The Indian Express, Delhi, uses the verdict of the urban local body elections in Karnataka, to make a larger point on the coming general elections:
“With a year to go, the general election is being painted and promoted as a Rahul-versus-Modi contest. It’s a tidy, appealing binary, given that Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi appear to have profoundly different political instincts and personality types.
“But while it may be tempting to think of Election 2014 as a two-horse race, the political field may be less settled or predictable in reality. In all probability, the real deciders will be regional forces whose support to one or the other pole, Congress or BJP, cannot be taken for granted….
“The 2014 election looks unlikely, therefore, to bring the satisfying resolution of the Modi-Gandhi choice. It will be an aggregate of what happens in Andhra Pradesh, in Karnataka, Bihar and other state arenas. Politics in India, in all its complexity and flux, cannot be reduced to the arm-wrestling of two individuals.”
Read the full editorial: Not Modi, not Gandhi
Cartoons: courtesy Keshav/ The Hindu, E.P. Unny/ The Indian Express
churumuri 
It is all cheap hyping around of the Indian hollow Gossip
style. For any bloke to allow hype as a candi for PM the
bloke has to give his plans so public can assess. Silly
thigh banging as for old style wrestlers makes it look funny that is all . Media should also put up persons if and only id they have a track and personality and more oimportantly some clear vision and plan otherwise leave it to those silly manifestoes and other market uculrture based promotions later. supposing neither is participating or if they do getting put up as PM by their parties thingds will look more silly . Pm is ompoirtant provided the person has a personality; otherwise what they commit as party is more importanty. Wemust continuously elicit their commitments for growth and welfare and debate that. infact one of them has sid he is noit interested so why hype.
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Here is what will happen, when Modi is formally declared as BJP candidate – there will be polarization. Folks who’d want to see Congress gone, will flock to BJP. I won’t be surprised if Karnataka sides with BJP again for Loksabha. Karnataka voters have done that before.
Andhra Pradesh will be a puzzle. If YSR congress is seen to be siding with Congress, then they won’t win as many votes as people think they will. But, BJP may not gain a lot there, unless TDP & BJP can make an alliance of some sort.
We should amend our constitution for two parallel elections – One for legislature and another for executive. The choice of executive should lie directly with people – not with ‘high command’ or some nebulous entity like that. This way the executive will be directly responsible to people – not some nonsensic collective responsibility.
And he/she won’t be at the mercy of a non-elected entity like a family or a ‘sangha’.
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I will any day prefer a regional strongman (Kumaraswamy or Yeddy) over Delhi or Nagpur durbar.
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Irresponsible, greedy media guys are primarily responsible for perpetuating this Modi -Rahul nonsense. Rahul doesn’t have an iota of interest in becoming PM. And Modi, although is greedy for the PM’s seat, is unlikely to get a cakewalk. Regional factors would weigh heavily whilst people vote for any govt. In Assam, Bengal or Kerala or a dozen other states, I don’t see why anybody would vote for a discredited BJP or Modi.
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Will Modi undergo Narco tests to prove his secular credentials?
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A Lame-Duck Election.
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27 mins Ramesh Srivats Ramesh Srivats @rameshsrivats
Sistine Chapel, Vatican City:
A bunch of old religious people are still unable to agree upon a leader.
BJP HQ, New Delhi:
Same.
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The dark horse might well be Nitish Kumar or a Meira Kumar! It’s early days. Let’s watch and wait! The media is hyping it up for TRPs!
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Clutching at the straws…MSM wants to deny Modi becoming PM by hook or crook and floating baseless news item and cartoon like the above..while poor clown prince has admitted he is not in the race for PM post and also denounced marriage probably as a mark of respect for his party symbol :)
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For “leaders” like Mulayam, Mayawati, Karuna (and his clan), Jagan Mohan Reddy, Yeddy , the choice is simple – whoever will close their eyes to massive corruption and will be a poodle. MMS has done this job admirably and Rahul will continue the legacy.
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If Rahul becomes the PM he will gift India to his Mother land!
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Indian Parliament must apologize to Muslims/Christians/Anglo-Indians/Sikh/Untouchables for DELAYING the implementation of “Communal Award”
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Come 2014, left parties will make a big comeback, they will gain in kerala, west Bengal, north eastern states.
Rahul vs modi battle is only PUSTAKADA BADANEKAAYI. THIRD FRONT parties will play a major role in govt formation. Nitish, even mulayam Singh has an outside chance if he gets 35 seats in UP.
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dont get congress and bjp to power.
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@drramesh saar come on saar, third front is a big zero!! Left parties will remain in the dumps and mulayam is going to get thrashed in UP, the people are fed up with Jungle raj. There is no third front business at all. It is clear cut Cong vs BJP and Rahul vs Modi – whether or not these two are actually projected as the candidate.
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Deepak, I wish what you predict would materialise. But, no. You know ours is a highly fragmented country. People still vote for all kinds of reasons, notions, whims, blindly and sometimes just for fun! So don’t be surprised if we find Cong & BJP 160 each and rest taken by 26 A to Z parties with 10 seats each!
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@Sanieeva – I agree that such a prospect is highly possible, but situation now seems that BJP may have a slight edge on Cong. If either party needs 100 MPs then BJP will find it easier to get it. Their existing NDA allies Akali, Sena and JDU should get around 30-40 (if Sushma is projected). Jaya, Mamta and Patnaik should easily get 60-70 seats between them and all three will have no problem supporting Sushma. In fact even Jagan will be more than happy to jump on to NDA bandwagon, and Pawar has already indicated that he will climb the winning horse. So Sushma’s journey to PM post shouldn’t be difficult. Problem will be if Modi is projected, in which case JDU and Jagan will not join at any cost. Mamta and Patnaik may be forced to support from outside. Without stable numbers Modi will find it difficult to do his magic in Delhi.
On other hand if Congress emerges single largest party, BJP may prop up Nitish or even Jaya as PM to prevent a Congress govt. We may even have a situation where Congress may back Nitish as PM to prevent Modi’s ascension. Everything is possible in 2014, unless something major happens to change the equations.
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Dr. Ramesh-ge jayawagali !!
Dr Ramesh, neevu helidha haage “Tharadu Ranga” Third Front asthithwakke barutthe! Aaga nimma mannina maga DeveGowdru PM aagthaare! Dr. Ramesh will become Health Minister at the Centre.
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Doddi,
Nitish Kumar adhikaar rally Delhi na swalpa shake maadide. Modi, rahul, sushma ge uriva bisilallu naduka.
UPA 2 is fully dependent on mulayam after karuna fiasco. Jd s is all set to rule karnataka.
Nimduke RSS ge chaddi haktare? Illa Congress ge topi haktaare?
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Dr Ramesh
Nitish Kumar’s ‘Bhikari’ rally will actually make other States to demand special status! So in that sense Nitish has done immense harm to his national stature by showing up himself to be only a CM of a backward, begging bowl state! Hardly PM material! In fact, Nitish has scored an own-goal and folk who were hoping that he would be the counterweight to Modi are left disappointed. I agree this is all beyond your ken as you are more likely to be shook up with the sloganeering done at these rallies and you will sleep well taking some pain-killer shots to celebrate these rallies?
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