Looking to committed vote base
From Yoginder Gupta
Tribune News Service

AMBALA: With the polling day just 10 days away the president of the Haryana unit of the BSP, Mr Aman Kumar Nagra, is fighting with his back to the wall to retain the Ambala Lok Sabha seat, which he had snatched from the Congress and the BJP for the first time in the past 50 years by a slender margin of 2,864 votes in 1998.

Since its inception the Ambala constituency has returned either a Congress nominee or a BJP man to the Lok Sabha. It was only last year that Mr Nagra was able to break this cycle with the help of Mr Om Parkash Chautala’s party. However, this time Mr Chautala’s INLD had entered into an alliance with the BJP, while the BSP has chosen the HVP as its electoral partner.

The BSP has a committed base in the constituency. The party polled a little over 45,000 votes in 1989. Two years later it improved its tally to over 1.11 lakh votes. The BSP further increased its votes to over 1.64 lakh in 1996. With the help of the INLD Mr Nagra secured about 2.74 lakh votes in 1998.

Mr Nagra claims that the party will not only retain the 2.74 lakh votes it polled last year but also cross the 3.5 lakh mark this year. It is believed that the BSP has a committed vote of over 1.5 lakh in the constituency. The INLD, too, has a bank of at least 1.25 lakh votes. The BJP and the Congress have committed votes of 1.25 lakh and 1.66 lakh. These estimates are based on the number of votes polled by various parties in their worst periods in recent times.

Mr Rattan Lal Kattaria’s hope to win this seat for the BJP depend upon how many votes the INLD will be able to transfer to him. Since Mr Kattaria is a new face for the constituency, he has virtually no “personal” votes here. He is depending upon the Vajpayee factor, which as elsewhere in Haryana, is quite strong here, and Mr Chautala, who has great hold over his voters.

However, Mr Kattaria has not been able to enthuse all BJP workers to work for the party’s success so far. In Ambala cantonment certain BJP men seem to indifferent to the party’s campaign because they feel that importance has been given to those who joined the party recently after deserting the camp of Independent local MLA, Mr Anil Vij. Unfortunately for the party, there appears to be a division among the workers on “local” and “Punjabi” lines.

A number of party leaders feel that a visit to the constituency by a leader of the stature of either Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee or Mr L.K. Advani can bring the workers on one platform and improve the chances of Mr Kattaria considerably.

The campaign of Mr Phool Chand Mullana (Congress) suffers not from party infighting but from a different problem. Almost all senior party workers from the Kalka assembly segment, barring the Rajya Sabha member, Mr Lachhman Singh, have gone to Karnal from where the former Chief Minister, Mr Bhajan Lal, is reportedly facing a tough electoral battle. Mr Bhajan Lal’s elder son, Mr Chander Mohan, is the Congress MLA from the Kalka constituency in which Panchkula falls. Mr Mullana’s loss in Panchkula will be Mr Kattaria’s gain.

Mr Nagra is getting support from the HVP only in the Jagadhari assembly segment from where the sitting HVP MLA, Mr Subhash Chaudhary, is working hard for the BSP. Elsewhere the HVP presence is not seen. The Akalis owing allegiance to Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra are also working for the BSP. Their leader, Mr Kartar Singh Takkar, regularly campaigns for Mr Nagra. However, the Shiromani Akali Dal of Mr Parkash Singh Badal is with the BJP. Its leader in Ambala, Mr Surjit Singh Niddar, is a member of the SGPC.

Because of the support of the former Chief Minister, Mr Bansi Lal, there has been a slight erosion in the BSP support base among Dalit employees. A number of them said they were thinking of voting for either the Congress or the BJP this time because the employees had to suffer a lot at the hands of the previous government.

The next few days will be crucial to decide if Ambala will witness a triangular contest or it will be a straight fight between the Congress and the BJP.

Selling BJP ‘corporate style’

NEW DELHI: As political parties gear up for the last Lok Sabha elections of the millennium, a tiny technological wonder of this century — the laptop computer — is helping the BJP’s plan to “sell the brand equity” in “corporate style”.

In a move, which may turn out to be a trend-setter in future elections in India, the party has developed a huge computerised database — following three months of research — on every little detail on all Lok Sabha constituencies in the country — to help it plan its campaign strategy.

“The laptop contains all data pertaining to the last six Lok Sabha elections in the country — results, margin of victory/loss, percentage of votes each candidate polled, demographic break-down of each constituency, brief backgrounder on all candidates (past and present), issues and developing trends,” Sanjay Kaul, in the party’s media cell here, told PTI.

“Besides the existing data, we receive feedback from the constituencies almost on a daily basis which is entered into the computer. We use the information for analysis based on which the campaign strategy — which is specific to a region, state, and sometimes even constituency — is planned and implemented,” says Kaul, a communication specialist. “We are following the usual corporate-style marketing strategy. We know that the stocks of the BJP as a brand equity are high and hence the confidence to carve out a distinct image in the field,” says Kaul.

Three months of huge research has gone into developing the database. Four highly professional research agencies were hired for the purpose.

“The objective is to consolidate the seats we already possess and then work on those we lost with a slim margin in the last elections. Thus the database has helped identify the ‘critical’ constituencies, according to which we have planned our strategy in those,” he says. — PTI

‘Outsiders’ may tilt the scales
By Prabhjot Singh
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH : The battlelines have been drawn for a tough straight contest for the lone Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat.

The principal contestants — Mr Krishan Lal Sharma, Senior Vice-President of BJP and Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal of the Congress — are old parliamentarians. Both have been members of both the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha before.

Unlike previous elections, this time the alliances and tie-ups are not local but same as at national level. While the BJP is supported by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Samata Party, the Congress has been extended full support by “secular forces”, including the Communist Party of India, the Janata Party and the Labour Party of India.

Besides, these two principal candidates, others in the race include Col Harsharan Singh (retd) of the Rashtriya Raksha Dal (RRD), representing men and officers, both serving and retired, not only from defence forces, but also from the paramilitary forces and the police.

Then there is the third front comprising the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the Sarb Hind Shiromani Akali Dal (SHSAD) of Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra and the Marxist Communist Party of India. This front has fielded the chief of the local unit of BSP, Mr Mata Ram Dhiman. In the last elections, the BSP had supported the Congress candidate, Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal, to defeat the BJP-SAD candidate, Mr Satya Pal Jain. In 1996, Mr Dhiman had contested on his own and ended with more than 10,000 votes in his kitty.

Then the Samajwadi Party had put up Mr Manphool Singh, who was once a minister in the Devi Lal’s government in Haryana in 1987. He claims the support of Balmikis, OBCs and minorities. The Lok Shakti has decided to contest on its own though at national level, it is a partner in the National democratic Alliance (NDA). Last time also, it had contested independently. The party is putting up its local unit chief, Mr Ravi Parkash Kansal.

Mrs Bimla Sapna, one of two women candidates in the fray from here, is the chief of the local unit of the Bahujan Samaj Party (Ambedkar). She had contested the last elections also. This time the contest is not without glamour. A former Miss Chandigarh, Ms Palac Shri, is contesting as an Independent.

The Khalsa Conference, which is the lone party to advocate for merger of Chandigarh with Punjab, has put up Mr Gurnam Singh Sidhu from here. It claims support of various breakaway Akali groups.

The Ajeya Bharat has put up Mr Dilbagh Singh, an industrialist, after it was realised that earlier nominee of the party, folk singer Sukhi Brar, was not registered as a voter. Then there are some Independents, including Mr Kartar Singh Hothi, a former PCS (allied services) officer. The Shiv Sena has also put up its candidate here.

Like previous elections, it will be “migrant” or “outsider vote” which will decide the fate of all 16 candidates. The focus has been so much on the slums and colony votes that the BJP had brought a Bhojpuri folk singer and some of its MPs from Uttar Pradesh for campaigning.

The increase in number of electorate, more than 8 per cent in one year, is perhaps the highest in the country as in the union capital, it varies between 3 and 5 per cent. The majority of new voters are “migrants”. Interestingly, while the main contestants are engaged in “outsider” vs “insider” controversy, their fate will be decided by people who have been to the city for much shorter time, including less than a year to five years.

Though both principal contestants have talked at length about future of Chandigarh, its future, development of labour colonies, rehabilitation of slums, future of the municipal corporation and betterment of employees, they are yet to release formally their local election manifestos.

Except for visit of Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister, Prem Kumar Dhumal, and BSP chief, Kanshi Ram, no other national leader has come here to canvass for any of the 16 candidates. The exact nature of the situation would be known by early next week as the campaigning, which has been gradually picking up, touches its peak.

Besides the main contestants, others too appear to be taking the contest very seriously. For example, senior retired defence officers and others along with their wives are seen moving in groups to canvass for the RRD candidate,convincing the electorate that the security of the country would be safe in the hands of ex-defence officers.

Similarly, the third front candidate has been concentrating on labour colonies and villages. So far, the electioneering has been on a peaceful note and is expected to remain so.

Interestingly, many of the top politicians of the city, including Mr Satya Pal Jain, two-time MP from the city, Mr Venod Sharma, ex-MP and former President of the CTCC; Mr Chander Mukhi Sharma, president, CTYCC; Mr Ram Pal Sharma, president, INTUC; and others are hardly seen campaigning for their respective party candidates.

Sonia Gandhi spins web
By Roopinder Singh
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH: With the launch of a new web site, the Congress has made a high-tech splash. The motive is to make the party leader accessible to any of the estimated 10 lakh users in India and, of course those abroad.

The new web site is called soniagandhionline. As you type in the address of the web site, you see a big picture of Sonia Gandhi that dominate the main page. Towards the right are various buttons viz. gallery, speeches, video, opinion poll. Normally such buttons are linked to other pages that have further details on the subject. In this case, there are no links at present. These will presumably be added later.

Under the big graphic image is a form that asks you to type in your name, your e-mail address and the query that you have in mind. The promise is that you will get an answer from the Congress leader within 24 hours. Whether such an operation can be sustained over a period of time remains to be seen, though there is no doubt that this is a novel way of reaching out.

Besides, there are other “unofficial” sites on Sonia Gandhi. But before we get to those, let’s have a look at indiancongress.com. This is the official site of the Indian National Congress that proclaims itself as the largest democratic party in the world.

As expected, a big picture of the party’s present leader dominates the main page, which also has such useful links as the list of candidates for the Lok Sabha poll and the party manifesto. Also given are such links to information on the party’s constitution, history and a section on the President. This is a fairly comprehensive site.

Among the “unofficial” sites on Sonia Gandhi is soniagandhi.com. As a disclaimer says: “The promoters of this site are a group of progressive individuals of India formed to promote secularism. We neither represent nor are affiliated to Mrs Sonia Gandhi or the Indian National Congress party.” The site, however, contains a lot of information. It also advocates the stand that “a Congress government should be elected to form government at the centre. In the event the party comes to power, Mr Manmohan Singh should be the choice for prime ministership. Mrs Sonia Gandhi should be chosen Deputy Prime Minister.”

Another site is based on a book, “Sonia Gandhi: Saga of Service.” Though one has not read the book, it would seem that the entire book, including photographs, has been put on the Internet. Even as the Congress leader faces charges of inaccessibility, those who have access to the Internet can claim access to a fair amount of information about the Congress leader. And now the widow of the man who is credited with ushering in the computerisation era has promised to respond to queries too—through computers.

Observers, however, point out that the class of the Indian public that has access to the Internet is the upper middle class. People belonging to this class do not vote in large numbers and though the party leaders may be satisfied with such cyber splashes, it remains to be seen whether they influence the voting patterns of the public significantly.

The Dhindsa factor in Sangrur
From Jangveer Singh
Tribune News Service

SANGRUR: It is a clash of Akali titans in this predominantly rural constituency on which hinges the relevance of Akali Dal (Amritsar) chief Simranjit Singh Mann in the state politics as well as a prospective union ministry berth for senior Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) leader Surjit Singh Barnala. The CPI (M) candidate, Mr Ajit Singh, may play king maker.

It is practically now or never for Mr Mann who has been beaten twice by Mr Barnala from this constituency. However, he has constantly improved and appears to be best placed to challenge Mr Barnala this time due to support of the Tohra faction as well as the blessing of former Akal Takth Jathedar Bhai Ranjit Singh.

Due to these factors, Mr Mann currently seems to be enjoying an edge in rural areas. However, understanding that all this will come to nought if he is unable to attract Hindu votes, he is also appealing to them for votes and starts his meetings with the “Ram Ram” greeting in urban areas.

Though Mr Mann has residual sympathy in this constituency due to his fight against repression and human rights abuse, he is preferring to stick to the non-performance of the Badal government in order to appeal to a larger audience. However, it is intriguing that the Sarb Hind Shiromani Akali Dal chief Gurcharan Singh Tohra has not campaigned for him till now, particularly in light of the fact that Bhai Ranjit Singh brought Mr Mann into the front formed with his blessings despite reluctance on the part of the Tohra faction to align with him.

However, the Amritsar Dal leader is likely to get a boost with the former Akal Takht Jathedar campaigning for him on August 31. Earlier also Bhai Ranjit Singh had come to address Mr Mann’s rally when he filed his nomination papers.

For old war horse Surjit Singh Barnala, the poll is virtually for a place in the union Cabinet if the BJP comes to power at the Centre. However, he has been put in a tight spot with the SAD being divided on his candidature. The Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa factor could play an important role as the SAD Secretary-General’s supporters had openly raised a revolt against Mr Barnala’s candidature. Barnala legislator Malkiat Singh Kitu had even threatened to contest as an Independent with the support of most of the legislators from the constituency who seem to be aligned with Mr Dhindsa. Though the revolt was nipped through intervention of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, the lobby which had opposed Mr Barnala’s candidature is not supporting him whole-heartedly.

Besides this Mr Barnala has to contend with an ambivalent urban voter who is not making his choice clear. Urban voters are reportedly not happy with Mr Barnala. Voters in his hometown who are perturbed due to shifting of the bus stand and other local issues.

The union minister is also driving home the “secular credentials” of Sant Harchand Singh Longowal and projecting himself as the late Sant’s heir to ensure that urban electorate votes in his favour. He is highlighting the fact that Mr Mann observed the anniversary of Sant Longowal this time but at the same time had rejoiced when some of the conspirators involved in the Sant’s murder were freed. He is also stressing that Mr Mann has only changed his colours temporarily due to the elections and that he (Mr Barnala) alone stands for secularism.

Disciples of the Succha Sauda Dera in Sirsa, who form a sizeable number and who had helped Mr Barnala last time also, may again vote in his favour. Mr Mann is non-committal on the topic saying that he would not let the Suchha Sauda followers spoil his applecart.

The CPI (M) candidate, Mr Ajit Singh, appears to be on a weak wicket compared to his rivals mainly due to the fact that he is a newcomer having been principal of a senior secondary school earlier. Also there has been a decrease in Marxist influence in the constituency with the Marxists getting only 40,000 votes in the last Lok Sabha elections.

Former union minister Balwant Singh Ramoowalia is the star campaigner for the Marxists and is single-handedly increasing their visibility in the constituency. Mr Ramoowalia has also been responsible for coordinating with Congress leaders of the constituency some of whom have joined the campaign now. Former Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal has also campaigned for the CPI (M) candidate but the Congress rank and file is still to get its act together.

The vigour of the Congress campaign in the coming days will decide whether the party votes can be transferred to the CPI (M) candidate or not. It is here that Mr Ajit Singh’s king maker role will come into play as the transfer of urban Congress votes on his favour could weaken Mr Barnala’s chances.

The contest will be spread over nine constituencies of Malerkotla, Sherpur, Barnala, Bhadaur, Dhanaula, Sangrur, Dirba, Raikot and Nihalsinghwala of which only three constituencies of Barnala, Sangrur and Malerkotla have a urban population. Returning Officer Anirudh Tiwari has identified 104 very sensitive and 451 sensitive stations in the constituency having an electorate of 11.45 lakh.

Issues vary in three J&K regions
From M.L. Kak
Tribune News Service

JAMMU: Since the Jammu and Kashmir state has three distinct regions, the main poll issues vary from region to region and from one contesting political party to another. The National Conference (NC) is again focussing on the issue of greater autonomy for the state to counter the same slogan raised by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) headed by Mufti Mohd Sayeed.

As far as restoration of greater autonomy to the state is concerned both the NC and the PDP profess strong support for it in the Kashmir valley and try to settle for regional autonomy in the Jammu and Ladakh regions. As far as voters are concerned they seem to divided on the regional lines. While a majority of voters in the Kashmir valley, which has three Lok Sabha constituencies, seemingly support restoration of pre-1953 constitutional status, in the Jammu region electorate is for regional autonomy so that the prolonged neglect of this region becomes a part of history and Jammu gets equal share in political and financial powers. Against this, Buddhists in Ladakh are for a union territory status for the region.

Militancy continues to be another major poll issue which has placed the NC and the PDP on the opposite side. While the PDP’s main poll stand is that the government should hold unconditional talks with militants and effective measures should be taken to check excesses allegedly being committed by the security forces, the NC favours talks only after the militants bid farewell to their weapons.

Against this the BJP is for giving a free hand to the security forces in tackling militants, especially foreign mercenaries and opposes holding of talks with anti-national and secessionist forces.

The only poll issue that is common to all principal political parties is peace for the state. The cash crunch and acute shortage of electricity and drinking water dominate poll rallies and the NC government is at the receiving end. Even its political ally, the BJP, continues to berate it for heavy loadshedding in the Jammu region. Voters in the three assembly segments in the Jammu region were candid in saying that mismanagement in supply of electricity and drinking water may affect the chances of the NC in the Jammu and Udhampur constituencies.

The Congress, which is in a bad shape in the state following the resignation of the Mufti from the party and on account of wrong selection of candidates, has raked up the issue of stable and strong Centre which would be possible only if the Congress was voted to power. Its leaders keep on persuading the voters by citing the instance of the failure of coalition culture started by non-Congress parties.

While making an issue of the acute cash crunch the Congress has started accusing both the BJP government in the Centre and the National Conference government in the state for it.

Though several other issues are being raised by contesting candidates and political parties the majority of voters, continue to be least excited about the poll process. In the Kashmir valley the attitude of indifference on the part of the voters is yet to change with the appearance of party flags, buntings and posters on walls and rooftops.

In Jammu and Kathua people became aware of the poll being round the corner when candidates belonging to major parties, including the BJP, NC and the Congress marched in processions to file their nomination papers for Jammu and Udhampur seats.

Karol Bagh:
Between unkept word & fresh promises
From Tripti Nath
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI: Daughter of the late Jagjivan Ram, the sitting Congress MP from the reserved Karol Bagh constituency, Ms Meira Kumar, quit the Indian Foreign Service in 1985 to enter public life. In 1996 she won from here by a margin of 42,000 votes. In the last Lok Sabha poll, she defeated former Welfare Minister in the Delhi Government S.P. Ratawal by a margin of 5,000 votes.

Fiftytwo-year-old Meira Kumar holds a postgraduate degree in English literature from Delhi University. A law graduate, she is proficient in Spanish, English, Hindi, Sanskrit and Bhojpuri.

Her 12-year-long career in diplomacy earned her postings in Madrid and London. She has been member of the standing committees on Home Affairs, External Affairs, Food and Consumer Affairs and Environment and Forests.

A member of the Congress Working Committee, Ms Meira Kumar chaired the National Drought Relief Committee of the Congress in 1967. She has been a member of the Panjab University Senate and has represented India in various delegations abroad.

Happy to be fighting elections for the third consecutive time, she is confident of her victory once again. “My work, my contacts and my care and affection will help me win. I will certainly win by a comfortable margin. The promises I made before the 96 Lok Sabha poll stand today. My tallest promise to the voter this time is provision of water, power and cleanliness.”

Allegations of inaction do not seem to bother her. She dismisses these as baseless and nothing but a “propaganda” by the BJP. Ready with a rebuttal, she quotes from a typewritten paper. “From January 98 to July 99, I was in the constituency for 478 days out of 577 days.”

She draws attention to her claim on the number of visits in the five assembly segments in Karol Bagh and asserts that she has been with the voter in times of festivity, illness and death.

Speaking in accented Hindi, Ms Meira Kumar enumerates her achievements, including old-age pension approval for women, financial help for young widows and those in need of medication, provision of mobile hospitals, redressal of grievances related to water and electricity and initiation of work on two underground water reservoirs.

Sensitive to the plight of the poor, Ms Meira Kumar believes that the poor and the downtrodden are the backbone of society. “The affluence and glamour is sustained by people living in slums. As a member of the Consultative Committee in the Minister of Urban Affairs, I suggested that a portion of the land allotted to housing societies should be reserved to accommodate those who provide service. They need to live with dignity.

Her rival is 36-year-old Anita Arya, Mayor of Delhi and BJP candidate.

The lady from Agra is now set to contest her first parliamentary election from a constituency where she has had her primary education.

Her meteoric rise in politics cannot be overlooked by critics. Dr Anita Arya won the municipal corporation elections from Ward no.6, in Bhopal in February, 1997 by a margin of 1300 votes. This was the starting point of her career. She had lessons in politics, perhaps, from her father Kundan Lal Nirmal who was a member and Chairman of the Agra Cantonment Board for an uninterrupted period of 16 years.

As Vice-Chairperson of the municipal education committee, she made significant contribution towards the education of children. This included introducing English as a compulsory subject from Class III to Class V in all municipal primary schools. She also directed that equal emphasis be given to all subjects and that children be given proper mid-day meal.

A doctorate in history from Agra University, Dr Anita Arya says she will be successful in view of the failure of her rival to keep her promises to the voter.

Dr Arya’s supporters are confident that this time the Jatay votes in the constituency will be divided between the two Jatav candidates fielded by the Congress and the BJP.

As Mayor, Dr Arya is credited with having undertaken significant measures to weed out corruption and bring about transparency in the administration. Besides, she has taken steps to make Delhi clean and pollution-free.

Dr Arya says in the past four months, she has monitored sanitation and “clean Delhi ” drives. Another move that has been hailed is a new provision whereby house tax can be paid in monthly instalments.

A resident of New Rajinder Nagar, Dr Arya says she has promised the voter “development” in the constituency.

Power lever with Malwa voters
By P.P.S. Gill

CHANDIGARH: As the poll campaign in all 13 Lok Sabha constituencies in Punjab gets into top gear, the politically aware voter is keeping the candidates on tenterhooks with his silence and indifference. He is closely watching campaign trends and the issues raised.

In Punjab, since the 1998 Parliamentary elections much has changed. The key political parties, the Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), have undergone a metamorphosis. While the former has become more faction-ridden and has been dithering on the issue of state leadership, the SAD has virtually split with the two titans, Mr G.S. Tohra and Mr Parkash Singh Badal, parting ways. This has resulted in new politico-religious equations.

There exists, says political analyst P.S. Verma of Panjab University “Competitive religiosity” and sucked into the vortex of Akali politics is the Sikh clergy.

The voter is sensible to see through political gameplans and is unlikely to be taken for a ride. Another factor is the under-current of “anti-establishment sentiments” Pointers are towards fluctuations in party alignments and electoral fortunes.

A look at the 13 Lok Sabha constituencies shows that as many as seven fall in the Malwa region, which counts for 11 of the 17 districts. In other words, 65 of the 117 assembly constituencies are located in Malwa, while Doaba and Majha have 25 and 27, respectively. It also shows that out of 13 parliamentary constituencies, Doaba and Majha count for six Lok Sabha constituencies. This means that the power lever is with the Malwa voter.

The key districts numbering 11 in the Malwa region are: Mansa, Bathinda, Muktsar, Farikdot, Ferozepore, Moga, Ludhiana, Sangrur, Patiala Fatehgarh Sahib and Ropar. Key contestants are in the fray in these districts where the Congress, the SAD and the Sarb Hind Shiromani Akali Dal (SHSAD) of Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra will fight it out. In Patiala wife of PPCC President, Amarinder Singh is in the fray, in Faridkot the son of the Chief Minister, is seeking a third term and in Sangrur Union Minister, Surjit Singh Barnala is seeking a re-election.

The Malwa region known as the Akali citadel, has remained economically backward. This region has a number of “sants” and babas”.

Therefore, it will be interesting to see when the Malwais prefer in this poll.

Electorate is disenchanted
From Jasmine Sandhu Sandhawalia
Tribune News Service

JALANDHAR: This is the third general election in four years. Due to frequent elections the voters so far have not shown any indication that they are enthusiastic about the poll. This situation has left the political parties and their candidates somewhat worried about the final outcome.

Be it the rural or the urban segments of the parliamentary constituencies, the response to the contestants is lukewarm. The feeling of election fatigue and disenchantment with politicians, who promise much and deliver a little, has developed in general public here.

When TNS toured the Phillaur and Jalandhar parliamentary constituencies, people from different sections of society alleged that too frequent elections and little response of their basic needs like clean drinking water, regular supply of power, schools, hospitals had left them with little hope in various political parties.

The 52 years of independence have confirmed apprehensions that promises, doles and issues are merly a subject of political squabbling for the political parties to “fool” the voter.

Take the case of 62-year-old daily wage earner Ram Das of Phillaur. His father was also a daily wage earner and his 25-year-old-son Guru Das also has the same status.” The education system is defunct”, complain the father and son. The much publicised education policy of this most prosperous state is “elusive” and very few children in this “reserved” constituency are equipped to enter the new millennium.

Another reason why the contestants are worried is due to the model poll code enforced by the Election Commission regulating the use of loudspeakers, number of vehicles and the other paraphernalia that used to accompany candidates, specially in rural areas. Artists used to keep the crowds entertained with music and mimicry. Former union minister Balwant Singh Ramoowalia was known for using the “festive mood” to deliver his message while campaigning.

These days political parties are finding it difficult to coin good slogans to catch voters’ attention.

For the 13 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is trying to whip public sentiment on the issue of claiming victory on the Kargil front. What impact it will have will only be reflected in poll results. But the mood of voters in Jalandhar and Phillaur constituencies is that the Kargil conflict cost the nation 480 soldiers and the soldiers’ sacrifices should not be belittled by making them election issue.

NUTSHELL

SCs’ protest

MOGA (FOC): Scheduled Castes and other poor in the district have decided to cast their vote in favour of the Congress in view of the failure of the Punjab Government to disburse monthly pension on time and large-scale “corruption” in almost every government department. About four lakh voters, all government employees, have also decided to vote in favour of the Congress.

Passenger tax

SIRSA (FOC): Many vehicle owners in this district are evading passenger tax. According to informed sources, these vehicle owners are using the banners of various political parties and transporting passengers from one place to the other without paying passenger tax.

Four quit HVP

SIRSA (FOC:) Four HVP leaders joined the BJP on Thursday. According to sources, District President of the HVP (Backward section) Gurdev Singh, District President (Harijan cell), Veer Santi Swarup, District General Secretary Ramesh Yadav and District Secretary Makkhan Singh announced their disillusionment with the party chief, Mr Bansi Lal, and joined the BJP in the presence of the sitting MLA, Prof, Ganesh Lal.

Support for Cong

GARHSHANKAR (FOC): The Punjab National Vikas Party’s President, Mr Bharat Bhushan Verma, and the President of the All-India Handicap Union of Hoshiarpur, Mr Ajmer Singh Rana, have announced support for the Congress candidate, Mr Charanjit Singh Channi. A meeting of the BKU held at Mahilpur decided to support the BJP-Akali candidate for the Hoshiarpur constituency, Mr Kamal Chaudhry.

Ex-servicemen

AMRITSAR (TNS): While inaugurating the office of the Rashtriya Raksha Dal (RRD) here on Thursday, Col J.S. Mand, President, Indian Ex-Services League, Punjab and Chandigarh, announced the support of ex-servicemen, widows and their dependants to Col J.S. Bal, candidate of the RRD. At a large gathering of supporters, Brig P.P.S. Dhillon said it was the need of the hour to elect honest and dedicated candidates.

Voting machines

PANIPAT (FOC): Voters in this constituency for the first time, will cast their vote through the electronic voting machine (EVM). The Deputy Commissioner and District Election Officer, Mr Anurag Rastogi, said a campaign had been launched in Panipat district to educate the voters on the use of the EVM. Video cassettes were being shown on the television on the use of the EVM in rural areas.