Under Modi pressure? Poll panel may wait for "auspicious" Labh Pancham, Oct 25, to announce Gujarat polls

Chief election commissioner AK Joti

By A Representative
Senior Gujarat government officials are learnt to have been told by their counterparts in Delhi that, “in all likelihood”, the Election Commission of India (ECI) would announce state assembly polls on or after the auspicious Labh Pacham, October 25, which is the fifth day of the new Gujarati New Year.
The Gujarati New Year is on October 20, a day after Diwali. On Labh Pancham, Gujarati Hindu middle class entrepreneurs reopen shops, closed on the Diwali day after, praying for Goddess Laxmi, or Goddess of Wealth. While many middle class families go holidaying for about a week, the more traditional ones keep all lights on at night and doors and windows open for considerable time to “allow” the Goddess to enter in their house.
Talking with me on condition of anonymity, a senior official, who claims to be in direct touch with ECI, has said it is “quite possible” for the poll dates to be announced after the “auspicious date.” Announcement of polls bring in force the model code of conduct, forcing the ruling party not to declare new sops to the people.
However, a Counteview message to Chief Election Commissioner AK Joti, asking him specific question whether this was true, went without a reply, though his juniors said, requesting not to be named, that there would be “no announcement” at least before October 18.
Two days ago, while the ECI announced November 8 as the date for Himachal Pradesh assembly polls, it did not announce any date for Gujarat, leading to many eyebrows being raised across India. One who has had excellent rapport with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Joti was Gujarat cadre IAS bureaucrat and retired as state chief secretary in January 2013, when Modi was Gujarat chief minister.
Not only the Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Left, but even former chief election commissioner SY Quraishi said the decision not to announce Gujarat polls along with that of Himachal Pradesh has “:justifiably raised the hackles of the people”, as the terms of the two state Assemblies almost coincide.
“If the government does announce new populist schemes and freebies, it would cause the EC a huge embarrassment. It would be accused of giving the government of Gujarat the few extra days before invoking the model code of conduct”, Quraishi insists in his opinion piece.
While Gujarat Assembly’s term ends on January 22, 2018, and of Himachal Pradesh it ends on January 7. ECI, meanwhile, also announced that the counting date for both Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh polls would be on December 18.
Justifying his decision not to announce Gujarat polls, Joti reportedly said that the election timetable should ideally not exceed 46 days, adding, any announcement for more than that would “obstructed governance.”
A major reason given by the ECI for not announcing Gujarat polls, said Joti, is the Gujarat government “seeking” more time before the election announcement, as the model code of conduct would “disrupt” flood relief in Gujarat.
Meanwhile, what Quraishi said is already proving to correct. The Gujarat government is already starting to open purse-strings, says a report. The BJP-ruled Vadodara Municipal Corporation has finalized a mega event for Sunday, where Chief Minister Vijay Rupani is expected to inaugurate development works worth Rs 780 crore.
Earlier on Friday, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation concluded its ninth “Shahri Garib Kalyan Mela” in Ahmedabad, where of a total 4103 beneficiaries, 3,262 were distributed kits including cheques, funds and bonds under the “Manav Garima Yojana”.
The kits included sewing machines, utensils, tri-cycles, dairy products, street-vending carts and other household items. 1,087 people were given kits, as also cheques ranging from Rs 2,000 as Vidyalakshmi bonds to Rs 50,000, for intercaste marriage were distributed.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh are in South Gujarat to address a public meetings as part of the Gaurav Yatra, which would be concluded on Sunday by Prime Minister Narendra Modi off Gandhinagar.
Knowledgeable circles say, senior state officials, including those from the police, have been given the target of bringing “at least 10 lakh people” as a show of strength for Modi’s rally.

Comments

Plastic burning in homes threatens food, water and air across Global South: Study

By Jag Jivan In a groundbreaking study spanning 26 countries across the Global South , researchers have uncovered the widespread and concerning practice of households burning plastic waste as a fuel for cooking, heating, and other domestic needs. The research, published in Nature Communications , reveals that this hazardous method of managing both waste and energy poverty is driven by systemic failures in municipal services and the unaffordability of clean alternatives, posing severe risks to human health and the environment.

Economic superpower’s social failure? Inequality, malnutrition and crisis of India's democracy

By Vikas Meshram India may be celebrated as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, but a closer look at who benefits from that growth tells a starkly different story. The recently released World Inequality Report 2026 lays bare a country sharply divided by wealth, privilege and power. According to the report, nearly 65 percent of India’s total wealth is owned by the richest 10 percent of its population, while the bottom half of the country controls barely 6.4 percent. The top one percent—around 14 million people—holds more than 40 percent, the highest concentration since 1961. Meanwhile, the female labour force participation rate is a dismal 15.7 percent.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

The greatest threat to our food system: The aggressive push for GM crops

By Bharat Dogra Thanks to the courageous resistance of several leading scientists who continue to speak the truth despite increasing pressures from the powerful GM crop and GM food lobby , the many-sided and in some contexts irreversible environmental and health impacts of GM foods and crops, as well as the highly disruptive effects of this technology on farmers, are widely known today.

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu. He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

Epic war against caste system is constitutional responsibility of elected government

Edited by well-known Gujarat Dalit rights leader Martin Macwan, the book, “Bhed-Bharat: An Account of Injustice and Atrocities on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-18)” (available in English and Gujarati*) is a selection of news articles on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-2018) published by Dalit Shakti Prakashan, Ahmedabad. Preface to the book, in which Macwan seeks to answer key questions on why the book is needed today: *** The thought of compiling a book on atrocities on Dalits and thus present an overall Indian picture had occurred to me a long time ago. Absence of such a comprehensive picture is a major reason for a weak social and political consciousness among Dalits as well as non-Dalits. But gradually the idea took a different form. I found that lay readers don’t understand numbers and don’t like to read well-researched articles. The best way to reach out to them was storytelling. As I started writing in Gujarati and sharing the idea of the book with my friends, it occurred to me that while...

Would breaking idols, burning books annihilate caste? Recalling a 1972 Dalit protest

By Rajiv Shah A few days ago, I received an email alert from a veteran human rights leader who has fought many battles in Gujarat for the Dalit cause — both through ground-level campaigns and courtroom struggles. The alert, sent in Gujarati by Valjibhai Patel, who heads the Council for Social Justice, stated: “In 1935, Babasaheb Ambedkar burnt the Manusmriti . In 1972, we broke the idol of Krishna , whom we regarded as the creator of the varna (caste) system.”

'Restructuring' Sahitya Akademi: Is the ‘Gujarat model’ reaching Delhi?

By Prakash N. Shah* A fortnight and a few days have slipped past that grim event. It was as if the wedding preparations were complete and the groom’s face was about to be unveiled behind the ceremonial tinsel. At 3 PM on December 18, a press conference was poised to announce the Sahitya Akademi Awards .

From colonial mercantilism to Hindutva: New book on the making of power in Gujarat

By Rajiv Shah Professor Ghanshyam Shah ’s latest book, “ Caste-Class Hegemony and State Power: A Study of Gujarat Politics ”, published by Routledge , is penned by one of Gujarat ’s most respected chroniclers, drawing on decades of fieldwork in the state. It seeks to dissect how caste and class factors overlap to perpetuate the hegemony of upper strata in an ostensibly democratic polity. The book probes the dominance of two main political parties in Gujarat—the Indian National Congress and the BJP—arguing that both have sustained capitalist growth while reinforcing Brahmanic hierarchies.

Search This Blog