V-P is table talk at PM dinner

Everything went well at the PM8217;s party, but for the declaration of a boycott of dinner as well as the poll by his perennially grumbling partner 8212; Mamata Banerjee8217;s Trinamool Congress 8212; over the Eastern Railway bifurcation issue. Party chief whip Sudip Bandyopadhyay hinted at the possibility of a rapproachment even at the eleventh hour when he said, 8216;8216;there are no full-stops in politics8217;8217;.

Rebel party MP Ajit Panja defied Banerjee and showed up at Vajpayee8217;s dinner. Banerjee, on the other hand, played the host at a parallel dinner at her residence for her MPs, MLAs and Kolkata corporators, who have arrived here for a dharna at the Janata Mantar on the bifurcation issue tomorrow.

While the numbers indicated an easy victory for Shekhawat over his lone rival Sushil Kumar Shinde of the Congress, both camps feared cross-voting, inspired by caste sentiments. Shinde, a Dalit, could wean away a section of Dalit votes from the NDA-camp, while reverse traffic of Thakur votes to Shekhawat could neutralise this gain.

If the BJP was a little exercised over the Dalit sentiment having come into play in the election, it had only itself to blame.

It was Himachal Pradesh Governor Suraj Bhan, a former BJP MP, who had played the Dalit card while building a case for his own nomination for the post. Even though his efforts yielded him nothing except a couple of media reports, the consequent Dalit consolidation within the NDA, particularly the BJP-ranks, offered ready terrain for Shinde to try poaching surreptiously.

No wonder then that Shinde claimed today that the NDA was worried on account of its lack of numbers.

He said, 8216;8216;If they are sure of their victory, why are they holding dummy polling exercises? Why are they nervous? Why are they holding the dinner?8217;8217; Shekhawat dismissed the suggestion of nervousness in the NDA-camp. He explained that the votes of 43 MPs had been invalidated during the Presidential election and that the effort was to prevent a repeat.

In an effective electoral college of 788, Shekhawat has the support of the NDA, Telugu Desam, Bahujan Samaj Party and AIADMK. Shinde enjoys the support of the Left parties, Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Nationalist Congress Party and some smaller groups.

The NDA has been very complacent in managing its flock. For instance, Lata Mangeshkar a nominated Rajya Sabha member may not come for the voting tomorrow, same goes with Shiv Sena MP Pritish Nandy. Also, the BJP has not approached members of smaller parties from the Northeast, while the Congress has tried to reach out to all members.

But if the secret voting goes along the party-lines, Shekhawat could poll around 450 votes and defeat Shinde by about 100. If people resort to crossvoting, well, it could defy all calculations.