Yamanoor Srihari
2004-02-29 20:07:33 UTC
A note to members: I see the Indian polls as the perfect opportunity to get expansive, exhaustive and :) talkative. I will try to forward important notices, and discussions, and exhort you to please participate in a big way. For those who fear filled up mail boxes, please move over to the digest mode. Since we will mostly concern ourselves with text and links, you should be fine if you move to the final mode. Here is CNN.com on the Indian polls. Ironically, I am not forwarding the note from an Indian newspaper website. But its good, once in a while to police what other nations' writers are writing about us!
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/02/29/india.poll/index.html?headline=India~sets~national~poll~dates
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Indian voters will go to the polls in early national elections in four stages in April and May, election officials have announced.
Polling in the world's largest democracy will start on April 20 and end on May 10, with ballot counting and results on May 13, India's independent election commission said Sunday.
Opinion polls indicate the ruling coalition, led by the nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is likely to win another five-year term by a landslide.
In January, the BJP recommended early elections to capitalize on India's healthy economy, better ties with Pakistan and recent victories in regional elections.
Acting on a request from Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Indian President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam dissolved the lower house of parliament on February 6 and called for early elections.
Vajpayee -- who will stay on as caretaker prime minister until a new government is formed -- is attempting to become the first Indian prime minister to serve four terms.
India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and his daughter, Indira Gandhi, each were elected three times, although those tenures were longer than Vajpayee's.
Vajpayee has enjoyed a surge of popularity since resuming talks with Pakistan on ending decades-old hostilities. A robust economy also has increased goodwill toward his party.
India's economy is projected to grow more than 7 percent this year after a bumper harvest by farmers, who make up nearly two-thirds of the country's population of more than 1 billion.
Elections to the 543 seats of the Indian parliament's Lower House are a mammoth task.
Over 670 million Indians aged 18 and above are eligible to vote in the poll but for the first time candidates with criminal records have been formally banned.
Previous polls included many candidates with convictions while some even contested from behind bars.
Chief election commissioner T.S. Krishnamurthy appealed to all political parties to shun violence and crime during campaigning.
"We do not want the election to be conducted on the basis of violence and personal attacks," he told reporters. "I would appeal to them to...avoid unnecessary violence and criminal activities.
"My appeal to the political parties is that the elections provide an opportunity to choose the best representation of he people."
It will be India's first fully electronic national election, with over one million voting machines in use.
Hundreds of police and soldiers will also be deployed.
La vie..
http://www.stanford.edu/~yamanoor
http://yamanoor.tblog.com
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http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/02/29/india.poll/index.html?headline=India~sets~national~poll~dates
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Indian voters will go to the polls in early national elections in four stages in April and May, election officials have announced.
Polling in the world's largest democracy will start on April 20 and end on May 10, with ballot counting and results on May 13, India's independent election commission said Sunday.
Opinion polls indicate the ruling coalition, led by the nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is likely to win another five-year term by a landslide.
In January, the BJP recommended early elections to capitalize on India's healthy economy, better ties with Pakistan and recent victories in regional elections.
Acting on a request from Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Indian President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam dissolved the lower house of parliament on February 6 and called for early elections.
Vajpayee -- who will stay on as caretaker prime minister until a new government is formed -- is attempting to become the first Indian prime minister to serve four terms.
India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and his daughter, Indira Gandhi, each were elected three times, although those tenures were longer than Vajpayee's.
Vajpayee has enjoyed a surge of popularity since resuming talks with Pakistan on ending decades-old hostilities. A robust economy also has increased goodwill toward his party.
India's economy is projected to grow more than 7 percent this year after a bumper harvest by farmers, who make up nearly two-thirds of the country's population of more than 1 billion.
Elections to the 543 seats of the Indian parliament's Lower House are a mammoth task.
Over 670 million Indians aged 18 and above are eligible to vote in the poll but for the first time candidates with criminal records have been formally banned.
Previous polls included many candidates with convictions while some even contested from behind bars.
Chief election commissioner T.S. Krishnamurthy appealed to all political parties to shun violence and crime during campaigning.
"We do not want the election to be conducted on the basis of violence and personal attacks," he told reporters. "I would appeal to them to...avoid unnecessary violence and criminal activities.
"My appeal to the political parties is that the elections provide an opportunity to choose the best representation of he people."
It will be India's first fully electronic national election, with over one million voting machines in use.
Hundreds of police and soldiers will also be deployed.
La vie..
http://www.stanford.edu/~yamanoor
http://yamanoor.tblog.com
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