MARCH

Point
Out
COVER STORY GENERAL ELECTION
Advani looking
outside Gujarat
In a season of polls political parties are doing their best to
put up their best foot forward. While BJP leader Narendra
Modi has been making the right moves and noises, there
are talks about him contesting from a seat in Uttar Pradesh.
Some observers are saying he is eyeing Varanasi, a seat held by
senior BJP leader Dr Murli Manohar Joshi. Will NaMo take
the bait and will Joshi shift is to be seen, but if he contests from
UP Modi will send a strong message to all his opponents. And
in UP, Varanasi seem to the best choice.
Bhind Congress
candidate defects
In a major embarrassment to Congress party, its official
candidate from Bhind Lok Sabha constituency Dr Bhagirath
Prasad, bureaucrat-turned politician left Congress after
being named as its official candidate. A day after he was
named Prasad joined the BJP, citing that he was being stifled
by a section of party leaders including Union Minister
Jyotiraditya Scindia. This is the third coup BJP managed in
Madhya Pradesh to put the Congress on the backfoot. Earlier
last year, even before a debate on a no-confidence motion
could begin in the MP Assembly, Congress deputy leader in
the House, Choudhary Rakesh Chaturvedi joined the BJP.
This was seen as major slap on the Congress face. Likewise,
during the campaigning for assembly elections in November
2013, Congress Member of Parliament from Hoshangabad,
Rao Uday Pratap Singh resigned and joined the BJP.
Maya to go alone
Former UP Chief Minister and Bahujan Samaj Party
supremo, Mayawati is likely to go alone in Uttar Pradesh
and contest on all the seats. Mayawati had made her
intentions clear to even third front leaders that she
was not willing to buckle down. Maya hopes in the current
political situation if she manages to get 25 or more seats, then
she can be a dominant player.
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MARCH 2014