SAD-BJP poll talks on Oct 31

NEW DELHI, Oct 22 (PTI) — Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will kick off BJP’s campaign for next month’s assembly elections in the Capital with a rally at Chhatrasal Stadium on October 24.

The rally will be addressed by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Madan Lal Khurana, Delhi Chief Minister Sushma Swaraj, her predecessor Sahib Singh Verma and Delhi Pradesh BJP president Mange Ram Garg.

Posters, banners, handbills, advertisements and canvassing by special teams are on to make the rally a success, Mr Garg and BJP pradesh election management committee chairman VK Malhotra, told mediapersons here today.

They said developmental works done by the BJP government in the Capital would be highlighted at the rally. The public would also be apprised of the achievements of the Vajpayee government.

On ticket distribution, they said the process would begin on October 26 and the list of candidates finalised on November 3.

Regarding electoral understanding with other parties, he said the BJP is likely to have a tie-up with the Akali Dal for a few assembly seats. There was little scope for any major tie-up with other parties as the BJP was in a comfortable position in the Capital.

Leaders of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the BJP will meet here for two days on October 31 to formalise seat adjustment and other related issues for the assembly elections in Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, according to another report.

The SAD, which is a ruling ally of the BJP in Punjab and at the Centre is likely to contest the poll on the BJP symbol as it did in the past elections,the sources said.

The Akalis have a considerable influence in more than 12 assembly segments in South, West and East Delhi. The sources said the SAD and the BJP would have a joint election campaign and Akali leaders from Punjab would share the BJP platform during the election meetings in the three states.

Meanwhile, Delhi’s Chief Minister Sushma Swaraj today admitted that the people in the Capital had become disillusioned with the BJP government during the past six months due to power and water shortage, rising prices and deteriorating law and order.

However, most of the problems were not the making of the Delhi Government as law and order was not under its jurisdiction and rising prices of commodities like onions was a nation-wide phenomenon.

Answering questions at a "face the media" programme at the Press Club of India here, Mrs Swaraj said within a week of assuming office on October 12, she had persuaded the Centre to put onion imports on the open general licence (OGL) and make the imports duty-free.