My Columns: Without Fear and Favour

Maharashtra Assembly Elections : Through the Years By  Deepak Parvatiyar October 18, 2014 Maharashtra politics in the last three decades invariably revolved around Sharad Pawar and late Bal Thackeray — indisputably the two tallest leaders of Maharashtra politics in recent times. Some other prominent leaders of the era such as the Bharatiya Janata Party’s late Pramod Mahajan and Gopinath Munde were more active as a conduit between the BJP and Thackeray while Sushil Kumar Shinde, late Vilasrao Deshmukh and late Sudhakarrao Naik (all former chief ministers of the state) were largely seen as quintessential Pawar baiters in the Congress! Sharad Pawar and Bal Thackeray : Two Pillars of Maharashtra Politics Pawar was once even considered a strong contender for the prime minister’s post in the early ‘90s while Thackeray remained the uncrowned king of Bombay (now Mumbai). Yet unlike Pawar, the latter personally remained away from electoral politics despite floating hi

Haryana Assembly : Political Complexities By  Deepak Parvatiyar October 18, 2014 Consider the following traits of Haryana elections that the state bequeathed in the 21st Century: 1)    The domineering role of regional parties in the state ever since its inception in 1966. 2)    The dominance of political families in the state. 3)    The predominance of caste-based politics 4)    The continuation of the ‘Aya Ram Gaya Ram’ politics of defection and splits, by exploring the loopholes in the existing anti-defection laws. 5)    The dearth of Right-wing politics 6)    Large turnout of voters during elections An important factor that adds up is the uninterrupted decade-old Congress rule under Chief Minister, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, since 2005. Yet, Haryana, even since its formation in 1966, did have similar uninterrupted long stints of the Congress rule in the last century too when late Bansi Lal was the CM from 22nd May 1968 to 30th November 1975 till he was inducted as