Wednesday, November 23, 2005
End of Lalten
So finally the irrepressible Lalu was humbled in his own backyard.
Some would say the end was coming. The man who forged the most unbeatable caste combination was beaten at his own game by another combination of upper castes and extremely backward castes, and of course, helped by Ramvilas Paswan's LJP.
For the national parties, Congress and BJP, this represents both good and bad news. The good thing for the Congress is that since Lalu has been now cut to size, his clout and bargaining power is much reduced at the national level. The bad news is that its much touted revival in the Hindi heartland remains a pipedream.
For the BJP too, the victory comes as a morale booster at a time when it finds itself in a severe ideological and leadership crisis. It can now be expected to sincerely play the role of an opposition party at the national level. It beat RJD to emerge as the 2nd largest party in Bihar but that also means that it is a junior partner to JD(U). Sadly politics in UP and Bihar has been so fragmented on caste lines that the national parties have to piggyback on local parties.
Meanwhile, in our very own Maharashtra, the Shivsena had to face two heart-breaking defeats. The Malwan debacle where its candidate even failed to save his deposit must rankle it more. Both the Congress and the NCP are trying hard to make inroads into Shivsena's bastions viz. Mumbai and Konkan. At this stage, even retaining power in BMC(Bombay Municipal Corp)which goes to polls in 2007, looks an uphill task for the Sena.
Some would say the end was coming. The man who forged the most unbeatable caste combination was beaten at his own game by another combination of upper castes and extremely backward castes, and of course, helped by Ramvilas Paswan's LJP.
For the national parties, Congress and BJP, this represents both good and bad news. The good thing for the Congress is that since Lalu has been now cut to size, his clout and bargaining power is much reduced at the national level. The bad news is that its much touted revival in the Hindi heartland remains a pipedream.
For the BJP too, the victory comes as a morale booster at a time when it finds itself in a severe ideological and leadership crisis. It can now be expected to sincerely play the role of an opposition party at the national level. It beat RJD to emerge as the 2nd largest party in Bihar but that also means that it is a junior partner to JD(U). Sadly politics in UP and Bihar has been so fragmented on caste lines that the national parties have to piggyback on local parties.
Meanwhile, in our very own Maharashtra, the Shivsena had to face two heart-breaking defeats. The Malwan debacle where its candidate even failed to save his deposit must rankle it more. Both the Congress and the NCP are trying hard to make inroads into Shivsena's bastions viz. Mumbai and Konkan. At this stage, even retaining power in BMC(Bombay Municipal Corp)which goes to polls in 2007, looks an uphill task for the Sena.
// posted by aditya @ 12:22 PM 
Comments:
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The end of shivsena may mean easy path for Congress. Monopoly of any kind is always bad. But congress itself is broke into two so they would keep fighting and junta of Maharashtra will have something to chose from.
But practically there is no difference between the Congress and the NCP (the latter has given up on the foreign origin issue). So don't you think it is best for the NCP to merge back into Congress. I would love a two party (Congress - BJP) system like MP, Guj, Rajasthan in Maharashtra also.
Yeah, it would be good for them and us to merge. But then there would be only one party president and not two!! Whou would give up? One thing I believe good with NCP is that they may not get pressure from Delhi. You see, the problem with national parties is that though the local leadership understands local problems, they still have to go by what Delhi high command says. For example, when someone like Narayan Rane goes and meets Sonia to enter the party, local leaders do not have any say, they just have to nod.
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