Maharashtra, Jharkhand : Will exit polls prove right this time?
Maharashtra recorded 62.05 per cent polling, while Jharkhand, in its second phase, recorded 68.01 per cent voting on Wednesday, according to Election Commission of India, which described these figures as “approximate trend”.
The Commission said, this “approximate trend” does not include data of postal ballot voting, and that the trends were approximate because data from some polling stations take time to reach. EC said, final data for each polling station is shared in Form 17C with all polling agents.
There were no reports of violence in both these states.
All eyes were on exit polls from Maharashtra and Jharkhand, which hinted at advantage for BJP-led NDA in both the states, while some pollsters predicted neck-and-neck contests. The results will be known on Saturday November 23 (Counting Day).
Credibility of exit polls has taken a nose dive after pollsters were proved wrong during the Lok Sabha and Haryana assembly elections. In the United States too, while most exit polls had predicted a tough contest between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, the pollsters were proved wrong, and Trump recorded an emphatic win, even in the swing states.
Exit polls for Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra were proved wrong because Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi won more seats than the NDA. When electioneering began for assembly polls, BJP leaders were worried about the trends, but Eknath Shinde’s government brought in welfare schemes to change the wind in its favour. If the results go in favour of NDA, the pollsters may be proved right this time.
In Jharkhand, chief minister Hemant Soren was sent to jail and this led to experts predicting that BJP took a wrong step, because Soren would be getting sympathy votes. But this has not been reflected in Wednesday’s exit polls.
If exit polls are proved right this time, then it will be established that the anti-incumbency factor against JMM government worked. Secondly, BJP forged a strong alliance in Jharkhand and all the constituent parties fought together. The results may prove this right, but all these are speculations. On Counting Day, people will know who won and lose.
Maharashtra, Jharkhand : Modi, Yogi Slogans Game Changers ?
Opposition parties in both Maharashtra and Jharkhand assembly elections are foxed by two slogans given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath. They are unable to work out a proper response. It was Yogi who coined the slogan “Bantoge Toh Katogey” (Divided, You Will Be Finished). A few weeks later, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his Jharkhand and Maharashtra rallies, coined the slogan “Ek Hain, Toh Safe Hain” (United, We Are Safe).
Both these slogans have become main issues in the assembly elections in both these states. Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, NCP founder Sharad Pawar, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and other top Congress leaders are busy trying to chalk out a proper response. While some leaders are abusing Yogi in public, others are cursing the UP CM.
Let me cite some examples: Congress President Kharge said in his Nagpur and Jharkhand rallies “A true yogi cannot use language like ‘Bantogey Toh Katogey’. Such language is used by terrorists. Yogi is the head of a mutt, wears saffron robes, but believes in ‘Munh me ram, Bagal Mein Chhuri’ (a wolf in lamb’s clothing).”
BJP leaders promptly demanded apology from Kharge for making such remarks. Kalki Dham Peeth chief Acharya Pramod Krishnam, who spent most part of his life in Congress, said, “leaders who oppose saffron robes, are anti-Hindus, they cannot be patriots and the people will teach Congress a lesson this time.”
In Maharashtra, BJP published front-page ad displaying PM Modi’s “Ek Hain Toh Safe Hain” slogan, but Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut objected to the ad. He said, the ad shows people of all sections wearing headgears, but the caricature of a Muslim wearing ‘jaalidar topi’ was missing. Raut alleged, BJP has only a single cap, and that’s the RSS black cap.
Some Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders, however, hold a different view. They feel that since BJP is trying mobilize Hindu votes, it will definitely have a backlash and may result in polarization of Muslim voters, which will surely help the anti-Modi bloc. Already Muslim leaders are active.
On Monday in Jaipur, qazis, moulvis and other Muslim leaders, including a Congress MP, gathered at a convention to demand the withdrawal of Waqf Amendment Bill, which is presently before a Joint Parliamentary Committee. The convention was named Tahaffuz-e-Auqaf, meaning ‘protection of Waqf properties’. The convention gave a ‘Chalo Delhi’ call on November 24 to all Muslim organisations.
Elections, women and indecent remarks : Stop it now
The use of indecent and derogatory remarks about female candidates by some male politicians in Maharashtra and Jharkhand is a matter of concern for all right-thinking Indians. On October 25, Congress minister in Jharkhand Irfan Ansari, contesting from Jamtara, described his BJP political rival Sita Soren as a “rejected maal”. BJP leaders lodged a protest with the Governor and demanded that he be dismissed from cabinet and barred from contesting elections. Ansari, on his part, did not apologize, but said, he did not use the words against Sita Soren, but used it in a general colloquial sense (“bolchaal ki bhaasha me use kiye the”).
Sita Soren is the wife of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha founder Shibu Soren’s eldest son Durga Soren, who died in 2009. She is the estranged sister-in-law of Chief Minister Hemant Soren. A tribal woman, Sita Soren broke down at a public meeting when she narrated the incident.
In Mumbai, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP and a close confidante of Uddhav Thackeray, Arvind Sawant, made an “imported maal” remark about Shaina NC. He faced an immediate backlash and Shaini NC filed an FIR against Sawant at Nagpada police station on Friday. The reason for using this indecent remark, according to Sawant, is that Shaina NC changed her constituency to Mumbadevi.
In his defense, Arvind Sawant says, he considers Shaini NC as “my friend”. Sawant said, “I never mentioned her name, I only said that an outsider is an imported maal, and will not able to work here.”
The fact is, his allusion was clearly towards Shaina NC, who promptly reacted on X saying, “I am a woman, not a maal” (Mai Mahila Hoon, Maal Nahin). She said, the women voters of Mumbai will surely give a befitting reply to such leaders. Shaina NC said, she would not forgive Sawant until and unless he comes to the police station and beg for pardon.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, on whose party ticket Shaina NC is contesting, said, the women of Maharashtra will reply to Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi for this indecent remark. Arvind Sawant, instead of tendering an apology, indulged in whataboutery, mentioning the parade of women in nude by a mob in Manipur to Janata Dal(S) leader Prajjwal Revanna’s sexual acts.
Arvind Sawant knows well what he said and for whom the remark was intended. By obfuscating, he is multiplying his mistake. It would have been better if had he not tried to justify his remark. By describing Shaina NC as “imported maal”, he has insulted womanhood. He could have apologized by saying it was a slip of tongue and the matter could have ended there.
Nobody becomes a lesser mortal by tendering apology. The sad part is that some of our male politicians view women as second-class citizens. Use of indecent remarks like ‘rejected maal’ and ‘imported maal’ about female politicians cannot be justified. It is shameful.