Saturday, September 18,1999
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Saturday, September 18,1999 |
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‘Tactical’
voting by Muslims likely LUCKNOW: Muslims in Uttar Pradesh, who are being asked by several minorities groups to go in for “tactical voting” in the Lok Sabha elections, may make or mar the prospects of the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress. A host of ‘non-political’ groups, including the All-India Milli Council, have released their separate list of candidates of different non-BJP parties for various seats in the state to help the community go in for tactical voting. There is, however, no consensus among these groups over the choice of candidates to be supported by the minorities. Meanwhile, in an attempt to woo Muslim voters, who constitute about 16.5 per cent of the total electorate in the state, the SP, the BSP and the Congress have all put up Muslim candidates in constituencies where the minority community can tilt the balance in their favour. The BSP has fielded the maximum of 17 Muslims candidates. The BJP, however, has fielded only one candidate from the community, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Muktar Abbas Naqvi who is seeking re-election from Rampur. Even in 1998 he was the BJP’s sole Muslim candidate and the party’s only elected Muslim member from the entire country in the 12th Lok Sabha. The BSP has fielded Muslim candidates for Nainital, Amroha, Muradabad, Bareily, Pilibhit, Shahabad, Lucknow, Unnao, Behraich, Maharajganj, Azamgarh, Etah, Agra, Bulandshahr, Hapur, Meerut and Saharanpur. Prominent among the candidates are former Union Minister Arif Mohammad Khan from Behraich and Mr Akbar Ahmad Dumpi from Azamgarh. Both had won in 1998. Four Muslim candidates of the party had emerged runners-up and eight were placed in the third spot. The Samajwadi Party has put up Muslim candidates for the 15 seats of Pratapgarh, Varanasi, Nainital, Moradabad, Rampur, Badaun, Shahabad, Baghpat, Kairana, Saharanpur, Sitapur, Amethi Behraich, Balrampur and Dumariaganj. Its candidates include former Union Minister Salim Sherwani (Badaun) and former state minister Mukhtar Anees (Sitapur). The Congress has fielded 11 candidates in Rampur, Bareilly, Sitapur, Dumariaganj, Gorakhpur, Ghazipur, Unnao, Farrukhabad, Jalesar , Bulandshahr and Muzaffarnagar. Its prominent candidates are Begum Noor Bano (Rampur), former state minister and sitting party MLA Ammar Rizvi (Sitapur) and Ms Lois Khursheed (Farukhabad), wife of state party unit President Salman Khursheed. In about 24 constituencies, the Muslim community comprising 20 to 40 per cent of voters have a decisive say in the poll outcome. These include Amroha, Bareilly, Balrampur, Badaun, Behraich, Dumaraganj, Farukhabad, Ghosi, Kaiserganj, Moradabad, Meerut, Mujaffarnagar, Rampur, Sambhal and Saharanpur. Of the total 114 Muslim candidates in Uttar Pradesh in 1998, eight finished as runners -up (BSP 4, SP 3, Cong 1) and 14 in the third spot (BSP 8, SP 4, Cong 1, BKKP 1. Altogether, 114 Muslim candidates contested the elections. |
September 17, 1999
September 16, 1999
September 15, 1999
September 14, 1999
September 13, 1999 |
| The highest-ever participation of
candidates from the community was 297 in 1996. In 1989,
there were only 99 Muslims in the fray. The next election
in 1991 saw 164 contestants. Incidentally of the 27 Muslims elected to the 12th Lok Sabha, the maximum of six each were from UP and Bihar. In UP three of the candidates were from the SP, two from the BSP and one from the BJP. Polling in the first
phase involving 30 of the 85 seats in the state will be
held on Saturday. The second phase on September 25 covers
24 seats and the remaining 31 will go to the polls in the
last phase on October 3. — UNI |
‘Congress lacks issues’ BILASPUR: Mr Suresh Chandel, President of the state unit of the BJP is confident that the Vajpayee wave coupled with the achievements of BJP-led governments at the Centre and Himachal Pradesh will enable the ruling combine to sweep the Lok Sabha poll in the state. Apart from the twin victories in the battlefield and on the diplomatic front in the wake of the Kargil intrusion, the Vajpayee government had achieved a major success in resurrecting the country’s economy which was in doldrums, Mr Chandel said in an interview. The economic growth rate had crossed the 6 per cent despite worldwide recession and the rate of inflation dipped to 1.4 per cent, the lowest ever in 20 years. For the first time price rise, which usually dominated the elections campaigns, was not an issue this time. The country had registered a record agricultural production. Another major achievement was the Pokhran blasts which bestowed the status of a nuclear weapon state on the country. He claimed that the Vajpayee wave was more stronger in Himachal as the Prime Minister had been generous in granting financial assistance and projects to the fund-starved state. While the successive Congress governments at the Centre did not give a penny to the state, Mr Vajpayee doled out Rs 300 crore in a single year. Besides he also sanctioned projects worth over Rs 20,000 crore, which included four national highways, the Parbati and Chamera-II hydel projects and the Kalka-Parwanoo broad gauge rail line. Opposing the Vajpayee government would tantamount to opposing development of the state, he observed. Similarly, the Dhumal government in the state also had a good track record and the party was seeking a positive vote for the return of the Vajpayee government at the Centre. While there was no anti-incumbency factor in the state, the coalition government had been able to set right the regional imbalances by ensuring equal development of all areas. The steps taken by the Dhumal government to solve the problems of fruit growers had dispelled the wrong impression that the BJP was anti-apple growers. It not only gave special attention to roads in the apple belt to ensure smooth transportation of the produce but also procured a record 70,000 tonnes of fruit under the market intervention scheme to ensure remunerative returns to growers despite a bumper crop last year. The
“issueless” Congress was harping on the Sonia
theme which had no takers in the hill state. Its
stability card had also failed to cut ice with the
electorate who were unhappy over the manner in which Mrs
Sonia Gandhi brought down the government without any
issue and forced the mid-term poll on the country. The
party, he said, had already seen the writing on the wall
as evident from Mrs Gandhi’s statement that she was
prepared to form a coalition government. Her decision to
file nomination from the Amethi constituency had also
sent wrong signals to the electorate, that she was not
sure of victory in Bellary. |
‘It’s
referendum
on Dhumal govt’ DHARAMSALA: The Pradesh Congress Committee chief and the party candidate from the Kangra seat, Mr Sat Mahajan, feels that the outcome of the elections will be a verdict on the dismal performance of the government headed by the BJP at the Centre and in Himachal. “The people are disenchanted with the BJP rule and are in a mood for a change,” he states. The BJP, he says, has once again failed to provide the much-wanted stability to the nation, plunging India into a political and economic crisis. The BJP, he says, has been unsuccessful in providing direction and proper governance to the country. The Congress chief says these elections will prove to be a referendum on the performance of the state government. “The result of the elections will prove whether the people of Himachal believe in the ‘false’ promises of the BJP and are willing to be taken for a ride once again,” he opines. “It is a pity that after making tall promises to the people of Kangra time and again, Mr Shanta Kumar has failed to fulfil even one”. Mr Sat Mahajan contends that the Kargil issue from which the BJP is trying to gain political mileage is, on the contrary, the outcome of intelligence lapse on the part of the government. Had the government acted on time, the lives of over 500 soldiers could have been saved, he explains. Mr Mahajan regrets that the BJP, which has failed to give an explanation for Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee’s becoming an “approver” against freedom fighters during pre-Independence days, is questioning the patriotism of Mrs Sonia Gandhi. Mr Mahajan alleges that the BJP, which played the card of regionalism to the hilt during the last assembly elections, is itself discriminating against the people of Kangra. “Why should the people of the Kangra region suffer because of the differences between the Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, and Mr Shanta Kumar,” he asks. He says due to the factionalism in the BJP, development works in certain areas have come to a standstill. Mr Mahajan says keeping in view the contribution made by Himachal and especially Kangra, in the armed forces, an academy for mountain fighting should be set up here. He says he has always strived for the one-rank, one-pension benefit for retired personnel. He feels that since soldiers from Himachal are known for their valour, Himachal Pradesh Regiment should be created. Mr Mahajan says the credit for tapping the immense hydel potential in the state goes to the Congress and it would remain the top priority of the party. “In order to strengthen the economy of the state and tackle the problem of unemployment, I will give top priority to tourism development,” he says. He says that awarding tribal status to Gaddis and Gujjars in the lower areas of Himachal was a contentious issue. “It is the Congress
alone which has always protected the interests of
OBC’s, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other
weaker section of society, whereas for the BJP, they were
merely a votebank to be lured with false promises,”
he asserts. |
It’s turning into proxy war SHIMLA: The contest between the ruling BJP-HVC combine and the Congress for the Shimla (Reserved) Lok Sabha seat is turning into a proxy war between the CLP leader, Mr Virbhadra Singh, and the HVC leader, Mr Sukh Ram. The Congress is making every effort to counter the manoeuvres of Mr Sukh Ram and retain the seat which has been its traditional bastion. Having forced the BJP to leave the seat for the HVC, Mr Sukh Ram is trying to create problems for the former Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, in his own domain. During last year’s Lok Sabha poll, Mr Sukh Ram had humiliated Mr Virbhadra Singh in the Mandi Lok Sabha constituency where he joined hands with the BJP to defeat his wife, Mrs Pratibha Singh. Although the change of the candidate, Mr K.D. Sultanpuri, who represented the constituency for six terms, with Mr Gangu Ram Musafir, a sitting Congress MLA, is expected to go in favour of the Congress, the HVC has the advantage of having kicked of the campaign, particularly in apple growing areas of Shimla and the Sirmaur district, much before the elections were announced. The Congress changed its candidate when Mr Sultanpuri had already campaigned in many areas. He has now become the election observer for Mr Musafir and is campaigning for him. The three districts of Shimla, Solan and Sirmaur, which fall under the Shimla (Reserve) Lok Sabha constituency, have traditionally remained with the Congress. Of the 17 assembly segments in the constituency, 14 voted for the Congress candidates and three for BJP during last year’s assembly elections. The HVC is banking on the support of the BJP particularly in Solan district where the party got a lead in the Lok Sabha elections in 1989 and 1998. This is not the first time that the HVC is contesting the Shimla seat. Last year the party contested for the seat without any alliance with the BJP. Its candidate, Mr Madan Lal Tomar, lost his security deposit, polling only 26,981 votes which were 4.32 per cent of the total votes polled. This time being in power, Mr Sukh Ram and his PWD Minister, Mr Mohinder Singh, started touring interior areas of the three districts much before the elections were announced and are expecting to do better. The HVC polled only 143 votes in Rohru, 507 in Jubbal-Kotkhai, 464 in Theog, 413 in Nalagarh, 591 in Rainka and 606 in Shillai segments in the last Lok Sabha elections. This time the party is concentrating in the SE segments. There were allegations that the HVC ministers were using all sorts of means to secure votes, particularly in interior areas. The Congress has expressed the fear of rigging by the ruling alliance. By putting up Mr Chani Ram Shandil, retired military officer, the HVC was trying to draw benefit from the Kargil issue. The infighting between the two sections of the ruling BJP has come into the open with supporters of the faction opposed to the Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, half heartedly campaigning for the HVC. The faction, considered loyal to Mr Shanta Kumar, fears that Mr Sukh Ram, who is an “expert in arm-twisting tactics” will insist on putting up his party nominees for the assembly poll from where Mr Shandil secures a respectable number of votes. Mr Sukh Ram has already campaigned in most areas of the constituency and is scheduled to address election rallies again in the apple belt during the second leg of campaign which begins on September 19. The Congress campaigners, including Mr Virbhadra Singh, Thakur Ram Lal, Mrs Vidya Stokes and Mr J.B.L. Khachi, have been highlighting the issue of inclusion of apple in the open general licence (OGL) scheme by the BJP government which has hit the economy of growers. They also accuse the BJP-HVC combine of having virtually stalled development in the Shimla and Sirmaur districts. During last year’s elections, the Congress polled only 42,025 votes more than the BJP. The lead of the Congress candidate, Mr Sultanpuri, was 56990 in 1989, 46860 in 1991 and 91133 in 1996 over his BJP rival. However, with the BJP and the HVC for the first time contesting the seat as alliance partners, the impact will be seen with much interest. Besides Mr Musafir and
Mr Shandil there are four more aspirants in the field.
They are Mr Chet Ram (CPI), Mr Krishan Dutt (NCP), Mrs
Asha Chauhan (Ind) and Mr Ram Krishan Samta (JDS). |
Ranchi voters in dilemma RANCHI: Left with narrow choices, voters in the Ranchi Lok Sabha constituency are on the horns of a dilemma and could take the contest to a close finish. Wooing voters in the constituency were, among others, an “outsider” put up by the Congress, an ally of the ruling RJD which opposes statehood for the region, an incumbent MP of the BJP, a fellow traveller of outfits blamed for the spate of attacks on minorities and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, its top leadership discredited due to corruption charges. In this sense, the three main candidates — Prof K.K. Tewari of the Congress, sitting MP Ramtahal Choudhary of the BJP and Premchand Mahato of the JMM — are evenly placed. Yet the BJP continues to be in the reckoning for the seat. “Kuch bhi nahin hua hai pichle das saal mein — na bijli, na sadak, na pani” (nothing has been done in the past 10 years — no power, no roads, no water). “Par kya karen, sab eak hai. Ham to Atalji ko vote denge,” (all are alike. I will vote for Atalji), said Bangru Oraon, summing up the voters’ predicament. Congress President Sonia Gandhi addressed a rally here last week to tilt the scales, but her visit at best helped to some extent contain the faction fighting within the party. Local Congressmen, who were unhappy at the choice of candidate and the alliance with the RJD, appear more inclined now to ensure victory for Professor Tewari, who is from Buxar, after her visit. The teacher of English literature also has to be credited for winning over detractors within the party. Congress sources say the professor puts his eloquence to good use not only before voters but also inside the party office. In any case, the party faction opposed to Mr Tewari’s nomination is looking a gift horse in the mouth, the sources point out. The MLA from Silling who contested against Mr Ramtahal Choudhary last year lost by over 1,40,000 votes. Mr Choudhary is contesting this seat for the sixth consecutive time. He lost the elections in 1984 and 1989 but made it to Parliament in 1991 and has not looked back since. Last year, he won polling 58.12 per cent of the votes. Among the Jharkhand-named parties, only the JMM is contesting, but party insiders concede that the task is not to beat the BJP but to ensure second spot in the electoral race. The JMM today is a ghost of its former self. Splits in the party and corruption charges against the top leadership have ensured erosion in its support base. However, the party is still capable of attracting tribal and Christian votes, which constitute 17 and 8 per cent of the total number of voters here. Moreover, by fielding a candidate from the Mahato community, which traditionally votes for the BJP, the JMM is expecting to cut into its vote share. As for the Congress, Mrs Sonia Gandhi promised last Monday to set up a special national commission for tribesmen — seen here as an attempt to poach on JMM’s votes. Another tactical ploy is that of fielding Professor Tewari, a Brahmin. The Congress apparently is expecting to attract upper caste votes, especially of those who have settled here from north and central Bihar. The Congress is already assured of a sizeable chunk of the minority votes. Angered over the spate of attacks on Christians in different parts of the country, the local clergy had made an appeal to the community to vote for “secular” parties in the elections. However, in the face of
a divided opposition, the BJP could scrape through again.
The party holds five of the six assembly segments of the
constituency and has won this Lok Sabha seat in the past
three elections. Moreover, Prime Minister Atal Behari
Vajpayee, who campaigned for his party candidate here
last Saturday, is a favourite of the salaried classes.
— UNI |
Photo finish likely in Rewa REWA: Traditionally known as the hub of caste politics in Madhya Pradesh, the Rewa parliamentary seat is likely to witness a photo finish in what is dubbed primarily as a three-horse race. Besides the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party, the third vertex of the main triangle is the Bahujan Samaj Party. The three parties are entangled in a complicated web of caste arithmetic. Senior Congress leader and state assembly Speaker Sriniwas Tiwari’s prestige is at stake from here as his son Sunderlal Tiwari is making a bid to capture the seat. The BJP has renominated its sitting MP, Chandramani Tripathi, while the BSP has fielded former legislator Ramlakhan Singh Patel. Other candidates in the field are Swarana Samaj Party national president Laxman Singh, Samajwadi Party candidate Mithailal, Apna Dal nominee Badriprasad Kushwah, Shiv Sena candidate Hari Prakash, Ajay Bharat Party candidate Sheela Kushwah and Samajwadi Janata Party (National) nominee Triveni Prasad. Five Independents are also in the reckoning. A predominant factor that has emerged in recent years is the growing popularity of the BSP. Winning the seat twice — once in 1991 and again in 1996 — the BSP has shown its ‘‘strength’’ in the region. In this Brahmin-dominated constituency, which goes to the polls on September 18, various political parties have apparently fielded their candidates after a deep study of the caste equations. However, the BJP is the lone party which has been ‘‘airing’’ national issues forcefully from its election platform. With Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee occupying centrestage, the saffron poll managers have been harping on the ‘‘Kargil victory’’ and the accomplishments at the Centre. Meanwhile, the Congress, which has been biting the dust in the last four elections here, has left no stone unturned this time for an electoral victory. The Congress campaigning style has also been more aggressive than ever before with posters and buntings being put up even in ‘‘inaccessible’’ villages. Voters of this caste ridden constituency have, however, kept the cards close to their chest. Unperturbed by the complex caste arithmetic haunting the constituency, senior Congress leader Sriniwas Tiwari claims the backward and weaker sections will support the Congress after having understood the ‘‘reality of the BSP”. Saying that the fabric
of the Rewa seat is intricately woven around the caste
factor, BSP candidate Ramlakhan Singh Patel, however,
claims that 80 per cent of the Kacchis, Dalits and
Adivasis ‘‘will vote in our favour’’
and only 20 per cent may opt for other parties. — UNI |
Extremists firm on boycott PATNA, Sept 17 (UNI) — The banned Peoples War Group (PWG) has rejected the appeal from different quarters to withdraw its “poll boycott” call on the eve of polling in Bihar. The PWG said the bandh call was in support of their struggle against “bureaucracy, capitalism and feudalism” and it would continue. In an open letter to the media, the PWG took exception to Election Commission G.V.G. Krishnamurthy’s appeal to withdraw the boycott call while branding the outfit as an “extremists’ organisation”. The letter signed by so-called PWG state committee secretary Shravan said, “The organisation does not believe in the present form of democracy which neglects 90 per cent of the population and only 10 per cent enjoy the benefits, mostly the politicians and the bureaucrats”. Criticising the Bihar
Government along with the Centre for “torturing the
poor and the Dalits who had waged war against the
capitalists and feudal forces”, the PWG claimed
under the pretext of flushing out the extremists the
police was eliminating the backward class people and
arresting them on false charges. |
Little doubt on Mamata’s
win CALCUTTA: An expelled Congress leader who stormed into Bengal politics by forming Trinamool Congress now tends to become the main target of attack of the Marxists. Ms Mamata Banerjee has been on a whirlwind campaign tour of the state in the past fortnight and has carried out a merciless tirade against Mr Jyoti Basu. The octogenarian Chief Minister and his young lieutenants, Mr Buddhadev Bhattacharya, the man second in command at Writers Buildings with the Home (Police) portfolio and party’s state unit secretary Anil Biswas, often run down Ms Mamata at election meetings, calling her names. At least at two public meetings Mr Basu has called her “420”, referring to her “false” doctorate. “She has joined hand with the BJP to destroy the country. Mamata is an anti-social. Her place should be in jail and not in public life,” says Mr Biswas. It is not the Congress, not the BJP or any other political party but Ms Banerjee’s Trinamool which has been the real cause of anxiety for the Marxists in power in the state for long 23 years. As a result, she has naturally earned the wrath of the Marxists. Ms Mamata has addressed a large number of meetings, some with the BJP, in the districts during the past few days. She has found no time to address even a single meeting in her Calcutta South constituency, which had sent her to Parliament for the last three consecutive elections. In all elections she won with a massive margin. In 1998 she defeated a CPM stalwart who was a former city Mayor, with a margin of 30,000 votes. This time, the CPM has not fielded a politician against her but an educationist, Prof Subhankar Chakraborty (Vice-Chancellor of Rabindra Bharati University). Prof Chakraborty is honest, upright and an ardent follower of Karl Marx. He is strict and recently he caused an uproar while acting as principal of South Calcutta College by banning salwar and kameez by girl students inside the college premises in his drive against “obscenity”. Yet he remains popular among the student community, which the Marxist leadership feels, can be a major votebook for him against Ms Mamata. Trinamool Congress leader Sobhondev Chatterjee, an MLA from South Calcutta and an ardent follower of Ms Mamata, is confident that in this election her winning margin will be even bigger. Even the CPM leadership has little doubt on her victory chances in the October 3 poll. Being in power for the past 22 years, the Marxists have an inherent disadvantage in the wake of the limited powers of the state government to keep promises regarding development works in the state. The plain and simple lifestyle of Ms Mamata (her honesty is beyond question) will also work in her favour. The Trinamool Congress leader says she has a one-point programme, to dislodge Jyoti Basu government from power. “Jyoti Basu is corrupt. He helps flourish his son, Chandan Basu (a business magnate) and other relatives as Chief Minister. He fails to deliver any goods to the people in Bengal. So, he should go”, Ms Mamata contends. The Trinamool Congress bagged seven seats in the 1998 elections which the breakaway party of the Congress fought for the first time. The Congress bagged the lone seat of Malda. This time the Trinamool Congress has gone into an electoral alliance with the BJP, which is contesting in 13 seats and the Trinamool Congress 29. Ms Mamata is confident of winning at least 20 seats. The CPM leadership rejects this claim. The CPM central committee member, Mr Biman Basu, feels the Trinamool Congress MPs’ number will go down because of Ms Mamata’s association with communal forces. In the last Lok Sabha
elections the Left Front secured 32 seats, the CPM alone
24. |
It’s PWG vs police in Karimnagar KARIMNAGAR — The stepped up attacks by Naxalites and their bid to enforce poll boycott have cast a shadow on the backward Karimnagar Lok Sabha constituency in Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh from where the state BJP President Vidyasagar Rao is seeking re-election. The constituency is witnessing a campaign war with a difference. While extremists of the banned People's War Group (PWG) have put up posters in their strongholds calling upon the people to boycott the poll and issuing threats to contesting candidates, an equally determined district police has embarked on a counter-campaign organising village meetings to wean people away from extremists. Out of the total 1,104 villages in the district, as many as 411 have been identified as "hyper-sensitive", 350 as "sensitive" and another 150 "trouble-prone". The PWG has been preventing campaign vehicles from entering their strongholds and warning people against participating in the campaign. "No candidate is able to venture into interior villages because of fear of attacks. The atmosphere is quite surcharged", a Youth Congress leader said. Political issues have been relegated to the background as the constituency has virtually become a battleground for Naxalities and the police while people in some sensitive villages complained of being "sandwiched between the two". On the political side, the contest is mainly between the TDP-BJP combine and the Congress which has fielded Mr C. Ananda Rao whose political career has come full circle. Of the seven assembly segments under Karimnagar, five — Karimnagar, Choppadandi, Jagityal, Buggaram and Nerella — were won by the TDP in the 1994 assembly poll and one each by the BJP (Metpally) and the CPI (Sircilla). — PTI
|
Young voters prefer BJP, Cong NEW DELHI, Sept 17 (PTI) — Young voters, who may be exercising their franchise for the first time in the elections, seem to be rooting for major national parties, the BJP and the Congress, with more number preferring the BJP, according to an opinion poll conducted by a news magazine, India Today. The survey done by ORG-MARG covered 3,208 persons in the age group of 18-21 years between September 3 and 6. The sample was carefully chosen to guard against urban or rural, gender and socio-economic biases. A chunk of those surveyed comprises those who have attained voting age recently. To a question as to whom
they would be voting for in the elections, 35 per cent of
the respondents preferred the BJP with the Congress
following closely at 30 per cent. Only 10 per cent of
young voters opted for the Left front and the Janata Dal
while the BSP, DMK and Shiv Sena attracted 4.5 per cent. |
11 declared dummy candidates PRATAPGARH, Sept 17 (UNI) — Eleven of the 12 independents contesting from Pratapgarh have been declared dummy candidates and their police guards withdrawn. Of these, five were found to be working for the Congress, four for the BJP and two for the BSP, District Magistrate Jitendra Kumar said here today. The vehicles of these
dummy candidates would be impounded if they were found
using them during the polling tomorrow, he added. |
|
JAMUI (Bihar): Voters in Bihar’s Jamui district will have the privilege of casting vote in all three phases of the Lok Sabha elections in the state due to its demographical structure. The four assembly constituencies of the district are parts of as many different parliamentary constituencies of Godda, Begusarai, Munger and Banka. That is not all. The district will witness a friendly contest between the Congress and the RJD in Chakai Assembly constituency under the Godda parliamentary constituency while on the other hand the RJD workers will seek votes for the Congress candidate in Simandara Assembly constituency, part of the Begusarai parliamentary constituency. The Congress, responding to the gesture shown by its partner, RJD, will support the RJD candidates in Jamui assembly constituency of the Munger parliamentary constituency and also in Jhajha Assembly constituency of the Banka parliamentary constituency. The Godda parliamentary
constituency will go to the polls on September 18 while
Munger and Begusarai seats will witness an electoral
battle on September 25. Elections will be held in the
Banka parliamentary constituency in the last phase of the
elections on October 3. — UNI |
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