The Congress party has staked claim to form government in Haryana after having managed to get the support of all seven Independent MLAs.

The support of the seven Independent MLAs gives the Congress the majority required in the 90-member Haryana Assembly, the results of the elections to which came out two days ago.

The Congress – which became the biggest single party in the hung Assembly with a total of 40 seats – required six more MLAs to get a simple majority in the House.

The seven Independent legislators gave their letters of support at first to the Congress and then met Jagannath Pahadia, Governor of Haryana, to inform him of their support to the Congress.

The support offered by the Independents legislators is “unconditional,” according to Randeep Singh Surjewala, Haryana’s Minister for Power Minister.

The Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) – led by former chief minister Bhajan Lal and   Kuldeep Bishnoi, Bhajan Lal’s son – said their party would be a part of the government to be formed.

Bhajan Lal and Kuldeep Bishnoi had left the Congress about 2 years ago. The Haryana Janhit Congress has 6 legislators in the new House.

Phool Chand Mullana, president of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee, had, on Friday, met Haryana Governor Jagannath Pahadia to stake the Congress party’s claim to form government. The Congress is the single biggest party in the new Assembly and the precedent is that the single biggest party be invited to form government, Mullana had told after he met the Governor.

Phool Chand Mullana was himself defeated in the Mullana constituency.

Om Prakash Chautala, the leader of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), the main Opposition, charged the Congress with “horse-trading” and requested the Governor not to invite the Congress to form government. The people of Haryana, Chautala added, had voted in favour of 50 non-Congress candidates in the 90-member House.

The Indian National Lok Dal has won 31 seats.

Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who has stepped down as Chief Minister and is now the caretaker Chief Minister, stresses that he is confident of the Congress forming the next government.

In the present election, the Congress fared much lower than its expectations. The Congress had won 67 seats in the Assembly elections held in February 2005 – which as 27 seats more than what it got this time around.

The Congress’ list of 56 candidates includes 2 women and 6 first-time contestants. The Arunachal Pradesh Assembly has a total of 60 seats.

The elections to the Arunachal Pradesh Assembly will take place along with elections in Haryana and Maharashtra.

The names of 9 sitting MLAs are out of the Congress list, ands the names of candidates for 4 constituencies – Palin, Pakke-Kessang, Namsai and Yachuli – are   yet to be finalisd owing to alleged internal squabbles in the state unit of the party.

The sitting Congress MLAs who have been denied ticket are: Tani Loffa (Seppa West), Kito Sora (Along East), Nyato Rigia (Taliha), Wangnia Pongte (Changlang North), Tadik Chije (Mechuka), Thajom Aboh (Khonsa West), Kamthok Lowang (Khonsa East), the monk-turned politician TG Rinpoche (Lumla), and Minister Atum Welly (Seppa East).

According to the list released by the All-India Congress Committee (AICC), Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu, former chief minister Gegong Apang, his son and former union minister Omak Apang, Finance Minister Kaliko Pul, Home Minister Jarbom Gamlin, and Public Works Minister Nabam Tuki have been re-nominated as candidates from their respective constituencies.
Pomaya Mithi, wife of former chief minister Mukut Mithi, has been chosen to contest from the Roing constituency, which had been represented by her husband.

Six out of the 9 BJP MLAs who joined the Congress recently have found a place in the Congress list this time. The 6 are: Tapang Taloh (Pangin), RT Khunjuju (Bomdila), Chow Tewa Mein (Chowkham), Bosiram Siram (Pasighat East), Kipa Babu (Itanagar), and Kameng Dolo (Chayangtajo).

The BJP is yet to announce a decision on sitting MLAs Techi Hemu (Pakke-Kessang) and Balo Raja (Palin).

While the BJP will contest in about 50 seats, it has decided to support non-Congress candidates in the rest of the seats, Tai Tagak, a spokesman of the BJP said.

Some of the sitting MLAs of the Congress and Independent MLAs who were not included in the list of 56 Congress candidates are in touch with the BJP for ticket, Tagak added.

He said the BJP had already released the first list of 17 candidates and would release the full list by September 17, 2009.

In the last Arunachal Pradesh Assembly elections held in 2004, the BJP had put up candidates in 39 out of the total 60 seats. The party had then won 9 seats and also won, for the first time, the post of the Leader of the Opposition.

In the forthcoming elections, many smaller political parties too have put up candidates. They include Trinamul Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), People’s Party of Arunachal (PPA), Lok Bharati, Naga People’s Front (NPF), and the Janata Dal (United).

Nothing much. The interesting thing is that exit polls by TV channels have predicted that the UPA would get higher number of seats in the Lok Sabha 2009 elections than the NDA – though the NDA would only behind by 15-30 seats.

That sure must be music to the ears of Congress. NDA and BJP have predictably rejected the exit polls.

Not just that. Just because an alliance would turn out to be the largest in the Lok Sabha does not mean that it would be called upon to form the government. The pre-poll NDA and UPA are one thing, the post-poll UPA and NDA are another. There will be strategic tie-ups, deals, there is no way anything can be defined at this point.

Would the exit polls be right? I frankly have no confidence in them. I still remember how exit polls in the 2004 elections went totally wrong. Nobody is even now sure which way Orissa would go. No one is sure which way tamil Nadu would go. Sure, the state had a high turn out when it went for voting, but does it mean an AIADMK whitewash – in which case, would Jayalalathiaa stick to the third front, or would be ally with the NDA, or even the Congress – or does it mean a split verdict in favour of the DMK and Congress?

Would Kerala deliver 15 seats to the UPA, or is it going to be ten seats? Which way is Maharashtra swinging? How well will Mulayam and Mayavati and even the Congress do in UP? What about Nitish Kumar and Bihar?

Too many unanswered questions. And I don’t think in a country where we have huge constituencies, exit polls or sampling makes any sense.

It is anyone’s game today, after 7 am. NDA might turn out to be the single largest alliance, or it could be the UPA.

Do reply in the comments about what you feel. Who is it going to be today?

The comments are not moderated for today. So go ahead and tell us who you think the largest alliance would be.

The names came in late, just one day before the last date for giving in nominations.

Earlier, Congress had been forced to withdraw the names of their first choice candidates Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler. Both the candidates had to face the heat
for their role in the 1984 Anti-Sikh riots.

Things came to a head when a Sikh journalist threw a shoe at the home minister P. Chidambaram, when he was holding a press conference. The journalist was questioning why Jagish Tytler had received clean chit by the CBI, regarding his role in the 1984 riots.

Tytler, who has contested and won three elections, said no First Information Report (F.I.R) had been filed against him in any police station.

“The CBI only enquired on the basis of affidavits filed. There is no case, but an investigation on the basis of an affidavit. Had there been anything discovered, only

then the case could be filed,” he added. He also criticized the media for all the fuss and confusion created on the matter.

“If I would have fought even this time, I would have won by 2,00,000 votes. I have never lost from any Sikh area during elections previously,” he added.

Tytler said that if the party wants him to quit he will not have any problems and would rather respect the party’s decision.

“I have left it to the Congress President. My heart says if it is not in the interest of the party, I believe I shouldn’t’ fight elections,” said Tytler.

After the incident, Congress decided to change nominees and axe Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler from their candidature position.

“It was a considered decision. It was made after keeping all aspects in mind and consultations,” party spokesman Ashwini Kumar told reporters, replying to queries
on whether it was proper to give a party ticket to the brother of Sajjan Kumar.

The announcement for new candidates was delayed as there were some sections of the party who protested against nominating Ramesh Kumar in place of his brother Sajjan Kumar.

However there were no protests against the fielding of J.P. Aggarwal from North East Delhi. Two-time Lok Sabha MP, J.P. Aggarwal is currently a Rajya Sabha member.

Photo: Shashi Tharoor with Manmohan Singh, Indian PM

So is this a fall for the internationally famous Tharoor, who was even in the running for the UN Secretary General’s post – or is this taking on a challenge which is even greater? My opinion is that while winning might not be a big deal for Tharoor, making a name for yourself and doing anything substantial in the dog-eat-dog world of Indian politics would be tougher than the UN Secretary General’s job.

Why would Shashi Tharoor want to make a go of it in the Indian electoral arena? Well, there is the fact that he would want to contribute something to the country. Congress is the natural party for someone like Shashi Tharoor, ideologically. It is a centrist party, with an experience of taking along the numerous interest groups – economical and political – and is the natural governing party of India. BJP’s ideology and rhetoric, and emphasis on looking backwards and correcting historial wrongs would be unpalatable for him.

But how tough would he have it in the Congress? In the end, the Congress is also a party with is unashamedly beholden to the Gandhi dynasty. It is not known to take tough decisions, or unpopular decisions, unless pushed into a corner. India – even Kerala – is reveling in being extra-sensitive about all issues at this point, and does not take kindly to plain talk, which Tharoor is used to in his international assignments. The Congress does not like anyone stepping out of line, and individualism is encouraged only behind closed doors. Tharoor would have a hard time playing the game even if he is elected as an MP, possibly.

So it is a bit of a dilemma – what India needs is young blood and dynamism which the Congress seriously lacks. However, Congress itself is not sure it can handle dynamism – and it is likely the coterie would look at Tharoor as a threat the moment he gains some prominence. Note that the youg Turks in Congress – the Sachin Pilots and Jyothiraditya Sindhyas – have been given no significant role in the party.

Shashi Tharoor made it clear last week that the party he would join has to be national and elaborated on his desire to join the Congress. “I have indeed been having some serious conversations about entering
politics. Now (that) I have left the UN, I have an opportunity to put my feet where my mouth used to be,” he said.

Shashi Tharoor also gave his reasons for joining politics,”Let me say that I am not running for anything now but I am also not running away from anything. If the opportunity is offered, I certainly would consider very seriously because I do feel that in democracy politics is the means of bringing about change for the country and having some impact on the future direction,” he added.

However, it is now sure that Tharur will be contesting, confirms a party leader who is close to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, “Tharoor is our candidate. We will announce his candidature soon.” he said.

According to reports Tharur is seeking ticket from Thiruvananthapuram but some Congress leaders want him to be given ticket from Palakkad.

The writer also emphasised on his decision to choose congress over BJP,”I have nothing economically in common with the ideology of Left and Communist parties. Those who had followed my writing from years know that I have nothing in common with communalism that has been unfortunately encouraged by people associated with the BJP…and that basically means the Congress party,” he said.

It is yet to be seen how the writer prospers as a politician but the Congress is lucky to have a man of his caliber enter the party premises.