BHARAT BALLOT 09: INDIAN PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 NEW DELHI 000927 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PTER PREL PINR KDEM IN SUBJECT: BHARAT BALLOT 09: INDIAN PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION ENTER HOME STRETCH REF: NEW DELHI 817 ¶1. (U) Summary: The rolling Indian parliamentary election moved north as Indian voters cast their ballots in the fourth round of elections on May 7. In play were several key battleground states for the Congress Party-led United Progressive Alliance's attempt to stay in power. In this fourth of five phases, polling took place in 85 constituencies across eight states. Voting in the fourth phase was relatively uneventful with the exception of small skirmishes in Bihar and West Bengal. Preliminary turnout figures were mixed, varying between weak in Bihar to strong in West Bengal, Punjab and Haryana. Votes will be counted and results announced on May 16 when all five phases of polling have been completed and 714 million voters have had a chance to cast their ballot to elect a new Lok Sabha (lower house) of parliament and a new government. End Summary. Fourth of Five Phases --- ¶2. (U) Voters in 85 constituencies spread across eight states headed to polls in the fourth round of the five-phased election. A total of 1,315 candidates, including 119 women, were fighting for 85 Lok Sabha seats. More than 94.6 million people are eligible to vote in the fourth round. In the four rounds of voting, an electorate of 593 million (out of a total of 714 million) has made its selection for 457 (out of 543) seats in the lower house of parliament. The next and last round of polls takes place on May 13. Votes will be counted and results announced on May 16. The Contested States --- ¶3. (U) The 85 parliamentary constituencies going to the polls in the fourth phase are located in the following states: -- Bihar (3/40 seats; polling for all 40 seats now completed) -- Jammu & Kashmir (1/6 seats; polling for 4/6 seats completed in phases 1-4) -- Uttar Pradesh (18 /80 seats; polling for 66/80 seats completed in phases 1-4) -- West Bengal (17/42 seats; polling for 31/42 seats completed in phases 1-4) -- Haryana (10/10 seats) -- Punjab (4/13 seas; polling will be completed in phase 5) -- Delhi (7/7 seats) -- Rajasthan (25/25 seats) Voter Turnout Better Than in Previous Rounds --- ¶4. (U) Voting began briskly in election states, but slowed as the mid-day heat kept voters home. The Election Commission reported a preliminary turnout number of 57 percent. The turnout varied between high in West Bengal (75%),Punjab (65%) and Haryana (63%),to low in Bihar (37%). Overall, the turnout was better than in the first three rounds. Peaceful Polls --- ¶5. (U) The May 7 poll was relatively peaceful and orderly. There were reports of stray incidents in the southwestern area of West Bengal resulting in two injuries. In Jammu & Kashmir, the GOI deployed paramilitary troops throughout Srinagar and surrounding areas to thwart anti-election protests prompted by a separatist boycott. Big Name Contests --- ¶6. (U) Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi is seeking NEW DELHI 00000927 002 OF 003 re-election from the traditional Nehru-Gandhi constituency of Amethi, Uttar Pradesh. BJP President Rajnath Singh is contesting from Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, where he faces stiff competition from Congress and Bahujan Samaj Party candidates. Some of the other prominent personalities contesting during phase four include: Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee from West Bengal; Railway Minister Lalu Prasad from Bihar; Mines Minister Sis Ram Ola from Rajasthan; Samajwadi President Mulayam Singh Yadav from Uttar Pradesh; National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah from Srinagar, J&K; Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) Chief Ajit Singh from Uttar Pradesh; and young parliamentarians Sachin Pilot (Congress, Rajasthan),Manvendra Singh (BJP, Rajasthan); Sandeep Dixit (Congress, Delhi); and Naveen Jindal (Congress, Haryana). ¶7. (U) The Election Commission has prohibited exit polls on grounds that they can be manipulated and could influence voter behavior in subsequent rounds. It is not possible, therefore, to get a quick read on any trends or patterns in how voters cast their ballots today. It will take a few days before the buzz from internal party surveys and political pundits' analysis begins to make the rounds on how the parties fared in this round in the various states. Eastern India - 20 Seats --- ¶8. (U) In eastern India, 20 seats were at stake in Bihar and West Bengal in the fourth round of the polls. Bihar completed its final phase of voting, while West Bengal has one more phase to go. Governance and development are the primary elections issues in both states. Whereas caste plays a significant role in dictating electoral behavior in Bihar, ethnicity is a significant factor in northern West Bengal (where ethnic Gorkhas have campaigned for greater recognition and statehood) and in the Maoist-influenced southwestern areas. ¶9. (U) The discord within the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in Bihar has thrown the traditional electoral alliances out the window. As a result, regional parties are expected to improve on their 2004 performance in Bihar (Janata Dal-United). In West Bengal, Trinamool and Congress together pose the most formidable threat to the Left Front's 32-year domination of state politics led by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M). All eyes are on Singur (Hooghly) and Nandigram (Tamluk) constituencies to see whether the Trinamool-Congress alliance can capitalize on voter dissatisfaction with the Left Front over it acquisition of land for industry, or whether they will be held accountable for the departure of the high profile Tata small car factory from the state. Northern India - 65 Seats --- ¶10. (U) Uttar Pradesh: Eighteen seats representing over 25 million voters went to the polls in northwestern Uttar Pradesh (UP). India's largest state, UP sends 80 members to the Lok Sabha and will see voting in all five phases. The main fight in UP remains between Yadav's SP and the Bahujan Samaj Party of Chief Minister Mayawati, though embassy contacts recently reported a perceived uptick in support for the BJP and the Congress Party among the UP electorate. Media reported peaceful polling with a relatively low 31 percent turnout through midday. ¶11. (U) Delhi: While Delhi boasts the second highest number of candidates per seat - 23 on average for each of its seven seats - the contests are generally straight Congress Party-BJP fights. Embassy contacts report the Congress Party looks strong in all constituencies and could win six, if not seven of the seats. This comes just weeks after party leaders dropped candidates Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar due to sustained protests by the Sikh community over the two NEW DELHI 00000927 003 OF 003 men's alleged role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Also contesting from Delhi is Minister of Science and Technology Kapil Sibal. The Congress Party is hoping to ride the coattails of Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit's November 2008 assembly victory in which a high turnout of 59 percent from Delhi's 11 million voters returned the veteran politician for a third straight term. ¶12. (U) Haryana: An estimated twelve million voters cast their votes for ten parliamentary seats. For the most part, the election is a two-way competition between the Congress and the Indian Lok Dal Party. Many expect Congress to perform well in the state backed by the party's strong economic and development record, but it is not likely to match its 2004 performance when it picked up nine of the state's ten seats. Identity politics is also expected to play a prominent role in these elections, as parties vie to project appropriate candidates to gain the support of strategic ethnic/caste vote banks. ¶13. (U) Punjab: Four districts went to polls in the first of two phases of polling for thirteen Lok Sabha seats. The remaining nine seats will see polling on May 13. An estimated 5.3 million voters turned out to cast their ballots. The Bathinda constituency in Punjab's Malwa region has emerged as a battleground between the state's two political elite families. Harsimrat Kaur Badal, the wife of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal, is the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) candidate. Harsimrat faces off with the Congress candidate and former Chief Minister Captain Amrinder Singh's son, Raninder Singh. The election is largely a two-way contest between the incumbent SAD-BJP coalition and the Congress Party. Many believe that a growing anti-incumbency sentiment, together with the SAD-BJP's poor governance record, will provide a boost for Congress. The Congress Party is expected to pick up five to seven seats, where it currently holds only two of the state's thirteen Lok Sabha seats. ¶14. (U) Rajasthan: Voters in Rajasthan will elect 25 members of parliament in a mostly head-to-head election between the Congress Party and the BJP. The Congress Party in the state is riding the momentum from the state assembly elections in December 2008 when it ousted the BJP from power in the state, but the BJP is fighting back hard. Both parties have recruited their star campaigners -- Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, L.K. Advani, Narendra Modi -- to visit the state in the closing days of the campaign. As things stood last week, the race was neck and neck with each party favored in nine seats, two expected to go to independents and five too close to call. As the Congress is working from a low base in 2004 -- it won only four of the 25 seats -- it stands to pick up some seats in Rajasthan. Seats swings in Rajasthan are doubly important because head-to-head BJP-Congress contests mean that a win for a party is accompanied by a corresponding loss for its main competitor. ¶15. (U) Jammu and Kashmir: Despite a boycott call by the All Party Hurriyat Conference separatists, turn out at 24% was better than the 18.5% registered in 2004. The polling was peaceful amid a tight security presence. Farooq Abdullah, former Chief Minister and father of current Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is contesting the seat. BURLEIGH