By Neeraj Nanda
New Delhi, 23 April : If you want to hear predictions about the India elections 2014, an evening at the Press Club of India (PCI) is a must. One has to be a member or pay the required amount and enter the world of those who feed the thousands of media outlets around the country. But for PCI regulars and casual comers it’s nothing new as every table has a new and unique prediction. Elections are just one of the subjects. It could be anything. But India elections 2014 are unique as it has also polarised media persons. Nothing matters except who will be India’s next PM. Obviously, the Modi factor has hit the PCI. I spent a few lively evenings with media friends at the PCI and realised no one can beat their analytical (subjective and objective) arguments.
The cocktail of Right, Left and AAP is the latest flavour of most media persons beating the Delhi chaos. The other day I was at a table with Kingfisher Beer, Shami Kebabs and South Indian Dosas and vadas gulping down the bellies with a discussion as to how many seats the BJP will manage. One Lefty (an academic cum politician) was confident Modi (NDA) could not manage higher than 160 seats. Another from prominent Delhi English daily gave 250 to the NDA. The Lefty’s main argument was the BJP had no electoral presence in 130 seats in the South, North East, West Bengal and Kerala. And in the last two elections the BJP had won 11 or so seats in these states. Anyway, he was countered by others who were confident the Modi factor will have its effect in a big way. But he would not agree and challenged to prove it by a constituency wise analysis.
The atmosphere was getting charged as glasses of Scotch (and peanuts with onion) and political gossip rubbed shoulders. The smell of alcohol added to the coming political battles in the world’s biggest democratic process. Bihar also seemed to be on the agenda. There was consensus Lalu’s RJD will perform well and Nitish’s JD-U may not be that bad. So, whether BJP (in Bihar) will get what it is claiming could not be agreed upon. Probably, little fewer seats than expected.
The scribes on another table (I had shifted there) felt the sometime back Rahul Gandhi’s interview on TV as a failure and Modi’s interview (by ANI) on TV as engineered. One scribe revealed when Rahul Gandhi was interviewed by Pranab Gowswami (on Times Now) Priyanka was sitting behind prompting. What was his source was not clear. Modi’s ANI interview was done by the ANI bosses daughter. One friend wondered why was Modi thanking the ANI again and again during the interview. This, he thought, indicated it was a fixed interview.
The discussion then shifted to the Delhi/NCR seats. Someone felt the AAP will perform well (4 or 5 seats) and the rest to the BJP (2 or three). At the national level they might (?) grab 11 to 35 seats, he wildly predicted. And then added the Left tally could be around 30 seats. Interestingly, no one talked about the Congress.
I had a feeling some were slowly getting tipsy. It was getting dark though IPL on a large screen in the garden was an attraction. It was time to get a auto (three wheeler scooter) to go home but a friend offered to drop me. Another day passed in Delhi.
– SAT News Service
