Sunday, October 3, 1999
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Sunday, October 3, 1999 |
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Barabanki, Kaiserganj BARABANKI: In the post-Mandal era, the Congress, for long the ‘all things to all people’ party, finds itself out in the cold in highly politicised eastern UP. Instead the region has become the battleground of three major players — the pan-Hindu BJP, the Muslim-Yadav Samajwadi Party and the Dalit’s BSP. With neither of the three enjoying complete dominance (the BJP and the SP command a vote on base of just under 40 per cent with the BSP picking up the remainder) the contest here is tough, winning margins narrow, usually less than 3 per cent, and like a game of musical chairs, seats tend to change hands from poll to poll. In 1998 the BJP dropped several seats to the Samajwadi Party in the region and picked up almost from it. The BSP, too, won three of its four seats from here. This time the Congress has returned as the fourth player in the contest, muddying the waters. The effect of the Congress entry is most clearly visible in seats where there is no prominent candidate fielded by any of the three major contenders. Such as Barabanki. Just 35 km from Lucknow, Barabanki (reserved) is a predominantly rural seat with a caste profile typical of the region. Thus of its just over 11 lakh voters, 1.7 lakh are Muslim, 2.2 lakh Yadav, 1.9 lakh Dalit (sub-divided into 1.3 lakh Pasis and 60,000 Chamars), 2.6 lakh Kurmis and over 2.7 lakh Brahmins and Thakurs. In the 1998 poll, the BJP’s Baijnath Rawat polled 2.28 lakh votes to win by almost 14,000 votes, a victory margin of 2.4% to wrest the seat from SP’s Ram Sagar Rawat. This time, battling an indifferent track record, the anti-incumbency factor and Mr Kalyan Singh’s devisive legacy, the game of musical chairs should logically go against him and in favour of three-time MP Ram Sagar Rawat, who won in 1989, 1991, and 1996. But it probably won’t, thanks to the Congress, which stripped of its own organisation in its decade out of power, has dug deep into the armoury of other parties, especially the Samajwadi Party. The Congress candidates for the seat, Mr Kamla Prasad Rawat, won the Lok Sabha election from here on the Congress ticket in 1984. Subsequently, he switched over to the Samajwadi Party, winning the Sidhaur Assembly seat in 1995. Although still an SP MLA, he is contesting on the Congress ticket now and the SP’s MLA from Ramnagar segment, Mr Saravar Ali, is helping him. Yet a Congress worker here admits that although they expect to get a good share of the Muslim, forward and Pasi (Dalit) votes, their candidate is unlikely to win. The party got less than 10,000 votes in 1998. |
October 2, 1999
October 1, 1999
September 30, 1999
September 29, 1999
September 28, 1999
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| “We lost our votebank in 1989. We
have to now actively woo it back. It will take
time,” the worker said pensively. “Our real
target is the assembly elections next year.” The
Samajwadi Party puts up a brave front, but is also on the
defensive. Its workers talk darkly of the BJP MP’s
buying a house and petrol station during his 13 months in
power. The BJP’s ‘dismal’ track record on
inflation and electricity are factors, they feel, will
help them. They shrug of desertions by MLAs as, saying the Muslim votes are with Mulayam, not individual MLAs. “They also talk animatedly of Mr Beni Prasad Verma, the formidable Kurmi leader from neighbouring Kaiserganj, bringing in the 2.7 lakh Kurmi vote as part of a strategy. The BSP has fielded Sant Bali Rawat, and is looking to add much of the Muslim vote to its Dalit kitty on the strength of its two sitting Muslim MLAs. And with the Congress and SP candidates looking shaky, it has positioned itself as the most plausible option for the anti-incumbency, anti-BJP vote. But its sums, like that the Congress and Samajwadi Party, are unlikely to add up as the three ‘secular’ options cancel one another out. Indeed, in Barabanki the script of Sonia’s Congress, India unitary party, reads like a sure fire recipe for the success of its anti-thesis, the great Indian coalition of 1999. The neighbouring Kaiserganj offers a picture in contrast. Although it has a similar caste composition with around 31% forward castes, 31% backward and 19 % Muslims, the BJP replaced its 1998 Thakur candidate, Mr Kundan Singh, with Mr C.P. Chandra, son of its BSP ally and Irrigation Minister Markanday Chandra. As in Barabanki, here too the Congress has fielded a former Samajwadi Party MLA from Haiderpur, Mr Surinder Awasthi, who is helped by Mr Sarawar Ali and another SP MLA Ramala Yadav. But with the BJP’s
candidate seen as a political novice its the saffron
party which my lose forward caste votes to the Congress.
Thus, despite the opposition by rebel MLAs and a division
in Muslim votes it should be possible for Kurmi leader
and former Petroleum Minister Beni Prasad Verma of the SP
to win back the seat for the third time. |
All eyes on ‘battle for legacy’ AMETHI, Oct 2 (UNI) — The campaign over, all eyes are now focussed on tomorrow’s balloting in Amethi which will decide the outcome of the ‘battle for legacy’ in this erstwhile kingdom. All through the campaign between the two rivals — Congress President Sonia Gandhi and BJP’s Dr Sanjay Singh — it has been more of a fight for Amethi’s succession than a political contest. And true to this spirit, the campaign by the Gandhi family, spearheaded by Priyanka Vadra and the ‘royals’ (Dr Sanjay Singh and his wife Ameeta) have been the most emotive than seen anywhere else in the current parliamentary poll in the country. Both camps tried to whip up public passion by harping on personal history and pedigree. Dr Sanjay Singh, adopted son of former ruler of Amethi Rananjay Singh, time and again traced his ancestral history back to 1200 years. On the other hand, Mrs Sonia Gandhi during her string of speeches on a daylong heli-campaign in the constituency on Thursday repeatedly referred to ancestors from the ‘Nehru-Gandhi’ family for buttressing her claims. Ms Priyanka, who stayed put here along with husband Robert all through the campaign, often invoked the spirit of her grandmother Indira Gandhi and father Rajiv Gandhi. Amethi, 1999, will be remembered more for the ‘Priyanka magic’ than anything else. The young Gandhi spun her captivating charm over the people, once nursed well by her father who represented the seat thrice in the Lok Sabha. In 1991 he was not alive to rejoice over his victory having been assassinated after the polling here that year. The Congress had so much faith in Priyanka’s potential to win over the people here that the party relied solely on her. The party did not send any senior leader for active campaign. Though Dr Sanjay Singh and his wife tried to match Ms Priyanka step by step, the BJP paraded a wide array of senior leaders like Ms Sushma Swaraj, UP Chief Minister Kalyan Singh, Mr Govindacharya, Mr Pramod Mahajan and Ms Uma Bharati besides cinestars Hema Malini and Vinod Khanna to stall Mrs Sonia’s march. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s rally in Gauriganj on Thursday, the day Mrs Sonia campaigned here, was a washout giving a sort of ‘walk over’ to the Congress President. The BJP leaders without exception brought up the ‘videshi’ factor (Sonia’s foreign origin) which seemed to have been glossed over by the people here, overawed as they are by individual charisma. Dr Sanjay Singh and his wife Ameeta, stressed on the contribution of the ‘royal family’ over the ages. Both began poll preparations well in advance and since the fall of the Vajpayee government, they never missed a chance to attend social functions across villages dotting the constituency. They worked in tandem trying to realise their slogan of “ek vote-do MP’’ (one vote, two MPs). The couple has been conducting mass marriages every year for girls belonging to poor families and bearing the expenses. Says Ms Ameeta: “The doors of our palace are open for everybody everyday. Dilliwallas are not acceptable.” Every MP is entitled to Rs 2 crore annually for constituency development. In his 13 months, Dr Sanjay Singh claims to have spent more than Rs 4 crore, the extra money coming from “funds that had lapsed during Capt Satish Sharma’s tenure.” “Our endeavour is to reach out to the entire populace and not just the lakh-odd voters,” says Ms Ameeta. The Congress also highlighted the massive developmental work carried out by Rajiv Gandhi for Amethi people. After Rajiv Gandhi was elected in a by-election from here in 1981 following the death of his brother Sanjay, Amethi for quite some time remained the cynosure of all eyes with a spate of developmental activities which continued till his assassination 10 years later. From 1991, family-loyalist Capt Satish Sharma represented the seat till he was defeated by Dr Sanjay Singh in the last elections. The Congress has been beseeching the people to hand over the constituency again to the Gandhi family in the new millennium. Amethi first fell into the Gandhi family-fold in 1980 when Sanjay Gandhi defeated Mr Ravindra Pratap Singh who as a Janata Party candidate had defeated him in 1977. The 1984 elections saw an interesting contest here between two members of the family — Rajiv Gandhi and Ms Maneka Gandhi. It was in the 1962
elections that Amethi figured as a constituency. Prior to
this, it was called “Musafirkhana.” |
It’s
the symbol that sells NEW DELHI: An integral part of poll campaigns in India, where half the voters are illiterate, political symbols have come to acquire greater significance than parties and candidates and have triggered several bitter battles in the past. When the BJP’s Sushma Swaraj went campaigning in Bellary recently, many voters promised her that they would vote for her and when asked where they would put the stamp, quite a large majority of them said they would endorse the “hand” — the symbol of arch rival Sonia Gandhi. Elsewhere, Maratha veteran Sharad Pawar is reported to have slipped while asking people to stamp the “hand” instead of the “clock”, the symbol of his nascent Nationalist Congress Party. No mean slips these. They could cost a candidate, a seat in Parliament that could stand dissolved with a single vote. “Symbols are the brand equity of a political party, which over a period of time have become so important that parties cash in on them rendering the candidates less important,” says Tom Vadakkan, media cell in charge of the Congress. “They are important not only for the unlettered but also help the educated ones relate to a party in a scenario where parties and candidates are increasing”, says Vadakkan. “Symbols are more important than individuals especially when it has become difficult to remember the candidates’ name in the wake of nearly 5,000 of them standing in the current elections alone,” says K.L. Sharma, vice-president of the BJP. There are 712 political parties in India apart from hundreds of Independents who try their luck at the hustings. An elector is not expected to remember all of them, no matter how educated he is, says Vadakkan. “A lot goes into the allocation of a symbol and its popularisation among the masses, to enable voters to easily associate themselves with the candidate,” says an Independent candidate in the Capital, who conducted a door-to-door campaign ringing bells, which was her symbol. Soon after the Election Commission had allotted the Janata Dal(S) faction of the JD the “tractor” symbol, former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda drove a tractor on the busy roads of Bangalore to popularise his symbol — never mind the traffic blocks it is reported to have caused. In fact, both breakaway factions of the erstwhile Janata Dal United and Secular were locked in a bitter feud over the claim to the parent party’s symbol the “wheel,” which has been there for over a decade. Finally the commission in its interim order put the spokes in the “wheel,” freezing the symbol and allotting altogether different symbols to the new factions. In a multi-party democracy with a large number of illiterate voters, symbols acquire great meaning, says Jagdish Chandra, a political science Professor of Delhi University, who also wants drastic measures to curtail the number of non-serious Independent candidates and make the ballot paper look clean. They seem equally
important for the urban voter, too, says Pritish
Parthasarthy, an engineer. “I was first amongst the
voters on September 5, but seeing the ballot paper I
could not place the candidate I wanted to vote for. His
symbol helped me trace him,” says Parthasarthy.
— PTI |
Mufti’s
fate to be decided tomorrow SRINAGAR, Oct 2 — Campaigning in the Anantnag parliamentary constituency, where polling was rescheduled for October 4, came to an end this evening. With this the election process in all six constituencies of Jammu and Kashmir will be completed. Elections to three parliamentary constituencies of Srinagar, Baramula and Anantnag in the trouble-torn Kashmir valley, have been held in three separate phases. An electorate of 8,04,983 will decide the fate of 18 candidates in the fray for this prestigious constituency. The seat was held by PDP leader and former Union Home Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in the 12th Lok Sabha who win it on the Congress ticket. Another former Union Minister of State for Home, Mohammad Maqbool Dar represented the constituency as the Janata Dal candidate in the 1996 elections. Elections to this seat were scheduled to be held along with the Baramula parliamentary constituency on September 18. These were postponed due to the killing of BJP candidate, Ghulam Hyder Noorani along with three securitymen in a landmine explosion during the campaigning on September 7 last. The elections were then re-scheduled for October 4, when the BJP was asked to field a fresh candidate without any changes in the candidature of other party candidates. The BJP then fielded Showkat Hussain Wani as its candidate from the constituency. The constituency, spread over twin districts of Anantnag and Pulwama in South Kashmir, has 994 polling stations. 320 polling stations have been categorised hyper-sensitive and about 300 as sensitive. According to Mr Mohammad Aslam Qureshi, Returning Officer of the Anantnag parliamentary constituency, normal polling stations will have one section of police deployment, while sensitive and hyper-sensitive polling stations will have two or more. There are 18 candidates in the fray here, the highest number of the three constituencies of Kashmir valley. They include six candidates from recognised national and state political parties, eight candidates from registered political parties, and four Independents. Former Union Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who recently launched Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) after resigning from the Congress along with his daughter, and CLP leader Ms Mehbooba Mufti, is considered an Independent candidate. The stage is thus, set for a multi-cornered contest. This time the main contest is between the ruling National Conference candidate, Ali Mohammad Naik, Peerzada Mohammad Syed of the Congress, Mohammad Maqbool Dar of the Janata Dal (United) and Mufti Mohammad Sayeed of the PDP, apart from Mohammad Yusuf Tarigami of the CPM. The ruling National Conference and the Congress have been traditional rivals at Anantnag seat in the past eight elections held since 1967. No elections to Lok Sabha were held in Jammu and Kashmir in 1991 due to militancy. Mr Mohammad Shafi Qureshi, a former Union Minister and Governor represented the constituency thrice, as a Congress candidate in 1967 and 1977 elections and as a National Conference nominee in 1971 elections. Mr Gulam Rasool Kar represented Anantnag in 1980 as a Congress nominee, while Mufti Mohammad Sayeed represented it as Congress candidate in the 1998 elections. The seat went to the NC
in 1984 and 1989 elections when Begum Akbar Jehan (Farooq
Abdullah’s mother) and Pyare Lal Handoo bagged it
respectively. The former Union Minister of State for
Home, Mohammad Maqbool Dar was elected from Anantnag in
1996 elections defeating the Congress candidate. The NC
did not participate in that election. |
Oriya daily editor Mahtab
rides high on ‘Atal wave’ CUTTACK: If there is a pro-Vajpayee wave in Orissa, it is most visible in Cuttack. The dice appears to be heavily loaded against veteran Congress leader Kanhu Charan Lenka who faces a young dynamic editor-turned-politician Bhartruhari Mahtab, a BJD-BJP combine candidate for this prestigious seat. Mr Mahtab, Editor of one of the oldest Oriya daily “Prajatantra” founded by his father and former Chief Minister Dr Harekrushna Mahtab, is seeking re-election from here on the Biju Janata Dal ticket. This politically sensitive constituency in coastal Orissa which has sent high profile leaders like Dr Mahtab, Mr J.B. Patnaik and the late Biju Patnaik to the Lower House of Parliament is giving Orissa Panchayati Raj Minister Lenka anxious moments as he makes his debut in the Lok Sabha elections in his 28-year-long electoral history. Though there are seven candidates in the fray, the constituency with over 12,15,000 voters is all set to witness a straight fight between Mr Mahtab and Mr Lenka, who has also served as Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Railways during his Rajya Sabha tenure from 1990 to 1995. With the date of the final phase of polling in the country for formation of the 13th Lok Sabha fast approaching, the two prime contenders are seen leaving no stone unturned to woo voters by launching vigorous campaigns in every nook and corner of this Mahanadi delta region. Campaigning, which was on low key, has started gaining momentum with the arrival of several cinestars like Rajesh Khanna, Shatrughan Sinha, and Mukesh Khanna here for canvassing in favour of their respective party candidates. Riding high on the Vajpayee wave, Mr Mahtab who won the 1998 elections against former minister Sayed Mustafiz Ahmed of the Congress by a convincing margin of over 1,12,000 votes, mainly highlights the “unscrupulous and unethical” manner in which the Vajpayee government was pulled down. The Congress has been thoroughly exposed and people irrespective of their caste and religion have come forward openly in support of re-installation of the Vajpayee government at the Centre again, he claims. A confident Mr Mahtab says of the seven assembly segments in the constituency, last time he trailed only in Athgarh by 3000 votes because of the presence of Janata Dal candidate R.P. Swain. Since Mr Swain has joined the BJD he will make a total sweep of all seven segments this time, including Choudwar, the home segment of Mr Lenka. In fact, he says, it is Choudwar which will create history in these elections. On the other hand, seasoned politician Lenka has launched a virulent campaign against Mr Mahtab alleging “non-performance” during the 13-month BJP-led coalition government at the Centre. Mr Lenka, who has won four elections to the Orissa Assembly from Choudwar, including one against former Chief Minister Biju Patnaik in his first appearance in the 1971 elections, highlights his achievements for the state particularly in the agriculture sector. The Congress candidate who also looks confident at the hustings despite the favourable wind towards the BJD, at his election meetings tries to nutralise it by describing the “propaganda” on Mrs Sonia’s nationality as a non-issue. He hopes that voters of Cuttack will consider the efficiency and credibility of candidates while exercising franchise this time. In the campaign trail the party is put on a tight spot as several of its leaders loyal to former Chief Minister J.P. Patnaik are yet to extend support to Mr Lenka. The BJD camp was facing a similar crisis, but it was blown over on the eve of the elections following a rapprochement between party chief Naveen Patnaik and its senior leader Bijoy Mohapatra. Although leaders of the Congress and the BJD-BJP combine trade charges and counter charges on the alleged misrule of the BJP-led government at the Centre and the Congress government in Orissa, stability and leadership issues have taken centre stage. While the Congress depends heavily on minority votes which constitutes about 20 per cent of the total electorate, the BJD-BJP combine looks determined to make inroads into the minorities vote bank. The electorate in the constituency has risen to 12,15,250, including 5,61,184 women, with the addition of 42,102 voters. The Other Backward Classes (OBCs) are the dominant caste comprising 40 per cent followed by Scheduled Castes (22 per cent), minorities (20 per cent) and upper caste Hindus (12 per cent). The Sikh community comprises a microscopic minority of 0.5 per cent only. According to district Superintendent of Police Satyajit Mohanty, no untoward incident has been reported from any point of the constituency so far. Of the total 1578 polling booths to be set up in the constituency, 865 have been identified as “sensitive”. The electoral battle for the Cuttack Lok Sabha seat has been a prestige issue mainly for the Congress which has fielded many stalwarts here since the first General Election in 1952. Former Chief Minister Dr Mahtab, who is regarded the architect of modern Orissa, was the first to get elected from Cuttack in 1952 to join the Nehru ministry. During the last 14 elections, including two by-elections held so far for the seat, the Congress has captured it eight times followed by the Janata Dal (three). The Praja Socialist Party (PSP), the Bharatiya Lok Dal (BLD) and the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) have won the seat on one occasion each. While the state’s longest serving Chief Minister J.P. Patnaik got elected from the seat thrice in 1971, 1980 and 1984, his party colleague Nityananda Kanungo won twice earlier in 1957 and 1962. Mrs Jayanti Patnaik, wife of Mr Patnaik became the first woman to enter the Lok Sabha from Orissa in the 1981 by-election by defeating former Lok Sabha Speaker Rabi Ray of the Lok Dal by 49,000 votes. She also won the seat in 1984. However, the Congress citadel became a Janata Dal stronghold after the 1989 poll when Dal stalwart Srikanta Jena beat Mrs Jayanti Patnaik by a record margin of over 2,04,000 votes and repeated performance in 1991, defeating Mrs Patnaik by over 43,600 votes. Despite the Janata Dal debacle in the 1995 assembly elections in the state, the party retained the Cuttack Lok Sabha seat in 1996 for the third consecutive term as former Chief Minister Biju Patnaik registered a facile victory over Congress candidate Anadi Sahu. When Biju Patnaik vacated the seat opting for Aska from where he was also elected, the Congress wrested Cuttack in the 1996 by-elections through Mr Sahu who defeated Mr Bhartruhari Mahtab of the Janata Dal by a margin of 27,600 votes. As the Janata Dal split in 1997 after the death of Biju Patnaik, Mr Mahtab fought the 1998 elections from Cuttack on the BJD ticket against Mr Syed Mustafiz Ahmed of the Congress and emerged victorious with a margin of 1,12,694 votes. Out of the
constituency’s seven assembly segments, four are
represented by the BJD-BJP combine, while three are with
the ruling Congress. — UNI |
Polling station ‘frozen’ BERHAMPUR, Oct 2 (UNI) — The Election Commission has “frozen” a polling station in Orissa as it does not have a single voter. The EC’s decision to freeze the booth at Patrapur village under Chhatrapur assembly segment of Berhampur Lok Sabha constituency was taken as all the 400 voters were shifted after the state government allowed Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO) to set up a steel plant at Gopalpur. The booth was frozen as the polling station could not be shifted to any other assembly segment as per rules. Earlier, on the basis of reports of 1998 Lok Sabha election, the commission had notified a booth in the village. The Ganjam district election control room sources said no polling party had been despatched to the booth. Mrs Jayanti Patnaik, wife of former Orissa Chief Minister, is seeking re-election from the Berhampur parliamentary constituency. Senior BJP leader Anandi
Charan Sahu and Mr K. Shyamababu Subudhi are the other
candidates in the race for the prestigious seat. |
Quote... unquote Pawar, Anwar and Sangma have paved the way for BJP’s return to power. —Pramod Mahajan Forgive me for not being able to attend to you. I was sent to jail by the BJP. That is why I could not visit you. — Laloo Yadav at an election rally at Madhepura Mr L.K. Advani is not a Home Minister, he’s a criminal. He’s the one who demolished Babri Masjid and has a case pending against him. — Jyoti Basu I am learning the tricks of the trade and will be a perfect politician after I win the election. — Phoolan Devi, Samajwadi Party candidate from Mirzapur . When I was a little girl, Indiraji was a role model. But as I grew up I became more and more influenced by my father. But I have consciously tried not to model myself on anyone. —Priyanka Gandhi (Compiled by
Makul Bansal) |
