Protesting SP men stop a convoy transferring EVMs in Varanasi. PTI
Aditi Tandon
New Delhi, March 8
Anxieties ran high on Tuesday with major political parties raising firewalls and alarms both, as they firmed up post-election result strategies.
Guard strongrooms: SP chief
From this moment on, every youth, every voter, must guard the strongrooms in UP for three days to protect their mandate. Akhilesh Yadav on Twitter
From accusations of “potential burglary of mandate” to preparations for moving MLAs to “safe havens”, parties like the SP and the Congress put everything on the table, leaving nothing to chance.
Confident of comfortable wins in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Manipur, as predicted by exit polls, the BJP focused its entire energy on Goa today, while the Congress, projected to score a duck, rushed special observers to four election states, barring Uttar Pradesh where the party appears to have conceded defeat.
The ruling BJP’s main rival in UP, Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party, spent the day raising allegations of EVM theft, especially in Varanasi, and urged voters to protect their votes.
“From this moment on, every youth, every voter, must guard the strongrooms in UP for three days to protect their mandate. Community kitchens will be set up for them in this fight for democracy,” Yadav tweeted. That said, Goa emerged the focus state for both BJP and Congress.
After meeting PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Tuesday, Goa CM Pramod Sawant announced in Panaji that the BJP was in talks with the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) for a possible post-election tie-up. The MGP ruled out backing Sawant as CM, but kept its options open.
The Congress, meanwhile, appointed its affluent Karnataka chief DK Shivakumar as special observer to Goa with party’s election manager for the state P Chidambaram saying the party was double guarding its house to prevent any burglary this time and was in talks with the TMC and AAP.
The Congress does not want to be caught napping on any front as it faces the prospect of shrinking to just two states on its own (Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh). That would mean a challenge to former party chief Rahul Gandhi’s leadership.
The party named AICC general secretary Ajay Maken and spokesperson Pawan Khera as special observers in Punjab; general secretary Mukul Wasnik, Chhattisgarh Health Minister TS Singhdeo and former MP Vincent Pala in Manipur; and Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Hooda and Chhattisgarh CM in Uttarakhand.
Arrangements are in place to shift Congress MLAs to Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh in case of need, sources said. The BJP, however, doesn’t seem too anxious, except in Goa.
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