Election Results: From Millionaires to Slumdogs!

Prakash Karat (CPIM)

'Karat'-and-stick policy didn't work. Hammered in Kerala and sick-led in West Bengal demands are now rising that Karat be 'left' out.







Mayawati (BSP)

Unfortunately you can't have elections as many times as you want, that's the difference between installing-demolishing-reinstalling statues. The only party in the country to contest ALL 543 seats could not even beat Congress in UP!







Lalu Prasad Yadav (RJD) and Ram Vilas Paswan (LJP).

Formed a grand '4th Alliance' with SP (in UP). Lalu played safe and contested from two seats and managed to win one of them. Paswan was not so lucky and lost from Hajipur, a seat from where he had won by a record margin some years ago.

Forget being kingmakers, Paswan is not even an MP, his party LJP stands at nill. And I don't see Lalu being invited to B-schools anymore.




J. Jayalalitha (AIADMK)

Her price for support: suspend DMK Government in Tamilnadu. With DMK's tally a double of AIADMK, her only exploits were flowers from Modi, a day earlier!








Vaiko (MDMK)

It's thumbs DOWN actually to the best spokesman LTTE never had in Sri Lanka. Lost miserably and now planning for the job there but unfortunately his would-be-employers have already shut the shop!








(My questions about post-results scenario: here.)

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No ink for my finger :(

I don't know whose story is more 'heartbreaking'. Mine or Manish's.

In Feb 'Jaago Re' had organized a camp with Employee Club of my company to help employees submit forms for getting themselves enrolled in voter lists and getting voter ID cards. Everyone downloaded forms, filled them and put them in drop boxes which were then collected by 'Jaago Re' volunteers.

Manish is my colleague and like many others in my company he too had applied for a voter ID card and getting his name included in the electoral rolls in his constituency.

I already have a voter ID card made in Lucknow and I wanted to just get my name removed from Lucknow East constituency and get it added here.

Well, nobody heard anymore on this issue from Employee Club (they already had their ass covered from the beginning!) or from Jaago Re. Everyone just kept on asking each other about what is happening and hoping that even if they don't get their cards, their names are included in the final voter list.

Neither happened.

PRP (Chiranjeevi's newly launched Praja Rajyam Party) members did a door-to-door campaign and got voter ID cards made for everyone and their names included in voter list. They visited Manish's apartment too and he proudly told them that he has applied through Jaago Re in his office.

Everyone in his apartment got a card and name in voter list, except Manish. My name was removed from Lucknow East and not added here :(

So after being part of a vote awareness campaign, cajoling complete strangers to go and vote 'sensibly', creating Once-In-5-Years offer posters all I did was to enjoy a free holiday watching news channels talking to two people in the line at polling booth and grandly declaring this is what voters want.

Now tell me who is unluckier.

(PS: I am not blaming Jaago Re for anything, they are doing wonderful job and I can understand the challenges they face.)

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Once in 5 Years Offer. Don't Miss!!

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