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Centre Show
You’ve got to be a slumgod to reach Parliament
Ferozepur
Mathura |
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Fireworks in Sufi land
Srinagar
Patna Sahib
A first: Former woman Army officer in fray
Repolling in 35 booths
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Centre Show
New Delhi, May 4 The Congress candidates have been focusing on the achievements of their party’s government in the Capital during the past 10 years. This, they believe, is the most potent weapon to defeat their challengers. The BJP candidates are raising issues relating to the unauthorised colonies, shortage of power and inadequate drinking water supply, lack of medical facilities and problems concerning educational institutions. The BSP nominees, on the other hands, are the least bothered about the issues raised by the Congress and the BJP. They are seeking votes in the name of party supremo Mayawati. In the key constituencies like New Delhi, Chandni Chowk, East Delhi and North-West Delhi, the Congress has fielded sitting MPs --- Ajay Maken, Union Minister of State for Urban Development; Kapil Sibal, Union Minister of Science and Environment; Sandeep Dikshit, son of Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit; and Krishna Tirath, who represented the erstwhile Karol Bagh parliamentary constituency in the outgoing Lok Sabha. These contestants are being dubbed as non-performers by BJP candidates --- Vijay Goel, Vijender Gupta, Chairman of the Standing Committee in the municipal corporation of Delhi, Chetan Chauhan, cricketer-turned-politician and Meera Kanwaria. Vijender is contesting the parliamentary elections for the first time. Vijendra Gupta, the BJP nominee for the Chandni Chowk seat, claims no road repair has taken place during the past five years. “Being a thickly populated area, it also needs new schools, but the sitting MP has not been bothered about the requirement of the people,” he alleges. In East Delhi, Sandeep Dikshit is being termed as an outsider by the BJP as he has a house in Nizamuddin. At present, he resides at Pandara Road, where he has been allotted a government accommodation. His rival BJP candidate is a resident of Mayur Vihar. North-West Delhi is a reserved constituency from where Congress candidate Krishna Tirath is seeking votes by highlighting the development projects undertaken in her previous constituency, Karol Bagh that has ceased to exist post delimitation. Her new constituency is dotted with unauthorised colonies and villages, which lack development. BJP candidate Meera Kanwaria has been pointing out the pitiable condition of the unauthorised colonies and those in the ‘Lal Dora’ areas in the villages. South Delhi is also a key constituency, where Congress candidate Ramesh Kumar, brother of Jat leader Sajjan Kumar, is pitted against the BJP candidate Ramesh Bidhuri, an MLA from the Sangam Vihar Assembly constituency. The candidature of Sajjan, a sitting Congress MP, was withdrawn after 1984 anti-Sikh riot victims strongly protested against him. The Congress candidate seeks votes on the basis of performance of Kumar. To counter him, the BJP has raised issues of lack of proper water and power supply and poor educational and health facilities. In the North-East and West Delhi constituencies, the Congress has fielded DPCC president Jaiprakash Agarwal, a soft-spoken seasoned politician, and Mahabal Mishra, MLA from Vikaspuri, known as the leader of Poorvanchalis (migrants from eastern UP). Jaiprakash seeks votes in the name of development works done by the Delhi government. The BJP’s octogenarian leader BL Sharma Prem says the government has not been bothered about the dirty water flowing into the Yamuna, the pitiable condition of slum clusters, lack of civic amenities and poor education facilities in his constituency. Mahabal is the only leader who seeks votes in the name of the able leadership of AICC chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi. But his opponent, BJP candidate Prof Jagdish Mukhi, has been raising the weaknesses of the UPA and Delhi governments.
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You’ve got to be a slumgod to reach Parliament
“Even after the Master Plan Delhi 2001 projected that 16.2 lakh houses are required to be constructed, the DDA, which was supposed to build 25 per cent of them, failed to meet the target. The people, who are directly involved in making the city beautiful, have never been paid any attention. When the Capital is witnessing a massive development, especially in wake of the Common Wealth Games, shelters of this marginalised section have been demolished, leaving them to battle the nature’s fury,” says Ramendra of Delhi Shramik Sangathan, a body of young social activists. These people remain poor and stigmatised not always due to their lack of efforts, and destiny, but due to the apathy shown towards them by those who hold the power reins, he adds. But come elections and slums hog the limelight. Carrots are dangled in plenty, promises get loftier and assurances bigger. But nothing changes here, rues Jagdish, a resident of a slum in Naraina. “Every leader is hungry for power. They are not bothered about problems of people,” he adds. Now, representatives from Capital’s 80 slums in areas like Naraina, Wazirpur, Vikaspuri, Vasant Vihar, Kirti Nagar, Janakpuri and Vasant Kunj along with the acitivists of DSS will sensitise their community members about their social identity and rights of citizenship. For the purpose, they have come up with two books one each on housing rights and public distribution system. Also, a film “Shahar Hamara Hai” (SHH), which raises questions on the intentions of the government and the political parties on the issue of housing rights of slum dwellers, would be screened. Ramendra says SHH stands as a testimony to the apathy and deplorable condition in Delhi slums.
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Ferozepur
Muktsar, May 4 Muktsar, which is known for the sacrifice of the 40 brave hearts for the cause of Sikhism, was a dusty town when the country was divided. Those who took up land in the area were able to acquire a lot of it and from these families emerged the new feudal classes of the Malwa region. Buying votes is an old tradition in this as well as neighbouring Malout constituency with the landed families of the region perpetually using money power to buy their way to power. Part of Faridkot earlier and now the Ferozepur parliamentary seat, both Muktsar and Malout have seen epic battles for supremacy among the families of former Chief Minister Harcharan Singh Brar, present Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and the family of Jagmeet Singh Brar. In every election money has been a key factor. During a visit to the Muktsar bazar, a large number of heavy duty fans, known as ‘helicopters’, were seen lying outside shops, awaiting buyers after the polling day. The ‘helicopter’ is one of the favourite purchases as it fits into the Rs 500 bracket. Larger families target coolers and other household items. It is not only the poor who want money for their votes. Even middle class people feel if they can get money for their votes than why not, says Vishal Bhandari, private secretary to present Muktsar legislator Kanwarjit “Sunny” Brar. Kotkapura legislator Ripjit Brar, who is also the brother of Congress candidate from Ferozepur Jagmeet Brar, says this is a tradition the constituency could do without, but at the same time he admits it has come to stay. The vote-buying practise is conducting meticulously. A local journalist says money is invariably given through municipal councillors of respective areas. He says while the ruling group usually distributes cash openly, others take the route of ‘parchis’. A typical parchi handed over to a voter would read “char cup chai” along with an appended signature. The ‘chai’ denotes the number of voters in a family and the paper is usually encashed immediately after the poll. Young Saurabh says his family was paid Rs 400 per vote during the last parliamentary elections. “The rate is more in an assembly poll and can go up to Rs 1,000 per vote”, he says. Another local Gurdas says ‘ek tarfa’ (one sided) contests bring down the price to around Rs 300 per vote. Local Dalit leader Balram “Jakhar” says people take oaths on their holy books and a particular caste also on its “thada” (hearth). “Most times they keep their word but sometimes they take inducements from both sides”, Balram says.
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Mathura
Times have changed. Jat leader of Western UP Ajit Singh is no more “Chaudhary ka chora”, he is now the “Chaudhary” himself. Earlier, Ajit Singh was known as the son of former Prime Minister Charan Singh.
The new “Chaudhary ka chora” is Jayant Chaudhary, son of Ajit Singh. Incidentally, the new kid on the block is a look-alike of his grandfather and that is adding to his USP in rural areas. The 30-year-old graduate from the London School of Economics is contesting from Mathura. He has stepped into electoral politics for the first time and the entire family comprising husbands of his sisters, his wife’s family and Ajit Singh’s clan is working for him. The doting father has lined up star campaigners of alliance partner BJP, including Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj and Hema Malini. Jayant talks like a man of this generation as he promises to clean up the filthy Yamuna. Jayant’s personality reminds people of his grandfather and actually several women just come to see him, albeit through their veils, said Sampat Singh, a villager, as he waited with The Tribune team at Baldeo, 20 km away from Mathura for Jayants’ cavalcade to arrive. The Jat clan, some 3.5 lakh in number, is happy and will vote for him but it will be a tough task in Mathura. Jayant has an advantage as he is the only Jat in the fray and the alliance with the BJP will add up to more votes. The BJP has won the seat four times in the past. The Congress candidate and sitting MP, Kunwar Manvendra Singh, is targeting the Thakurs. Star campaigners - Mohd Azharuddin and actor Mahima Chaudhary - did a road show for him on Sunday. BSP candidate Sham Sunder Sharma, a six-term MLA, promises to dent the Brahmin votes and also the Dalits. Since the Samajwadi Party has not fielded anyone, Muslims votes could go to the Congress or the BSP. The last minute voting pattern of each caste will finally decide the winner. In case of Ajit Singh, the competition is tough in Baghpat but not as tough as in Mathura. The Jat-dominated seat has either returned Charan Singh or his son Ajit Singh since 1977. Sole exception being 1998 when Sompal Shastri, another Jat, stunned Ajit Singh. Sompal went on to join the BJP and is now contesting on the Congress ticket while Ajit Singh’s party - Rashtriya Lok Dal - is in a pre-poll seat-sharing alliance with the BJP. Ajit Singh says: “It is no contest”, adding that his closest rival was the BSP. The confidence of Ajit Singh is such that he is busy attending rallies elsewhere. The idea is to woo the young generation of Jats, who cannot connect to the legacy of Charan Singh and are less clan oriented, for whom infrastructure, connectivity with Delhi and development hold the key. It isn’t just the Baghpat seat at stake, but it is the mantle of Charan Singh and the leadership of Jats who are an effective voting bloc in as many as 16 seats in western UP.
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Fireworks in Sufi land
Congress’ Sachin Pilot, who became the youngest MP in 2004, is pitted against BJP’s Kiran Maheshwari. While delimitation forced Sachin to move out of his home turf Dausa, Maheshwari fitted in the BJP’s permutation and combination for the seat, which has been its stronghold for long. Her urban appeal and caste (Vaishya) made her the party choice for the constituency, which is also the seat of education and learning in Rajasthan. However, the delimitation has given the Congress a fresh opportunity to wrest the seat from its arch-rival. The caste equations seem to be favouring the party, as Gujjars have emerged as a dominant force post-delimitation. The candidature of Sachin, a Gujjar, is bound to boost the poll prospects of the party. Also Sachin’s better-half, Sarah Pilot, who comes from minority community, is participating in the poll campaign, which may help the party in garnering support of Muslim population. In Ajmer, the Gujjars and Muslims comprise 11 per cent and 8 per cent of the electorate, respectively. Sachin is also banking on his ‘youth icon’ image and is eying sizable young voters to capture the BJP citadel. He is going all out to woo the Gen X and is quite candid about it. “There are 43 million first-time voters in our country. I will make all the efforts to ensure that they take part in this democratic exercise and make their vote count,” he told The Tribune. On the other hand, the BJP is grappling with the fact that its traditional support base of Rawat community has been excluded from the seat during the delimitation. The BJP is now relying on the support of Jat community to tilt the scales in its favour. Besides, it will also have to woo other small communities like Brahmins, Rajputs, Kumawats and Mahajans to give a tough fight to the Congress. However, Maheshwari feels that Sachin would not benefit from caste equations. “Despite being an MP he failed to take up Gujjars’ cause in the parliament,” she claims. Maheshwari is also trying to mobilise support among the women voters. She has constituted small groups of women workers.
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Srinagar
Srinagar, May 4 But figures are no deterrent for PDP patron Mufti Saeed, who managed quite a show this evening at a small, sleepy village on the city’s outskirts. When the entire Srinagar was deep in Sunday slumber, with pro-boycott activists in the old city busy hurling stones at security men as usual, Gund in Batmaloo assembly area was in mass hysteria, cheering Mufti for what he said and implied. With his candidate from the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency, Maulvi Iftikhar Ansari, seated in the backdrop, Mufti assumed centrestage at a well-attended Sunday rally in Gund, asking Srinagar to make history with its votes, and urging people to show the boycott callers their place. In an interesting speech that sought to appeal to both people’s power and their conscience, Mufti accused the NC of being a party that thrived on boycotts, and one that promoted low voting turnouts by imposing unnecessary curfews to scare people away (Srinagar’s old city area was out of bounds for the fourth day today). “The day you vote, the National Conference will be finished. If you want stability in the valley, come out and vote. Just like our candidate’s name is the first on the electronic voting machine, let Srinagar be the first in voting percentage,” Mufti said to people, trying desperately to remind them of their lost prowess. For him, as party patron, winning Srinagar is extremely important. Not only would it be a befitting revenge for the humiliating defeat of 1999 LS elections his daughter Mehbooba suffered at the hands of Omar Abdullah (he had polled 40,000 votes more than her), it would also be PDP’s finest achievement in north Kashmir, considered an NC bastion (NC holds all eight assembly segments in Srinagar and has won this parliamentary seat in eight out of 10 elections held).That explained the overly emotional appeals Mufti made to the crowds in Srinagar all day, stopping at more than four locations, striking warm chords with a largely indifferent crowd. Almost everywhere during his electioneering, he began the addresses by uplifting Srinagar in the overall scheme of things in Kashmir. “Srinagar is the heart of the valley,” Mufti said, “The Valley can’t be healthy if the hearts stops beating. You must bring it back to life, not for our, but for your own sake,” he said, calling the NC-Congress coalition’s bluff by making repeated references to how the NC and the Congress finalised their power-sharing deal within 12 hours, whereas the PDP had taken 16 days to frame a common minimum programme.“They (the NC) have no agenda for governance,” was PDP founder’s bottomline during canvassing. As he did most of the talking, promising people self-rule, economic independence and irrelevant borders, Ansari, like a loyal soldier, stood in his master’s shadow. This is the third time Ansari, a famed Shia cleric, is facing someone from the Abdullah family.
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Patna Sahib
Perhaps, “Shotgun” and Shekhar Suman of “Movers and Shakers” fame were chosen by their respective parties not on the criterion of their tinsel town glamour alone. They also have more things in common. Both of them belong to the same city (Patna) and the same caste (Kayastha). Kayastha caste voters are sizable in this constituency. The claims of Shatrughan Sinha that the party----BJP---- had asked him to choose any parliamentary constituency in Bihar, Delhi or Maharashtra but Patna Sahib became his first, second and last choice is also being viewed in the context of caste only. Congress nominee Shekhar Suman also comes from a reputed Kayastha family. His grandfather, the late Baldeo Sahay, was the first Advocate-General of Bihar and his father, Dr Fanibhushan Prasad, is a senior medical practitioner in Patna. At the face of it, Shatrughan has much better political credentials than Shekhar. Being a two-term member of the Rajya Sabha and a Cabinet Minister in the Vajpayee government, the actor-turned-politician should have had a cakewalk in this election. But the greenhorn in politics, Shekhar Suman, has suddenly emerged as a big crowd puller giving anxious moments to his “elder brother”.Shatrughan is also drawing flak for singing paeans to Shiv Sena patriarch Bal Thackeray at a time when north Indians were being attacked in Mumbai by Sena men and MNS activists. Shatrughan also has no paucity of “enemies” and detractors in his own party. His opposition to Nitish Kumar’s candidature for the CM post is also fresh in people’s mind. However, Nitish has been magnanimous enough to forget the past and has been backing the NDA candidate from Patna Sahib to the hilt.On his part, Shatrughan also does not tire of heaping praise on the Bihar Chief Minister. The Congress has pinned a lot of hope on its candidate who has been drawing crowds at his meetings and road shows. A comment from Lalu Yadav that Shekhar Suman will laugh and Shotgun will cry after the poll has boosted the morale of Congressmen in this constituency.
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A first: Former woman Army officer in fray
“Joining politics was not my intention, but this opportunity came my way through the Youth For Equality, an association of young professionals,” Sangeeta told The Tribune. She was chosen as the Lok Umeedwar or the people’s candidate by the Youth for Equality (YFE). It was for the first time in the electoral history of India that a people’s candidate was elected through an open house debate. YFE describes itself as a group of alert aware citizens. Sangeeta belongs to the first batch of lady Army officers and was commissioned into the Judge Advocate General’s Department. She spent seven-and-a-half years in olive green before getting her release in 2000. After a stint as the head of the women’s cell at National Human Rights Commission, she started practicing at the Delhi High Court. Married to a serving Army officer, she has two daughters. “Healthcare and education are my priorities,” Sangeeta said. “I am also oppose to caste-based reservation, though, it is my belief that all possible assistance should be extended to all people from economically weak background,” she added. Being closely associated with the armed forces, the interests of the service community is also uppermost in her mind.
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Repolling in 35 booths
New Delhi, May 4 The Election Commission has ordered repolling following irregularities during the third phase of Lok Sabha elections last Thursday. Last Thursday, polling took place for all 26 Lok Sabha seats of Gujarat. Besides Gujarat, polling was also held in 14 seats in West Bengal, 11 in Bihar, 10 in Maharashtra and one in Sikkim. The Commission has also ordered repolling at four booths in Mumbai North Central parliamentary constituency.
— ANI
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Cold comfort
If you are scared to venture out in the sun on the polling day in sizzling Delhi, do not fear as election officials will be ready with not only chilled water but oral rehydration salts too. To help voters beat the heat, the Delhi Electoral Office are also making arrangements to put up shades and tents in polling booths across the city to facilitate the people waiting in queues for their turn to cast their ballot. “Keeping the extreme heat in view, we have decided to ensure that chilled drinking water is available at every polling station. There are plans to provide ORS too,” Deputy Chief Electoral Officer JK Sharma said. Besides, about 45 ambulances will be at hand to ferry people to hospitals.
— PTI Currency notes with expiry date, ban on private vehicles, different timings for colleges and offices and provision to judge the court’s judgments are what Kanta Pingolia is promising to work towards if elected to the Lok Sabha. The independent candidate from South Delhi is also the head of a civil society group, Corruption Elimination Society, which aims at “rooting out corruption”. Ironically, Pingolia is facing criminal charges, including for alleged extortion and threats, and has even served time in jail. This has, however, not deterred her from trying her luck in the electoral fray. She says she will seek a ban on private vehicles and work towards introducing an efficient public transport system to smoothen traffic on roads in case. To deal with the problem of black money, Pingolia promises to press the government for printing an “expiry date” on every note so that it cannot be hoarded. “Once the expiry date ends, the currency will have to be submitted to the government which will exchange it by issuing new notes to the customer,” she reasons.
— PTI
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BJP fears terror attack
GUWAHATI: The BJP has informed the Election Commission that terrorists in collaboration with some political rivals might bomb the strongroom at Silchar in Assam where EVMs have been kept, a party leader said on Monday. “We already sent a letter to the Election Commission on May 1 based on some authentic information from a source that militants or terrorists backed by some political parties could try and blow up the strong room where EVMs are kept,” BJP leader Anil Dey said.
— IANS Minister ‘attacked’
BANKA: Bihar’s Social Welfare Minister and JD (U) candidate of the Banka Lok Sabha seat Damodar Raut on Monday alleged that he was attacked and two of his supporters injured when villagers attacked them at a polling booth during repoll. Raut said he had gone to polling booth no 99 to “inspect the voting percentage but the villagers pelted stones in which he received minor injury in his back.” Two of my supporters - Mahesh Prasad Gupta, polling agent and Manoj Yadav - were also injured
in the incident, he said. — PTI
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Sahib (Lalu Prasad) will become the Prime Minister one day — Former Bihar CM Rabri Devi The Left and we are old friends. We have been with the Left for a long time since the days of the Janata Dal and we have a lot of experience with them — Bihar CM and JD-U leader Nitish Kumar I fail to understand how and where I have wronged Azam Bhai who I have always treated as an elder brother — SP leader Jaya Prada
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Voter’s guide
Can a person contest byelections to the Lok Sabha/ Vidhan Sabha from as many constituencies as he likes?
A person can’t contest more than two byelections to the same House, if called simultaneously by the Election Commission. The same restriction regarding the number of constituencies applies in the case of a general election
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New Delhi, May 4
Ajmer, May 4
Patna Sahib, May 4
Chandigarh, May 4