The Congress talks of “ground realities” and asks urban voters to reject the Badal government for its “discriminatory” polices towards them.

All poised for nail-biting finish
From Sarbjit Singh
Tribune News Service

GURDASPUR: The fight between the two main contenders Mr Vinod Khanna (BJP) and Mr Sukhbans Kaur Bhinder (Cong) for this seat appears to be heading for a photo-finish.

While Mr Khanna is playing the Vajpayee and Kargil card to woo the voter, Mrs Sukhbans Kaur Bhinder is trying to convince the electorate that it was the Vajpayee government’s failure which made the country face an undeclared war in the Kargil sector and suffer valuable lives.

Both parties have strategies to give a further boost to their campaign which has entered the final phase.

A BJP functionary told TNS that his party would now start booth-wise campaigning. There are 1400 booths in the constituency. Earlier, election rallies were held at a select places and a whirlwind tour of villages and towns in each segment in the constituency undertaken.

He said booth-wise campaigning would be more effective as it would ensure personal contact with a maximum number of voters.

Almost a similar strategy has been devised by the Congress. Mr Niraj, a senior functionary of the party, said party activists had been told to approach the voter personally.

Almost all local issues have been put in the back-burner. The only issue now is whether to vote for or against Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee. Those supporting Mr Vinod Khanna say that a vote in his favour would mean Mr Vajpayee back in the saddle as Prime Minister. Congress leaders say that voting for Mrs Bhinder is must to avoid Kargil-like situations.

There is a strong resentment against Mr Parkash Singh Badal and his government. The Badal charisma is missing this time. Only Mr Vajpayee may prove a saviour for his party in this constituency.

There is a clear divide among the electorate. While poor sections, backward classes and small farmers and most government employees are siding with the Congress, businessmen, shopkeepers, marginal and big farmers and most of the literate are for Mr Vajpayee.

Leaders of the SAD-BJP combine campaigning for Mr Khanna spread the word that if Mr Vajpayee had not been Prime Minister, the “war” in Kargil would have spread to this part of the border. Mr Vajpayee kept the war confined to the Kargil sector, they have been telling the people. Campaigning during the next five days is crucial for both candidates.

The third important candidate in the fray is Mr Suchha Singh Chottepur of the third front led by Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra. He is the candidate of the Sarb Hind Shiromani Akali Dal. He is sure to have a role in the final outcome. He has influence in some of the rural segments of this constituency. Votes gained by him will be a loss to the BJP candidate.

Audio-video show on wheels
From Yoginder Gupta
Tribune News Service

SIRSA: The Indian National Lok Dal of Mr Om Parkash Chautala has gone hi-tech. In view of the failing health of the grand old man of Haryana politics, Mr Devi Lal, the party has been left with only one star campaigner, Mr Chautala himself.

To overcome this shortcoming, the INLD has made use of technology in a big way. A 35-minute video-cassette has been made showing clippings of Mr Devi Lal and Mr Chautala to woo voters in areas where the two leaders may not be able to visit.

The party has hired 19 vans made specially to show the video-cassette in villages. Besides the audio system, the vans are equipped with a TV set and a screen. The daily rental charge for each van, owned by a Delhi-based company, is Rs 3,000. The vans are being run in the five constituencies from where the INLD candidates are contesting on the party symbol. Copies of the video-cassette have also been given to the BJP for use in rural areas of constituencies where it has fielded its candidates.

Mr Chautala, who otherwise is always on the move, is particularly busy these days. On an average he addresses election meetings in eight parliamentary constituencies each day. To enable him to criss-cross the state daily, the party has hired a helicopter, the rent of which is being kept a secret.

According to his younger son, Abhey Chautala, who is responsible for logistics to the party campaign machinery in view of his elder brother’s involvement in his own election campaign in Bhiwani, the Chief Minister’s programme has been chalked out in such a manner as to enable him to daily touch the constituencies situated in the four corners of the state.

While six constituencies are covered by helicopter during the day, two constituencies are visited by Mr Chautala in car towards the evening when the helicopter cannot be flown. The next day it is the same routine.

The party is distributing plastic spectacles, which is its election symbol, among children. Next in line will be green paper caps with the party symbol and name followed by stickers and badges.

The video-cassette has been edited and compiled by professionals at Jain Studio, Delhi, owned by Dr J.K. Jain of the “Surya” fame.

The audio-video vans carry the INLD manifesto which promises virtually something for every section of society, besides the pictures of Mr Devi Lal and Mr Chautala.

The cassette featuring three generations — grandfather (Mr Devi Lal), father (Mr Chautala) and grandson (Ajay). Its basic theme is “old days are here again”. It opens with a zoomed shot of the aged Devi Lal. After glimpses of Mr Devi Lal as Chief Minister in the late eighties and of projects launched by him, the cassette refers to the “dark days” of the Bansi Lal rule, depicted by a blackout on the screen.

It is dawn again and Mr Chautala is shown being sworn in as Chief Minister. The cassette promises the viewers that Haryana is at the threshold of its golden era again.

Mr Devi Lal declares, at the conclusion, that Mr Chautala is the sole inheritor of his political legacy, while Ajay, being the President of the youth wing of the INLD, is shown making promises to the youth and unemployed, including the party’s intention to raise the maximum age for recruitment to government jobs from 35 to 40.

HP parties ignore fair sex
From Rakesh Lohumi
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA: While major political parties have been vociferously pleading for the reservation of 30 per cent seats in Parliament for women, they have been handing out a raw deal to the fair sex in the allotment of the party ticket in the hill state.

The ruling BJP-HVC combine and the Opposition Congress have announced their list of nominees for all four seats. However, no woman figures in the list. The other backward classes (OBCs), which constitute over 25 per cent of the electorate, have also been completely ignored.

Both parties have favoured Rajput candidates in the Mandi and Hamirpur seats. The Congress has fielded Mr Ram Lal Thakur, a sitting legislator and former minister, to challenge Mr Suresh Chandel, state BJP chief, in Hamirpur. Mr Kaul Singh, another sitting Congress legislator and former Speaker, will take on Mr Maheshwar Singh in the Mandi constituency. While in the Kangra seat the fight will be once again between Mr Shanta Kumar, a Brahmin, and Mr Sat Mahajan, state Congress chief, the Shimla seat is reserved for the Scheduled Castes. Interestingly, both parties have ignored the dominant Rajput and backward class communities in Kangra.

With Mrs Sonia Gandhi taking over the reins of the party, the Congress was expected to favour women candidates in the distribution of the party ticket. However, this has not happened. In the last Lok Sabha poll the Congress fielded Mrs Pratibha Singh, wife of Mr Virbhadra Singh, leader of the legislature Congress Party, from Mandi but this time it has not put up any woman candidate. Prior to this the party had fielded Mrs Chandresh Kumari from the Kangra seat in the 1984 and 1989 elections. But the BJP did not allot the party ticket to a woman candidate in the Lok Sabha poll.

Over the past 47 years only two women candidates have managed to enter the Lok Sabha from the state. While Raj Kumari Amrit Kaur was elected in 1952 from the Mandi-Mahasu seat, Mrs Chandresh Kumari won the Kangra seat in 1984.

There has been a complete omission of other backward classes despite the fact that they account for a major chunk of the electorate in the Kangra and Hamirpur constituencies. The Congress had been fielding Mr N.C. Prashar, a prominent backward class leader, from Hamirpur until the 1991 elections. He won the seat thrice. The BJP, on the other hand, had always fielded an OBC or Rajput candidate from Kangra until 1989, when Mr Shanta Kumar, a Brahmin, won the seat for the first time.

In the emerging scenario the behaviour of the backward classes, who appear to have disillusioned with the two parties because of their stand on the Mandal issue, will be crucial in deciding the outcome of the poll.

The Congress, which fielded Maj-Gen, Bikramjit Singh (retd) from Hamirpur in the last elections, has not nominated any former Army personnel as candidates. This time it is the coalition partner, the Himachal Vikas Congress, which has given the party ticket to Col Dhani Ram Shandil (retd) from the Shimla seat. It remains to be seen whether the regional party which is contesting a Lok Sabha seat for the first time will be able to take advantage of the Kargil conflict.

No Congress wave, says Badal
Sonia factor ‘does not count’
From P.P.S. Gill
Tribune News Service

KHARAR: During the 30-minute drive from here to Khammano on Saturday morning, SAD President and Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal spoke about the ensuing Lok Sabha poll and the party’s campaign and chances in the elections. The following are the excerpts from the interview:

Q: What is your main poll plank?

A: The Congress is a liability for the nation. Its President Sonia Gandhi is immature. When Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee had convened an all-party meeting on the Kargil situation she refused to attend that meeting. The issue of her being a “videshi” and Mr Vajpayee being a “swadeshi” goes well with the voters.

Q: How much ground have you covered so far?

A: I address 16 to 18 meetings every day and my schedule is tight. People like face-to-face meetings.

Q: What will be Ms Sonia Gandhi’s likely impact on voters in Punjab?

A: The Sonia factor does not count much. Even Congressmen in the state have confided that her visits may prove counter-productive. At Baba Bakala, the other day, Congressmen avoided mentioning her name. People flock to see her but are to well aware of what the Congress and the Nehru-Gandhi family have done to the state.

Q: How about the anti-incumbency factor in Punjab and the undercurrent of anger with elected representatives and the administration?

A: You cannot imagine the rising expectations of the people. The government has its own limitations and community development works require preference. As the poll day approaches “gussa” and “narazgi” melt away. There is definitely no wave in favour of the Congress.

Q: Do you think the Vajpayee and Kargil factors will go well with the voters? How about your government’s performance and state issues?

A: Being residents of a border state, people are conscious about the seriousness of a war. Mr Vajpayee’s bus journey to Lahore and foreign diplomacy during the Kargil conflict, and handing over of the bodies of martyrs to their families has gone down well. Moreover, there is no question of politicising the Kargil issue.

Q: What about the common refrain that people this time want to teach a lesson to the SAD-BJP candidates?

A: The MLAs will have to learn to prepare constituency plans for the period for which they get elected. They must work systematically to achieve their objectives. There has to be fair justice for both community-oriented development works as well as meeting individual requests. All “gila-shikwas” are being taken care of.

Q: Will there be an administrative shake-up after the elections?

A: Yes, there will be changes.

Q: You speak less about the SAD-BJP performance?

A: This is not correct. We list or achievements and people know that peace and prevailing law and order reflect our achievements. Of course, as elsewhere financial crunch is there. Despite that development works have been taken up.

Q: What poll result will be satisfying for you?

A: People are silent. At least 80 per cent of them. But one does form opinion from the reactions of the constituents. We are all committed to canvassing.

Caste equations to play key role
By K. Sarangarajan
Tribune News Service

IN the election contest in 1999 a little over 4.77 crore Tamil Nadu electorate will have to choose from three main political formations for the 39 Lok Sabha constituencies going to the polls in two phases on September 5 and 11. Each front is headed by a regional party — the DMK, the AIADMK and the TMC. The DMK heads the National Democratic Alliance in the state which has in its fold the BJP, the PMK, the MDMK, the TRC and some others. The AIADMK- Congress (I- CPI-CP(M)-INL alliance is headed by Ms Jayalalitha. The DMK and the TMC are under the leadership Mr Karunanidhi and Mr Moopanar, respectively.

The poll arithmetic in elections this time depends to a large extent on which national alliance the regional party is part of because the national ally could well make up the difference between the narrow victory and narrow defeat. The DMK has teamed up with the BJP along with the PMK, the MDMK and small regional groups. This may cost the party (DMK) its traditional minority vote bank (especially the Muslims). But what it loses by way of minority votes it hopes to make up with the support of upper castes, the Brahmins, thanks to the alliance with the BJP. Mr Vajpayee's clean image among the middle class and the Kargil factor is expected to help stem the slide in its traditional vote bank.

The AIADMK, on the other hand, has renewed its tie-up with the Congress along with two Left parties and a section of Muslims. The TMC on its part has snapped its ties with the DMK, and has instead decided to ally with the Dalit party, the Pudhiya Tamizhakam.

In the complex and divorce market, breaking up and making up are two sides of the same coin. The agenda dominating all political ties is once again caste — reflected both in the choice of candidate as well as constituencies. The communities that have come to decide the fate of political combinations in the state are the Thevars, the Vanniyars, the Nadars, the Naickers and the Dalits. This has prompted the two biggest regional parties, the DMK and the AIADMK, to chalk out alternative strategies to woo these communities. The DMK has turned liberal, giving eight seats to the PMK in recognition of its clout, the Vanniars in northern Tamil Nadu, parts of Thanjavur and South Arcot districts.

In response the AIADMK has decided not to contest this belt and has given the tough seats to the national ally, the Congress. But the DMK and the AIADMK are going all-out to win the support of the two rival communities — the Thevars and Dalits concentrated in the Southern districts of Tamil Nadu.

Clearly caste configurations will play a crucial role in the elections. And given the political polarisation that invariably happens when the polity gets fragmented among caste lines, the margins of defeat or victory are likely to be razor thin. Not surprisingly the regional parties are banking heavily on their national counterparts for the crucial winning margin. When every vote counts, the backing of a large organisation, not to mention the promise of a say at the Centre can be invaluable.

Karnataka is one of the few states where none of the national political parties, except the Congress, have taken up deep roots. Naturally it is the non-Congress parties which felt the need to tag along with other parties to improve their poll prospects in the state. But this time round things are more topsy turvy in Bangalore, the Janata Dal split over the contentious issue of joining the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. Even as the formal entry of the Sharad Yadav- J.H Patel faction -- going by the name of Janata Dal (United) which incidentally sign the unification of the Dal and the splinter groups Lok Shakti and Samata party -- into the NDA is kept pending, the BJP has reluctantly chosen to break bread with the reinvented Dal.

The BJP-JD (U) combine has already sewn up its seat-sharing deal for both the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. Given the respective strengths of all political parties the BJP-Lok Shakti-JD (U) combination should be quite formidable. The ganging up of some parties with a pronounced Lingayat slant could definitely lead to a consolidation of anti-Lingayat votes and tilt the balance in the Congress's favour. The fact that the minorities, particularly the Muslims, are slowly returning to the Congress fold and the expected support from traditional vote banks like SC, STs and OBCs could easily thwart the BJP's gameplan.

In Andhra Pradesh the TDP-BJP tie-up is not being relished. The TDP calls it an electoral adjustment. The BJP terms it a political alliance. There had been much wrangling over five out of the eight seats that the BJP would contest, causing a lot of bitterness among the rank and file on both sides. There is another reason why discontent is rampant, especially in the BJP. It must be noted that the first generation of leaders in Andhra Pradesh came mainly from the Congress party.

The Congress leadership at the state level, it is said, has demonstrated little flair in playing its part. But it hopes that the anti-establishment vote, the BJP resentment vote, the TDP dissent vote and lastly the Muslim vote against Mr Chandrababu Naidu would see it through. The 2 per cent Christian vote has traditionally favoured the Congress.

Bellary may not be cakewalk for Mrs Sonia Gandhi who will be involved in a triangular contest in her maiden poll battle from the Bellary Lok Sabha constituency on September 5. She will be pitted against the BJP's former Union Minister, Ms Sushma Swaraj, and Mr K Nahalingappa of the Janata Dal (secular).

Though this sleepy and backward region known more for its rich iron ore deposits and historical Hampi ruins appears to be a Congress citadel, one might be surprised to find the constituency to be not exactly a cakewalk for Ms Gandhi that it was supposed to be. If Congressmen are confident of impressing the largely rural voters and women by fielding a high profile candidate of Ms Gandhi's stature, the BJP-Lok Shakti-Janata Dal (United) combine has an equally powerful woman candidate in Ms Sushma Swaraj.

Congressmen may boast of having won Bellary in all previous elections and the BJP does not have strong presence in the district. But what they cannot ignore is the steady decline in share of votes polled. The Congress will have a tough fight on its hands to ensure Ms Gandhi's victory, especially in view of the no-holds-barred campaign that is likely to be unleashed by the BJP.

Sharief, George’s kin lock horns

BANGALORE: It may not be a cakewalk this time for former Railway Minister C.K. Jaffer Sharief, who is seeking a record seventh entry to the Lok Sabha from Bangalore North.

He faces formidable opposition from Defence Minister George Fernandes’ brother Michael Fernandes (Janata Dal-U), himself a labour leader, and Mr C. Narayanaswamy (Janata Dal-Secular) who had won the seat in 1996. Mr Narayanaswamy, secretary-general of the state Janata Dal (S), is a close associate of former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda.

The constituency, a mixture of rural and urban voters, had almost been a Congress pocket borough except for 1996 when the Janata Dal won.

Mr Sharief, who has recorded wins despite all odds, has managed to make it to the Lok Sabha for six terms since 1977. In 1996 he was denied the party ticket as he was facing a charge sheet. But he got back with a bang at the last hustings when he regained the seat, despite the Janata Dal winning in all eight assembly constituencies in the 1994 assembly elections.

His most credible victory was in 1984 when he vanquished Mr George Fernandes, recording a hat-trick of wins.

The constituency goes to the polls in the first phase of elections on September 5.

Both Mr Narayanaswamy and Mr Fernandes could put up a tough fight against the veteran.

According to Mr Fernandes’ poll managers, even in Mr Sharief’s strongholds of Shivajinagar, Sultanpalya, R.T. Nagar, Hoskote and Varathur, with a predominantly minority population, voters appear to be divided. A section of the community influenced by former Civil Aviation Minister C.M. Ibrahim were aligned with the Janata Dal (S) and would support Mr Narayanaswamy. In the Bhartinagar assembly constituency, some Congress workers alleged that Mr Sharief was instrumental in replacing former Youth Congress leader and former MLA K.J. George with former state Chief Secretary J. Alexander. This move may have an adverse impact on the prospects of Mr Sharief from the constituency, they feel.

However, there are others who contend that Mr Sharief will have the edge over his rivals in Shivajinagar, following the crossing over of former state Home Minister Roshan Baig from the Janata Dal to the Congress. Mr Baig, who represented the constituency in the last elections, is now trying his luck from the adjoining Jayamahal, one of the assembly segments of Bangalore North.

The major advantage for Mr Sharief over his opponents could be that he has a proven track record, especially as the Railway Minister. His work has been acknowledged even in Opposition circles and this could boost his prospects.

Mr Fernandes told UNI that he stood to gain from the Janata Dal split and would cash in on the anti-Sonia and Kargil factors. He claimed his track record of four decades as labour leader and the likely support he would get from workers of the five major public sector units (ITI, BEL, BEML and HMT) would give him the edge over his rivals.

He said several traditional Congress votes besides that of his community’s this time would make his candidature a challenge to Mr Sharief. Several elderly, traditional voters were against a “foreigner” attempting to “grab” the nation’s highest political post. They were also angered over the role Mrs Sonia Gandhi played in forcing an election on the country, he claimed.

Mr Fernandes said the mood in the state was all for Mr Vajpayee for his apt handling of the Kargil issue and steering international opinion in favour of India. The increase in the number of voters in the constituency with the enrolment of a large number of youth would also help him, following the Kargil factor, he claimed.

Mr Narayanaswamy, a former Bangalore Zila parishad president and one-time parliamentarian from the constituency, was optimistic that his past record has earned him recognition and popularity among the voters.

Campaigning in the constituency is yet to pick up, though candidates are trying to reach out to the voters, keeping in mind the strict monitoring of expenditure by the Election Commission.

While the Congress is fighting the poll on the planks of stability and secularism, the Janata Dal (U) is projecting Mr A.B. Vajpayee as a statesman and able leader, laying stress on his handling of the Kargil issue and blaming the Congress for the fall of the government. The Janata Dal (S) is branding both parties as incapable of ruling by questioning their secular credentials. — UNI

Goa may see photo-finish

PANAJI: The Congress in Goa could find itself in a spot as it tries to retain the two Lok Sabha seats from this major tourist destination. The political situation in the tiny western coastal state has undergone a sea change since the last General Election in 1998 when the party managed to scrape through in Panaji and defended Marmugao with a much reduced margin.

The marginalisation of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) has led to the Bharatiya Janata Party emerging as the main challenger to the Congress in the former Portuguese colony which goes to the polls in the first phase on September 5.

The MGP has lost its appeal among the masses who are no longer fired by the demands for merger with Maharashtra and making Marathi the sole official language. For the first time since the inaugural elections in 1967, the MGP has failed to put up candidates for both seats.

The BJP increased its vote-share from 13.8 per cent in 1996 to 30.04 per cent in 1998 - gaining almost entirely at the cost of the MGP whose vote-share nose-dived from 26.7 per cent to 13.17.

The Congress decision to field Mr Ramakant Khalap from Panaji has ruffled quite a few feathers in the party as the former Union Law Minister, who was elected to the state assembly from Mandrem in North Goa as a MGP nominee, split his parent party to dramatically join the ruling Congress just ahead of the elections.

Interestingly, Mr Ravi Naik and Mr Francisco Sardinha, who represented Goa in the dissolved Lok Sabha, have returned to state politics and are now ministers in the Luizinho Faleiro government. Both have now been placed in charge of the poll campaign in their former constituencies to present a picture of unity.

Mr Khalap’s campaign is being handled by Mr Ravi Nayak, the man he lost out to in the 1998 elections. But several dissident Congress leaders, who fell by the wayside in the race for party nomination following the entry of Mr Khalap and MGP leaders, still smarting under their founding leaders “opportunism” in breaking the party, have made common cause with the BJP in trying to ensure his defeat.

The Congress lost one of its top leaders last year when Deputy Chief Minister Dr Wilfred D’ Souza took advantage of the fluid political situation in the state to form an alternative government with the BJP and the MGP sharing power with his Rajiv Congress.

Dr D’Souza is now the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) candidate from Marmugao and is causing concern in the Congress camp as he and Prof Sadananad Malik, a former MGP minister and party nominee from Panaji, are expected to eat into the ruling party’s vote share.

Dr D’Souza, who has good contacts with the church and enjoys support at the grassroots level, could queer the pitch for the ruling party.

Marmugao was won by the Congress by more than 7,000 votes. However, the selection of the party candidate there also has not been without its share of controversy. The party nominee is Mr Jaoquim Alemao, a brother of former Chief Minister Churchill Alemao.

The party high command decision to ignore the claim of Mr Uday Bhembre, well-known Konkani writer, activist and former Congress MLA has led to resentment among party workers who accuse Mr Jaoquim of playing the “minority card” to get the nomination.

Marmugao is traditionally a Congress seat but in 1996 it was won by Mr Churchill on a United Goan Democratic Party ticket. The BJP has fielded Mr Ramamkant Angle, a prominent businessman and social worker.

Union Home Minister L.K. Advani has already canvassed for the BJP candidates while NCP leader Sharad Pawar hit the campaign trail on Sunday and Monday. For the Congress, filmstar-turned-politician Rajesh Khanna and former minister Vasant Sathe have addressed meetings. — UNI

Middle-class shift decisive
From R. Suryamurthy
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI: The Capital’s largest parliamentary constituency, Outer Delhi, has a history of electing representatives of the party which ultimately forms government.

The two traditional rivals Congress and the BJP, which are the main claimants to power at the Centre, are locked in a direct contest here.

Though 13 candidates have filed their nominations, the main contest is between the former Chief Minister of Delhi and BJP candidate, Mr Sahib Singh Verma and the Congress candidate, Mr Deep Chand Sharma.

In 1977, during the Janata wave, Choudhry Brahm Prakash left the Congress and won the seat on the Bharatiya Lok Dal, which was part of the Janata government ticket.

Mr Sajjan Kumar won this seat on the Congress ticket in 1980. The Congress candidate Mr Bharat Singh won the seat in 1984. On both occasions the Congress formed government at the Centre.

In 1989, when the Janata Dal formed the government at the Centre, Mr Tarif Singh won this seat on the JD ticket. In 1991, the electorate chose Mr Sajjan Kumar and Mr Narasimha Rao formed a Congress government at the Centre.

However, in 1996 and 1998 the voters here opted for Mr Krishan Lal Sharma of the BJP. The party formed government in 1996 which lasted 13 days and in 1998 the BJP government lasted 13 months.

The largest parliamentary constituency which comprises 40 per cent of Delhi’s area and 35 per cent of the Capital’s population have more than 30 lakh registered voters.

Of the 21 assembly constituencies that fall in the Outer Delhi parliamentary seat, the Congress has 17 MLAs and the BJP has four MLAs.

The Congress candidate, Mr Deep Chand Sharma, who contested the Assembly poll held last year, lost to the BJP candidate Mr Nand Kishore Garg.

The BJP candidate, Mr Sahib Singh, had contested the Lok Sabha poll from here in 1991. However, he lost by a margin of over 80,000 to the Congress candidate, Mr Sajjan Kumar.

The Congress candidate, however, lost the poll to the BJP nominee Mr Krishan Lal Sharma in 1996. Since then, Mr Sajjan Kumar has been denied the Congress ticket for his alleged involvement in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

Adjacent to the Outer Delhi seat is the East Delhi parliamentary constituency, the second largest in the Capital, which was once the bastion of the Congress with the party candidate, Mr HKL Bhagat, winning the seat four times.

Twenty candidates (maximum number of nominations from any parliamentary seat in the Capital) are in the field from here. Yet again, the contest is primarily between the traditional rivals, Congress and the BJP.

While the BJP nominee Mr Lal Behari Tiwari, is seeking re-election, the Congress nominee, Air Vice-Marshal Mr H L Kapoor, would be contesting his first Lok Sabha poll.

The Congress candidate, Mr Kapoor, was earlier the Lt Governor of Delhi and was nominated once to the Rajya Sabha by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

Haphazard development, rampant unauthorised construction, unhygienic conditions and the floating population are characteristics of this constituency.

The area is referred to in the local parlance as “Jamuna paar”, thus indicating the step-motherly treatment received by East Delhi over the years.

The constituency has over several lakhs of people living in jhuggi-jhonpri clusters and over 130 unauthorised colonies and any assurance on regularisation and civic amenities appeals to the voters.

Some areas, which fall in this parliamentary seat, were the worst hit in the 1984 riots which broke out following the assassination of the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. A sizeable number of Muslims reside in this constituency.

Once a stronghold of the Congress, the electorate here began its shift towards the BJP in the 1990s. A large number of middle-class voters who settled here in sizeable numbers in the past decade has widened its base.

Nutshell

Arrangements in Jalandhar

JALANDHAR (FOC): All arrangements have been made for the forthcoming elections in the Jalandhar and Phillaur parliamentary constituencies. According to Mr Som Parkash, Deputy Commissioner, Jalandhar, 6000 police officials have been deputed and special care would be taken regarding “sensitive” stations.

Ahmed’s appeal

PHILLAUR (FOC): Akali Dal (Muslim Wing) leader Sayeed Nazir Ahmed has appealed to the Muslims to support SAD-BJP candidates in all constituencies of the state and announced support for Bahujan Samaj Morcha nominee Satnam Singh Kainth in Phillaur.

Udyog Bharti

MALERKOTLA (FOC): Laghu Udyog Bharti, an association of small industrialists of the town, at a meeting chaired by its President, Mr Jagat Kathuria, here on Sunday decided to vote for Mr Surjit Singh Barnala, Akali-BJP candidate from Sangrur.

Night curfew

JAMMU (PTI): Night curfew has been imposed in a specific 5 km stretch on the Indo-Pak border in this district for a period of two months, an official press said here on Sunday. The curfew will be imposed from 2100 hours to 0500 hours.

Make voting ‘must’

AHMEDABAD (PTI): A zonal electoral officer of Gujarat has urged the state chief electoral Officer (CEO) to make voting mandatory for all government staff on election duty. The Zonal Electoral Officer of Bhuj, Dr Mahesh Parikh, has in a letter to CEO Balwant Singh, said many state officials and employees on election duty did not bother to cast their vote, despite the postal ballot facility.

Alliance ‘unholy’

SOLAPUR (PTI): Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray has termed the alliance between the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) as “unholy” and “dangerous” for the future of the country. “The unholy alliance between NCP chief Sharad Pawar and SP President Mulayam Singh Yadav is dangerous for the country’s future,” he said at a meeting of Sena-BJP candidates at Barshi Taluka town on Sunday.

Cong: CM’s kin violating code
Tribune News Service

AMRITSAR, Aug 29 — In a complaint to the Chief Election Commission, (CEC), Mr Gurinder Singh Kairon, the Congress candidate from Tarn Taran, has urged that the Tarn Taran Lok Sabha constituency should be treated at par with the Faridkot constituency as the election code of conduct was allegedly being violated with impunity by close relatives of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal,

Mr Kairon urged the CEC to depute the central force in the Patti Assembly segment and take suitable action against the DSP, the SHO, the DDPO, a Naib Tehsildar and other officials posted in various parts of the constituency, who were violating the code. The Patti Assembly constituency is represented by the son-in-law of the Chief Minister, who is a nephew of Mr Gurinder Kairon, the Congress candidate and the complainant.