Posts tagged ‘Bharatiya Janata Party’

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13/05/2014

India stocks, rupee rise as exit polls tip BJP win – Businessweek

India’s stock market and currency rallied Tuesday on exit polls predicting election victory for a pro-business party and its allies.

Flag of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a na...

Flag of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a national political party in India. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Official election results are expected on Friday, but exit polls by at least six major Indian TV stations show the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party likely to win enough seats to form a coalition government.

The Sensex stock index rose more than 2 percent to an all-time high of 24,068.94 before paring its gain and closing at 23,871.23.

via India stocks, rupee rise as exit polls tip BJP win – Businessweek.

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13/05/2014

India Poll Prospects Drive Auto Shares – India Real Time – WSJ

Shares of most automobile companies in India surged on Tuesday on expectations that the pro-business Bharatiya Janata Party will emerge victorious when national election results are announced Friday.

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.532500.BY +1.97%, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.500520.BY +1.40%, Tata Motors Ltd.500570.BY +0.81%, Ashok Leyland Ltd.500477.BY +1.19% and Hero MotoCorp Ltd.500182.BY +3.17% were trading around their 52-week highs when markets closed Tuesday evening.

“This (share-buying) is mainly sentiment-driven,” said an analyst at a Mumbai-based brokerage, who did not wish to be named.  He expected auto shares to trade even higher if a BJP-led government with a clear majority were to emerge the winners of India’s federal election.

The analyst said investors are hoping that a government led by BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi would take strong steps to revive economic growth, increase foreign investment, and boost industrial growth, which would in turn improve market sentiment and demand for new vehicles in India, the world’s sixth-largest car producing market.

via India Poll Prospects Drive Auto Shares – India Real Time – WSJ.

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12/05/2014

BBC News – India election: Narendra Modi faces Arvind Kejriwal on final vote day

The final day of voting has begun in India’s general election, with huge crowds turning up in the sacred city of Varanasi, a key election battleground.

Opposition BJP leader Narendra Modi is being challenged in the seat by anti-corruption campaigner Arvind Kejriwal.

Votes are also being cast in 40 other seats in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal states. The first exit polls are expected on Monday evening.

Mr Modi is ahead in all the opinion polls. Votes will be counted on 16 May.

First stop before the polling station for some voters here was the Ganges river, for a dip in its sacred waters.

There’s been a strong early turnout, with many voting early to beat the rising heat.

The battle in this holy city is now being seen as a straight fight between Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist BJP and Arvind Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party.

Mr Modi is still expected to win but many have been inspired by Mr Kejriwal’s anti-establishment message and his party’s determined door-to-door campaign.

After being bombarded by all the parties for weeks, it’s hardly surprising that many voters were being coy in admitting who they were choosing.

But there were some signs of nervousness among BJP workers manning a stand near one polling station. At one they were telling people ‘to vote for anybody, just don’t waste it on the Broom’ – short-hand for Mr Kejriwal

India’s marathon election began on 7 April and has been held in nine phases for security and logistical reasons.

With 814 million eligible voters, it is the world’s biggest exercise in democracy and the governing Congress party is battling the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for power.

Varanasi has been the scene of frenzied political campaigning not seen in the ancient city in decades. The city been turned into a virtual fortress with thousands of police and paramilitaries deployed to ensure peaceful polling.

BBC Hindi’s Nitin Srivastava in the city says large crowds, including many women, are turning up at polling stations, after voting began at 07:00 local time (01:30 GMT).

People are walking or taking cycle rickshaws to the booths as traffic restrictions are in place across the city, our correspondent says.

“Varanasi will finally see some change and development. I am glad to have lived for the day,” Ramavati, 93, said.

One woman told the BBC that she had cast her ballot “for the person who will bring development and progress”.

“The main issues are inflation, corruption and unemployment,” she said.

Mr Modi is being given a spirited fight by Mr Kejriwal of the Aam Aadmi Party, whose army of volunteers is engaged in extensive door-to-door campaigning.

There are a total of 42 candidates in the fray in the seat, including the Congress party’s Ajay Rai, a local political leader.

via BBC News – India election: Narendra Modi faces Arvind Kejriwal on final vote day.

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08/05/2014

Four Reasons Why Narendra Modi Makes Some Indians Nervous – Businessweek

The question always comes up in New Delhi these days, somewhere between polite introductions and drinks: What would the reign of Narendra Modi, who seems increasingly likely to be the next prime minister, mean for India?

BJP candidate Narendra Modi addresses an election rally on April 10 at Gopal Maidan in Jamshedpur, India

One man, pro-business and a glass of whiskey in hand at the club, told me recently that Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will bring needed centralization to a government that at times seems unable to impose its writ. Another—a highly educated liberal in socks, slacks, and polo shirt on the sofa just before lunch—wondered aloud whether the nation is forsaking its secular mooring for a dangerous populist.

Prediction in politics, especially in a nation as large and complex as India, is bound to be wrong much of the time. But public remarks by BJP officials and conservative Hindus apparently taking note of political winds are worth considering. (To be sure, there have been sharp words from both sides. For example, video surfaced of a candidate from the ruling Congress Party saying that he would “chop” Modi into tiny pieces.) Beneath the back and forth of explanation and disavowal, the consistency and vehemence of the messaging suggest an approach that, in a nation with a history of sectarian bloodshed, has some worried:

1. A conservative Hindu politician told a crowd that there are ways to discourage Muslims from purchasing property in Hindu neighborhoods. According to one account, Pravin Togadia allegedly met with protestors outside a home owned by a Muslim businessman and gave the occupant 48 hours to vacate the house. Togadia advised his audience to use stones, tires, and tomatoes, according to the Times of India. Togadia disputed that version of events and claimed through an online post that he was only offering advice on using the legal and governmental channels “if they felt that they are being forced into any selling of their houses.” (The newspaper subsequently said it has video confirming the initial report.)

The anecdote takes on broader significance for two reasons: The incident occurred in the western state of Gujarat, where some 1,000 people, mostly Muslim, were killed in brutal riots that included death-by-sword in 2002. The chief minister of Gujarat at the time of that bloodshed, as is still the case, was Narendra Modi. But as ever in Indian politics, there are caveats: A Supreme Court-appointed panel found no evidence that Modi’s decisions prevented the 2002 riot victims from receiving help. While Modi and Togadia have a shared background in Hindu nationalist politics, the two men do not now get along well.

2. A BJP parliament candidate informed a rally that those who do not support Modi will soon have no place in India. With senior BJP leadership standing by, Giriraj Singh said that Pakistan, the Muslim nation to the west, is where such people belong. BJP officials were quick to publicly express displeasure with Singh’s remarks, but he did not back down: “I stand by my statement that those trying their best to stop Modi from coming to power have no place in India and should go to Pakistan.”

3. A senior Modi aide was accused of telling voters they could get revenge by voting for Modi. Amit Shah was speaking in a north India district earlier this month near the site of riots last year that included murder and reports of gang rape. One account described how a “crowd of Hindu men came brandishing guns, swords and machetes, shouting that Muslims should go either to Pakistan or Kabristan (graveyard).”

4. Modi has signaled his desire to distance his campaign from militant sentiment and focus on shared national goals. As he tweeted on Tuesday:

Narendra Modi        ✔ @narendramodi

I disapprove any such irresponsible statement & appeal to those making them to kindly refrain from doing so.

4:58 AM – 22 Apr 2014

Narendra Modi        ✔ @narendramodi

Petty statements by those claiming to be BJP’s well wishers are deviating the campaign from the issues of development & good governance.

4:57 AM – 22 Apr 2014

However, many still point to his remarks during an interview with Reuters last year about the 2002 riots:

“Another thing, any person if we are driving a car, we are a driver, and someone else is driving a car and we’re sitting behind, even then if a puppy comes under the wheel, will it be painful or not? Of course it is. If I’m a chief minister or not, I’m a human being. If something bad happens anywhere, it is natural to be sad.”

There was an expression of sadness in those words. And there was, too, the unavoidable fact that he’d compared the dead to dogs.

via Four Reasons Why Narendra Modi Makes Some Indians Nervous – Businessweek.

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01/05/2014

They say every vote counts, but mine wasn’t | India Insight

Fifty-four percent of Bangalore‘s eligible voters showed up at the polls on April 17, a disappointing number considering the high turnout in some states. I was not among them, but it was not for lack of trying. Despite doing everything correctly, my application never went through.

I was 18 the last time India held national elections. Since then, we moved around a lot. I was looking forward to voting this year for the first time. A record number of people are registered to vote in this election, and the country is at a crossroads as it considers whether to kick out the Gandhi-Nehru dynasty and its Congress party in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party and prime ministerial hopeful Narendra Modi, or perhaps a third front of other parties.

I was eager to include my voice in the nation’s decision. I filled out the forms and gave copies to volunteers in the Reuters Bangalore newsroom who submitted the applications to the Election Commission. Voters’ names are supposed to appear on the electoral rolls six weeks after submission. The deadline for applications to reach the Election Commission was March 16. Voting day in the state of Karnataka where I live was April 17. I checked my application status online on April 15 and saw that it was still “under process”.

I called the Electoral Registration Officer that day to ask why I wasn’t registered yet. An officer there told me to call my ward office to confirm that it went through because it might not necessarily reflect online. I asked an official at my local area ward office what was happening. He said that if the Election Commission hadn’t processed my application yet, it was probably too late for me to vote. When I asked why this happened, he said that it could be because Election Commission officials either lost my application or didn’t have time to process it. At that point, another worker there said that I should go home and wait for the voting slips that the commission distributes 48 hours before polling. If I didn’t get it, then it was too bad for me.

I do not know how many people encountered the same problem, but I know that I am not the only one in Bangalore. Meanwhile, in other cities, including Pune and Mumbai, people found that their names were missing.

Yashas Mitta, a Bangalore-based executive at design firm Creativeland Asia, saw that his name was not on the list. His mother’s name was, but someone had voted in her place. “When I asked the officials, they told me that they had received the list of people who had registered before January. Anybody who registered after that didn’t find their names on the list. And this is funny because the registration was open until March.”

Ankit Baphna, a 33-year-old IT consultant in Bangalore, also did not find his name on the list. His local ward office wasn’t helpful. The Bangalore Bruhat Mahanagara Palike, or Bangalore municipal corporation, told him, “you can vote in next elections,” Baphna wrote in a Facebook post.

Amulya Nagaraj, a former Reuters reporter who lives in southern Bangalore, found her name struck from the list. “When I asked the reason, they said that these kinds of things happen, that sometimes names are removed from the list,” she said.

via They say every vote counts, but mine wasn’t | India Insight.

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24/04/2014

Mumbai Shop Owners: Cut Taxes and Tame Corruption, Please – India Real Time – WSJ

As Mumbai’s traders hit the polls Thursday, many said they voted in favor of lower taxes and against corruption. High income and sales tax, import duty and rising prices have made it tougher to do business, many shop owners said.

Chetan Pishtoi at his plywood store, Sagar Ply, in South Mumbai. Shanoor Seervai/The Wall Street Journal

“In the past, I voted for the Congress,” says Chetan Pishtoi, a plywood-shop owner at Colaba market in South Mumbai, referring to the political party that currently leads India’s national government. “But now my eyes have opened. I see what [Narendra] Modi has done in Gujarat. If he wins, maybe he will do the same for India,” says Mr. Pishtoi, 30 years old.

Mr. Modi, the prime ministerial candidate of the rival Bharatiya Janata Party, is campaigning on the economic strength of the western state of Gujarat, where he is chief minister.

Mr. Pishtoi says food prices rose so much in recent years that he had to give his employees raises. “The public in Mumbai are sleeping hungry and the government hasn’t done anything about it,” Mr. Pishtoi says. Tomatoes and onions, he says, are priced beyond the reach of many.

Raju Lalwani at his men’s clothing store in Mumbai. Shanoor Seervai/The Wall Street Journal

Raju Lalwani, who runs a men’s clothes store, is also concerned about inflation. “Cloth has become so expensive, and even the tailors charge too much for stitching,” Mr. Lalwani says. “If the political party changes, maybe business will improve.”

His shop, Lovely Silk Stores, has been a family-run business for three generations. But the 58-year-old says his children won’t inherit the business. His son is studying to be an accountant, and his daughter is in grade 12.

via Mumbai Shop Owners: Cut Taxes and Tame Corruption, Please – India Real Time – WSJ.

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21/04/2014

On the Fence: Will Indians Actually Vote Against Corruption, or Not? – India Real Time – WSJ

A report in today’s Wall Street Journal probes an important contradiction in the Indian electorate: People say they are fed up with corruption — but will they say it at the ballot box?

Political corruption is a defining issue in the national vote, which runs all month. The only issue that tops it is economic growth, according to a survey sponsored by the Lok Foundation. Indians rank political parties as the most corrupt institutions in the country, Transparency International says.

The Journal traveled to Karnataka to look at the parliamentary race in Shimoga, where B.S. Yeddyurappa — a seasoned politician who faces corruption allegations — is representing the Bharatiya Janata Party. Mr. Yeddyurappa, who is considered a front-runner in the race, denies the allegations.

From interviews with voters in and around Shimoga, two things are clear: Pretty much everyone knows about the allegations against Mr. Yeddyurappa. And pretty much everyone thinks all politicians are corrupt. As a result, many people said they will simply vote for the person who they feel will help him or her the most.

“Corruption needs to be eradicated,” said Manjula H.N., a young woman who lives in a village about a half-hour drive into the countryside.  But, she said, she is more worried about unemployment.

Bottom line: She was leaning toward voting for the BJP. “Yeddyurappa has done more good works” for locals than the other candidates, she said.

via On the Fence: Will Indians Actually Vote Against Corruption, or Not? – India Real Time – WSJ.

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19/04/2014

India struggles with rebel threats during election – Businessweek

Indians cast ballots Thursday on the biggest day of voting in the country’s weekslong general election, streaming into polling stations even in areas where leftist rebels threatened violence over the plight of India’s marginalized and poor.

Nationwide voting began April 7 and runs through May 12, with results for the 543-seat lower house of Parliament to be announced four days later. Among the 13 key states voting Thursday was Chhattisgarh, now the center of a four-decade Maoist insurgency that has affected more than a dozen of India’s 28 states.

With roadside bombings, jungle ambushes and hit-and-run raids, the rebels aim for nothing short of sparking a full-blown peasant revolt as they accuse the government and corporations of plundering resources and stomping on the rights of the poor.

via India struggles with rebel threats during election – Businessweek.

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16/04/2014

Promises and more promises: India’s parties pitch their visions | India Insight

Campaign season in India means it’s also promise season, and political parties aren’t short on pledges for what they would do if they come to power after election results come out in May. From the Tamil Nadu-based MDMK party’s pledge to rename the country “The United States of India” to the Odisha-based BJD‘s promise to “guarantee” development projects, there are plenty of promises floating around to help parties capture, retain or regain power.

There has been plenty of coverage of the manifestos from the biggest national parties, Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party, so here are some highlights from the others.

Lok Satta Party: This Andhra Pradesh-based party has promised to nationalise the sale of liquor and to limit the number of stores where people can buy it. Families of liquor “victims,“ meanwhile, would get pensions.

BJD: In power for more than 10 years, the Biju Janata Dal of Odisha has promised to guarantee primary infrastructure needs in the state. It will also make it mandatory for industry to provide shares in projects to people whose land they buy for their projects.

DMK: The former ally of the ruling Congress party will oppose reservation, the setting aside of government jobs for members of groups recognized by the government as disadvantaged, based on economic criteria. It would, however, support caste-based reservation in the private sector. It also proposes that only qualified Tamil people be appointed as India’s envoys to the nations where Tamils live in considerable numbers. The party has also included not “bashing” other parties in their pitch.

AIADMK: Tamil Nadu’s ruling party says it would stop the sale and privatisation of state-owned companies. To stabilise the rupee, the AIADMK says it would not encourage short-term capital flows and will support long-term foreign direct investment.

CPI-Marxist: This Leftist party favours the production of goods for mass consumption rather than “unsustainable” luxury goods. It also would enforce a code of conduct for all elected representatives against sexist language. CPI-M favours revising the India-U.S. nuclear deal and will seek removal of nuclear weapons from the U.S. military base in Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.

TMC: West Bengal’s ruling party, the Trinamool Congress, has promised it will provide a stipend and medical insurance to artists and folk performers. It has also promised to form a court to try human rights violations.

TRS: With the new state of Telangana to be carved out of Andhra Pradesh, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti says it will give a special “Telangana increment” to government employees to celebrate the state’s formation later this year.

JD(U): The Janata Dal (United) manifesto has promised legislation for the safety and security of migrant workers in India. It wants a commission to study the socio-economic condition of poor upper caste people to draft welfare measures for them.

MDMK: An ally of the BJP in Tamil Nadu, MDMK promises to rename the country “United States of India” to put emphasis on the federal structure. It wants to lift the ban on the LTTE, the Tamil separatists in Sri Lanka.

AAP: The Aam Aadmi Party, or common man party, is interested in animal welfare as well as human. It wants to protect the dignity of animals used in industries “for food, clothing and entertainment.” To encourage young people to join politics, it favours allowing 21-year-olds to run for office (the current minimum age is 25). Apart from laws to deal with violence against women, it promises long-term public education programmes to end the culture of gender-based discrimination. It has some provisions to regulate media as well.

BSP: The Bahujan Samaj Party of Uttar Pradesh, which counts millions of Dalits among its supporters, did not release any election pitch. “We do not release manifestos as we believe more in doing real development work for the people rather than making hollow claims which are never realised,” party chief and former UP Chief Minister Mayawati declared at a rally.

via Promises and more promises: India’s parties pitch their visions | India Insight.

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11/04/2014

Young professionals in Bangalore favour Modi’s promise, shrug off riots | India Insight

As far as Vinod Hegde is concerned, Indian prime minister candidate Narendra Modi bears no responsibility for the 2002 Gujarat riots. More to the point, Hegde doesn’t care.

Hegde, a 26-year-old stockbroker in Bangalore, said that for people like him, the Gujarat chief minister is the only choice to lead India after countrywide parliamentary elections that began this week.

Allegations that Modi failed to stop or even allowed deadly riots in 2002 don’t sway his vote, Hegde said. And if the ruling Congress party’s candidate is Rahul Gandhi, the choice becomes even clearer.

“Even assuming Modi has been responsible for XYZ, we don’t see an alternative,” Hegde said. Referencing a Twitter post by music director Vishal Dadlani, he said, “If I had to choose between a moron and a murderer, I’d probably choose the murderer.”

Not everyone states their case for supporting Modi in such blunt terms, but interviews with young professionals in Bangalore, the information technology hub known as India’s Silicon Valley reveals a calculation in favour of Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that omits the riots from the equation.

For many people in Bangalore’s highly educated workforce, Modi is a welcome alternative to what is seen as an ineffective and corruption-tainted Congress party. They are part of what some media organizations have called a “Modi wave” that opinion polls, however unreliable, say could bring the BJP to power and push out the Gandhi-Nehru family’s Congress party.

Many BJP supporters see Rahul Gandhi, the party’s leader and the Gandhi family’s heir apparent, as ill suited for the job of running a country that is trying to revive its slowing economic growth and to provide opportunities for prosperity to its burgeoning middle class. (A note for people unfamiliar with this round of Lok Sabha elections: Indians will vote for members of Parliament in their local constituencies, and the winning party’s leadership names its ministers when it forms a new government.)

via Young professionals in Bangalore favour Modi’s promise, shrug off riots | India Insight.

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