My Columns: Without Fear and Favour

Summary of TN, Kerala and Puducherry Elections By Deepak Parvatiyar May 17, 2016 - See more at: http://www.elections.in/blog/summary-of-tn-kerala-and-puducherry-elections/#sthash.SGHFOydt.dpuf Voters braved rains in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, but the turnout, as per the initial analysis of figures by the Election Commission on Monday night was less than the 2011 assembly elections as well as the 2014 Lok Sabha elections figures in both the states. Voting Percentage The figures received till late Monday night showed over 73% polling in Tamil Nadu and 72% in Kerala. The third poll-bound southern state, Puducherry, though, saw a voter turnout of 84.11 per cent till 8 pm on Monday which was higher than 75.12% in the 2011 assembly polls and 84.05% in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls figures. All these figures are likely to be revised upwardly as they were not the final figures. Following Monday’s polling, the over two-month-old election process in the Union Territory of Puducherry...

Emergence of ‘Third Front’ in Tamil Nadu By Deepak Parvatiyar May 10, 2016 - See more at: http://www.elections.in/blog/emergence-of-third-front-in-tamil-nadu/#sthash.xeIfy17W.dpuf Can the Third Front – the first significant conglomeration of smaller parties against the two major Dravidian forces in Tamil Nadu – cut through their dominance this election? Dalit-Backward centric focus in Tamil Nadu elections Analysts are already referring to the dilution of Dravidian ideology as a reflection of “no wave” elections this time. This means, the collective Dravidian identity is now being overtaken by individual’s caste. Some analysts have even gone to the extent of highlighting the shift of focus in state politics from being Dravida-centric to Dalit-Backward centric. And they have reasons too. Political Apathy towards Attacks on Dalits There have been spate of attacks on the Dalits in the largely OBC-dominated Tamil Nadu (The Dravida movement was actually an OBC mov...

Who will be the next CM of Kerala? By Deepak Parvatiyar May 8, 2016 - See more at: http://www.elections.in/blog/will-next-cm-kerala/#sthash.A1JsQkEY.dpuf In the last quarter of a century, since 1991, there have been just five persons to don the mantle of chief ministership in “Gods’ own country” – K. Karunakaran, AK Antony, EK Nayanar, Oommen Chandy, and V. S. Achuthanandan. Ever since Kerala was born following the States Reorganisation Act of 1956, it has seen 11 Chief Ministers: Antony, late EK Nayanar and late K.Karunakaran were CMs thrice; late EMS Namboodiripad, late C. Achutha Menon and Chandy, twice. Pattom A. Thanu Pillai of Praja Socialist Party and C. H. Mohammed Koya of Indian Union Muslim League – the only two chief ministers outside the ranks of the Congress, the Communist Party of India, or CPI (Marxist), Kerala has always had either a Congressman or a Communist/Marxist as Chief Minister. The CPI and CPM both are constituents of the Left Democratic F...

Summary of Sixth Phase of West Bengal elections By Deepak Parvatiyar - See more at: http://www.elections.in/blog/summary-sixth-phase-west-bengal-elections/#sthash.GBbd5oC1.dpuf The concluding phase of polling on the 32nd day of the poll process in West Bengal was historic as about 90% of the ‘eligible’ 9400 residents of the 51 Enclaves of Bangladesh (merged with India following enclave exchange between the two countries on 31 July 2015), voted for the first time as Indian citizens in the final leg on 5 May. The Election Commission of India had enrolled them by “special efforts” in little over four months after delimitation of constituencies. High Voter Turnout In all, 84.24% percent of the 58.04 lakh voters turned out to cast their votes till 5 pm in the 25 assembly constituencies of the two poll-bound districts of the state — Cooch Behar (9 constituencies), and East Midnapore (16 Constituencies). While the voter turnout was 82.71% in Cooch Behar district, it was 85...