Winners & Losers ....its all a game !!!

While reviewing the results of the just concluded General Elections, some very interesting facts emerge , some amusing, some disturbing, while some quite encouraging.

For Congress some interesting winners were :
First timer Shashi Tharoor, an Indian diplomat, associated with a few large NGOs, scripted a victory from Thiruvanantapuram, pretty much the same way he scripts his novels. This despite the fact that he raked up a huge controversy with the reciting of the National Anthem during one of the campaigns.
S Jaipal Reddy winning from Chevella would come up as a surprise, as he has done precious little for the people in that constituency.
You also have someone like Lalu Prasad Yadav of RJD winning from Saran but losing from Patliputra, (continuing to play safe politics of representing from two different constituencies. Keeping his usual political game open, Lalu was quick to accept his mistake at having gone against the Congress just before the Elections. Having apologised publicly after the verdict is out, he hopes to retain his Railways portfolio. Funny how, alliances are made to suit the comforts, depending upon the situation.
Much in the same manner, Badruddin Ajmal(AUDF) wins from Dhubri but loses from Shilchar.
Then we have Shibu Soren(JMM) winning from Dumka. Shibu Soren, ex Cm from Jharkhand, had been served with life term for murdering his secretary Shashinath Jha, & later acquitted for lack of evidence!!! Known for huge atrocities & illlegal transactions as Coal Minister, he has mostly been on news for the wrong reasons, but manages to win through mysterious circumstances.
On can understand Jaya Prada(SP) winning from from Rampur, despite her tussle with Azam Khan, but Mh Azharuddin winning from Moradabad on a Congress ticket is simply a slap on the face of the common man. Someone who has been banned for life from sports for match fixing, has never done any work worth mentioning for the common man, stands on a Congress ticket from a decaying place like Moradabad & wins!!!!! This is what you call as the Midas touch of Congress.
Midas touch of Congress continued for our Home Minister, P Chidambaram, who contesting from Sivaganga, had lost initially, but emerged victorious after recounting was done(why & on whose behest recounting was done?????). Well, with landslide victories at all other places, how can we let our Home Minister lose.........understandable under the circumstances, I guess.
We also have Amar Singh(SP) quickly putting up his faith & support with the winning Congress Party, always keeping the options open for a plum post. Such people like Amar Singh & Lalu Prasad Yadav can be dangerous to any alliances. Hopefully Congress would have seen through all this & would be cautious in such involvements ahead.

Congress had some notable losers in this election too.
Renuka Chowdhury's loss from Khammam, can be attributed to the rather messy handling of the recent Mangalore pub attack & her 'Pub Bharo' campaign with the city youth, which did not go well with her.
While very few raised eyebrows when S Bangarappa lost from Shimoga & Margaret Alva from Uttara Kannada, but former CM of Maharashtra, AR Antulay losing from Raigad, was quite a poetic justice for his rather loose comments after the 26/11 terror attacks, on the death of ATS Hemant Karkare. Antulay has earlier also been known to make money on the sly from various builders, & Bombay High Court had held him guilty.
Mani Shankar Aiyyar from Mayiladuthurai, & RAj Babbar from FAtehpur Sikri were the other notable losers for the Congress.
Manoj Tiwari(SP) from Gorakhpur, Nafisa Ali(SP) from Lucknow, & Ram Vilas Paswan(LJP) from Hajipur were other biggies losing out.

For BJP, it was interesting to see Kabindra Purkayastha winning from Silchar, against Badruddin Ajmal(AUDF), while Navjot Singh Sidhu managed to nudge ahead from Amritsar after trailing initially. Varun Gandhi won from Pilibhit, despite going through a troubled campaign, with his inflammatory speeches & his mother Maneka Gandhi won from Aonla. Interestingly Jaswant Singh chose to compete from a remote place like Darjeeling & still managed to win.

Like the overall Election results, BJP had to digest some very significant losses.
Rajiv Pratap Rudi, despite a clean image & youth stance, lost to Lalu Prasad Yadav from Saran. Mahesh Ram Jethmalani's loss from Mumbai North Central, against Priya Dutt was quite expected, but Ram Naik's loss from Mumbai North was painful, as he had done good work for the masses over the years. The veteran politician had earlier lost to the Bollywood star Govinda. Vinod Khanna lost from from Gurdaspur, as he could not retain his charm with the electorate this time, & Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi lost out to Jaya Prada from Rampur in a close contest. Jaspal Rana was the other significant loss from Tehri Garhwal constituency.

Amongst the Independents, it was sad to see former defence minister, George Fernandes lose from Muzaffarpur. This probably emphasizes the need of a backing from a political party, even for a heavyweight like Mr Fernandes, who has probably reached the fag end of his political career. Mallika Sarabhai loss from Gandhinagar to LK Advani was a foregone conclusion, despite some interesting campaigning done by even the fiesty Shobha De.
Capt Gopinath, MD of Air Deccan lost from Bangalore South, as his Indian Army background & Air Deccan portfolio could not muster enough faith amongst the electorate. Former Home Minister, Buta Singh, denied a ticket by his favourite party, tried his luck as an independant candidate from Jalore, but eventually lost out.

Am however happy to see a bunch of young turks like Rahul Gandhi, Sachin Pilot, Milind Deora, Navin Jindal, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Manish Tewari, Sanjay Singh emerging out of the shadows & promising to take the country ahead in its march ahead. Notwithstanding a few blips like Md Azharuddin, we expect this young brigand to stay away from corruption & put forward a strong, effective governance. With the party getting clear mandate of the country, Congress has a free hand to implement a progressive growth plan. If they can manage allies like Mamata Banerjee(TC), Karunanidhi(DMK) & Amar Singh(SP), into submission, they should be able to enjoy a hassle free governance unlike the last time.

The Nation waits & watches with Hope......

Jai Ho........