Monthly Archives: June 2015

Hat trick by Oommen Chandy

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Sabarinath with CM

K. S. Sabarinath (Right) with Oommen Chandy

It was a hat-trick victory for Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and the ruling Front in Aruvikkara Assembly constituency on Tuesday. The United Democratic Front (UDF) had won by-elections earlier at Neyyattinkara and Piravom after Mr. Chandy came to power in 2011.

The result indicates that Mr. Chandy’s mass contact strategy is still working though some might be disappointed by the unchanging face of bureaucracy. It also shows that the corruption charges against the government did not have the impact that the Opposition hoped for. The failure of the candidate put up by UDF dissident P. C. George to garner even one per cent of the votes perhaps underlines this.

The UDF had cleverly fielded a new face in the election instead of a seasoned politician. Now, almost every citizen know that politicians routinely take money from businessmen including bar and quarry owners for doing favours. But UDF candidate K. S. Sabarinadhan could not be grouped with them as he has not been in politics before.

Vote sharesHowever, it is notable that opposition parties, including BJP, and NOTA carried away a vote share of 56.87 per cent while UDF’s vote share dropped by 9.17 percentage points (from 48.78% to 39.61%.). The Opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF) suffered a loss of 7.1 percentage points (from 39.61% to 32.51%). NOTA polled one per cent of the votes. The vote share of BJP increased by nearly four-fold from 6.61 per cent to 23.96 per cent.

It showed that BJP could extend the advances it made in Thiruvananthapuram at least partially to neighbouring constituencies provided that it has the right candidate and political climate. BJP’s O. Rajagopal had won 33.3 per cent of the votes in the Lok Sabha polls from Thiruvananthapuram constituency in 2014. Now, he has won 23.96 per cent votes from a neighbouring Assembly segment.

This does not mean that BJP can duplicate the performance in the Assembly elections in 2016. It simply lacks candidates of the stature of Mr. Rajagopal to be fielded in other constituencies. It is also notable that Mr. Rajagopal’s popularity is not as strong as in Thriuvananthapuram in Aruvikkara. His appeal may have also diminished compared to the time of Modi wave and loss of popularity of Shashi Tharoor (who defeated him in Thiruvananthapuram).

However, the BJP’s performance is a clear warning to both the UDF and LDF. They will lose votes if people find an alternative, perhaps even NOTA, if they take the voters for granted. People are also not ignoring issues like development. The UDF lost a lead in Aruvikkara panchayat of Aruvikkara constituency over issues of local development. It won because BJP took away votes of LDF also. by-electionRelated Post:
Crucial battle for Oommen Chandy in Kerala

Crucial battle for Oommen Chandy in Kerala

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The by-election from Aruvikkara constituency in Kerala is a crucial battle for Ommen Chandy government, beleaguered by corruption charges.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has taken it upon himself to win the election by fielding a novice. He has already addressed or interacted directly with half of the electorate in the constituency.

by-election

Finale of by-election campaign in Aruvikkara constituency in Kerala. Photos: Roy Mathew

A victory in Aruvikkara will enable Mr. Chandy to claim that his government still has people’s support. The ruling Front will be winning the third by-election after coming to power in 2011. (It had earlier won by-elections from Neyyattinkara and Piravom).

A defeat would show that support for government has slipped. This would encourage his detractors and he will face increasing pressure over corruption, questionable associations and misdemeanors of his Ministers and his own office. Though challenge to Mr. Chandy’s Chief- Ministership is not as strong as before, a defeat in the by-election can spell serious trouble for Mr. Chandy.

The campaigning is throwing out characteristics of a neck to neck race. However, the chances of the ruling Front (UDF) or Opposition Front (LDF) making a significant advance at the finish line could not be ruled out. The UDF candidate K. S. Sabarinathan, being a novice, has the advantage of being unblemished. The LDF candidate M. Vijayakumar, on the other hand, has to carry his own baggage. He faces an unusual situation of a counter affidavit having filed against his affidavit given as part of his nomination papers.

electionThis may be first time that a counter gets filed against an affidavit filed by a candidate. This could now become a trend in future elections.
The BJP candidate O. Rajagopal is sure to carry away a notable number of votes from the UDF and LDF kitty. He had been runner up in elections from Thiruvananthapuram.

His party’s vote share in Aruvikkara in the Assembly election of 2011 was only less than seven per cent. Mr. Rajagopal, who is popular around Thiruvananthapuram, and his foray into an adjoining area is sure to increase BJP’s votes.

Related links:
Kerala Assembly election database
By-election results: Neyyattinkara and Piravom

Poison in food

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If we look at officials records, the banning of Maggi noodles will look as an isolated incident. Maggi was the first instant noodles to be introduced in India in 1982 and the pre-1982 generation had not tasted anything like that before. However, the food item had hardly been examined critically though sometimes perceived as unhealthy having several additives and preservatives in it.

When the dust settles down, Maggi will bounce back. Many Indians would not have even heard of the controversy and they will continue to relish the foreign food. The Maggi incident will not be a lesson for either the authorities or the people. In fact, there are thousands of products in the market which can be worse than Maggi.

The Food Safety and Standards Act was enacted in 2006 with more stringent provisions than the erstwhile Food Adulteration Act. However, during the past nine years, the authorities have not cared to strictly enforce the Act, but for occasional tests and warnings.

The problem is not confirmed to large packaged food manufacturers. Many food items such as vegetables and grains in the market are contaminated or adulterated. Items procured by large manufacturers cannot be free of contaminants and it is not easy to test all the items that go into production. Many smaller operators cannot even afford to do any testing at all.

It has been found that excessive quantities of pesticides are being used in vegetables cultivated in Tamil Nadu and grains in Punjab. Sometime back, all samples of packaged chilly power sold in Kerala were found to

Potassium dichromate used as an adulterant in chilly powder affects resperatory system, liver, kidneys,eyes, skin and blood.

Potassium dichromate used as an adulterant in chilly powder affects resperatory system, liver, kidneys,eyes, skin and blood.

have highly toxic and carcinogenic potassium dichromate in it. Even products of well known brands had it. It turned out that they were procuring chilly powder from North India and was merely packaging and marketing it in Kerala without any testing. (It was more profitable for them to buy the powder than buy the raw material for powdering in Kerala.)

Nothing was heard of prosecution in these cases. And it is not known whether chilly power sold in Kerala still has potassium dichromate. Pesticide residues and contaminants sometimes become undetectable after processing. All these point to the need for stricter food safety enforcement covering the source to final product.