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BJP rule in Jharkhand marked by graft, says Manmohan
Bhoomihars a force to reckon with in Bihar Bihar’s secular credentials on trial Second-phase poll campaign ends Dancers woo voters
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BJP rule in Jharkhand marked by graft, says Manmohan Jamshedpur, February 13 Addressing a rally here on the last day of campaigning for the second- phase elections, the Prime Minister said his government planned to spend a lot of money on irrigation in the next four years but it could not achieve the set goals if state governments were corrupt. He said lack of attention to agriculture and growing unemployment had led to growth of the Naxalite problem in Jharkhand. “No progress can take place if law and order continues to deteriorate. “ He said promises made to farmers have not been fulfilled and 50 per cent schools in the state were without teachers. Dr Manmohan Singh said the BJP government had failed to live up to the expectations of the people Urging the people to elect Congress candidates, he said same alliance governments in the state and at the Centre would ensure speedy development. Dr Singh said the BJP government had not taken steps for welfare of minorities. “The Wakf Board and the Minorities Finance Development Corporation have not been set up. Nothing has been done to improve the condition of madrassas.” He said development in the region had suffered after the Congress rule ended. Refuting the charge of former Prime Minister Atal BihariVajpayee about the Centre not lending enough assistance to Jharkhand, he said the UPA government had included 14 districts of the state in its food-for-work programme. Incidentally, Mr Vajpayee who addressed a rally at the same venue yesterday, had forecast that the PM would refer to the food-for-work programme in his election speech. The former PM had raised doubts over the quality and span of employment to the poor families under the programme. Referring to the bond of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi with the tribals, Dr Manmohan Singh said a UPA government in the state would see that no child of school-going age remained without education and also improve spending on health. He said health condition of people in the state was deteriorating due to less spending on social sectors by the BJP government. The Prime Minister also referred to the Congress alliance with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. “Mr Shibu Soren is working with us in the UPA government. We have formulated plans for development of Jharkhand,” he said. Referring to the party’s manifesto, he said the Congress would implement its promise of setting up a new university in Jamshedpur, solve taxation-related problems in the city and provide facilities to children of Oriya and Bengali- speaking population for education in their languages. Jarkhand Mukti Party MP from Jamshedpur, Sunil Mahato, caused embarrassment to Congress leaders when he said that the state had not made progress in the past 54 years. Senior Congress leader Harikesh Bahadur, who was conducting the stage, responded by saying that his party had started river water projects for the development of the state. “Progress stopped after the Congress ceased to be in office,” he said. The local Congress leaders could not ensure a good gathering at Dr Manmohan Singh’s rally though he reached nearly two hours behind schedule. While the Congress supporters seemed confident of a lasting impact of DrManmohan Singh’s rally,e specially among minority voters, others present were not so sure. “The gathering was small for a Prime Minister’s rally. It may not have the desired impact, “ said Upkar Singh, a local businessman. |
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Bhoomihars a force to reckon with in Bihar Jamalpur, February 13 Bhoomihars gave Ram Vilas Paswan’s LJP the extra edge and aggressiveness that makes or mars a party’s fortunes in any electoral exercise, thunders an active LJP supporter V.K. Sharma. In the second phase of elections in Bihar for which the campaign came to an end today, the vocal and aggressive community is going to influence the results in Begusarai, Khagaria, Samastipur, Munger districts decisively. In the third phase too, the community would have a bigger role as it has presence in seven of 11 districts which would go to the polls on February 23. Bhoomihars, who played an important role in the country’s freedom movement, remained with the Congress but deserted it in 1988-89 when “our community went all hog with Vishwanath Pratap Singh and the Janata Party”, Mr Sanjay Sharma said. “Disillusioned with the Janata Dal experiment when the VP Singh Government accepted the Mandal Commission recommendation”, another BJP supporter Raju Singh said and added that “we took a leading role in the anti-Mandal agitation”. “In the Kamandal versus Mandal struggle, we chose the former and joined the Ayodhya temple movement and supported and voted the BJP in the 1996, 1998, 1999 general election”, Mr Raju Singh said. Booumihars constitute about 6 per cent of the total electorate in the state but “our impact is much bigger because we are big farmers in the fertile Ganga basin region from Patna to Begusarai
which produces cash crops of lentil, pepperoni, tomato and gram, a senior journalist Sharma said. The community played a leading role in post-independence politics as Bhoomihars gave the state its first Chief Minister Shri Krishna Sinha. They were able to corner a bigger chunk of political and other posts than their strength, an RJD leader Shankar Singh said and added that “the community could not stomach the transfer of political power to the weaker sections”. Bhoomihars circumvented land ceilings and made a mockery of the land reforms, Mr Shankar Singh asserted and added that the community gave to Bihar private armies which gave birth to violent fights between Naxalites and this community. Bhoomihars decided to desert the BJP in the 2004 Lok Sabha poll but they rather preferred to abstain from voting as they did not want to go with the RJD-led UPA alliance in the state. They only worked for the community candidates, an entrepreneur, Madhu Singh, said. “You would see our impact when election results come out. The BJP would pay a heavy price for its folly of overlooking our interests”, he said. |
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Bihar’s secular credentials on trial
Patna, February 13 Muslim clergymen have been flown in from outside for campaigning and posters and CDs in Urdu and Hindi depicting the Gujarat riots have been pushed in by the parties to woo the Muslims who, for the past 15 years, have been “well-nurtured” as a strong vote bank by the ruling Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). Engaged in a cut-throat battle, the two regional partners of the UPA — the RJD and the Lok Janshakti party — have roped in a number of clerics from Ajmer Sharief and various Muslim bodies to consolidate their hold on this crucial electoral group which tends to vote en bloc. The RJD has roped in Maulana Tanqueer Raja Khan, President of the All-India Ittehad-e-Millat Council, to ensure that its electoral combination ‘M-Y’ (Muslim-Yadav) remained intact while the LJP has deployed Gulam Rasool, chief of Edaar-e-Shariah, to wean away the Muslim support from the RJD in favour of its ‘M-D’ (Muslim-Dalit) equation. Not lagging behind is the Congress, which has flown in Bollywood ‘’baddie’’ and character-artist Raza Murad to revive its grip on this traditional vote base of the party. Registering concern for the minorities, RJD supporters have raked up the Godhra issue through VCDs and posters depicting the burning Sabarmati Express and are also cashing in on the interim report of the U C Banerjee Committee, which has termed the train blaze as an accidental fire, negating the theory of petrol bomb and fire from outside. RJD strongman Laloo Prasad, harping on the Godhra report, holds former Railway Minister Nitish Kumar responsible for “suppressing” the facts related to the incident. Engaged in a straight fight with the RJD on a majority of the 243 Assembly seats up for grabs the LJP projects the relinquishing of the Union Cabinet berth by its President, Ram Vilas Paswan on the issue of Godhra riots. Mr Paswan is missing no opportunity to criticise Laloo “for the crocodile tears” he had been shedding over the Gujarat riots, saying that “where was he (Laloo) when Godhra took place, has he ever been to Godhra to wipe out the tears of the affected families.”
— UNI |
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Second-phase poll campaign ends
Patna, February 13 There was no report of any major pre-poll violence. The postponement of polling in three constituencies of Darbhanga district less than 24 hours before the close of campaign for lack of adequate security arrangements, signalled the mood of the Election Commission (EC), which sent the message loud and clear that it would not compromise on the issue of security of voters. The two week-campaign, which took a feverish turn in a number of districts, blended conventional modes of canvassing with high-tech methods. RANCHI: Campaigning, which was concentrated on the issues of development, Naxal problem and unemployment, for the second phase of polling in 29 constituencies of Jharkhand ended peacefully on Sunday. The current phase of polling will be crucial for the BJP, which has to retain 19 out of 29 seats. Altogether 5.8 million voters would decide the fate of 456 candidates, including 46 women, in the February 15 elections. Security personnel would be deployed both inside and outside the polling booths, Chief Secretary P.P. Sharma said.
— UNI |
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Dancers woo voters
Patna, February 13 The dancers have become the most attractive choice for the candidates having links with musclemen who had hired them to woo the electorate. A large number of such dancers were seen in the lanes and bylanes of the remote areas, particularly in north Bihar. Dressed in gorgeous costumes, the dancers were trying to attract voters with their performances, mostly based on folk songs and parodies on film songs. Keeping in view the high demand, the professional dancers have also enhanced their charges. While for a programme on general days one can hire these dancers at Rs 700, during the time of election one has to shell out at least Rs 1,500 per day. These professional dancers had been hired from Ghulabbagh Mandi of Purnia and Chaturbhujsthan of Muzaffarpur where they live in a separate society. The professional dancers, having close proximity with the musclemen, cannot even dare refuse them and have to accept the offer though at higher rates.
— UNI
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