Assembly Elections 2012: Results Coverage LIVE
Live coverage of election results from Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa, Manipur and Uttar Pradesh.
Parents to get top marks for voting in UP
Students at a Lucknow college will earn extra credit if they can get their mom and dad to vote in the Uttar Pradesh state elections this month.
Getting those 10 extra marks is no easy task. A girl student at Christ Church college said she would have to work hard to push her “lazy” mother to go out on polling day but it would be worth it.
School officials insist this is no bribe, only an incentive to ensure students learn the value of their vote. At a parent-teacher conference immediately after the election, the ink-stained fingers of voting parents will show which students have succeeded in the task.
Elections in India typically see just half of the eligible voters on government lists turn up on polling day. But Uttar Pradesh has sprung a surprise this year, with around 60 percent voter turnout in the initial phases of the election, which is staggered over four weeks.
Analysts are saying young voters in the politically crucial state, which is bigger than Brazil by population, are hankering for change and coming to vote in larger numbers.
Though a higher voter turnout in Uttar Pradesh is good news for Indian democracy, it’s still not a nationwide phenomenon. Civic polls in Mumbai last week saw a voter turnout of just 46 percent, which officials said was in line with previous years, and recent local elections in other cities such as New Delhi and Chennai have shown a similar trend.
‘Come and vote’ appeals from Bollywood celebrities and media campaigns haven’t helped. To counter voter apathy, some suggest that voting should be made compulsory, as it is in Australia. Is that a practical option for India? Share your views.
Yes the attempt tried by this government is good for the democracy
Mayawati’s memorials a waste of money?
As chief minister of India’s most populous state and the country’s most influential dalit leader, Mayawati is used to getting her way. The memorials she has built around Uttar Pradesh are a testament to that.
The latest one is the “Rashtriya Dalit Smarak” (literally translated as National Dalit Memorial) in Noida, just across the river from the capital New Delhi.
Inaugurated last week, it is certainly an expensive project. Adorning the park are 24 pink sandstone elephants, the electoral symbol of Mayawati’s party, each reportedly costing 7 million rupees and about 12 life-size statues of B.R. Ambedkar (one of the authors of the Indian constitution and a hero among the dalits or “untouchable” caste), Mayawati herself and her mentor Kanshi Ram, each costing about 70 million of the taxpayer’s money, according to news reports.
Elsewhere in her state, a deadly mosquito-borne disease, Japanese Encephalitis, has taken the lives of more than 400 people this year, including more than 370 children, television reports say. A CNN-IBN report said only about 18 million rupees was granted to build a new ward for encephalitis patients in Gorakhpur in eastern Uttar Pradesh.
This may be comparing apples with oranges but then we would be missing the point completely. Which is how an elected representative should spend the taxpayer’s money? While a lot may have been done for India’s lower castes, including by Mayawati herself, and a lot more needs to be done in terms of health, education and employment, one fails to see how erecting giant statues of oneself and the party symbol helps any cause.
That the memorial in Noida ran into environmental hurdles shows that if anything, such endeavours cause more damage than good. Although the chief minister later claimed most of the money came from party funds and not taxpayers, building statues of oneself just seems wrong, for lack of a better word, in a working democracy. Shouldn’t erecting expensive monuments be left to monarchs and dictators?
Uttar Pradesh remains one of the poorest states in the country, with high illiteracy and child mortality rates. The state “has struggled with one of the highest infant and child mortality rates in India and polio is still endemic here,” a UNICEF report said.
if mayawati really wanted the dalits to prosper she would put the money to good use in upliftment schemes not making statues of herself,.
what can i say my India dalit populationa nd the ppl also need to work againstdont they even have a little commonsense that she is wasting their money which could be used for creating employement and feeding the poor,.
i feel pity for the ppl of my country and the dalit population who can still let this all happen,.
Graft charges bite as Mayawati eyes polls
By Annie Banerji
While the government of India announced austerity measures in July to rationalise its expenditure in an attempt to meet its fiscal deficit target, the chief minister of the northern state of Uttar Pradesh didn’t seem to get the message.
Mayawati, popularly known as the “untouchables’ queen” for her championing of poor, lower-caste Indians, has spent over $4 million from the state’s contingency fund without budgetary approval on renovation and new construction at her bungalow.
This year, her government will spend more for her house, personal security and comfort.
In its recent report, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India criticised the chief minister for gross financial mismanagement on memorials of her mentors and infrastructure and irrigation projects, which led to a loss of millions for the state exchequer.
After three short stints in the country’s most populous state between 1995 and 2003, many have started pointing fingers at her governance at the end of her fourth term in office. The increasing crimes against women, Dalits and protests by farmers against the government’s land acquisition policy raised a number of eyebrows even at the judicial level.
“The series of events shows lethargy and lackadaisical attitude of the state government,” the Indian Supreme Court’s judicial bench observed against the manner in which her government proceeded in acquiring land in rural hinterlands.
Sorry for being blunt, but the greed of the lower caste is no different from the greed of the upper caste.
Looting the government’s coffers seems to be a very Indian phenomenon.
Much ado about Rahul Gandhi’s ash claim
By Annie Banerji
Days after Rahul Gandhi’s dramatic motorcycle pillion ride to twin villages in Uttar Pradesh to quell land acquisition agitations between police and farmers, the Congress general secretary told Indian media that he found a 70-foot pile of ashes with human remains inside.
He added that women had been raped, people had been beaten up and the police had torn down houses during the protests.
On questioning the villagers of Bhatta and Parsaul, the Indian Express found that not a single person backed Gandhi’s assertions. The main refrain was that of police beating up villagers and mistreating them.
Gandhi’s claims of unaccounted-for people seemed undermined with the Times of India reporting that the only officially “missing” person was traced to a hospital in New Delhi. Even those who have been staying away fearing police brutality are trickling back to their homes.
Even though Gandhi produced pictures to corroborate his claims, the startled expressions of villagers in reaction to the allegations and the ground reality of the situation hints at a political gimmick from his ruling Congress party in a state where it is trying to strengthen its base with assembly elections looming next year.
Congress had earlier chosen Gandhi, son of party chief Sonia Gandhi, to face the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in the state and his focus has since been on Dalits, Muslims and the backward classes.
This Are Turbulent Times For Indian Politicians Across The Vast Spectrum Of Political Class.
Average Citizens With Strong Leadership Coming From Within The Civil Society And Along With Certain Media Supporting The Civil Society, Have Shown The Government What Can They Achieve If desired.
This Are The Times When One Person Can Take This As An Opportunity Of A Life Time And Take His Career To Greater Heights As A Politician…
With Narendra Modi Not So Keen To Get Into The Fold Of National Politics, Only One Man Has This Opportunity, As No One From The Opposition Parties Nor The Partners Of The UPA Have That One Person.
This One Person Is Non Other Than Rahul Gandhi, Who IS Doing A Miserable Job Of This Opportunity, This One Incident Has Proved Beyond Doubt That Mr. Rahul Baba Has Not Yet Grown As His Age Has.
The Reason For This Is… He Has To Build His Coterie Who Understand The Pulse Of The Nation And Are Willing To Put Their Ears To The Ground, But Incidentally He Follows Someone Who Is On His Own Trip… A Certain Mr. Digvijay Singh.
If At All, Rahul Baba Has To Grow To Be A Man… A Man Who Went On to Become The Prime Minister Of India… Then He Need To Rethink His Association With Digvijay Singh, Cause What Ever Happened In Bhatta Parsaul… Happened Cause Of Irrational Thinking Of Digvijay Singh, What Was He Thinking When He Instigated Rahul Baba To Say All Of The Nonsense About Human Ashes… Who Would Believe This… For God Sake… This Is Not Bosnia… This Is India…
Rahul Gandhi, If Cant Take His Own decisions, Will Be Better Off To Leave His Ambition Behind And Let His Sister, Priyanka Vadhera Take The Mantel Of India, She Is A Far Sensible Politician Than Rahul.
Statutes and statues: Mayawati gets Supreme Court nod for sprawling memorial park
Every powerful politician deliberates their legacy. For Mayawati, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh state and one of the country’s most recognizable politicians, hers will be set in stone.
Hundreds of millions of dollars worth of stone statues, to be precise. Ridiculed by some quarters of the media for her seemingly exorbitant narcissism, she was granted the right to continue construction of a 34-acre memorial park by the Supreme Court on Friday, after staring down mounting criticism over the size of the so-called ‘memorial’ budget from the coffers of one of India’s poorest and least developed states.
Dubbed the “Untouchable Queen” for her success in championing the cause of Dalits, one of India’s former backward castes, and turning their support into numbers at the ballot box, Mayawati has ruled over India’s most populous state since sweeping to power in the 2007 elections.
Mayawati was summoned by the Supreme Court in June of last year after her decision to spend a reported $425 million of state funds on statues of Dalit heroes, including herself, was challenged.
In January, after reportedly shelling out 60 billion rupees ($1.3 billion) on statues and memorials throughout the impoverished state, the chief minister tabled a state government motion to form a 1,000-officer strong statue protection force.
India’s highest court, which is currently deliberating cases pertaining to the liability of the Prime Minister in a $39 billion telecoms scandal and the extent to which the country’s privacy laws can be wielded by multi-billionaire industrialists, passed down its verdict after over 12 months of consideration.
Environmental groups have expressed their distaste for the ruling as nearby residents bemoan the “absolute waste of money”.
Mayawati’s public display of wealth or affection?
Garlands of flowers have been a standard greeting for politicians in India. Ceremonies and inaugurations with a political leader as chief guest mean more prosperity to florists than anyone else.
Most of these garlands get swept aside or badly crushed. But not the one recently presented to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati.
The several metres long garland made up of 1,000 rupee notes is now garnering scrutiny from Income Tax sleuths of the country.
Mayawati’s detractors strongly believe that this wanton display of wealth by her party subverts the tenets of the Indian Constitution.
What further stokes the anger of critics is the Uttar Pradesh government’s incapacity to look after victims of a tragedy while continuing to spend large sums of money on towering statues and party functions.
The chief minister had recently drawn flak from several quarters for being unable to provide compensation to families of as many as 65 people who died in a stampede after a temple gate collapsed in her state.
Many in the country, including leaders from opposition parties, suggest that Mayawati should be charged on count of misallocating funds from the exchequer’s coffers.
ys, so bhenji showed what is she is upto now as we can see there not so much development in UP’s villages so by wearing those garlands of notes showing as the party fund clearly shows mayawati’s boastnes about herself and her party
Will Mayawati’s Brahmin card work this time?
Much has been written about Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati’s inventive politics that saw her forging an unlikely alliance between Dalits and Brahmins — from the two ends of the Hindu caste spectrum — to win an election in Uttar Pradesh in 2007.
She did this with a promise to widen the appeal of her party beyond her traditional Dalit voters and bring Brahmins and other upper castes into her programme of all-round development.
As proof, she gave tickets to scores of Brahmins in 2007 and appointed a Brahmin (Satish Misra) as her chief adviser and strategist.
The move paid rich dividends, securing an absolute majority for her party in a state that last saw single-party rule almost two decades ago.
It also bolstered the chances of her party in the general election. She began being spoken of as a potential prime minister.
But two years have since passed, and there is speculation that all may not be well with Mayawati’s social engineering.
A report says the alliance between Dalits and Brahmins could be fraying at the edges.
Dear Friends as I belongs to UP an I am seeing UP very nearly in past 20-30 years no development of villages as well. And only blame game is going on so at all I am not happy wit this government.and she also a dalitbrahman because she is doing same as brahmans hd done in past .she is only copying and when anybody copy and take revenge the person is not fit to rule.
She has no ideology.
And some f my friends have said that UP is developing so I would like to inform them that India’s growth rate is 7.5 % As compared to UP’s growth rate is 2.67% and it is only in western UP.
Thanks.
Will an “untouchable” become India’s Obama?
Will a Dalit, or “untouchable” become India’s Obama? That is the question being posed by some commentators in the India press after the United States elected their first black president.
One Dalit woman, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh known as Mayawati, is the first person to come to mind. Her astonishing rise from Dalit teacher to head of India’s most populous state has led to speculation she could be a prime ministerial candidate in 2009.
If Obama was not black, do you really think he would be in the white house?
Yes I do Patrick! JFK did! What makes you think Obama won because he was black?!! He won because he was the better candidate! duh!
