2013 Highs and Lows - Politics

Zee Research Group

Highs Jhadoo sweep: The Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) made a stunning debut during Delhi polls as they won 28 out of a total of 70 assembly seats. Kejriwal himself defeated Sheila Dikshit, former chief minister of Delhi by a whopping 22000 votes from New Delhi constituency. He will be amongst the youngest chief ministers in India. Lokpal is here: In a rare bonhomie between the two major national parties – BJP and Congress made Lokpal a reality after 46 years of wait. Despite a few digs at one another, both parties converged to push the Lokpal Bill through Parliament. Beware and behave: In a big leap towards cleaning up Indian politics, the Supreme Court ruled that MPs and MLAs would be immediately disqualified if they are convicted in a criminal case by a trial court. The court struck down Section 8 (4) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which protects convicted MPs and MLAs from disqualification if they appeal before a higher court within three months. GenX power: In recently held state elections a high voter turnout was recorded. While, Chhattisgarh recorded a polling percentage of over 75, Madhya Pradesh of over 71 and Mizoram about 82 per cent. Rajasthan 75 per cent and Delhi witnessed over 66 per cent in the polls. The chief election commissioner V.S. Sampath believed a significant enrolment of young voters in the electoral rolls has resulted in the unusually high voter turnout in the state polls. Yes to (NOT)A: The newly introduced NOTA (None of the above) made a notable impact in recently held state assembly elections. More than 15 lakh people exercised the option in Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Lows Love for fodder is bad: The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) founder was convicted in a 17-year-old multi-crore fodder scam for allegedly swindling more than Rs 37 crore. He was sentenced to five years in jail by a special CBI court which slapped a fine of Rs 26 lakh on the former Lok Sabha MP. He is currently out on bail. Forgettable year for Congress: In 2013, the Congress has lost in six out of total nine states went for polls. Interestingly, barring Karnataka, Meghalaya and Mizoram Congress couldn’t increase its tally of MLAs in any state. Short lived tenure: In a major setback to the UPA government, two senior cabinet ministers Pawan Kumar Bansal (former rail minister) and Ashwani Kumar (former law minister) quit their positions. Bansal stepped down after police arrested his nephew on suspicion of accepting a bribe in a case. Kumar`s departure came days after the Supreme Court said the government substantially changed a report by the CBI into alleged irregularities in the awarding of mining rights potentially worth billions of dollars to private companies. Women, not the first choice: Of all the assembly polls held during the last five years, as many as 22 states registered less than 10 per cent participation of women candidates in these elections. Worse, three states also observed less than five per cent women participation during assembly elections. It includes all five states went for elections recently. New low for democracy: Delhi assembly poll has thrown more than one surprise verdict. Apart from denying anyone absolute majority, the poll threw up a whopping 75 per cent (610 out of 808) candidates who lost their deposit with the Election Commission of India (ECI).