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Dear friend,
Misfortunes, they say, do not come singly. The same seems true
about happy tidings. For the BJP, the month of February has been
realty packed with exhilarating news.
The month began with the Delhi Cantonment Board elections. The BJP
won the poll easily.
Soon, thereafter, came a major battle-the Punjab Assembly election.
The Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP combine was widely expected to win-not
with standing the sinister scare-mongering by the Congress that
return o the Akalis would mean the return of terrorism. But few
expected such a landslide victory. The Alliance secured more than
three-fourths of the Assembly seats!
Close on the heels of the Punjab Assembly elections, came a series
of Lok Sabha bye-elections. Four constituencies-Chhindwara in
Madhya Pradesh Nagaur in Rajasthan, Ropar in Punjab and Baghpat in
Uttar Pradesh went to the polls. The outcome: BJP bagged Chhindwara
and Nagaur and BJP ally, Akali Dal, took Ropar. In these three
seats, three Congress stalwarts were floored - Kamat Nath, Ram
Niwas Mirdha and Sardar Buta Singh. Congress lost the fourth Lok
Sabha seat also. Ajit Singh of the BKKP retained his seat.
BJP's victory in Chhindwara and Nagaur has a very special
significance. In 1977, an anti-Emergency hurricane in the Hindi
region completely pulverised the Congress Party. The Hindi belt has
in all 226 Lok Sabha seats: U.P. 85, Bihar 54. Madhya Pradesh 40,
Rajasthan 25, Haryana 10, Delhi 7, Himachal 4, Chandigarh 1. Of
these 226, the Congress lost 224. The only two constituencies which
withstood the hurricane, and returned the Congress were Chhindwara
and Nagaur. This month, the BJP has captured even these
strongholds.
The bye-elections in Rajasthan and Gujarat (and I am referring not
only to the Nagaur Lok Sabha election but also to the Phullera and
Sarkhej Assembly elections) have yet another significance. In both
these States the defections and dissensions in the Assembly have
hurt the party's image. But the victories that have come to the
party at the hustings only prove that the mass support for the
party in both the States has remained unaffected.
The month has come to a close with a series of Corporation
elections. These include the prestigious corporations of Delhi and
Mumbai, apart from several other important corporations of
Maharashtra like Nagpur, Pune, Thane, Solapur, Nashik, Amravati,
Ulhasnagar and Chinchwad-Pimpri. Of these ten Corporations, the
Congress has won only two, while the rest have gone either to BJP
or to Shiv Sena or to BJP-S.S. combine.
The Delhi Corporation has gone to the polls after 14 years. The
BJP has won the battle comfortably-capturing 79 out of 134 seats.
In Mumbai, despite a strident slander campaign against the S.S.-BJP
alliance for the past few months, the alliance has won hands down
securing 129 out of 220 seats. In Nagpur, the BJP has secured a
majority on its own.
Under Art. 54 of the Indian Constitution, the Electoral College for
election of the Rashtrapati comprises-
(a) the elected members of both Houses of Parliament; and
(b) the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the
States.
In this electoral college the vote value of electors is not equal.
The total vote value of MPs is equal to the total vote value of
MLAs. Even among MLAs, the vote value of legislators varies from
state to state, with MLAs from larger states having a greater vote
value. Thus while the vote value of one MP is 702, the vote value
of an MLA from West Bengal is 151, while that of an MLA from
Karnataka is only 131.
Till last year, the Congress Party was the weightiest constituent
in this electoral college, far ahead of BJP and other parties. With
every fresh round of elections the gap between Congress and the BJP
has been narrowing. A quick computation of the vote-value of MP-MLA
contingents of Congress and BJP shows that Rajya Sabha excluded,
Congress' strength in the electoral college is 2,08.624 while that
of the BJP is 2,21.704. If the vote value of the Shiv Sena, Akali
Dal, Samata Party and HVP also is taken into account the total vote
value of BJP and its allies aggregates 2,69,623!
Thus, if May 1996 was an important milestone in BJP's March
forward, February, 1997 is yet another landmark !
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