Sunil Dutt’s support base lies in slums

Mr Sunil Dutt is one Congress leader even Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray respects. Rather than criticise Mr Dutt, Mr Thackeray says how the Congress turned its back on Mr Dutt when his son was in jail.

Always the gentleman, Mr Dutt acknowledges Mr Thackeray’s help in getting his son released from prison and carries on with his “padyatra” style of campaigning. In politics since 1984, he has never lost the Mumbai North West seat.

At a fish market at Kherwadi, he tells people to come out in large numbers and vote. “No matter what happens, you must cast your vote, else you’ll regret it for five years,” he says, adding at another venue that he is a peacemaker.

His support base lies in the slums of his contituency. He tells slum-dwellers that he has been campaigning for pucca structures for them since 1995. He also speaks about the need for lower power tariffs and telephone bills for the poor.

The last leg of his campaign saw his son accompany him. Sanjay Dutt stayed away from all of his father’s campaigns in the past but made a surprise appearance at Andheri.

Basking in the success of “Munnabhai MBBS”, Sanjay Dutt had the crowds asking him to say something but to no effect. “I still have it in me to campaign. It’s not like I asked him to cancel his shooting and come here. He came to see me,” Mr Sunil Dutt said of his son who drove to the venue straight from the airport.

Congress sources say that the appearance of Sanjay Dutt would make the fight for the Mumbai North-West seat a no-contest.

Sanjay Nirupam draws Catholics too

Mr Sanjay Nirupam, Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP, is outspoken and shrewd. With a way for words, he is banking on Gujarati and Maharashtra middle-class voters in Bandra, Vile Parle and Andheri.

Relying on his theatrical skills that have made him a hit in television studios, Mr Nirupam attempts to portray Mr Dutt’s “failure” in Parliament. “Your vote for me will be a direct vote for Mr Vajpayee. So vote for me. Dutt saab has failed to perform his duties towards his voters. He was hardly present in the last Lok Sabha,” he says, adding that Mr Dutt attended Parliament for only three days while he himself was present for 90 per cent of the days that the House was in session.

Using his substantial influence in Mumbai, he has even weaned away a section of the Catholics in the city. The Bombay Catholic Sabha split after its office-bearers offered their support to him. Catholic leaders who head the powerful trade unions of Indian Airlines and Air India have backed him following his support to their causes in Parliament.

The All-India Muslim Mahaz, an little known Muslim outfit, has issued a fatwa against him.

His counterparts from North India, however, are unlikely to back him. The party had embarked on a campaign against North Indian job-seekers in the city.

He received another setback when the Samajwadi Party decided not to field a candidate in the constituency. His party insists that the SP was out to defeat him for casting aspersions against the Sahara group over the disinvestment of a hotel.

He had questioned the Central Government’s motives, much to the embarrassment of Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie.

CONSTITUENCY PROFILE: MAHENDRAGARH
Ahir votes crucial here
Ravi S. Singh
Tribune News Service

Mahendragarh, April 21
This parliamentary constituency is part of the Ahirwal belt and has nine Assembly segments comprising parts of Mahendragarh district, Rewari district and parts of Gurgaon district.

Politics in the Ahirwal belt has revolved around former Chief Minister Rao Birender Singh who was elected four times from this constituency.

Although a BJP nominee was returned to Parliament in the last general election, people do not seem to share the party’s “feel-good” slogan. Also, they seem to be unimpressed with the INLD which had promised to provide free power and water.

The constituency has about 15 lakh voters with the Ahirs accounting for nearly four lakh followed by members of the Scheduled Castes who are nearly three lakh in number. Punjabis, Jats, Brahmins and Gujjars also form part of the population.

During the stint of Mr Bansi Lal as Chief Minister, drip irrigation system was introduced in the area which turned out to be a boon.

The belt has had its share in the power structure. Rao Birender Singh was the Chief Minister and headed several ministries at the Centre. Col Ram Singh from the area was a Union minister. Also, MLAs from here are generally given a good number of portfolios.

Water is a major problem here with the water table sinking fast. South Haryana, including the Ahirwal belt, has been discriminated in the distribution of water.

The demands of the locals include the setting of a regional recruiting centre, a Sainik School and a good hospital.

The development in the constituency has been lopsided. While Gurgaon has emerged as an industrial zone, Mahendragarh district has no industry.

CONSTITUENCY PROFILE: HAMIRPUR
Chandel, Thakur face each other again
Pratibha Chauhan
Tribune News Service

Hamirpur, April 21
Persisting intra-fighting squabbles in the BJP have put the party candidate for the Hamirpur Lok Sabha seat, Mr Suresh Chandel, on the back foot, despite a headstart in the campaign.

The fact that the former Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, has virtually chosen to stay away from campaigning so far, has failed to enthuse the party electioneering in the constituency, traditionally a BJP stronghold. It is common knowledge that the former Chief Minister, had desperately tried to get party ticket from the Hamirpur Lok Sabha segment, but the party high command had favoured the sitting MP, Mr Chandel.

It is for the second time that the BJP candidate, Mr Suresh Chandel, and Industries Minister, Mr Ram Lal Thakur, are pitted against each other. Mr Chandel, had won the last Lok Sabha election by 1.30 lakh votes in 1999, defeating Mr Thakur. Mr Chandel, who is trying his luck for the third time, had defeated the Congress candidate, Maj Gen Bikram Singh, in the 1998 parliamentary poll.

The Congress nominee, Mr Ram Lal, who is a cabinet minister in the Virbhadra government, is contesting the parliamentary elections for the first time.

The Hamirpur Lok Sabha seat, comprising 17 Assembly segments in the districts of Hamirpur, Bilaspur, Una and Kangra has an electorate of 10,43,833 voters. As far as having a hold over the Assembly segments is concerned, the two main parties have almost equal numbers as nine are with the Congress and eight with the BJP.

Trying his level best to retain the seat, Mr Chandel, on his part is focussing on small corner meetings and door-to-door campaigning. The silver lining for Mr Chandel is the covert support being extended to him by a strong BJP dissident faction who regrouped under the banner of “ Mitra Milan, after they were expelled from the party. However, they are willing to support Mr Chandel, provided they are readmitted into the party.

Though Mr Chandel has been trying to readmit these dissidents, including Mr Narender Thakur and Mr Raghubir Singh, who have a good hold in the area, it is learnt that Dhumal loyalists, are not in favour of taking them back in the partyfold. Party leaders say that though the BJP performance in the Hamirpur seat will be a reflection on Mr Dhumal’s leadership, he is not taking much interest in the campaign.

On the other hand, the biggest issue being played up by the BJP against the Congress is ignoring of Hamirpur district, which has traditionally been a BJP bastion. The BJP is accusing the Congress of failing to protect the interest of the district in development works, jobs and even as far as giving representation to Hamirpur in the cabinet is concerned.

The Congress candidate is trying to counter BJP propaganda by raking up the employment scam through the Subordinate Services Selection Board, during the previous BJP regime.

As far as the caste break up is concerned, it is the Rajputs, OBCs and Brahmins, who constitute the major chunk of the electorate.

CONSTITUENCY PROFILE: SANGRUR
Tough triangular contest ahead
Sushil Goyal
Tribune News Service

Sangrur, April 21
The Sangrur parliamentary constituency comprising Sangrur, Ludhiana and Moga districts is likely to witness a triangular contest. It does not appear to be a cakewalk for any of the high-profile candidates, including Mr Simranjit Singh Mann, MP and Akali Dal (A) candidate, Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Union Cabinet Minister and SAD candidate, and Mr Arvind Khanna, MLA and Congress candidate.

The constituency consists of nine Assembly segments of which Raikot (Ludhiana district) and Sherpur, Barnala, Bhadaur, Dhanaula and Nihalsinghwala (Moga district) are represented by SAD MLAs. Congress MLAs represent the Sangrur, Malerkotla and Dirba Assembly segments.

This constituency has witnessed 10 Lok Sabha elections, out of which the SAD candidates have emerged victorious five times.

Mr Sukhdev Singh Barri (CPM Pasla group) and Mr Mangat Rai Bansal (BSP) are also in the fray.

The constituency comprises about 600 villages, and the Malerkotla Assembly segment tops in the number of voters.

Out of the 1,110 polling booths here, as many as 170 are sensitive.

With the arrival of candidates of all major parties on the scene, the campaigning has picked up now.

STATE OF PARTIES IN J&K
Congress tottering

The Congress is the largest partner in the PDP-led ruling coalition in J&K, yet it is being cursed not only by the Opposition but also by its own allies in their election campaign.

With a strength of 20 MLAs, the Congress supported the candidature of Mufti Sayeed for chief ministership whose PDP has 16 members in the Assembly. But the war of words between the two has set into motion speculation that the coalition might break any time after the Lok Sabha elections.

The Congress has failed to get its manifesto of the last Assembly election implemented, although most of the points were included in the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) of the coalition government. This has led to resentment among the voters who voted for the Congress during the Assembly poll.

On the other hand, the PDP has gradually not only got several of its poll promises implemented in the past 17 months, but also gone far ahead in making the government announce handsome financial incentives for terrorists who surrender. This has led to criticism of the Congress, particularly in the Jammu region where the number of unemployed youth is multiplying day and the government has failed to take any steps in meeting the problem.

In a nutshell, the Congress is being made to pay through its nose in the Jammu region for the issues on which the PDP is making its roots in the Kashmir valley.

Moreover, the party is virtually leaderless in the state during the crucial Lok Sabha elections as the PCC president, Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad, has been deputed by the AICC to Andhra Pradesh where the stakes for the Congress were high. The Deputy Chief Minister, Mr Mangat Ram Sharma, who belongs to the Congress, was unable to pull the party activists together. The Panthers Party, that is a partner in the coalition, and also the BJP made the daughters’ Bill an electoral issue against the Congress.

The party is faction ridden with certain AICC leaders backing various groups here. Certain senior leaders of the party here have been relegated to the background as turncoats have captured the centrestage.

This was after 1987 that the Congress had returned with strength in the last Assembly elections on the slogan of choosing a Chief Minister for the first time from Jammu and also removing discrimination with the Jammu region. However, both the emotional issues remained unfulfilled.

The party is seeking support of the people on the name of development.

BJP on strong ground

Having sunk differences within, the BJP is this time trying to encash the name of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to improve its position in Jammu and Kashmir.

The party is confident of gaining as it has managed to muster support of splinter groups, including the RSS-backed Jammu State Morcha (JSM) and the Jammu Mukti Morcha (JMM) that divided the BJP votes during the last Assembly elections. The party won only one seat in the Assembly.

The RSS that had fully supported the candidates of the JSM in the Assembly elections, is this time campaigning for the BJP candidates. Senior leaders of the RSS came here some time ago to resolve the differences.

The state BJP chief, Dr Nirmal Singh, and the Minister of State for Defence, Prof Chaman Lal Gupta, appear to have resolved their differences and are campaigning for each other.

The party is targeting the Congress, particularly on the issue of having voted in favour of the controversial daughters’ Bill in the Assembly. It had failed to remove discrimination with the Jammu division even while being a partner in the PDP-led government.

The recent visit of Mr Vajpayee during which he addressed a large election rally here has helped mobilise party activists who had been lying dormant. However, there are reports that a section of activists has not yet relented and is lying low.

The achievements of the Vajpayee government, particularly the silencing of Pakistani guns that has brought relief to the farmers on the border, are being highlighted.

Credit for the completion of the railway line between here and Udhampur is also being taken by the BJP.

The Panthers Party, that is a partner in the Mufti-led coalition in the state, is by default helping the BJP as its leader, Mr Bhim Singh, does not leave any opportunity to damn the Congress.

The BJP has named its candidates for all six Lok Sabha seats in the state, as it has no tie-up with the National Conference that has resigned from the NDA.

It’s cakewalk for Vajpayee
Anita Katyal
Tribune News Service

Lucknow, April 21
He is the country’s Prime Minister, the BJP’s mascot and this city’s pride. The result of the coming Lok Sabha election was, therefore, never in doubt. Given his soaring popularity and high ratings, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee can be expected to get re-elected from his old constituency with considerable ease.

His poll managers had little cause for concern till a few days ago. And even today, the Prime Minister remains well ahead of his opponents. But there is no doubt that the recent sari stampede and the presence of his old friend and former Cabinet colleague Ram Jethmalani in the electoral fray, has marred the feel-good mood in the BJP camp.

Putting up a brave face, BJP leaders here are quick to shrug off the death of 22 women in the sari stampede as a tragic accident while the maverick lawyer and the PM’s electoral opponent Jethmalani is dismissed as a madari or a joker. Unofficially, however, BJP leaders admit that the Election Commission’s strictures, the police case and now the court verdict against the PM’s election agent and pointsman, Mr Lalji Tandon, have hurt the party and its campaign.

Mr Vajpayee remains a clear winner but the fact that his election agent and old friend had to be removed from this post in this fashion has derailed the poll campaign to some extent, maintains a local BJP leader. Besides, it is stated, the local BJP organisation is not exactly robust as the party today has more leaders than workers. Given Mr Jethmalani’s penchant for raising uncomfortable questions, his return to the electoral fray has also upset the BJP here.

If there are traces of concern in the BJP camp on how the twin issues of Lalji’s removal and Jethmalani’s presence will play out, the opposition camp is not exactly bubbling with enthusiasm or optimism.

Congress leaders here admit that though they did make an effort, they were not able to sustain their attack against the BJP on the sari stampede. The death of 22 women in the Prime Minister’s constituency stampede was a matter of great concern to the BJP but they were not able to encash it politically, admitted a UP Congress leader.

The opposition attack was also overtaken by the confusion over Mr Ram Jethmalani’s candidature from here. There was considerable enthusiasm in the Congress camp when the lawyer filed his nomination as the local unit was all charged up to lend full support to him.

However, the Prime Minister’s public appeal asking him to withdraw followed by Mr Jethmalani’s off-on statements only ended up creating confusion in the Congress ranks. In fact, the initial enthusiasm in the local unit has turned to anger after Congress Rajya Sabha MP Akhilesh Das was first asked to file his nomination and then told to withdraw from the race. Mr Das, it is stated, has strong support among the local party workers and they are upset over this unseemly episode.

Senior Congress leaders said the sullen workers would now have to be again persuaded to join the campaign but that would only mean further loss of time. Mr Jethmalani’s changing stance, they said, had also undermined his credibility as a serious candidate. This sentiment is echoed in the streets of Lucknow where most people, whether it is taxi driver Anoop Kumar or a pan shop owner Dilip Yadav, maintain that had Mr Jethmalani not given contradictory statements, he would have been taken more seriously by the electorate.

Mr Jethmalani, who was in Lucknow for a day to set up his election office, appeared unfazed by this controversy. Everything has been sorted out, he told the TNS, adding that he had also spent the day interacting with leaders of different communities and educational institutions where he had focused on the issue of secularism and the BJP’s role in the Gujarat riots. What about his old friend and electoral opponent Atal Bihari Vajpayee? Did he have anything to say about him? “I will say a few things in due course of time,” Mr Jethmalani promised.

Naqli netas put off Bhaiya Lal
L. H. Naqvi
Tribune News Service

Varanasi, April 21
Bhaiya Lal is 36. A life of perpetual want and deprivation has made him look 46. He appeared to be a man of few words. When we set off, in his taxi, on a tour of the Lok Sabha constituencies in Purvanchal, it looked like that we would exchange few words for most of the journey through an uninteresting countryside.

It turned out that unlike most taxi drivers, he was a man of few words. When he spoke, he spoke with clarity and conviction. After a 30-km “maun vrat”, he said in a rather apologetic tone, “Ek baat boloon sahib. Yeh politics bhi ab business ho gaya hai. No politician contests an election to serve the people. It has become the most rewarding dhandha in which the sky is the limit for reaping profit for the amount they spend on getting elected”. All this was said in a matter-of-fact tone. There was no suppressed rancour or bitterness in his voice.

He must either be with the Bahujan Samaj Party or Samajwadi Party. “Not necessarily”. After another spell of silence, he told the story of his brush with politics that was only a shade less dramatic than Amitabh Bachchan’s “Akhri Rasta”.

About 10 years ago, Bhaiya Lal was an active Samajwadi worker. He was thrown out by his family for not earning enough even for his meals. But he believed that once the age of Samajwad set in, his family would praise him for backing the right cause. For six years, he gave his time and services as a driver without asking for much in return.

When the Pradhan Mantri Rozgar Yojna for the underclass was announced, he approached a Samajwadi leader for helping him get a loan for a three-wheeler. “Haan, haan, theek hai pahle form to ley aao”. He paid Rs 20 for a form that was supposed to be given away free of cost to the unemployed Dalits. He filled in the form and again approached the neta. “Abhi main Lucknow jaa raha hoon. Tum form to jama karo, main wapas aa kar dekh loonga.”.

Bhaiya Lala did as instructed by the Samajwadi leader. He went to the rozgar yojna office and was asked to leave the form. The official concerned refused to give him a receipt. When he asked how long would it take for the application to be processed, he was told not to ask too many questions. And then one of the babus took him aside and asked him to pay Rs 1,000 for getting his application processed. That is when something in him snapped. He took back the form from the babu, tore it up and threw it in the waste paper basket before letting loose a volley of invectives. While leaving the office, Bhaiya Lal decided that nothing was worth getting angry at. He has kept the promise.

Since then, Bhaiya Lal has stopped trusting politicians. “Aur aap ko ek baat bataoon. In these 36 years, I have not bothered to cast my vote even once. It is a waste of time. I can earn some money for my family in the time I would spend on giving my vote to any one of those naqli netas”.

CONG STRATEGY
Media blitzkrieg on cards
P. P. S. Gill
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 21
The majority of the Congress candidates in Punjab have reportedly consulted astrologers to determine the “most auspicious” date and time for filing nomination papers for the Lok Sabha elections. The Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, has also scheduled his visits to all 13 parliamentary constituencies.

Party sources told The Tribune that this had provided Capt Amarinder Singh as well as the PPCC President, Mr H. S. Hanspal, feedback from candidates on the participation or otherwise of the MLAs and other key functionaries in their respective constituencies.

In the next phase, based on field reports, the Congress would launch a media blitzkrieg with the poll campaign focused on ‘corruption’, making it Badal-centric, targeting the BJP-led NDA government and, of course, listing achievements of the state government in the past two years.

Sources said the internal assessment of the Congress, so far, was that factionalism, internal squabbles and lack of enthusiasm marked the grassroots workers in all 13 constituencies. This called for effective and coordinated campaigns. Another worrying factor was non-co-operation of the “dissidents” in different constituencies. To stem factionalism, Capt Amarinder Singh would return to Patiala almost every evening after day-long visits to various parts of the state and “review” progress made with “annoyed” party workers.

The feedback given to the state leadership, so far, is that SAD-BJP candidates are far ahead in the campaign as their names were announced much earlier. The strategy being evolved by the spin doctors was how to put up “dummy” candidates, who would eat into the votes of the opposition. Besides, there was a move to approach religious leaders of different communities to motivate their cadres to the advantage of the Congress. Organising rallies of grassroots workers of all Assembly segments in each parliamentary constituency is also under consideration.

In each parliamentary constituency, “weak” Assembly segments have been identified, which add up to over 90 out of a total of 117. The party is also looking for dummy candidates in some constituencies to split the votes of the opposition. Similarly, the Congress is contemplating approaching the newly formed All-India Shiromani Akali Dal or factions of Akali Dal led by Mr Ravi Inder Singh, former Speaker, Vidhan Sabha or by former Jathedar of Akal Takht, Bhai Ranjit Singh, to put up some candidates in selected constituencies to split the SAD-Badal votes.

Insiders revealed that the Congress has been “jolted” by Mr Balbir Singh joining the Akali Dal, since he was denied re-nomination by the Congress from Jalandhar. The same is true in Hoshiarpur, where sitting MP, Mr Charanjit Singh Channi, on being denied ticket joined the BSP and was made its candidate there.

FACTORS AT PLAY
Road toll hurts politicians, too
Yoginder Gupta
Tribune News Service

Karnal, April 21
Come election time and politicians realise the intensity of the pinch a common man feels when he pays toll on the G.T. Road. The toll is now hurting the politicians. The Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Mr I.D. Swami, is the most hurt. He represented the Karnal Lok Sabha constituency for the BJP in the dissolved House and is re-seeking the mandate.

Mr Swami is the prime target of the public’s wrath because the toll is collected near Karnal and it was imposed when he was the MP from the area. His rivals blame him for not asserting himself enough to remove the difficulties being faced by the people in this regard.

Residents of the areas near the toll tax barrier are particularly sour. Every time they cross the barrier, they have to shell out money to take their four-wheeler across it. They say the barrier should have been set up on the border of Karnal and Kurukshetra. Since the toll collection post is set up within Karnal district, people of the Nilokheri Assembly constituency have to pay toll for coming to the district headquarters of Karnal, which is also the main shopping centre in the area. The toll is levied on them for travelling merely 20 km on the national highway at the rate equivalent for long-distance travellers.

To be fair to Mr Swami, he did try to persuade the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to either exempt permanent residents of the areas close to the collection post from toll or concessional rate of toll should be introduced for them. The district administration could certify their residential status. However, the proposal did not materialise.

Mr Swami’s supporters say that their leader also tried for the shifting of the toll collection post to the Karnal-Kurukshetra border. But the state government did not agree and asked the NHAI to set up the post near the Haryana Tourism resort, Oasis. Earlier at this point, the Haryana Public Works Department used to collect toll for a bridge across the Western Yamuna Canal.

The BJP leader’s supporters allege that since Kurukshetra was represented by a member of the ruling Indian National Lok Dal, the state government asked the NHAI to set up the toll collection post within Karnal district with an ulterior motive.

It is learnt that about Rs 15 lakh is collected as toll at the Karnal post every day.

POLL ISSUE
Waiting for their own piece of land
Jupinderjit Singh
Tribune News Service

Ghatti Rajo Ke (Indo-Pak border), April 21
‘‘They have come again with fresh assurances and old excuses,’’ rues septuagenarian Sucha Singh as he watches a cloud of dust raised by cars driving down the age-old kutcha road to this village.

He is watching this exercise for over 5 decades and knows from his experience with the men in whites that this election too would come and go like the previous ones without their one demand being fulfilled.

He and hundreds of residents of this and adjoining 30-odd villages have only one grouse. The land they possess and are tilling since Independence still stands in the name of the provincial government or some person who had migrated to Pakistan in 1947.

They are not the owners of the land and can be displaced anytime by the government or defence forces. They have no other property as many had come here from Pakistan during the 1947 holocaust. They cannot pledge this land to raise loans for better living, education of children or to upgrade the farming methods like buying a tractor. If they leave this place, they will have to just work as labourers.

Sucha Singh is tilling nearly 7 acres of land for all these years without being its owner. The property, he claims, is in the name of some Rehman or Ali (the villagers don’t tell the exact name), who may be alive still somewhere in Pakistan.

The revenue records say that the intqal (mutation) is in Sucha Singh’s name but he is not the owner. He can neither sell it nor buy adjoining lands as the persons possessing those too face the same problem.

Ownership of land is a major poll factor in the Ferozepore parliamentary constituency. Leaders of all political parties admit this and are trying to woo the angry villagers. Representatives of different political parties were seen doing corner meetings with villagers to convince them.

Sitting under the shade of a kikkar tree amidst a group of villagers who nod in confirmation and wave hands here and there in desperation, village Sarpanch Mangal Singh recalls how they had staged dharnas several times in the past to stop being thrown out of the land.

‘‘The previous SAD-BJP government in the state even tried to auction our land, awarding it to the highest bidder, which, of course would not be poor people like us. We staged dharnas and got it blocked’’ he said.

This is not to say that the other governments did something for their plight. ‘‘All political parties have merely given us lip service. They make tall promises and then make excuses during next elections’’ said Mangat Ram, Sarpanch of Hazara Singh.

The excuses made to them are quite interesting. During elections to the Legislative Assembly, they are told that because of the proximity to the border, the Central government and Army’s help is required. When the Lok Sabha elections come, they say it is a state matter. A number of leaders just try to convince them by saying that they had raised the voice in some ‘House’.

Mangat Ram said farmers living in a few pockets along the border got the land in their name a few years ago. They got it on reserve price of Rs 6,600 per acre. ‘‘We are stressing that the government should give us the land at the same price, but we have only got promises so far,’’ said Sucha Singh

So what are the villagers doing this time? ‘‘We have a huge vote bank. The entire border belt is with us. We will teach a lesson to those leaders who forget our plight.’’

The determination, however, changes into haplessness when asked who they would vote for. ‘‘We have to chose one of them and again pray for good luck. We might go in for the one who sounds the most convincing. The rest is in the hands of God.…’’

Fund crunch hits Kerala parties
John Mary

Thiruvananthapuram, April 21
The long pre-election campaign phase has cast a shadow on electioneering as political parties, especially the Congress, are finding it hard to mobilise funds to keep the campaign machinery going.

The Congress high command, unable to cope with BJP extravaganza, has left the state units in power to fend for themselves and, if possible, chip in to help state units that are out of power.

Says CPM leader Lonappan Nambadan, who takes on Congress veteran K. Karunakaran’s daughter Padmaja Venugopal, in Mukundapuram. “We are scraping the bottom although we have another three weeks to go for the elections. We can’t go to the people, sapped by the second consecutive drought. Occasionally, someone offers Rs 1,000 or Rs 2,000. But that’s tiny going by the magnitude of the election expenses in a Lok Sabha constituency, strung across 7 Assembly segments.”

But the style of Left parties is such that they do burden candidates with the responsibility for funds collection. Local campaign managers in charge of party structures at various rungs have the responsibility to meet the targets assigned to each one of them while candidates can go about electioneering. Another major source for the election funds has been NRI sources in the Gulf, Europe and the West. But of late, the overseas Malayalee cousins have been put off by the intense factionalism in the Congress and the CPM’s politics of negativism while in the Opposition.

1.20 lakh voters without ID-cards
Tribune News Service

Karnal, April 21
A large number of voters (1.20 lakh) in this parliamentary constituency do not possess voter ID-cards. As per details from the local election office, 91.44 per cent, out of the total of 7,97,762 voters in Karnal district, possess ID-cards. According to an estimate, more than 9 per cent of the voters did not possess the ID-cards in Panipat district.

The details of Karnal district reveal that the percentage of voter ID-Cards issued before the 1999 elections in the Indri assembly constituency was 91.05 but it decreased during the revision exercise of the electoral rolls in December 2003 by 0.79 per cent.

In Nilokheri, the number of ID-card-holders increased from 90.83 per cent to 92.72 per cent while. While in Karnal, the number increased from 83.37 per cent to 89.26 per cent. In Gharaunda too the number increased from 86.89 per cent to 92.06 per cent.