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BJP poll managers march ahead of Cong’s
State-sponsored rigging in UP feared Poll fails to enthuse the cynical Punjab voter Kochi, April 12 Major political parties have nominated only six women to contest the May 10 Lok Sabha poll from Kerala even though women outnumber men in the state’s 20 parliamentary constituencies. Upset with parties, Pak refugees field candidate Dummy EVMs, kites and canvassing
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Creating jobs Hooda’s main plank
Q. What is your main plank for the forthcoming elections? A. The basic problems in Haryana are unemployment and deteriorating law and order situation. Under the INLD government the state has seen an unprecedented rise in the crime graph. The youth has been driven to crime because of fewer jobs. Today, the common man in Haryana feels insecure. My first priority is to make Haryana a safe place but this can be ensured only if there are ample opportunities for the youth to earn its livelihood by honest means. The Congress has already announced nationwide schemes for this and I will do my best. Q. What are your plans for Rohtak, Jhajjar and other towns of the area? A. As MP and later as MLA, I was responsible for initiating the Rewari-Jhajjar via Rohtak and Rohtak-Hisar rail link projects. I am following up these projects and would ensure that the projects are completed. Both the Centre and the INLD government have neglected Rohtak and other towns falling in the National Capital Region. I want Rohtak and Jhajjar to be as developed on the lines of Gurgaon. Q. What do you propose to do for the serving and retired defence forces personnel? A. I am pained by the discrimination made by the government between Kargil martyrs and those making the supreme sacrifice now. A soldier’s supreme sacrifice should never be undermined. All martyrs must be given the same benefits to ensure that our armed forces maintain a high morale. I will raise this issue in Parliament and try to get a resolution passed to ensure that all martyrs are treated on the same lines as the Kargil martyrs. Besides, the one rank, one pension issue has been snowballing over the years. This is a just demand and must be accepted. Q. What are your other plans? A. The Haryana government has retrenched thousands of employees who should be absorbed in other departments or given their jobs back. Besides, Maharshi Dayanand University needs urgent attention. It was once the pride of the state but it has been reduced to nothing by political interference.
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Progress of Rohtak, Jhajjar Usha’s priority Q. What is your main political plank? A. Development of Rohtak and Jhajjar is my top priority. Rohtak and Jhajjar are close to the Capital and must get their due like the towns in Uttar Pradesh. Q. What do you plan to do for the defence personnel? A. Widows of defence personnel are being neglected and discriminated. The widow of a jawan or a subedar gets only Rs 1,275 plus DA as pension whereas retired men draw full pension. Widow pension needs to be revised. The one rank, one pension issue is causing a lot of heartburn among ex-servicemen and Rohtak and Jhajjar have over 60,000 of them. Welfare schemes for Army wives and widows need to be revamped too. Q. Do you have plans for women? A. I feel there should be 33 per cent reservation for women. Had there been no reservation for women in the local bodies, I could not have entered the zila parishad. There must be hundreds of women like me who can do so if there are reservations for them. However, on this issue I will follow the line adopted by my party. Q. Do you have special plans for the development of agriculture? A. The core issue is the SYL canal. This area suffers from lack of irrigation facilities. I will also work for ameliorating the lot of women in so far as farming activities are concerned.
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Gen Suhag promises development Q. What is your main poll plank? A. I would like to contribute towards the development of Haryana so that it occupies the number one slot in the country which it deserves. The previous governments were unable to accelerate development because of which people suffered. Q. What are your plans for Rohtak? A. Rohtak is part of the National Capital Region and I would like to see it develop on the lines of Noida and Ghaziabad. Unfortunately, Rohtak has not attracted the attention of the Centre. There is a great scope for development here and if elected I would strive to make it a modern town. Q. You were VC of MDU till recently. Do you think all is well with it? A. Haryana is one of the few states which has spelt out a clear education policy right from the school to the university level. The state’s universities have blindly adopted the statutes of Panjab University which were framed decades ago. These no longer meet the requirements. Decentralisation of powers and responsibilities should do the universities a lot of good. Q. What are your plans for defence personnel? A. The one rank, one pension issue has been pending for decades. There should be no discrimination between serving officers and those retiring in the same rank. There are about 60000 ex-servicemen in the Rohtak constituency and as their representative I will initiate a debate in Parliament on this issue. Q. What are your plans for the rural areas? A. A little administrative coordination would ensure the smooth implementation of projects. Diversification in agriculture has to be pursued.
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BJP poll managers march ahead of Cong’s Bharatpur, April 12 As one travels across the state, it is noticed that while the BJP seems to have finalised on most aspects of its election strategy, the Congress is lagging not only in the strategy but also in its execution. The whirlwind three-day tour of the state undertaken earlier by Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani seems to have energised the BJP cadres. The innumerable elections meetings which Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje has been addressing, along with stars like Dharmendra and others, have been increasing the popularity of the party. The BJP is also taking advantage of the number of film stars and models which it roped in before the run-up to the elections and is utilising their time. The latest to hit the state was Yukta Mookhey yesterday. She candidly admitted that she could attract crowds at rallies but was unsure about the votes. The presence of stars for campaigns cannot, however, be seen as an exercise in futility as it is giving the party further exposure with the people. Attracting a thousand more people than expected by bringing in a star could actually mean converting at least some into votes, explained a BJP worker here. Incidentally, the Rajasthan state BJP yesterday held a review meeting under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister. It was decided that by April 30, the BJP candidates and workers would have reached every village of the state. By April 20, the party would have organised workers’ meetings in each and every Assembly segment and between April 15 and April 20 big rallies would be held in these regions. Besides, it was also worked out that in each Assembly segment, 50 voters would be assigned to a worker and it would be his duty to not only be in constant touch with them but also ensure they vote on the day of the polling. Daily updates would be dispatched to the main party office in Jaipur and demands forwarded for consideration. It is also part of the strategy that by the end of the month a signed letter from Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who also remains the party mascot, be forwarded to each and every voter. In contrast, nothing seems to be happening on the Congress front. Among the Central leaders to have toured the state is only Mr Kapil Sibal. He seemed to have been in Jaipur at the same time as Mr Advani only to counter his yatra rather than to work on a long-term strategy for the party’s election campaign. Even the state leaders seem to be in a state of slumber. One of the reasons for this is that the party’s central leadership while deciding candidates seems to have overlooked the recommendations of the local leaders, which has in a way generated a disinterest. Congress workers point out that most of the candidates have got ticket without the recommendation of the party leader and former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. Congress workers also point out that the former Chief Minister would also not be in demand for addressing the election rallies, as was the case during the Assembly elections. A lot seems to have taken place within the party over the past few months. As a result, Mr Gehlot seems to have lost some ground. Another factor, which the Congress has to worry about, is the presence of the BSP and the INLD candidates, all of whom will eat into the Congress vote bank. Although none of the two parties is expected to win any seat, their presence would only prove to be a handicap for the Congress.
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State-sponsored rigging in UP feared Lucknow, April 12 During their separate meetings with the three-member Election Commission headed by Chief Election Commissioner T. S. Krishna Murthy, the BJP, Bahujan Samaj Party and Congress charged the state government with hatching a conspiracy to unleash reign of terror to influence voters in the state before the poll. They urged the EC to intervene and make necessary arrangements to prevent the SP’s “evil designs.’’ However, refuting the charges, SP state president Ram Sharan Das, who also met the EEC and other commissioners at the Raj Bhawan this afternoon, said the Opposition parties were levelling wild charges without any base, “They are making such statements to counter the popularity wave of Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav in the state.’’ “Have the BJP, Congress and BSP forgotten their regime when they went to any extent to influence the voters,’’ he claimed, “We have full faith in the democracy and people are free to vote,’’ he said. The SP also presented a seven-point charter of demands before the EC mostly related to the electoral rolls and the “hardships’’ faced by the citizens due to strict implementation of the Model Code of Conduct in the wake of the upcoming poll. While the BJP had asked the EC to deploy central forces in all the polling booths of the state, the Congress has specifically drawn the attention on the alleged state sponsored violation of election code in Pratapgarh.
— UNI
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Poll fails to enthuse the cynical Punjab voter With the General Election to the Lok Sabha less than a month away, the voter in Punjab is not enthused and electioneering is a low-key affair. The voter is not only silent but is also indifferent and harbours a sense of cynicism. For the voter, these elections are a mere formality and have ceased to be a festive occasion. The sombre mood of the voter is reflected in the expression that “all politicians and parties are the same, who walk away after the elections only to come back again and again attack the opponent.” This is the impression one got after a drive across the state last week, despite the media hype about the elections. The only discernible activity was farmers harvesting wheat, primarily in Malwa and parts of Doaba. In Majha, harvesting traditionally starts on Baisakhi day. If for the voters, election manifestoes of political parties are only a ‘ritual’, the ‘factors’ that influence their choice of the candidates are “availability, accessibility and caste”. National issues or slogans like India shining or feel good are not of much consequence to their decision-making. The performance or non-performance of the political government or if it took up socio-economic development works etc., however, also play a role. Interestingly, the SAD-BJP combine is seeking votes on the “performance” of NDA government and “non-performance” of the state government. And if the NDA’s performance is its poll plank, the non-performance or long absence of the sitting MPs from the constituencies and who have been re-nominated will be an equally important factor, which the voters will consider. The Congress, on the other hand, is out to paint the Akali leadership black. It recalls the alleged corruption charges against the party President, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, and his family. Also, the ‘step-mother’ treatment of the NDA towards Congress-ruled states in general and denial of rights, including denial of special economic and industrial package or funds for diversification etc. to Punjab in particular will form part of the Congress campaign. Nevertheless, the only national factor that may carry some weight with the voters is NDA’s handling of relations with the next-door neighbour, Pakistan, which would benefit this border state, economically. The question is — will the SAD-BJP succeed in converting its persistent non-performance charge against the Capt Amarinder Singh government into votes? If dissent and infighting plagues the Congress, similar rumblings are discernible in the SAD-BJP camps, as well. Both the Congress and SAD-BJP are content in attacking each other rather than talking of state’s stalled development, its disturbing fiscal health, economic slowdown, lack of infrastructure, drinking water and poor school education and health delivery services, growing unemployment among the youth and their habit of drug use or even industrialisation and diversification of agriculture. There are also undercurrents indicating that in some Assembly segments, the Congress and Akali MLAs have reached agreements to help the Lok Sabha candidates on “personal” and “reciprocal” basis. This is because all 13 Lok Sabha constituencies cut across the boundaries of the administrative districts and Assembly segments. There are a total of 117 Assembly segments that are equally divided among all 13 constituencies. The general perception is that the Congress holds sway in the four Doaba districts of Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Nawanshahr and Hoshiarpur, sharing three Lok Sabha constituencies of Phillaur (SC), Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur. This region primarily comprises small farmers and artisans. It has a large concentration of Hindus, Dalits and other backward classes and castes and where NRIs have added to its opulence. Contrast this with the two Majha districts of Amritsar and Gurdaspur, which together share three Lok Sabha constituencies, Gurdaspur, Amritsar and Tarn Taran. This region is less urbanised than Doaba, where the vote of the Jat Sikhs, Hindus and Christians matters. In the political tug of war between the Congress and Akalis in this region, the two parties are supposedly equally poised. The deciding factor of the poll outcome, however, is determined as much by smugglers and babas controlling hundreds of deras and scores of gurdwaras as the way the business community and Hindu voters would act and react to the evolving political situations and equations. The Malwa region with seven Lok Sabha constituencies and 11 out of 17 districts is the “backwaters” of Punjab. Yet, this region holds the levers of political power. All tall religio-political leaders, of both the Congress and Akalis, have hailed from Malwa. Almost all Chief Ministers, barring one or two, have been the gift of Malwa. This region represents the landed-aristocracy, where arhtiyas across all 65 Assembly segments also play a significant role, given their business equation with the peasantry. The remaining Assembly segments are in Doaba, 25 and Majha, 27. The outcome of the present election will thus be determined by this region. Incidentally, all past movements of the Akali Dal had been led by leaders from Majha, later, Malwa became citadel of the Akali or Sikh politics with a curious mix of religion. Thus, the competitive politics with an element of personal vindictiveness and vendetta was seen in all three regions where the Congress and SAD-BJP combine are face-to-face. Several of the contests are likely to become interesting and intriguing, as the campaigns pick up. The presence of the BSP, which was wiped out completely in the Lok Sabha elections-1999 will play a part in the outcome in some constituencies and its presence, it is perceived, would affect the Congress more than the Akalis. The latter will have to work overtime in constituencies like Tarn Taran or Sangrur, where there are ''other'' Akalis, a rebel in Mr Tarlochan Singh Tur in Tarn Taran or Mr Simranjit Singh Mann in Sangrur. On the other hand, the two communist parties, CPI and CPM, are contesting one seat each in Bathinda (SC) and Hoshiarpur with a tacit understanding with the Congress. Thus, as the date of formal notification draws closer, though the overall mood of the voters is of quiet resignation, it is expected to lift up.
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Fair sex gets unfair deal in Kerala
Kochi, April 12 Despite tall claims of the need to give 33 per cent reservation for women in legislatures, all political parties have meted out an unfair deal to the fairer sex, political observers say. The Congress-led ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) has nominated three women. They are former state Fisheries Minister M T Padma from Vatakara, Padmaja Venugopal, daughter of senior Congress leader K. Karunakaran, making her electoral debut from Mukundapuram, and K. A. Thulasi (Ottappalam-SC). Padma had
unsuccessfully contested from Palakaad in 1999. The Opposition Democratic Front (LDF), headed by the CPM has also put up two candidates P Sathidevi (Vatakara) and C S Sujata (Mavelikkara) — while the BJP has nominated a lone woman, Uma Unni (Manjeri). Janu, the fiery tribal activist and leader of the Adivasi Gotra Mahasabha, who spearheaded the Muthunga agitation seeking land for the tribesmen, has jumped into the fray from the hilly and spice-rich district of Idukki. She had floated the Rashtriya Mahasabha, a political outfit, a few months ago. The names of AICC member Simi Rosabel John and Mahila Congress president Shanimol Usman were mentioned when the party candidates list was being finalised. But the two failed to make it. In the 1999 Lok Sabha elections, the CPM, Congress and BJP fielded only one woman candidate each. CPM’s A K Premajam, who was re-elected, was the only one to emerge successful out of the 13 women contestants. She has not been given ticket this time by her party. While the Congress had fielded M T Padma from Palakaad in 1999, the BJP had given ticket to advocate T D Rajalakshmi from Erankulam, the BSP nominated N.K. Meenakshi Amma from Adoor (SC) and the Janata Dal (U) Prof Jayalakshmi from Kollam. Except Padma, all other losers had to forfeit their deposits. Comparatively, in the 1998 Lok Sabha election, 10 women candidates had contested of which three were from the Left Front — CPMs A.K. Premajam (vatakara), Minu Mumtaz of the CPI (Ponani), advocate C.S. Sujata of CPM (Alapuzha). The Congress had fieled only one candidate — Prof K.K. Vijalakshmi — from Ottapalam (SC), while the BJP had put up four candidates — Prof Sumathi Haridas (Manjeri), Ahiliya Shankar (Ponnani), T.L. Radhamma (Alapuzha) and Rachel Mathai (Kollam). Only A.K. Premajam emerged victorious. In 1996, when elections were held simultanously to the state assembly and the Lok Sabha, none of the 10 women who contested for Parliament could make it, while of the 55 women in the fray for the Assembly membership, 13 had won. The Congress had then nominated B Vijayalakshmi from Ottapalam and the Janata Dal Prof R. Jayalakshmi from the Kottayam parliamentary constituency. Neena Pillai, widow of biscuit tycoon Rajan Pillai, had contested as an Independent candidate from Kollam. Despite women outnumbering men in Kerala, only five women have represented the state in the lower House so far. They are — Anne Mascrene, former state industries minister, Susheela Gopalan, Bhargavi Thankappan, Savithri Lakshmanan and A.K. Premajam. According to the latest official figures, of the total 2,07,18,283 voters in Kerala, 1,07,69,884 are women and 99,48,399 are male.
— PTI
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Upset with parties, Pak refugees field candidate Jammu, April 12 Referring to their discrimination, they said, “We can vote in the Lok Sabha election, but we are untouchables when the time comes for the Assembly poll.” “We do not have the right to vote in the Assembly poll and, hence, we are remembered only when there is a Lok Sabha election,” the refugees lament. And once again the contesting candidates, barring those of the National Conference, have started promising them to fight for their rights. These Pakistani refugees, who are settled in various villages and towns in the Jammu region, are not eligible for seeking jobs in the government departments. Their wards cannot get admission in the professional colleges in the state as they are not treated as permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir. Rajesh Kumar, a small trader, said, “After passing the matriculation examination, I failed to secure a job in any government department because my candidature for the job was rejected on the plea that I was a refugee from Pakistan.” Sham Lal said, “This discrimination does not exist in Pakistan where Muslims from the Jammu region, who migrated in 1947, enjoy all rights.” Though the refugees from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, settled in Jammu since 1947, enjoy all rights, including the right to vote in the Assembly poll, they too seem to be annoyed with the successive governments in the Centre and in the state. In order to register their anger, one of their organisations, called R-47, has fielded its candidate, Mr Jasbir Singh Sudan, in the Jammu constituency. The president of R-47, Mr Balraj Bakshi, has appealed to the POK refugee voters to vote in favour of a refugee candidate so that in future ruling politicians are forced to mitigate “our problems.” Pakistani refugees also want the government to grant them the right to own and purchase immovable property in Jammu and Kashmir. Sham Lal said, “We were allotted land and some of us were given houses but we have not been given proprietary rights.”
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Dummy EVMs, kites and canvassing
Lucknow, April 12 Making an addition to an assortment of conventional canvassing material — banners, flags, badges, caps, folders, festoons, audio and video cassettes, — are dummy electronic voting machines (EVMs) and kites! Although the EVMs made a mark in the previous elections, this time, political parties are using them as a publicity stunt. Battery-operated dummy EVMs first made an appearance in the 2002 Assembly elections in the state and brought a windfall to traders dealing in canvassing material in the state. Ahead of the Lok Sabha poll, the gadgets are again being touted as total ‘sell-outs’. Rajesh Agarwal of Sheela Enterprises, a prominent city-based supplier of publicity paraphernalia, claimed his firm had sold about 5,000 dummy EVMs in the last assembly elections. “Since last time most polling booths had voting through EVMs, contestants of major political parties procured the dummies to explain its functioning to the electorate and at the same time solicit their vote,’’ he added. Even last year, Rajesh struck gold when he set up a shop in Madhya Pradesh for the Assembly poll and sold a good number of the gadgets. Made of plywood, these dummy EVMs cost between Rs 200 and Rs 350 depending upon their make and finish. The machine is complete with a series of buttons and a red light that buzzes when a ‘vote is cast’.
— UNI
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Security tightened in Bengal Kolkata, April 12 Altogether 15 companies of the BSF and the CRPF, besides the Sashastra Suraksha Bal and the state police had been deployed in North Bengal’s Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar districts and South Bengal’s West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia districts to combat the KLO, ULFA, PW and MCC ultras. The state had also procured 15,000 sophisticated rifles, specially sanctioned by the Centre, to arm its special police force to counter them. — UNI
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Sangeeta Singhdeo declares Rs 2-cr assets Bhubaneswar, April 12 In her affidavit submitted while filing her nomination paper, Ms Singh Deo stated that she had bank deposits of Rs 84,50,000 in her own name and Rs 18,25,000 in the name of her daughter. Ms Singh Deo has shares and bonds worth Rs 5.59 lakh in her own name and in the name of her daughter. Her house at Gurgaon was worth Rs 18 lakh, the one at Delhi worth Rs 16.25 lakh and that at Bhubaneswar worth Rs 13.50 lakh. Her jewellery was worth Rs 39,23,000, the affidavit disclosed, adding that she also owned a Skoda Activa car.
— PTI
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Sangma replies to notice No campaign in Manipur
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Video
A seasoned politician, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Congress nominee from the Rohtak Lok Sabha seat, is known as the man who humbled the invincible Devi Lal twice from this constituency. He first defeated the Tau when he was the Deputy Prime Minister in 1991 and later in 1998. 
Mrs Usha Ahlawat, Haryana Vikas Party nominee for the Rohtak Lok Sabha constituency, is the first woman to be nominated by a major political outfit in Haryana to contest this seat. She is the widow of Lt-Col Devendra Singh Ahlawat. 
Maj-Gen Bhim Singh Suhag (retd) quit as the Vice-Chancellor of MDU recently to contest the Lok Sabha poll from Rohtak as a nominee of the INLD. A strict disciplinarian, he remained mired in controversies. He thinks politics will give him an opportunity to repay his debt to society. General Suhag says his stint as VC gave him an insight into the functioning of the universities which are still governed by obsolete and outdated statutes which hinder their growth.