position to re-forge meaningful alliances and relegate identity politics to the backburner. Interestingly, it is the Chief Ministers who favour such an approach.
An interesting feature of this debate is that the adherents of one position are not necessarily always on the same side. Unfortunately for the BJP, a decision on political positioning has been derailed by unresolved leadership questions. Who will be the party president in January? Will Rajnath Singh manage to amend the party constitution and a procure third term for himself? Is Advani really going to play out his full term as Leader of Opposition? Will the RSS chief’s desire for a younger leadership be translated into reality?
The answers to these questions are relevant because the redefined priorities of the BJPmust match with the image and personality of those who are entrusted with the leadership. Tragically, the BJP has no institutionalised democratic mechanism to choose a leader who is most acceptable to both its ordinary karyakartas and, more important, ordinary non-attached voters. Traditionally, the party has left complex leadership questions to be settled by a small cabal that works closely with the RSS. The RSS would prefer if Advani drew up his own succession plans, but Advani has shown no inclination to redefine himself as an elder statesman. Does Bhagwat’s clear preference for a younger leader mean that Advani will now be forced into revealing his hand? More important, does Advani still have the authority to not merely nominate his successor but ensuring he or she actually secures the post.
Alternatively, the BJP may decide that it will not rush things and wait for its next prime ministerial face to emerge at a time nearer the election. As of today, the real BJP leadership is in the states. Yet, it is the Centre that pretends it wields authority.
The chintan baithak may well help clear confusion in the minds of the top leadership and help forge something akin to a consensus. But that is assuming the participants speak their minds frankly and fearlessly. The kerfluffle over Jaswant and the abstruse non-debate over Jinnah may have defined politics in the age of swine flu – when voices are muffled by the most visible symbol of self-preservation, the ubiquitous mouth gag.
From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 6, Issue 34, Dated August 29, 2009

World watch's Indian Election

The Verdict : India votes for

stability, the world salutes

The world’s largest democracy has just concluded a free, fair and peaceful election, and the world is applauding.

International newspapers praised the complex process of conducting the elections and noted that Indians had rejected Right and Left parties and voted for middle path politics. “The governing coalition led by the Indian National Congress sailed to a surprisingly decisive victory in India’s grueling parliamentary elections, vaulting Manmohan Singh, a soft-spoken economic reformer, to a second term as Prime Minister, and sweeping away the prospect of political instability in the world’s most populous democracy,” said the New York Times on May 16.
The Times, London, said the election results would help in consensus and unity. “That means the ruling coalition should face fewer internal divisions over reforms desperately needed to stimulate growth and spread its benefits to the 880 million Indians who live on less than 2 dollars a day," it said.
“Congress wins election, Singh to remain PM: India votes for hope; rejects religion, caste”, said the headline of Daily Times, the Pakistani newspaper, on May 17.

Has this election result boosted India's image abroad? CNN-IBN’s Sagarika Ghose asked this to Fareed Zakaria, editor of Newsweek International, and Shashi Tharoor, Congress MP and former UN undersecretary general.
“This is a very, very significant moment for India,” said Zakaria. “China’s coming-out party was the Beijing Olympics. India’s coming-out party as a great power may well turn out to be these elections.”
India had till now been “hamstrung” from playing its appropriate role on the world stage because its government had never been able to mobilise national power.
“There always has been a sense that India is divided, decentralized, defused between castes and regions, classes and parties. For the first time in many years you have sense of a government that has a national coalition behind it that is purposeful,” said Zakaria. “If that happens I think you will see a very different reception India will get on world stage.”

India, America, and the world
The Western media has commented that the clear verdict would allow Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to push for economic reforms. Will Singh’s test be his ability to implement reforms?
“The government has demonstrated the capacity to reconcile policies that encourage growth with policies that are attentive to the need of the dispossessed and marginalised,” said Tharoor. “We should not do anything for anybody’s approval. We do what is right for us.”
US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh are the two “most erudite” chief executives in the world, said Zakaria. “The key issue is does have the energy to play a responsible world role--without being hobbled by fears of being seen as pro-American or being seen as part of the capitalist world.”
The election result gives Singh the opportunity he always sought in foreign policy. “This allows him to move forward, and I think the Obama people will be very willing partners,” said Zakaria.
Tharoor believed the new government, with a clear mandate in its favour, had the opportunity to pursue a foreign policy guided by India’s interests and not dogma.
“If a Indo-US nuclear deal achieves national goals you don’t worry if that makes you look non-aligned. You are being empirical--you are looking at what the world offers you; what is needed by your people and then you proceed,” he said.


What next for BJP
The BJP has gone into a shell after its electoral defeat but it is the country’s main Opposition party. What does it need to revive itself?
“In almost all parts of the world where you have democracy there is a backlash against globalization and against modernization that takes the form of nationalism or some form of Hindutva,” said Zakaria.
Zakaria believed Hindutva-like ideologies had no answers for the modern world. “The BJP has got to recognise that it can no longer prey on people’s fears or scratch their hatreds or incite them. They have to answers to the modern world.
“Unless they can embrace the agenda of modernity rather than the agenda of resentment I think they are going to have a tough time. They say their ideology is not for sale or change, but I think they are not going to walk alone.”
The BJP calls secularism “pseudo-secularism, tokenism and minority appeasement.” What will the Manmohan Singh government be doing to prove that its secularism is genuine?
“Opportunities must be extended to all (minorities) because it is not in the interest of India for any segment of the population to feel that somehow their opportunities are less because of a fact of birth,” said Tharoor.
Zakaria’s final comment: “I think Manmohan Singh is the most intelligent decent, incorruptible Prime Minister India has had since Nehru. He should do what is in his heart and in his mind.
“He knows what India needs. Just go for it, don’t worry about the short-term political costs. This is your moment; this is the chance to take India to a whole different stage. Don’t hesitate now because you probably won’t get this opportunity again.”

SMS poll on ‘has this election result boosted India's image abroad?’
Yes : 96 per cent, No : 4 per cent.

THE NATIONAL PICTURE

Congress-led UPA has been projected to have an edge over NDA
The curtains came down on the staggered Lok Sabha elections on Wednesday with millions of Indians voting peacefully in the fifth and last round covering 86 constituencies, and the first exit polls putting the Congress-led coalition on top of a fractured verdict.
Even as both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claimed they would finish as the number one, an India TV exit poll telecast after balloting ended said the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) could end up with 195-201 seats in the 545-member Lok Sabha.
This tally could go up to 227-237 if the seats bagged by estranged allies such as Rashtriya Janata Dal and Samajwadi Party were to be included. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was tipped to bag 189-195 seats and the Third Front 113-121 seats, it said.
But political leaders and analysts kept their fingers tightly crossed, with the expected cliffhanger verdict forcing both the Congress and BJP -- the two main contenders for power -- desperately scouting for new allies. As the voting progressed, some parties switched loyalties, making it one of the most difficult electoral battles to predict.
"It seems to be a very complex political situation. It is the complexity that makes it difficult to make any predictions," Kerala-based political analyst NP Chekutty told IANS, reflecting an opinion widely held in the world's largest democracy.
Election officials estimated that some 55 per cent of the 714 million electorate - which is more than the combined population of Russia and the US - had voted over five phases starting April 16. The result will be known on Saturday.
Wednesday's polling was overwhelmingly peaceful but for the murder of a political worker in Tamil Nadu and clashes in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, two key states whose outcome will have a bearing on government formation in New Delhi.
The exercise involved all 39 seats of Tamil Nadu, all four seats of Himachal Pradesh and all five seats of Uttarakhand besides two in Jammu and Kashmir, nine in Punjab, 11 in West Bengal and 14 in Uttar Pradesh besides one each in Chandigarh and Pondicherry.
The most notable of the 1,432 candidates included Home Minister P Chidambaram of the Congress (Sivaganga, Tamil Nadu) and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee (South Kolkata). Fearing uncertain times, Indian markets turned edgy on Wednesday, with a key index losing 138 points from its last closing figure at end of trade. The 30-scrip sensitive index of the Bombay Stock Exchange opened at 12,201.93 points and fell 138.38 points or 1.14 per cent from Tuesday's close.
"I'm fully confident that a BJP-led government will be formed at the centre. We will get new partners (after the polls)," BJP president Rajnath Singh said confidently. Within hours, Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh asserted that his party would occupy the number one slot.
Not to be left behind, the Third Front - made up of the Communists and regional parties - announced they would meet in New Delhi Monday to decide the future course of action. The meeting would be attended by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which is widely expected to win around 40 seats, said Prakash Karat, general secretary of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and a key mover behind the Third Front.
With neither the UPA nor NDA expected to cross the magic figure of 272 in the Lok Sabha, the Congress and BJP tried to outsmart one another in order to woo leaders of smaller and regional parties.
AIADMK chief and former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalitha, a key Third Front partner, said in Chennai: "There are feelers from many places. I am not responding to them now. Everything depends on the results. If the results are as expected, then I will go to Delhi."
Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who in 2004 pulled off a coup by most unexpectedly worsting the BJP-led alliance in general elections, Wednesday telephoned estranged ally Ram Vilas Paswan after a fire in his house which adjoins her own in the heart of New Delhi.

It’s Badals vs. Patiala royals in Punjab

Four constituencies in the State go to polls in the first phase

V for victory: Shiromani Akali Dal leader and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal with his son and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and daughter-in-law Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who is contesting from the Bhatinda parliamentary constituency, at a public meeting in the constituency on Tuesday.

K. V. Prasad

SANGRUR: Punjab is getting ready to go to the polls in the first phase on Thursday and the battle opener in the four constituencies of Patiala, Bhatinda, Sangrur and Ferozepur can set the pace for the main political rivals – the Shiromani Akali Dal and the Congress party.
While the Akali leader and Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal may claim that the contest is between parties, the buzz among party workers is that this election is a direct duel between the two big political families of the State -- the Badals and the Patiala royals represented by former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh; his wife and Congress MP from Patiala Parneet Kaur who is now seeking a third term in the Lok Sabha; and their son Raninder Singh, a candidate from Bhatinda.
Deputy Chief Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal, who has taken over command of the campaign, has made the contest a matter of prestige by fielding his wife Harsimrat Kaur Badal in Bhatinda, considered an Akali stronghold. She also hails from another prominent Majitha family with her brother Bikaramjit Singh serving as a powerful Minister in the Badal Government.
On the other hand, Raninder Singh has been nursing the constituency for the past few years and is credited to be the architect behind the Congress winning the maximum seats in the Malwa region when it faced a rout in Majha and Doaba, the other two regions of Punjab, in the 2007 State Assembly polls. The stakes are high for both sides.
Yet one factor, the call by the influential Dera Sacha Sauda sect to vote for the Congress two years ago enabling the party to buck the anti-incumbency trend against the Amarinder Singh Government, is missing. Having faced turbulence and criminal cases against its chief, the Dera has preferred to advise its followers spread across Punjab and Haryana to vote according to local “consensus”.
Elsewhere the Congress has fielded former MP and strongman Jagmeet Singh Brar from Ferozepur while in Sangrur, former State Youth Congress chief Vijay Inder Singla is engaged in a tight contest with sitting MP and former Union Minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa.
Mr. Singla may be a rookie in poll politics but being the son of former State Minister and former MP Sant Ram Singla he has the blessings of the Patiala palace.
Adding to it is the talk that he is among the four youth candidates handpicked by Rahul Gandhi in the State where he initiated the process of internal democracy in the State Youth Congress to elect its leaders.