Crucial test for PM, Sonia
Campaigning ends in four states

NEW DELHI, Nov 23 (PTI) — The month-long electioneering for the November 25 assembly poll in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Mizoram, seen as a major test for the eight-month-old Vajpayee Government and Sonia Gandhi’s leadership of the Congress, came to an end this evening.

Campaigning for the byelection to the Broach Lok Sabha seat in Gujarat and 12 assembly seats spread over six states also ended today.

Around 8.3 crore electorate are to choose from among 5,000 candidates for 69 seats in Delhi and 197 in Rajasthan, where the BJP held sway for the past five years and 320 in Madhya Pradesh and 40 in Mizoram, both ruled by the Congress.

The electoral fortunes of four chief ministers, Ms Sushma Swaraj (Delhi), Mr Bhairon Singh Shekhawat (Rajasthan), Mr Digvijay Singh (Madhya Pradesh) and Mr Lalthanhawla (Mizoram), and four former chief ministers — Mr V K Saklecha, Mr Sunderlal Patwa, Mr Kailash Joshi and Mr Shiv Charan Mathur — will be decided on November 25.

A large number of rebels have queered the pitch for the BJP and the Congress in three of the four states.

As the deadline for the end of the campaign approached, the electioneering moved into top gear with party stalwarts, regional leaders and campaign managers addressing street-corner meetings.

Among those who wooed voters on the last day of the electioneering were Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Home Minister L K Advani and Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi.

The campaign saw Mr Vajpayee and Mrs Sonia Gandhi criss-crossing Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and locking horns on issues like price spiral, communal divide, corruption, law and order, non-performance and state of the country’s economy.

The BJP, which had stolen a march over its arch rival, however, came under a blistering attack by the Congress once the latter’s campaign gathered steam.

The Congress, under intense pressure from the rest of the Opposition to cobble a coalition, castigated the Vajpayee Government for " dividing the country on communal lines and for failing to curb soaring prices and lawlessness".

The BJP hit back blaming the successive Congress governments for the country’s ills.

Wednesday’s poll is being seen as crucial as observers say a BJP rout can trigger the realignment of political forces making the Vajpayee Government, still grappling with withdrawal threats from alliance partners, shaky.

In what was seen as an awkward episode involving the BJP, the Election Commission pulled up the party for bringing out an advertisement violative of the model code of conduct.

The advertisement had sought to link the Congress with some anti-national elements saying the latter were waiting for the Congress to return to power.

A dash of colour was added to the campaign with major parties bringing in star-turned-politicians to woo the voters.

Actor Rajesh Khanna, Sunil Dutt, Shatrughan Sinha and Vinod Khanna addressed rallies and street-corner meetings.

Barring the murder of Samata Party candidate Ved Singh in Delhi, the first-ever incident of poll violence in the Capital, the campaigning by and large remained peaceful.

In Delhi, 180 of the 9128 booths have been identified as sensitive by the Election Commission and security measures taken to ward off any untoward incident.

In Rajasthan, Chief Minister Bhairon Shekhawat, Deputy Chief Minister H S Bhabhra, Assembly Speaker Samrath Lal Meena, Deputy Speaker Tara Bhandari, 28 ministers and 69 women are among 1422 candidates.

In Madhya Pradesh, where the BJP faces a major threat from party rebels, a total of 2,510 candidates are in the fray.

Prominent among them are Chief Minister Digvijay Singh (Congress) and former BJP Chief Minister V K Saklecha who has rebelled against the party and entered the fray as an Independent.

In Mizoram, there are 221 candidates, including 40 belonging to the Congress, 29 to the Mizo People’s Conference, 28 to the Mizo National Front and 38 to the United People’s Party.

In Delhi, where the Congress is contesting all seats and the BJP 67, over 815 candidates are in the race.

Besides the byelection to the Broach Lok Sabha seat, polling will take place for Barnipur, Nandanpur and Mayuraswar in West Bengal, Agra East in Uttar Pradesh, Adampur in Punjab, Baijnath in Himachal Pradesh, Udharbund and Bhabanipur in Assam and Aadarpur, Sheohar, Purnea and Kodarma in Bihar.

Cong bid to divide people: Vajpayee
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Nov 23 — Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today criticised the Congress for its attempts to divide people on the basis of religion and justifying the imposition of the Emergency in 1975.

Addressing a rally on the last day of the campaigning here Mr Vajpayee said the BJP had always promoted secularism and "people should not believe the anti-BJP campaign that minorities are insecure under the party's rule."

"I feel sad when Mrs Sonia Gandhi speaks only when there is an attack on Christians without considering the consequences of such remarks. They are also now justifying the imposition of the Emergency and it may be recalled how the sterilisation programme was conducted in the name of family planning".

Mr Vajpayee said the anit-BJP campaign had already been started and during the parliamentary elections also, such a campaign had been undertaken without any effect."

The Congress had been defeated by the BJP and the party had lost a considerable ground. "The Jhabua incident is cited by the Congress to show insecurity among the minorities and we are being blamed. The incident had taken place in Madhya Pradesh under Congress rule," Mr Vajpayee said.

He pointed out that when the attackers were finally nabbed, it was revealed that most of them belonged to the same community. "This proves that the campaign against the BJP is wrong," he said.

Mr Vajpayee, who addressed another rally, said the campaign against the BJP was started abroad "where it was being projected that Hindus are hurting the interests of the Christians."

Criticising the Congress, Mr Vajpayee said that they should not do anything to dent the nation's honour and prestige "just to win elections." "Anyway, rape is a serious crime and there is no role for religion in this. We have respect for women immaterial of their religion", he said.

He alleged that one of the accused in the Jhabua incident had been given the ticket by the Congress in Madhya Pradesh.

Mr Vajpayee pointed out that there was no differentiation on the basis of religion. "The other incident is about an Uttar Pradesh Government order on Saraswati Vandana being made compulsory in schools," he said. "No such order has been issued," he added.

He blamed the Congress for spreading rumours in the Capital about the shortage of salt and asked "is this the way to fight an election democratically."

Mr Vajpayee said while the BJP had always played the role of a responsible Opposition during the past 40 years, the Congress "seemed to be in a hurry to regain power at all costs".

Mr Vajpayee blamed the Congress rule of over 40 years for the prevailing backwardness in the country. "The current problems being faced by the nation are the result of the misrule of the Congress," he said.

On the other hand, he said in the past eight months of the BJP-led coalition's at regime at the Centre, the government had introduced several schemes for the uplift of the weaker sections.

He justified the Pokhran nuclear tests saying these were carried out in national interest since there was a growing threat from the neighbours where nuclear arms were being stockpiled.

Mr Vajpayee said while the BJP had supported the 1974 test carried out during Mrs Indira Gandhi's time, the Congress was now criticising his government for doing so without taking into account the threat being posed to the nation's security.

"If we wanted any benefit for ourselves, we could have conducted the nuclear tests before the elections. But for us, the nation's interest is above all. So we carried out the tests to strengthen our national security," Mr Vajpayee said.

BJP has failed to govern: Sonia
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Nov 23 — "The ruling BJP does not know its job. Therefore, it is blaming the Congress for its failures", said Congress President, Sonia Gandhi while winding up her party’s poll campaign here today.

Addressing a rally in East Delhi, Mrs Sonia Gandhi came down heavily on the BJP for its failure to govern the country and putting the blame on the Congress for its failures.

"Leave the chair, if you do not know how to rule", she said. In her 15-minute speech, she questioned the commitment of the BJP to govern the country by narrating the sacrifices Congress leaders had made for the nation.

"Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi died while serving the nation", she said and asked. "Is there any other leader who has sacrificed his or her life for the nation?"

Emphasising the fact that the Congress was not conspiring with other parties to form the government at the Centre, she said "we had several offers in the past, but we declined."

"This 18-party coalition government at the Centre would fall due to its own internal differences", she said, adding that "the people of this country would no more be swayed by the arguments of the BJP."

The Congress President asked: "If you (BJP) cannot solve the problems facing the country when you are ruling at the Centre as well as in states, then when can you?"

Charging the BJP with not paying attention to the real issues concerning people, Mrs Sonia Gandhi said: "They are more concerned about changing uniforms of girls than providing adequate teachers and improving the standard of education which was going down."

Terming the BJP Government as "opportunistic", she said "they had promised to get rid of corruption. But, the situation has deteriorated so much that even for small works money or links are required."

Listing the failures of the BJP government on the issues of price rise, law and order, civic amenities, basic healthcare, and adulteration of mustard oil, she said "the people can now see the real face of the BJP. They do not know how to administer as they only know how to criticise and be in the Opposition."

In an effort to woo women voters, the Congress President said: "I know how difficult it is to run a house these days when onion, potato and tomato prices have skyrocketed."

"Above all, lack of power and water creates unnecessary tension in the house", she said and urged people to vote in favour of the Congress to lead a better life.

Earlier, the Delhi Pradesh Congress President, Ms Sheila Dikshit, emphasised that the Congress would not give false hopes to people and would promise only what it could deliver.

I promise you that the Congress would make Delhi a better place to live if voted to power," she said.