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New Delhi: Amid speculation that the Bharatiya Janata Party may need new regional partners in case it runs into a number shortfall in the 543-seat parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday generously complimented Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik on his government’s recent cyclone management.
Modi conducted an aerial survey of the destruction caused by Cyclone Fani across Odisha. With Patnaik by his side, Modi said, “Naveen babu’s planning was excellent.” He went on to add, “In the middle of a busy elections schedule, everyone concerned prioritised this (the cyclone)… I must congratulate the state government, the authorities and those involved in evacuations. The work done is commendable. There has been an excellent coordination between the Centre and the state.”
In sharp contrast to his fulsome praise for Patnaik, Modi hit out at the Trinamool Congress chief minister of the neighbouring state of West Bengal. Addressing a rally in the Tamluk district on Monday, the prime minister accused Mamata Banerjee, whose party is currently locked in a keen contest with the BJP, of “playing cyclone politics”.
“The Centre is involved in relief work but the speed breaker in West Bengal tried to play politics over this situation. I tried to talk to her (Banerjee) but her arrogance is so much that she refused to talk to me. I kept waiting with the hope that she will call back but she did not,” said Modi.
According to PTI, Mamata responded by saying, “I could not take PM’s call on Cyclone Fani as I was in Kharagpur. I don’t want to share dais with expiry PM as elections are on.”
Rather than support regional parties opposed to the BJP, Patnaik’s Bharatiya Janata Dal (BJD), has so far, stayed neutral The BJD’s stance has fuelled speculation about the direction the party may move towards in case of a fractured mandate.
The BJD partnered with the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government from 1999 to 2004.
Also read: Gathbandhan, Internal Fights Likely to Jolt BJP in Jharkhand
With the fifth phase of the seven-phase general polls ending on Monday, the discussion zeroed onto possible post-poll scenarios. One of the talked about scenarios is the BJP falling short of the magic number on its own and needing new regional allies to form government.
Further stoking such speculation, Ram Madhav, BJP’s national general secretary, in an interview to Bloomberg News, said: “If we get 271 seats on our own, we will be very happy… with NDA we will have a comfortable majority.”
The BJP expects to make up the losses it may suffer in the Hindi belt (which it swept in 2014) with new seats in West Bengal, Odisha and the Northeast.
“We have expanded in eastern India very well – if similar effort had been put into south India also, probably we would have been more comfortable,” Madhav said in the interview.
Meanwhile, Telangana chief minister and Telangana Rashtra Samithi leader K. Chandrashekhar Rao met Kerala’s Communist Party of India (Marxist) chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan in Thiruvananthapuram. Rao, who has been advocating the importance of a non-Congress, non-BJP federal front, is also scheduled to meet DMK president M.K. Stalin.
A press release issued by the chief minister’s office before the meeting said, “Both leaders are likely to discuss the current political scenario in the context of the ongoing elections.” It also said that the Telangana chief minister spoke with the Karnataka chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on the telephone.
No respite from Bengal poll violence
Like in earlier four phases, Bengal, which votes in all seven phases, saw incidents of violence marring the fifth phase as well. The BJP demanded a re-poll in the Barrackpore constituency after scuffles reportedly broke out between its nominee Arjun Singh and the central forces. Singh, who defected from the TMC, tried to enter a booth following allegations that voters were being prevented from casting their votes.
Voters during the fifth phase of voting. Credit: PTI
“It was a planned attack and I will report the matter to the Election Commission. The TMC’s hooligans are running unchecked in the state. My bleeding mouth is a proof of it,” said Singh.
According to reports, a polling officer at a booth in Bengal’s Arambag Lok Sabha constituency was removed by the Election Commission after a TMC leader was caught on camera directing people to vote.
At 74.42%, West Bengal recorded the highest voter turnout in the fifth phase.
Dismal turnout in Kashmir
In Kashmir’s Anantnag constituency, which went to polls in three phases, the voter turnout was as low as 8.76% as against 28.54% of 2014. Ladakh, however, recorded a 71.1% voter participation, close to the figure in the last polls.
Also read: In Shopian and Pulwama, Voters Prefer to Stay Indoors
High stakes for the BJP
Fifty-one Lok Sabha constituencies, spread across seven states, involving political heavyweights like Congress president Rahul Gandhi, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Rajyavardhan Rathore, went to polls on Monday.
This was a crucial phase for the BJP. In 2014, the party won 39 out of these 51 seats. In UP, the party won 12 of the 14 seats that went to polls on Monday.
Voting to the remaining 118 seats will take place on May 12 and 19.
