Away from home, yet eyes on home result

Nagpur: The country is all set to witness a political semi-final on Thursday with results of assembly elections of four major states – Kerala, West Bengal, Assam and Tamil Nadu – to be announced. The politically inclined Nagpurians are taking keen interest in these results as they feel they will shape the political future of the country in the months to come. It is more so for the Nagpurians who hail from these states.Some are partisans while others interested in development no matter which party comes to power. TOI talked to a number of Nagpurians from these states to know what they felt about the poll outcome. Many showed clear opinion about who would win and others were interested in only what the winner would do in the next five years.
Some Bengalis seemed to think that both the strong contenders TMC and Left-Congress alliance had disappointed and were hoping for a BJP victory, however improbable that might be.
Reema Ghosh is one such. “I do not support Mamata Banerjee in the elections and I definitely think BJP should win this time. I want BJP because of its performance here,” she said. Sanjeev Ukil felt Mamata will romp home but has no expectations from her. “I am sure Mamata will win but I do not support her,” he said.
Partho Sarkar, however, felt differently. “I think TMC will win the elections, there is no doubt in that. They have done a decent development works mainly in the rural areas,” he told TOI. Mukta Chatterjee shared that view. “There definitely has been some improvement in the state (Bengal) but it seems it is not well planned,” she said.
Tamilians seem to be concurring with exit poll predictions and are giving DMK a chance. Some of them are disappointed with both alliances. “I think DMK is winning. The current government had introduced a lot of schemes in the state but they partially failed because their schemes focused only on the lower and the illiterate class,” said KA Pandian, a WCL official.
Nutriotionist AN Radha was not so sure. “Since the Tamil Nadu government gets changed every five years, it is a difficult guess. People of TN will make a wise choice,” she said. Same was the case with GS Natarajan, a former director of LIT. “I feel both the parties have a 50-50 chance. But you can’t expect much from these parties,” he added.
The Keralites TOI talked to had clearer view of the outcome in their state. Government servant Abraham Thomas felt there would be a hung House. “UDF was able to get 70-71 seats, but this time I feel it will be getting 68 seats,” he said. Madhu Nayar, president of Rotary Mihan Town, favours LDF. “I am sure LDF will come to power because Kerala has given mandate to both alternately,” he told TOI.
VM George, a retired ordnance factory employee, said LDF would ride to power with a majority because it has been taking advantage of the problems in Kerala. Defence official P Somasundaran did not have a favourite. “In the past elections, there were only two parties, LDF and UDF, in the race. This time BJP too has established its base,” he said.
Assamese students studying in VNIT seemed to concur with the exit polls and saw a BJP win. Heerok Borboruah felt although Congress had done some works, BJP will win because of anti-incumbency. Girish Pait stated BJP would romp home because there had been quite a few problems in past few years.
Moitreyee Dulay, even though a Congress supporter, said it would be BJP this time. She stated BJP will discontinue the pro-student schemes that the Congress government had launched. Prantor Tamuli said he was not much interested in who would win, but hoped that the next government paid attention to problems of common citizens and students.