"Outsiders" battle it out
From Shubhabrata Bhattacharya
Tribune News Service

SIROHI (Rajasthan): The contest in the Jalore Lok Sabha seat, engulfing Sirohi and Jalore districts, stretching along Rajasthan’s border with Gujarat and Pakistan, is between Mr Buta Singh from Punjab and Mr Bangaru Laxman from Andhra Pradesh, a national vice-president of the BJP.

Mr Buta Singh, who won the seat as an Independent last time, is the Congress candidate again as in 1984, 1989 and 1991. Though both major contestants are not "sons of the soil", due to his past record and achievements, Mr Buta Singh is not considered an "outsider" here.

In 1998, Mr Buta Singh’s election symbol, "railway engine", was identified by voters with the "Buta Mail", a local shuttle, linking Samdari (Jodhpur) and Bhilari in Gujarat, which had been introduced in the eighties when Mr Buta Singh won from here for the first time after shifting out of Ropar in Punjab.

The railway link, better agriculture facilities, a krishi vikas kendra, better groundwater irrigation (planned after a satellite survey), better road links and drinking water improvement are some of the development efforts the villagers associate with Mr Buta Singh.

In 1984 he won by the highest margin in Rajasthan: 1.64 lakh votes. In 1998, the credit for the highest victory margin in this state went to another Punjabi — Mr Bal Ram Jakhar — who won by 1.78 lakh votes from Bikaner. However, Mr Buta Singh’s winning margin last time, 1.68 lakh votes, was the second-highest in Rajasthan. This indeed was creditable for an Independent pitted against the then ruling party of Rajasthan, BJP, and the Congress.

Mr Buta Singh became Communications Minister in the Atal Behari Vajpayee government. But within 29 days he was asked to resign in connection with the hawala case. However, within these days he managed to spend government’s Rs 25 crore on the Jalore-Sirohi region. The twin districts have a network of optical fibre cables (OFC) now and the local telephone network has made intra-area telephone calls cheaper in this vast region. Rajasthan has internet facilities in Jaipur, Jodhpur and Jalore, Mr Buta Singh’s main achievement, quoted here. Add this to the fact that five of Rajasthan’s eight 132 kv power plants are in this constituency and Mr Buta Singh’s power becomes evident.

Mr Niamat Ali, a local businessman of Swarupnagar, a small town between Sirohi and Mount Abu, says: "Buta is our Sachin Tendulkar — like his run rate in cricket, Buta managed to spend Rs 25 crore in the 29 days he was minister on Jalore’s development". Mr Niamat Ali also points out to the improved road link to Mount Abu, which has made the "Saat Ghoom" climb less arduous.

Apart from his official powers, Mr Buta Singh has also used the resources of his farm at Sultanpur Lodhi to nurse the constituency. During drought, he supplied cattlefeed to the villagers. There is a high livestock population in the twin districts (Sanchor is famous for its ghee) and this gesture has been well received. As Union Agriculture Minister, Mr Buta Singh had even involved Punjab Agriculture University’s (PAU) resources in supplying "Selri".

Mr Bangaru Laxman has to cover a lot of ground. His stature as a national office-bearer of the BJP is being used by his partymen to assure that he too can be a minister and deliver the goods like Mr Buta Singh. Mr Laxman speaks fluent Hindi — there is no Hyderabadi touch in his delivery. He highlights local issues and lambasts the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government. Being chairman of the BJP’s SC cell, he seems a formidable opponent in this reserved constituency.

The "outsider" factor does not cut much ice here because Marwaris and even other sects from Pali, Jalore and Sirohi have travelled to Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu and set up business there. Non-resident Marwaris have reportedly written to their kin here urging them to vote for Mr Laxman.

A press clipping from a Hyderabad-based Hindi newspaper is being photocopied and circulated as a pamphlet. The photocaption and report relate to a meeting held in Secunderabad on August 9 of the "Sirohi-Jalore Nagrik Seva Sangh" where a resolution was passed seeking votes for Mr Laxman. It is also being publicised that some years back when there was a move in the South to oust Marwari settlers, Mr Laxman stood by the community.

In 1998, the high price of onions was an issue. This time the low price of tomatoes is one. Farmers in Reodar Tehsil of Sirohi and Jaswantpura tehsil of Jalore decided to throw away their bumper tomato crop earlier this year as they could get a low price of 10 paise per kg for the standing crop (the crop thus sold was resold for 50 paise in the local market).

Mr Laxman questions Mr Buta Singh’s performance as Union Agriculture Minister as well as the role of the Ashok Gehlot government. Why were food processing units not set up so that tomatoes did not go waste, he asks in his speeches.

Mr Buta Singh came here from Punjab in 1984 as elections were not held in the state that year. Mr Laxman has migrated because he was perceived to be opposed to the TDP-BJP tie-up in Andhra. His supporters say his status as a leader of the Backward Classes will be able to cut into Mr Buta Singh’s "HMT", local abbreviation for Harijan, Muslim and tribal vote-bank. The police firing at Ruhira in Sirohi district on August 28 is a minus point for the Congress candidate — tribesmen voted for Mr Buta Singh last time.

Mr Bangaru Laxman had agreed to be the Opposition candidate against the then Prime Minister, Mr P.V. Narasimha Rao, from Nandyal in the 1991 byelection. The margin of his defeat at Nandyal is a national record. Mr Buta Singh, on the other hand, holds the record for huge winning margins. The contest in this remote part of Rajasthan, between the two stalwarts promises to be interesting. Mr Buta Singh appears to have the edge. Mr Laxman is putting up a no-holds-barred fight.

Delhi scene
Star power adds glitz
From Rahul Das and R. Suryamurthy
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Aug 30 — Silver screen stars, who are perhaps better known than many political leaders, have lent a starry touch to an otherwise comparatively dull Lok Sabha election campaign in the Capital.

Adding glitz and glamour to the campaigning, the film stars - legends, superstars and also-rans — are defnitely acting as crowd-pullers and they are exhorting the voters to exercise their franchise in favour of their candidate. What nobody can miss are the smiles firmly pasted on their faces.

From "Maine Pyar Kiya" one-time success Bhagyashree to Pooja Batra, from new entrant to the tinsel town Mukul Dev to silver screen veteran Sunil Dutt, cinestars have been roped in by political parties, especially by the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate for the Chandni Chowk seat, Mr Vijay Goel, to add spice to the campaign. They have come in numbers for Mr Goel who himself has a reputation of being a "giant-killer".

The troika of Pooja Batra, Deepti Bhatnagar and Mukul Dev campaigned on behalf of Mr Goel on Wednesday. Yesterday, it was Bhagyashree with her husband Himalaya and Rahul Roy of "Aashiqui" fame who "requested" the voters to elect Mr Goel.

"The achievements of the BJP are for everyone to see and I admire Atalji," Rahul Roy said.

Not to be left behind in this star race, the Congress candidate for the Chandni Chowk parliamentary constituency, Mr J.P. Aggarwal, roped in "Mother India" hero Sunil Dutt to campaign for him.

The film stars have received enthusiastic response from the electorate despite the fact that the candidate and the stars had little time to give lengthy speeches. The film stars have stuck to mouthing the same lines, asking the people to vote for their candidate.

While the electorate in Chandni Chowk is being swamped by the cinestars, the other constituencies in Delhi are not having a similar starry fortune.

The voters say that stars have added twinkle and colour to a campaign which has otherwise been low-key and lacklustre.

Both the BJP and the Congress realising the ‘star power’ are trying to make best use of the film stars. While a matinee hero or heroine may be asking the voters to cast their ballot in favour of the BJP or the Congress, the crowds are perhaps not there to express their support to that party but just to have a glimpse of their "heroes or heroines".

"I am a Congress supporter but when I came to know that Pooja Batra was coming to the Chandni Chowk constituency I could not help waiting to have a look," Mr Jagdish Chawla, a shopkeeper, said.

Besides the film stars, the other ‘star’ campaigners who are going to woo the voters include Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Union Home Minister L.K. Advani for the BJP. While Mr Vajpayee will address two public meetings, Mr Advani will address five public meetings in the Capital. Congress star campaigner Sonia Gandhi’s public meeting, which was to be held at Ferozeshah Kotla ground, was cancelled.