Wednesday, September 22, 1999
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Wednesday, September 22, 1999 |
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Daunting task for Shekhar, faces ‘Atal wave’ BALLIA (UP): Battle-scared and bearded, former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar appears to have a tough fight on his hands in Ballia from where the SJP President is making a bid to enter the Lok Sabha for the seventh time in the October 3 polling. Amid prospects of polarisation of Brahmin and Backward Class, the electoral battle for this predominantly rural constituency promises to be a keenly contested affair between Mr Chandra Shekhar and BJP nominee Ramkrishna Mishra. The most recognised face amongst the “young Turks”, the “Bhondisi saint” is facing a daunting task in the face of “Atal wave.” For Mr Chandra Shekhar, a veteran of many an electoral battle who undertook a “padyatra” of 4,260 km from Kanyakumari to Rajghat in 1984, the journey to the Lok Sabha this time appears arduous with the Congress pitting a strong Rajput candidate against him. Congress nominee Digvijay Singh and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate Ramdeo Verma are desperately trying to make the contest four-cornered. Mr Digvijay Singh is likely to make a major dent in Mr Chandra Shekhar’s votebank where Rajputs alone account for 12 per cent vote. Mr Chandra Shekhar, who won the 1977, 1980, 1989, 1991, and 1996 poll by a huge margin, registered victory over his nearest BJP rival Mishra by a margin of over 29,000 votes in 1998. In 1984, Congress nominee Jagannath Choudhury defeated Mr Chandra Shekhar by a margin of over 66,000 votes. Mr Chandra Shekhar and Mr Deve Gowda both are critical of Bihar Governor B.M. Lal for “making the constitutional office of the Election Commission a matter of public debate.” “If the Governor was not satisfied with the poll arrangements, he should have written to the Union Home Ministry and the President but in no case should have questioned the competence and authority of the EC,” they say. The former Prime Ministers have also announced that SJP and JD(U) leaders would campaign jointly and where the candidate of one of the two parties is better placed, the other should retire from the fray. Following the agreement, Mr Deve Gowda and Mr C.M. Ibrahim will campaign for Mr Ram Sunder Das, former Bihar Chief Minister and the SJP nominee in the Hajipur (SC) parliamentary constituency. Mr Deve Gowda is critical of JD(U) leader Ram Vilas Paswan for taking “all credit” for setting up East Central Railway’s zonal office at Hajipur and different railway projects in Bihar sanctioned during his tenure as Railway Minister. “It Proves the hollowness of Paswan.... In fact, the credit should go to the United Front government and not to any individual,” he says. “Our leader has a national stature and popularity.... Ballia is known in the world only because of Mr Chandra Shekhar,” remarked Mr Praduman Singh, Principal, Saheed Mangal Pandey Inter College, Nagwa, in Ballia. |
September 21, 1999
September 20, 1999
September 19, 1999
September 18, 1999
September 17, 1999
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| The former premier is also banking on the
support of Samajwadi Party President Mulayam Singh Yadav
and is likely to poll a major chunk of votes of Yadavs
and weaker sections of society, besides Rajputs. Mr
Rajendra Raj Verma, SP’s Ballia district president,
claims the CPI, CPM and CPI-ML (L) have supported the
candidature of Mr Chandra Shekhar. On the other hand, BSP nominee Ramdeo Verma claims his position is improving. He has the support of the “Bahujan Samaj” which he claims accounts for more than 3.5 lakh votes. Of the five assembly segments falling under the Ballia constituency, Ballia and Dwaba are held by the BJP while Uttar Pradesh minister and Loktantrik Congress Party leader Bacha Pathak holds Bansdih. The Samajwadi Party has Kopachit while Mr Chhotelal Rajak of BSP is MLA from another assembly constituency — Chilkahar. The poll in Ballia revolves around the stature of the former Prime Minister where the BJP, the Congress and the BSP have raised a banner against him for his alleged “apathy” towards development of the constituency. Supporters of Mr Chandra Shekhar claim that he has to his credit a number of development projects including construction of a rail overbridge, old-age home, a 160-bed hospital, a women’s polytechnic college, a telephone tower, broadgauge conversion of the Varanasi-Ballia-Chapra line and national highway between Hajipur and Gajipur. The BJP district general secretary, Mr Devanand Singh, however, disputes the claim, saying Mr Chandra Shekhar has done little for Ballia. “We are fighting the election this time for all-round development of Ballia under the Prime Ministership of Atal Behari Vajpayee,” he says. Meanwhile, the district administration is taking no chance in ensuring that the October 3 poll to the constituency is “free, peaceful and fair.” More than 70 per cent of the 1467 booths are identified as “sensitive”. Static deployment of paramilitary forces will be made to man such booths. The BJP has, however, urged the Election Commission to declare the entire constituency “sensitive” for a transparent poll. Around 12.87 lakh voters
are eligible to cast their ballot. —PTI |
It’s prestige issue for Sangma TURA (Meghalaya): Six-time winner from the Tura Lok Sabha constituency and Nationalist Congress Party general secretary Purno A. Sangma will have to unleash all his political charisma to tilt the voters’ mind in his favour on September 25. Least bothered about what Tura’s residents exactly want to hear from their leaders, Congress nominee Atul Ch Marak and Mr Sangma are obviously unanimous on one point — making use of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origin in their campaign. Marak is busy defending Mrs Gandhi and attacking Mr Sangma for his “disloyalty” to the “Dynasty” that brought him up in his political career. Mr Sangma has been sticking to his guns saying it will be a shame for India if a “foreigner” is allowed to hold the office of Prime Minister. Campaigning is becoming increasingly fierce and personal as these two main rivals are going all out to prove a point. For Mr Sangma it a prestige battle and he has to prove that all victories in the past were largely due to his personality and charisma. And for the Congress, which has fielded former Minister Atul Ch Marak, it is a must win situation in order to prove its claim that Mr Sangma’s successes were mainly due to the popularity of the party. Congress workers are awaiting party President Sonia Gandhi’s proposed visit here to address an election gathering to ensure Marak’s win but the NCP says: “Mr Sangma is enough to campaign for himself. We do not require any other national-level personality to canvass for Purno.” Many Congress activists made no bones about the Italian and foreign connection of the Garos (the dominant tribe in the constituency). “We feel closer to the foreign missionaries than the Indian-born ones. Every Garo will endorse this statement.” Tura’s local member of the District Council Billy Kid A. Sangma said as a rebuttal to Mr Sangma’s attack on Mrs Gandhi. While Mr Sangma has been telling his voters that the INC has turned into the “Italian national Congress”, the Congress retaliation is that the NCP stands for “Nehi chalega Purno” (Purno won’t do) and the “Nogorpara Congress party” (Nogorpara is Purno’s hometown). The Congress has launched a frontal attack on Mr Sangma’s various commissions and omissions during the past 20 years that he represented the seat. The party has been trying to counter Mr Sangma’s hate-Sonia campaign by reminding the area’s overwhelming Christian population of the contributions of foreign missionaries, particularly those from Italy. The Congress points to Mr Sangma’s own “Italian connection” and how an Italian Catholic priest helped him rise from an unlettered shepherd to the office of Lok Sabha Speaker. The Congress has also begun a whispering campaign about Mr Sangma’s alleged amassing of wealth and his acquiring of property disproportionate to his known sources of income. Marak said Mr Sangma’s massive house in Tura, which resembled a five-star hotel, was estimated to be worth Rs 5.5 crore. A government official requesting anonymity said Mr Sangma had engaged about 50 new jeeps for the campaign. On the other hand, NCP activists reel off statistics to justify their claim that all these years Mr Sangma won because of his personal votebank. NCP district general secretary Bibhas Das points out that in the last assembly elections, Congress candidate Joylance Momin lost by a few hundred votes while a few months later in the Lok Sabha poll Mr Sangma polled 6,000 votes more than his rival in the Tura assembly segment. NCP secretary K.K. Sangma, brother-in-law of Purno, claims that all Lok Sabha elections here were fought on Purno’s image and the “party was secondary.” He admitted that the new symbol (Clock) for Purno was going to be handicap. Voters in the Garo hills think Purno and the “hand” are synonymous. NCP workers are taking care to convince the voters that Purno’s new symbol is the “Clock”. It is feared that a major chunk of the votes may go to the Congress by default. The Tura Lok Sabha constituency comprising the West Garo Hills (WGH), the East Garo Hills (EGH) and the South Garo Hills (SGH) has about 4,40,000 voters. An estimated 1,00,000 non-Garo voters — the Hajong, Cooch and Muslim communities — mainly spread over the WGH, may turn out to be decisive. The Congress appears to be having a joyride in the Tura, Garobadha, Pipulbari, Rajabala and Sesela pockets (all in the WGH dominated by plain tribalmen and Muslims). There are 15 assembly segments in the WGH, seven in the EGH and two in the SGH. Reports from the South Garo Hills indicate that the NCP is favoured by 45 per cent of the voters against the Congress’ 40 per cent. Mr Sangma, who was on the campaign trail on Thursday at Kharkutta bordering Assam after a long stay outside his state, said the next few days “will be enough for me to canvass.” Asked about the constituency mainly dominated by Muslims, which may prove to be his Achilles heel, Mr Sangma expressed his confidence saying, “I have come here to improve all these things. I am contesting from Tura to increase the number of votes polled by me last time.” Mr Sangma in the last Lok Sabha poll defeated his rival by more than 1,70,000 votes. On the Congress allegations about his pumping of crores of rupees into the Garo Hills to woo voters, Mr Sangma said his Congress counterpart was not getting all the money sent to him from New Delhi adding that Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee president O.L. Nongtdu and Meghalaya Deputy Chief Minister D.D. Lapang had a “major chunk” of the money for themselves. The NCP has lodged a
protest with the Returning Officer against the Congress
for alleged use of old posters bearing the picture of Mr
P.A. Sangma with the “Hand” symbol. — UNI |
Parties eye Muslim vote BAREILLY: Capital of the Rohill as (Afghan princedom till the 18th century), Bareilly has a strong, relatively aggressive, Muslim presence 25 per cent or 3.6 lakh of the 13.3 lakh votes. This made it a fertile stamping ground for the BJP which won the seat in 1991, 1996 and 1998 on the strength of communal divide. The party’s three-time MP and Union Minister of State for Petroleum is again in the fray. But unlike last time when the Samajwadi Party managed to consolidate the anti-BJP vote around its Muslim candidate (Islam Sabir lost by 30,000 votes) this time the opposition is trifurcated. Mr Islam Sabir is contesting on the Congress ticket and hopes to garner the Congress votes to compensate for the loss of the 16,000 Yadav votes. However, the Congress is divided over supporting Mr Sabir who was given the ticket in place of Mr Parveen Airon. To complicate matters the BSP has fielded Haji Farooq Hasan Niazi, a low-profile first-timer, to corner part of the Muslim votes. Should he do this successfully, then added to the 1.85 lakh Dalit votes and an accretion of the under one lakh Lodh votes puts him within sight of victory. Though traditionally with the BJP the Lodh are up in arms against the party here because of denial of Farukkhabad party ticket to its sitting MP Sakshi Maharaj. Rumours of Mr Santosh Gangwar being a contender for fellow Lodh CM Kalyan Singh’s chair have angered the Lodhs further. But for the BSP strategy to work, it must mobilise the Dalit vote around its Muslim candidate. In 1996, when it also fielded a Muslim, it polled under 50,000 votes. It met a similar fate in 1998 although it had fielded a Dalit. The Samajwadi Party is the other contender for the Muslim votes. With Mr Sabir defecting, it has fielded its sitting MLA from Nawabganj, Master Chotte Lal Gangwar. As a Gangwar, he should be able to split Mr Santosh Gangwar’s 3.5 lakh Kurmi votes eroding the BJP MP’s core support group, forcing the latter to look to other castes (around 2 lakh, including 1.25 lakh backward Maurya and Kashyap voters) for support. But to attract this vote Gangwar, given the lack of communal colour this time, he must have a strong work record. It is precisely here that he may stumble. The Bareilly MC is in a mess. Teachers are up in arms over wage arrears and the policy to hand over primary education to gram panchayats. Employees and farmers are angry over closure of a sugar factory at Nekpur and chemicals plant outside the town Mr Kalyan Singh’s perceived anti-Brahmin stance and anti-Gangwar sentiment is unlikely to help. If despite this, Mr Gangwar scrapes through it may be because of the four way split in votes. AONLA: The Aonla LS seat juts into Bareilly at one end and extends into the vast potato heartland of Badaun at the other. Unlike Bareilly it is a predominantly rural seat. Of its over 10 lakh voters, 1.35 lakh are Kashyaps, 1.36 lakh Brahmins, 1.31 lakh Muslims, 1.4 lakh Thakurs, 1.5 lakh Dalits and over one lakh Yadavs, Lodhs Mauryas and others. With no caste or community in a predominant position the ideological divide here diffused and no party can claim the seat as its pocketborough. In 1996 Mr Sarvaraj Singh won the seat for the SP by less than 1,000 votes. Two years later fellow Thakur Rajvir Singh wrested the seat for the BJP with a narrow margin of 6,500 votes. This time, given the small margin and the anti-incumbency factor, Mr Sarvraj Singh looks strong. However, to win he must rule out anti-Thakur sentiment in the region and his brother’s criminal links. The Congress, which was also ran last time, is putting up a spirited fight on the strength of Mr Chanderpal Singh Kashyap, formerly of the BSP who brought the Kashyap vote over to the BJP last time in the hope of securing the party ticket. This time the Congress will be looking towards him to get it the Kashyap vote and a large part of the Brahmin vote because the Brahmins are disenchantment with Mr Kalyan Singh and the Thakurs. Should he get some of the Muslim vote as well, it would put him well within sight of victory. The BSP has fielded Mr
Mahipal Singh Yadav in the hope of getting the Yadav vote
which clubbed with the Dalit and some Muslim vote should
see it through. But given the Yadav-Dalit hostility in
the state it could well drive the Dalits into the arms of
the Congress or even the BJP, bolstering the BJP’s
slipping base. |
Campaigning gains momentum in
Anantnag SRINAGAR: Campaigning in the Anantnag parliamentary constituency where the poll have been rescheduled for October 4 due to the killing of BJP candidate on September 7, has started picking up. There is going to be yet another clash of titans with 18 candidates in the fray, including two former union ministers, a state minister and former state minister. The constituency was scheduled to go to the poll in the third phase of elections along with the Baramula constituency in north Kashmir on September 18. But, with the death of BJP candidate Ghulam Hyder Noorani, along with three of his securitymen in a landmine explosion during campaigning on September 7, the elections were rescheduled for October 4. Only the BJP was asked to field its candidate in place of Mr Noorani. Mr Shokwat Hussain Wani filed his nomination papers and the scrutiny was conducted on September 18. The byelections to the Beijbehara assembly constituency in Anantnag that were scheduled to be held simultaneously with the Anantnag parliamentary constituency, were, however, held as per the schedule on September 18. The seat had fallen vacant due to resignation of Ms Mehbooba Mufti, CLP leader in July last, who later launched the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in association with her father and the former Union Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. This is for the second consecutive term that Mufti Mohammad Sayeed is contesting from his home constituency of Anantnag. It was for the first time in the 1998 elections that the Mufti emerged victorious as the Congress candidate from the constituency. This time he has posed a challenge to the ruling National Conference by floating his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as an “alternative regional party”. The Mufti is also pitted against the former Union Minister of State for Home Mohammad Maqbool Dar of the Janata Dal, represented the constituency in the 1996 elections, when the National Conference stayed away from the poll. The state had a seven-year-long Governor’s rule before the National Conference (NC) emerged victorious in the September 1996 assembly elections. The ruling National Conference has fielded the Revenue Minister and the former Speaker of the state assembly Ali Mohammad Naik as its candidate from the Anantnag constituency. He represents the Tral constituency in Pulwama district in the assembly. Both Anantnag and Pulwama districts comprising 10 and six assembly segment’s respective, constitute the Anantnag parliamentary constituency. The Congress has fielded former minister Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed from the constituency. This is for the first time he is contesting the Lok Sabha elections from the constituency. Out of six elections between 1967 and 1989 held in the state, the parliamentary constituency has been represented four times by the National Conference and twice by the Congress. It was represented thrice by Mr Mohammad Shafi Qureshi as the Congress nominee in 1967 and 1977, and as the National Conference candidate in the 1971 elections. Mr Ghulam Rasool Kar of the Congress represented it in 1980, while Begum Akbar Jehan, wife of the late Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, in 1984. In the 1989 elections, Mr Pyare Lal Handoo of the ruling NC represented the constituency. No elections were held in Jammu and Kashmir in the 1991 Lok Sabha elections, while NC stayed away from the 1996 parliament elections. In the 1998 Lok Sabha elections notable Kashmiri poet, critic, writer Mohammad Yusuf Teng was defeated by the Mufti. The campaigning in this constituency had earlier started at a very high note but the death of the BJP candidate, had scuttled the free movement of the candidates and their supporters. Now an electorate of
8,04,983, including 444491 males and 3,60,492 females,
would decide the fate of 18 candidates in the fray. There
are 994 polling stations set up in the constituency. |
Fierce fight for erstwhile
kingdom GANGTOK: Amid a poll boycott call by ethnic minority Bhutia-Lepcha (BL) for the simultaneous elections to the lone Lok Sabha and 32-member assembly in Sikkim scheduled for October 3, its a no- holds barred battle between the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) and opposition Sikkim Sangram Parishad (SSP) with the Congress lending the third edge. The SDF, the SSP and the Congress are locked in a triangular contest in 24 of the 32 assembly seats, while an Independent candidate make it a four-cornered contest in the lone Lok Sabha seat. The main fight, however, will be between SSP supremo Nar Bahadur Bhandari and his arch rival SDF chief and Chief Minister Pawan Chamling. The SSP supremo held the reigns of the erstwhile Himalayan kingdom for over 14 years since it merged with the Indian Union in 1975. Having routed the SDF in the 1994 assembly poll, the SSP is locked in a bid for a comeback. While the ruling SDF is contesting 31 out of the 32 assembly seats, it has not fielded any candidate for the state’s unique Buddhist monastic Sangha seat. The SSP is contesting all 32 seats, while the Congress is contesting 31 seats after one of its official nominee Testen Lepcha withdrew his nomination from the reserve Bhutia-Lepcha seat of Lachen-Mangshilla in tribal-dominated north Sikkim. He withdrew his nomination without the party’s approval, ostensibly to support the boycott call by the Bhutia-Lepcha apex committee to demand restoration of political rights as it existed prior to the erstwhile kingdom’s merger with the Indian Union. While the SSP supremo is contesting from two seats, the SDF chief is seeking re-election from home constituency of Damthang in south Sikkim for the fifth consecutive time. Mr Bhandari is contesting from the Rhenock seat, besides seeking re-election for a record sixth time from his home constituency of Soreng. The SDF has renominated sitting member of the 12th Lok Sabha, Mr Bhim Prashad Dahal, for the record third time for the lone Lok Sabha seat. Mr Dahal is pitted against Mr Satish Chandra Rai of the SDF and Mr Somnath Paudyal (Cong), both of whom are relatively new in state politics. Another Independent candidate is in the fray for the four-cornered contest seat. The SDF has dropped six
sitting MLAs, including four ministers, by infusing new
faces in the contest. The SSP, too, has fielded several
new comers along with several former ministers of the
erstwhile Nar Bahadur Bhandari Cabinet. — UNI |
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We thank them, but we reject the offer. — Pranab Mukherjee on the NCP’s offer to support the Congress sans Sonia We wanted to free the people in the state (Bihar) from the “jungle raj” in which Dalits were killed and women humiliated. But the Congress ditched us by opposing our move. — A.B. Vajpayee commenting that his government had decided to impose Article 356 in Bihar It is because their (the BJP’s) patriotism is in doubt that they are attempting to create an impression in the minds of the people that I am not a patriot. — Sonia Gandhi at an election meeting in Shimla The emergence of two broad political formations — the NDA and the Congress-led alliance — will make the third front irrelevant at the national level. — Shanta Kumar on the realignment of forces at the national level I feel that it was an avoidable remark. I think that BJP should talk about Sonia’s inexperience — the fact that she has not even worked for a day in a municipality. But nothing about her two children. — Sushma Swaraj on George Fernandes’ remark about Sonia Gandhi’s contribution to the country You can’t trick me there. My official answer is: “My mother has sent me here, so I am campaigning. The rest is up to her”. — Priyanka Gandhi on which seat Sonia will retain Various alliances have been made in places. But we have urged the voters to ensure the victory of the secular forces. We will take a decision on the proposed third front after assessing election results. — Jyoti Basu Why didn’t she accept Indian citizenship on the day she became the daughter-in-law in Indira Gandhi’s family? Why did she wait for 16 years? This question cries for a proper answer. — A.B. Vajpayee on Sonia Gandhi’s comment that the delay in her taking Indian citizenship was a “technical matter” Those who did not support the country’s freedom struggle cannot be trusted with defending the nation’s integrity and security. — Sonia Gandhi in reference to A.B. Vajpayee For the past 50 years, these politicians have been exploiting you in the name of caste and religion. Some say Hindutva is in danger, some say Islam is in danger.... Become a judge on the voting day and pronounce a clear judgement against those culprits who have thrust this election on you. — UP Chief Minister Kalyan Singh The youth have expectations from the representatives. They want the right to recall candidates. — Hindi screen villain Sadashiv Amrapurkar In the last six elections after 1977, the party got 51 per cent of the vote thrice. In 1989 it came down to 48 per cent. But in 1996 it again rose to 51 per cent. In the last elections it came down by only 2.5 per cent. — Jyoti Basu denying that there has been a steady erosion in the voting percentage of the Left Front in West Bangal — (Compiled
by Mukul Bansal) |
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Musical wooing LUCKNOW (UNI): Political parties are vying with one another in wooing voters with music cassettes singing paeans of praise for the leaders. While party workers may be enthused by these “poetic effusions”, it remains to be seen whether the voter, to whom the cassettes are given away free, will be moved enough to cast the ballot in favour of a particular candidate. The Congress and the Samajwadi Party may be politically at loggerheads, but they share the same music production company and singer for campaigning in Uttar Pradesh. ‘Bogus’ voting CHENNAI (UNI): The AIADMK General Secretary, Ms J. Jayalalitha, has alleged large-scale bogus voting by the ruling DMK during the second phase of polling in Tamil Nadu. Ms Jayalalitha, resting in Hyderabad, said on Tuesday the Progressive Democratic Front led by her party would hold a procession on September 24 from Panagal Park to Raj Bhavan here and submit a memorandum to Governor Ms Justice Fathima Beevi detailing the “malpractices” in voting. Bootleggers BERHAMPUR (UNI):
It is boom time for the bootleggers of Ganjam district in
Orissa. Taking advantage of the Lok Sabha elections in
the state, they have adopted a novel method to boost
their illegal business. For the smooth transportation of
contraband, they just paste a sticker “on election
duty, not to be detained”, on their trucks to avoid
detection. |
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