Statewide and National runup to 2014 General elections

merlin · Post by **merlin** » 15 Apr 2014 17:45

muraliravi wrote:
merlin wrote:Congress will get seats from Kerala, Karnataka and MH (double digits), Assam, HP, J&K, UP, Telangana, Odisha, maybe WB and NE. I don't see them below 50.
Cong will not get below 100, save this post. I see 105 seats for them easily

Can you say from where? A state wise break-up?

Vikas · Post by **Vikas** » 15 Apr 2014 17:46

NIlkeni will find it very hard to win. The spread of Cong stench is so far and wide that nothing, not even crores of NN will be able to save him. Yes this will be a close fight but AK will win.
I have had conversations with folks on the ground and no one seems to be voting for congress,

Like stock market, everyone wantrs to latch onto the rising star NaMo.

Vikas · Post by **Vikas** » 15 Apr 2014 17:47

Chandragupta wrote:The way Ms & their agents are consolidating & trying to keep the M vote in one single bloc, any Hindu who doesn't vote for Modi is an ostrich with his head completely under the sand. If Ms win this battle, Islamists would have won the war for India. In a decade, the same Hindus who have a problem with 'communal' BJP/RSS will be fighting for the honor of their women on the streets. The defeat of Modi will effectively mean no pro-Hindu leader can ever sit on Dilli throne & the next ask from Islamists would be Sharia, in a decade or two once they out breed us further.

+100

Chandragupta, These words should be the first ones that everyone of should see every morning for next 20 Years.

Yogi_G · Post by **Yogi_G** » 15 Apr 2014 18:06

When you hear Kashmiri Pandits and Kerala Hindus talking secularism you wonder what more will it take to knock sense into such persons? Thapar and Tharoor are examples.

Shanmukh · Post by **Shanmukh** » 15 Apr 2014 18:09

Yogi_G wrote:When you hear Kashmiri Pandits and Kerala Hindus talking secularism you wonder what more will it take to knock sense into such persons? Thapar and Tharoor are examples.

The only Cashmeree and Keralite Yindoos who are talking secularism are those that don't have to live in Cashmere or Kerala, saar. It is the profound wisdom of the unaffected.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 15 Apr 2014 18:38

Does the satta market deal with bets on Nilekani? Or is that too granular?

munna · Post by **munna** » 15 Apr 2014 18:42

ramana wrote:Does the satta market deal with bets on Nilekani? Or is that too granular?

Yes it does and the rates would freeze about 24-36 hours before polling. Not much interest in the seat in the Naarth. On a serious note beepul this has become a game of "ensure turnout and ensure modi the PM". Whatever happens turnout should not be allowed to flag.

Hari Seldon · Post by **Hari Seldon** » 15 Apr 2014 18:48

Anant Kr should ask why Nilekani is campaigning sans the pictures of his party leaders a.k.a. high command - pappu and chonia? Shouldn't national elections have a national perspective and a referendum on the national leadership too?

That alone should put him on the defensive.

RajeshA · Post by **RajeshA** » 15 Apr 2014 18:53

Avinash Rav wrote:
merlin wrote: One result I am absolutely hoping for is Bangalore South for BJP. While I am no great fan of Anant Kumar, there is no greater corrupt, shameless, patronising, anti-Kannada scumbag than Nandan Nilekani.
I was talking to my parents in Bangalore yesterday and they are planning to vote for Nandan Nilekani. I tried to convince my parents about the secular appeasement traits of Nelekani and instead vote for BJP (indirectly Modi). My father is asking for proof.

Can anyone please post links/photos which prove the appeasement politics of Nilekani ? Any info which puts Nilekani in bad light will do.

I would speak about

1) Nandan Nilekani talking about reservations in private companies for Dalits and Muslims, now that there are elections, even though there was no such thing in Infosys when he was CEO.
2) Tons of Bangladeshi illegal immigrants being given Aadhaar Cards and thus being regularized as Indian citizens and voters.
3) Nandan Nilekani hiring a CIA-funded Big Data company MongoDB to do processing of Aadhaar data, thus transferring all the biometric and personal data of Indians to USA, which is treason and instead of voting for him, he should rather be hanged for it.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 15 Apr 2014 18:55

And paying them (MongoDB) while giving data for free. No hacking needed!!!!

vivek.rao · Post by **vivek.rao** » 15 Apr 2014 19:43

http://www.moneylife.in/article/aadhaar ... 35517.html
Aadhaar and transparency are two distinct things. Right Mr Nilekani?

Nandan Nilekani-led UIDAI has always ducked questions asked through RTI Act citing non-disclosure agreements. The recent information about missing papers of contract value for a French company, however raises serious questions on Aadhaar scheme

Aadhaar or the unique identification (UID) number scheme if often touted as something that will bring transparency in the lives of crores of Indians and reduce corruption. However, when it comes to the same transparency at Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the de-facto tagging institution, even applications filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act receive opaque answers. The latest answer from UIDAI about 'missing papers of contract value for Sagem Morpho Security Pvt Ltd (a French company)', however raises serious questions upon the intentions of the authority.

An RTI application filed by Qaneez-e-Fatemah Sukhrani, an urban affairs researcher, sought a copy of memorandum of understanding (MoU)/ contract executed between UIDAI and/or Planning Commission with L1 Identity Solutions Operating Co, currently a subsidiary of French conglomerate Safran Group, Sagem Morpho Security Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of Safran Group, Ernst & Young, a US company, Accenture Services Pvt Ltd, a US company and ID Solutions company and the tender cost. At the time of award of contract to L1 Identity Solutions Operating Co was a US company.

A reply dated 25 October 2013 from Shirish Kumar, assistant director general and chief public information officer (CPIO) of UIDAI reveals that the value of contract for L1 was Rs33.87 crore and for Ernst & Young it was Rs7.05 crore. With regard to Sagem Morpho Security Pvt Ltd, it states that the “effort is on find the data” about the value of contract awarded. This reply in the matter of Sagem Morpho Security Pvt Ltd is quite intriguing. Notably, L1 has undergone metamorphosis and become part of Safran Group along with Morpho Security Pvt Ltd.

According to a report from Economic Times, the UIDAI is partnering with MongoDB, (formerly called 10gen), a technology company from US which is co-funded by Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). This contract has not been disclosed so far. MongoDB will take data from UIDAI to undertake its analysis. UIDAI is tight-lipped about CIA's role in it. This company's database software is already being used to verify the speed of registration. It is yet to become clear whether this company will be in a vendor relationship directly, or it will operate through some pre-existing entity which is already working with UIDAI as system integrator, said Gopal Krishna, a member of Citizens Forum for Civil Liberties (CFCL), which is campaigning against surveillance technologies since 2010.

In the past, the Nandan Nilekani-led UIDAI had used excuse like, ‘non-disclosure agreements' for denying information in a number of RTI applications. However, no data available for contract value is something that is really shocking.

In response to a RTI query seeking copies of the UIDAI's contracts with four private companies—two foreign and two Indian—the authority claimed that these could not be furnished since they have signed non-disclosure agreements with them. The UIDAI is set up and functioning without the sanction of law. It enters into contracts with private companies, including foreign ones, pays them out of the exchequer and refuses to furnish copies of the contracts. Are not these contracts illegal? How could the UIDAI sign contracts on behalf of Planning Commission? Assuming, but not admitting that the UIDAI is empowered to enter into the contracts, are not the non-disclosure agreements illegal? How could any office of the government pay taxpayers’ money to private companies and not disclose the contracts (purpose for which the money is paid) to taxpayers?

The UIDAI has been informed that one of the foreign companies has links with intelligence agencies from a foreign country. This information failed to obtain any reaction from the UIDAI. The response to an RTI application seeking information on foreign company contractors was even more inexplicable. The UIDAI stated that it did not know the country of origin of these contractors and is not concerned about such facts. It added that as long as the bidding contractors had an office in India or an Indian partner and had sent a RFP, the Authority would not bother with origins. That is saying a lot about the kind of due diligence UIDAI has done in choosing contractors for “India’s prestigious world’s largest database project” of the country’s biometric and demographic information.

In answer to another RTI query to furnish copies of contracts pertaining to three empanelled Enrolling Agencies (EAs), the UIDAI did not furnish the copies of applications submitted by these companies and minutes of decision to empanel them. Instead, the UIDAI replied stating that the companies “were empanelled as EAs during the year 2010-11 on the basis of eligibility conditions provided in RFE-2010 and subject to satisfying other terms and conditions.”

Such obfuscation is characteristic of the UIDAI’s ‘transparency’. One of the three companies is a tea estate company. How does a tea estate company satisfy ‘eligibility conditions’ for empanelment, as EA is mysterious, until one reads the RFE. The RFE states, “All organizations (single agency/consortium) interested in undertaking enrolment activities for the UIDAI project shall be empanelled under Level T1, provided they meet the general eligibility criteria”. It is a free for all; anyone and everyone can join the melee of the enrolment process to capture biometric and demographic data of the people of this country.

According to Mathew Thomas, a former defence services officer and missile scientist turned civic activist, press and media have reported several instances of fraud and crimes by EAs. "FIRs have been filed. Nothing is known about what happened to these cases. Police and media are equally silent on this, and strangely so. One would have thought that the stories on them would make juicy media stories. The UIDAI too, is not forthcoming on details of these cases. An RTI query elicited a vague response from the UIDAI, almost disowning responsibility for what the EAs do. The Authority claimed that this is the responsibility of registrars, "he said.

Several activists and prominent personalities had already cautioned that the Indian government is allegedly using Aadhaar and its issuer UIDAI to counter the RTI Act. Experts opine that an information revolution in the form of RTI now has a counter revolution in the avataar of UID. The attempt to use Aadhaar to provide government subsidies by a more transparent network is allegedly just a cover up.

RajeshA · Post by **RajeshA** » 15 Apr 2014 19:44

ramana wrote:And paying them (MongoDB) while giving data for free. No hacking needed!!!!

He personally must have received payment as well as contracts for Infosys in USA.

muraliravi · Post by **muraliravi** » 15 Apr 2014 19:46

merlin wrote:Congress will get seats from Kerala, Karnataka and MH (double digits), Assam, HP, J&K, UP, Telangana, Odisha, maybe WB and NE. I don't see them below 50.

muraliravi wrote:Cong will not get below 100, save this post. I see 105 seats for them easily

merlin wrote:
Can you say from where? A state wise break-up?

JK-1,
HP-2 (They will win Mandi and most likely pull off kangra),
PB-6 (Easily 6 in punjab if not more, NDA is in for a big shock there, BJP may just win 1 and SAD max 5),
Haryana -2,
Delhi -1,
UP - 5,
Bihar -1,
Assam - 8,
Other NE - 3,
WB - 5 (few border seats with high mullah pop like malda etc.. keep going to cong, overall their vote share in the state is low, but will win few seats)

Orissa - 5 ( I dont believe in all this gung ho predictions of BJP doing well in Orissa, it is like all 5 years did nothing, 2 Namo rallies, BJP tsunami in Orissa all of a sudden, if anything BJP will cut BJD votes to help cong win),

AP/TG - 7,

Kerala - 13 (they will win big due to hindu vote split between BJP/Left),

KA - 16 (BJP will be lucky to win 11, they will mostly lose all seats in the bangalore area barring maybe one seat, JDS will win only 1 seat),

Goa - 1 (South Goa will go to congress despite all attempts),

Union Territories (Lakshadweep and Chandigarh, Pawan Bansal will win, I am willing to bet on that, Gul Panag will cut BJP votes heavily and Pawan is a very very experienced politician, kiron kher does not have the mettle to pull that seat from him) - 2,

Maharashtra - 11 (plenty of people with knowledge on MH politics on this very forum will agree with this number, NCP may get 9 and NDA will end up around 28, exactly what CSDS is predicting),

GJ - 3 (Considering that even 23/26 for BJP beats all their previous best performances in the state, 3 is optimistically low for cong, they can get even 5 seats. Despite all Namo Namo, cong has consistent 35-40% vote in the state which is far from the decimation that he likes to show off all the time),

MP - 4 (Kamal Nath, Scindia, Bhuria and Rajgarh Seat),

Rajasthan - 5 (sikar, jhunjhunu and alwar are sure gone, jaipur rural and barmer are close),

Chhattisgarh - 3 (See csds to see how close the vote share is between the 2 parties)

Thats 104 for congress at the bare minimum. I dont understand where all these sub 50, sub 70 numbers for cong are coming from. Guys, whether we like it or not, cong has presence across India and India has 28 states and 7 UT's. Congress can any day manage at least 2-3 seats from most of those 28 states (except in some odd cases and in states which have very little seats on offer). On top of this, they will do very well in KA, Kerala, Assam and do decent in TG and MH. And you think they wont cross 100. The 104 I have put above is their bare minimum. They can easily push it to 120 if BJP is unable to mobilize its voters effectively on voting day. So please dont cry EVM EVM on May 16 if you see cong at 125 seats. Be realistic.

rgsrini · Post by **rgsrini** » 15 Apr 2014 19:47

^^We should call it MangoDB as it is a data base of all the Mango indians...

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 15 Apr 2014 19:52

Pawan Durani ‏@PawanDurani 7m

Remember : #Delhi it is 7/7 for @BJP4India and in UP the projection is around 62 seats for BJP . You also vote and increase the chances

Sneha Mordani ‏@snehamordani 3h

Reporting from Rae Bareili, Amethi,tough to believe these r constituencies of d most powerful parliamentarians in d world #poordevelopment

Media has all the time in the world to talk about Gujarat but none to see the sheer backwardness of Rae Bareili and Amethi despite being represented by the Gandhis.

gandharva · Post by **gandharva** » 15 Apr 2014 20:00

Sushma cancels poll rally in MP after no worker comes to receive her

http://www.hindustantimes.com/elections ... 08416.aspx

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 15 Apr 2014 20:04

ABP News ‏@abpnewstv 1h

Mulayam Singh Yadav most able for PM post: Akhilesh http://www.abplive.in/india/2014/04/15/ ... t-Akhilesh …

Subramanian Swamy ‏@Swamy39 1h

I have filed a complaint today with the EC on the perjury in Budhu's sworn affidavit in his LS form from Amethi,falsely claiming to be MPhil

vivek.rao · Post by **vivek.rao** » 15 Apr 2014 20:05

http://truthdive.com/2014/03/24/nandan- ... money.html

New Delhi, Mar 24 (TruthDive): Aadhar, the brainchild of Nandan Nilekani and said to be the game changer for UPA is now sold to non-Indians for Rs 600.

Meanwhile, SC has told the Centre in very clear terms that Aadhar should not be made mandatory to avail any Government services. In fact, Aadhar which cost tax payer Rs 11,000 crore has been relegated to the dustbin. Aadhar Card is termed as unique identification number for an Indian citizen giving identification and access to government benefits.

Now, a Cobrapost sting shows that even an illegal immigrant can get an Aadhaar Card without any proof of identity. They get a numbered identity. Cobrapost reporter posing as an agent of a Bangladeshi immigrant applicant, approached a dozen Aadhaar offices. Enrolment officers say it is no problem to get it even without a proof of address.

The negotiations turned out to be successful after the fees quoted by the officers were accepted. Aadhaar officers wanted a photograph and address for making an affidavit, which will be countersigned by the local MLA or a gazetted officer for making it valid. Fees varied from Rs 2500 to Rs 5000.

Mathew Thomas, through RTI found that UIDAI has not checked the background of the companies that have been given the job to collect biometric data. He alleges that the companies are owned by ex-CIA and FBI officials. Thomas said the US company gave an award to Nandan Nilekani and has bagged a similar order in Pakistan.

Technically collecting biometrics from 1 billion people is bound to have glitches. People’s privacy has been invaded and with no law that protects citizen privacy, Aadhar has left those who took the exercise at the mercy of the operators.

gandharva · Post by **gandharva** » 15 Apr 2014 20:08

Ambar · Post by **Ambar** » 15 Apr 2014 20:14

muraliravi wrote:Cong will not get below 100, save this post. I see 105 seats for them easily

Thats 104 for congress at the bare minimum. I dont understand where all these sub 50, sub 70 numbers for cong are coming from. Guys, whether we like it or not, cong has presence across India and India has 28 states and 7 UT's. Congress can any day manage at least 2-3 seats from most of those 28 states (except in some odd cases and in states which have very little seats on offer). On top of this, they will do very well in KA, Kerala, Assam and do decent in TG and MH. And you think they wont cross 100. The 104 I have put above is their bare minimum. They can easily push it to 120 if BJP is unable to mobilize its voters effectively on voting day. So please dont cry EVM EVM on May 16 if you see cong at 125 seats. Be realistic.

That is a very apt prediction. Folks easily forget how deeply trenched Congress is especially in rural and semi-urban areas. There is the vote share factor too. In places where BJP has weak candidates, even pro-BJP people will vote for other parties rather than waste their votes on someone who has little chance of winning. This is especially true in fence sitting states like Karnataka. Speaking of KAR, i would be very surprised if BJP manages 12 seats. The ground level predictions are anywhere from 7-8 seats. The incompetence and infighting of the Karnataka BJP is something people will remember for a long time to come.

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 15 Apr 2014 20:16

Yashwant Deshmukh ‏@cvoter 1h

If the turnout drops in coming phases of elections; we can see the 2004 repeated. If turnout goes up; we can see new history being made.

New Indian Express ‏@NewIndianXpress 7m

Will Review Indo-China Border Defence Agreement if Elected: BJP - http://tnie.in/1ilYPos #loksabha2014

Sanku · Post by **Sanku** » 15 Apr 2014 20:19

gandharva wrote:..

Shanmukh · Post by **Shanmukh** » 15 Apr 2014 20:19

MuraliRavi-ji,
My own estimates put the Cong at ~100 (a few variations in some states compared to your figures, but I agree with the general estimate)

Rajasthan - 5 (sikar, jhunjhunu and alwar are sure gone, jaipur rural and barmer are close),

I can easily see Sikar and Jhunjhunu going to Cong, but what happened in Alwar that BJP is losing it? I agree that Jaipur Rural and Barmer are close. Jaswant's political career should be irrevocably finished if he ends up giving that seat to the Congress.

harbans · Post by **harbans** » 15 Apr 2014 20:20

I received a very well written and interesting write up appealing citizens to think and vote. This piece was sent to me by a Retd Prof from IIT Kgp to add to my blog. Please do RT so some may think on these lines and vote for the right change:

http://vicharprachar.wordpress.com/2014 ... le-voting/

RamaY · Post by **RamaY** » 15 Apr 2014 20:30

^ Nice writeup. Resonates with my essay.

RamaY · Post by **RamaY** » 15 Apr 2014 20:31

Thats a good list MRji.. looks like i have to adjust my GJP numbers

next round.

muraliravi · Post by **muraliravi** » 15 Apr 2014 20:33

nageshks wrote:MuraliRavi-ji,
My own estimates put the Cong at ~100 (a few variations in some states compared to your figures, but I agree with the general estimate)

Rajasthan - 5 (sikar, jhunjhunu and alwar are sure gone, jaipur rural and barmer are close),
I can easily see Sikar and Jhunjhunu going to Cong, but what happened in Alwar that BJP is losing it? I agree that Jaipur Rural and Barmer are close. Jaswant's political career should be irrevocably finished if he ends up giving that seat to the Congress.

Alwar was apparently one of the seats where Baba Ramdev forced his choice and the state BJP unit buckled. There is news that he will lose, but again there are counter reports also. Overall Modi did his best to give maharani 83% of the seats in the assembly polls and she Maharani as usual with her ego is pulling them down to 20 from a clean sweep. But who knows they may pull of alwar. I mean her intention is in the right place, she is not trying to sabotage or anything like that, just that she has her own ego.

muraliravi · Post by **muraliravi** » 15 Apr 2014 20:38

Thats what I think will happen on May 16. NDA will need 34 seats and I have shown where they can get 35 seats from. Those 35 (yes including NCP) will give Namo least trouble in running govt. Stay away from Jaya as far as you can. Dont align with BJD, instead grow BJP in orissa. People may not like DMK, but they are a reliable party to run a govt.

One caveat, I have assumed 36 seats for BJP in UP and 18 in Bihar. If that tally goes up to 75, then all bets are off. But even that should not change congress numbers much because Cong is anyway marginal player in UP and Bihar.

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 15 Apr 2014 20:44

MediaCrooks ‏@mediacrooks 1h

#DelhiGossip ... Talks doing the rounds is.. NDA may end up with 330 seats... @Timesnow @ndtv @ibnlive @headlinestoday ..

Samarjeet ‏@shadesandgray 27m

Kumar Ketkar cried that he is troubled by the number of online Indian junta reprimanding his views, Well done Twitteratti @mediacrooks

jamwal · Post by **jamwal** » 15 Apr 2014 20:46

Very well written Chandragupta saar. I took the liberty of sharing it with people in my circles.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 15 Apr 2014 20:47

So we are headed for instablity and pulling down govt situation if MuraliRavi's prediction comes true.

If acknowldging the superiority of Dharma was self-evident there is no need for all the avataras.

Manish_Sharma · Post by **Manish_Sharma** » 15 Apr 2014 20:49

prahaar wrote:
svenkat wrote:If we accept the need for a decent national English channel,NDTV can be used for that.
Can the CNN-IBN be a better candidate? Network 18 holds that channel, RS SG are just mulazims unlike NDTV. This will curtail the beach-head CNN has acquired in Indian news business.

CNN is owned by 'Southern Baptist Church' US. It can never be controlled.

disha · Post by **disha** » 15 Apr 2014 20:56

Avinash Rav wrote:
AbhiJ wrote: Do some psy-ops.

http://www.niticentral.com/2014/03/14/w ... 99930.html
Thanks a lot. This link will do the job. Hopefully !

Do the above, but be relentless. Attack them from all sides.

Make your parents uncomfortable. Talk to them about crimes committed during Emergency. Talk to them about crimes committed during 84 Sikh pogrom. Talk to them about the economy and how it has collapsed and how *you* will be jobless and how *you* will ask for money from them - maybe they need to part their retirement money and also their medical bills will go up.

At the end of the day, instead of marketing your choice - put them on the defensive. Basically tell them that they are being silly and ignorant and put the ball in their court on why they are making such an ignorant choice! Let them sell their choice to you.

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 15 Apr 2014 20:59

Hindustan Times ‏@htTweets 1h

Jaswant supports #BJP rebel in Sikar constituency http://read.ht/dkT

disha · Post by **disha** » 15 Apr 2014 20:59

gandharva wrote:

Big Deal. He is attending a prayer and is following the dress code at the place of worship.

The secularitis suffering left-liberals have made an issue out of the dress-code so much so that even wearing a topi or not has become a big debate! What a shame when the "liberals" themselves have become dress-code-nazis and fascists.

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 15 Apr 2014 21:00

tell them how people now are finding hard to even pay school fees, parents of 2 have to spend 50,000 for school fees alone this apr-may, this for a avg eng medium school

vivek.rao · Post by **vivek.rao** » 15 Apr 2014 21:06

Tell them how SONIA tried to give away Siachen Glacier and he represents, supports that DIEnasty which tried to give away Siachen to protect US interests in Afghanistan.

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 15 Apr 2014 21:14

Kiran Bedi ‏@thekiranbedi 3m

Said on @NidhiRazdanNDTV, @narendramodi led BJP/NDA is coming for long haul, not just one tenure! Today no non-performing Govt can survive

vivek.rao · Post by **vivek.rao** » 15 Apr 2014 21:17

How NDA’s Dalit coup can hurt UPA in Maharashtra

Maharashtra’s new social engineering, which has had the BJP-Shiv Sena tying up with the RPI, is less about how many seats the latter can win than about how many its support base can swing. Indeed, the RPI has fielded only one candidate, Ashok Gaikwad in Satara in western Maharashtra, and is by no means certain about getting him elected either.

Notwithstanding the several factions among Dalit communities, the RPI has enough support to be potentially able to determine the outcome for up to 18 of the state’s 48 Lok Sabha seats. And if it does that, most of these will be at the cost of the Congress, with which the loyalties of most Dalit parties have been a tradition of six decades. In the outgoing Lok Sabha, the Congress-NCP holds 12 of these 18 seats.

“New-generation Dalits no longer want to remain trapped in ideological debates, which were the most convenient tool that the Congress and the NCP used to exploit to corner the Dalit voters for their own interests,” says Dalit writer Arjun Dangle. “Until the late 1990s, Dalits were caught in this secular-versus-communal debate. But the BJP-Shiv Sena is no longer perceived as untouchable.”

Dalits constitute 10.5 per cent of Maharashtra’s population, but in these 18 constituencies — all eight in Marathwada, all six in Mumbai, and two each in western Maharashtra and Vidarbha —they account for an average of 16 per cent of the vote, Dangle says. A couple of constituencies in northern Maharashtra too have pockets of sizeable Dalit influence.

The Congress-NCP stands to lose the most in Mumbai, where it holds all six seats. In the other three regions, it has half the 12 seats that are marked by an RPI influence — three of the eight in Marathwada, both in Vidarbha (Nagpur and Bhandara-Gondia) and one of the two in the west (Pune, the other being Shirdi that is held by the Shiv Sena).

The RPI’s Ramdas Athavale has a large following among Buddhist Dalits (six per cent). Various splinter groups led by R S Gavai, Prakash Ambedkar, Jogendra Kawade and Vijay Kamble command smaller groups to varying degrees.

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 15 Apr 2014 21:18

Kiran Bedi ‏@thekiranbedi 1h

Letter writers from so called intellectuals expressing scare of Modi r like letters to editor! They are not representing people as a whole!

Madhu Kishwar ‏@madhukishwar 14m

@thekiranbedi People celebrate Modi, "intellectuals" dread him. Shows how totally cut off they're from aspirations of India's people!

Dr. Praveen Patil ‏@5Forty3 22m

Pratap Simha's soaring numbers have scared CM Siddaramaiah into staying in Mysore for crucial last 2 nights to shore up support for Congress

The Indian Express ‏@IndianExpress 25m

ELECTIONS 2014 LIVE: Congress moves EC seeking action against Modi over ‘paid news’ on India TV http://iexp.in/wbR78807 #Elections2014