The Hindu : National : Election superstitions

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Apr 13, 2006

National

National

Election superstitions

Call it superstition or sentiment. Politicians never take risks, especially during election time. Union Minister of State for Project Implementation G.K. Vasan began his election tour of Tamil Nadu after worshipping at the Sri Kamatchi Amman Temple at Mangadu on the outskirts of Chennai. Mr. Vasan, former president of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee, kicked off his campaign for the 2004 Lok Sabha elections from the same temple, and the Democratic Progressive Alliance went on to win all 39 seats on offer in the State. This may have prompted him to do the same this time. His father, the late G.K. Moopanar, also started his campaign from the same temple in the 1996 general elections. His party, the Tamil Maanila Congress, in alliance with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam swept the polls then.

Alliance troubles

The UDF was clear about its Chief Ministerial candidate right from the beginning. Everyone from KPCC(I) president Ramesh Chennithala to the leader of the smallest party in the coalition knew it was Oommen Chandy. The UDF even taunted the LDF asking who its Chief Ministerial candidate was. But Democratic Indira Congress (K) leader K. Karunakaran brought the edifice assiduously built by the UDF tumbling by declaring at a press conference that there was no Chief Ministerial candidate; he said the leader would be elected by the MLAs after the elections. The statements spread confusion among UDF workers and relief in the LDF camp. The UDF allegedly had to twist the arm of K. Muralidharan to convene a press conference to undo at least part of the damage caused by his father.

Namesake menace

Namesakes can be a problem, especially if there are others with the same name contesting the same election. In the Aryanad constituency in Thiruvananthapuram district, for instance, it has forced the former Minister, G. Karthikeyan, who is the Congress (I)'s candidate, to re-christen himself. He has, with the authorities' permission, added the name of the constituency to his name. In the voting machine, his name will now be recorded as G. Karthikeyan Aryanad. It need not surprise anyone if the other candidates who are in the same predicament emulate the example and prefix or suffix the name of their constituencies to their name.

Steering clear of the EC

After having expressed reservations over certain directives of the Election Commission, Biman Bose, West Bengal CPI(M) committee secretary, has advised party workers to exercise restraint. "Our activists should not yield to any provocation or distraction. The people's court is the ultimate," he said. If his statement is any indication, it appears that leaders of the ruling Left Front are taking special care to avoid any confrontation with the Commission after its recent directive to the State Chief Electoral Officer, Debashis Sen, to file a first information report with the police against Transport Minister Subash Chakravarty for allegedly issuing "threatening" statements against some of its officials.

(Contributed by S. Vydhianathan, K.M. Tampi and Marcus Dam)

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