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Wednesday, March
24, 2004, Chandigarh, India
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Tough fight ahead in Maharashtra
The secular front in Maharashtra headed by the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party promises to put up a tough fight against the Shiv Sena-BJP combine.
Poll notification today
Friends turn foes in battle of
ballot
Sanjay Dutt under pressure not to canvass for
father
Booth at last after 22 yrs
George for foreign origin issue in manifesto
Geeta to challenge Bhupinder Hooda in
Rohtak
‘Expedite’ proxy voting
process
EC notices to 3 Karnataka ministers
GRAPHIC: BJP's Performance Statewise in 1999 Lok Sabha poll
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FACE TO FACE I want to turn Chandigarh into a world class city AFTER humbling a BJP stalwart, the late Krishan Lal Sharma, in the last parliamentary elections from Chandigarh, Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal of the Congress is now set to meet his old rival, Mr Satya Pal Jain, who has once again been fielded by the BJP to contest from City Beautiful. Mr Bansal has thrice crossed sword with Mr Jain on the electoral battlefield in the past. Mr Bansal thwarted Mr Jain’s maiden attempt to enter the Lok Sabha way back in 1991 when he defeated him by 15,000 votes. But five years later, Mr Bansal lost to Mr Jain by about 25,000 votes. Mr Bansal again lost to Mr Jain in 1998 by about 10,000 votes. Mr Bansal, however, won the seat in 1999 when Mr Jain was denied the ticket by the BJP high command, which instead fielded Krishan Lal Sharma. A lawyer by profession, 56-year-old Mr Bansal was born in a Congress family of Patiala, and is no stranger to politics. After completing his studies at Yadavindra Public School, Patiala, and the Department of Laws, Panjab University, Chandigarh, Mr Bansal plunged into politics during his student days and has steadily worked his way up. Mr Bansal first became an MP in 1984 when he was elected to the Rajya Sabha. He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1991 and then again in 1999. During his parliamentary stint, Mr Bansal remained on the panel of vice-chairmen of the Rajya Sabha, whip, Congress Parliamentary Party in the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha, was a member of the Ethics Committee, the Standing Committee on IT and a host of other parliamentary bodies. Q. What is going to be the main plank of your election campaign? A. I am going to seek votes from residents of Chandigarh on the basis of my performance in the city and impressive track record in Parliament.I feel that it is because of my efforts that the quality of life has undergone a change in Chandigarh. For the first time in years, if not decades, malba being dumped in different parts of the city has been systematically removed. The garbage bin-free scheme has been introduced in as many as 17 sectors, which will be extended in phases to cover the whole city. Q. How do you propose to check haphazard growing in and around the city? A. My dream is to turn Chandigarh into a world class city through integrated development of the region. I want that small urban counter-magnet centres should be established around Chandigarh so as to reduce the strain on the infrastructure of the city. Q. Mr Jain says that Chandigarh should join the national mainstream... Your comment. A. Does Mr Jain feel that Chandigarh will join the national mainstream only if he is elected? This is a wrong approach. I refute the mischievous statement by Mr Jain that I have been feeling "helpless" vis-a-vis the government because I belong to the Congress. I have never had any difficulty in making my views heard in the right quarters. Q. What are your views on the contentious issue of the Rent Control Act as applied in Chandigarh? A. The UT Administation should adopt a balanced approach in the Rent Control Act by ensuring a fare deal to tenants as well as house owners. Q. What do you think of the recent decision by the UT Administration to revert from freehold to leasehold in the sale and purchase of commercial property? A. This
is a retrograde step which should be reversed. How can the Administration run
against the tide of the time? The present trend is towards liberalisation and
removal of restrictions. All property in Chandigarh should be sold on freehold
basis. |
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Solving drinking water problem my priority A newspaper hawker, who became an MP eight years ago, is set to try his luck once again at the hustings in Chandigarh. Mr Satya Pal Jain (52), a member of the National Executive of the BJP, who has again been fielded as the party nominee for the Chandigarh parliamentary seat, makes no secret of his humble beginning as a footpath worker from the nearby township of Kharar. "I used to help my father, the late Roop Lal Jain, in his wayside shop of a newspaper agent at Kharar", said Mr Jain in an interview with TNS. Born on June 15, 1952, Mr Jain did his schooling from Christian High School, Kharar, before passing his B.A. (Honours) in political science from Government College, Chandigarh, and MA in the same subject from Panjab University, Chandigarh. He was jailed during the Emergency and spent a year in Burail Jail. Later, he obtained his degree in law from DAV College, Dehra Dun. Mr Jain fought his first parliamentary elections from Chandigarh in 1991, but lost to a former Union Law Minister, Mr Jagannath Kaushal (Congress), by about 15,000 votes. He, however, was elected to the Lok Sabha five years later after defeating Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal of the Congress by about 25,000 votes. In the Lok Sabha, he was made the chief whip of the BJP for all states of northern India, in charge of Punjab affairs and was also appointed as convener of the legal committee of the BJP parliamentary party. He was a member of the Consultative and Parliamentary Standing Committee. He was re-elected in 1998 to the Lok Sabha by defeating Mr Bansal by about 10, 000 votes when he was again entrusted with a number of parliamentary assignments. Q. What is going to be your main electoral plank? A. I feel that Chandigarh should join the "national mainstream" by sending me to the Lok Sabha because re-election of a non-BJP member to deal with a BJP-led government at the Centre will not help in solving the problems of City Beautiful. Q. The problem of drinking water is becoming acute in Chandigarh with each passing year. How do you plan to solve it? A. A dam should be built across the Ghaggar to solve the water problem of Chandigarh and the surrounding townships. That is the only long-term solution to the problem. The Kajauli waterworks and underground tubewells can at best be only stop-gap measures. Q. How do you propose to check haphazard growth on the periphery of Chandigarh which in turn is putting a strain on the infrastructure of Chandigarh? Within the city, slums and unauthorised labour colonies have become a big menace. A. The Government of India should create an inter-state development council consisting of representatives from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and the Centre for integrated development of the region over the next 20 years. I will not allow Chandigarh to be turned into a slum city. Q. How to ease the increasing congestion on the roads of the UT? A. Construction of flyovers alone will ease the increasing traffic congestion in the city’s major roads. The Administration should start planning for a metro otherwise the traffic problem will become serious within a few years. I also want that the airport and the railway station should be upgraded. A dental college should also be established in the city. Q. What are you views on the leasehold system for the sale and purchase of property? A. The
leasehold system for the sale and purchase of property should be scrapped.
Liberal terms should be framed for converting all types of property from
leasehold to freehold. |
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Tough fight ahead in Maharashtra
Mumbai, March 23 Fighting with their back to the wall, the Congress and the NCP have wooed smaller parties in Maharashtra and are now hoping for at least friendly fights if not a tie-up with Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party to keep the Muslim votes in their kitty. While the Congress has bagged 26 seats in the alliance, the NCP will contest 18 seats. Four seats have been left for three factions of the Republican Party of India and the Janata Dal (S). The Congress and the NCP are considering giving up two seats to accommodate Prakash Ambedkar’s faction of the RPI. Mr Sharad Pawar, the architect of the alliance in Maharashtra, is banking on the electoral numbers to crack the code. While the Congress and the NCP secured 29.70 and 21.57 per cent of the votes, respectively from polar positions, the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance could bag just 38.02 per cent. Realising that they have a tough fight on their hands, the Shiv Sena and the BJP are toning down their rhetoric about a clean sweep in the state that sends 48 MPs to the Lok Sabha. "We will definitely get more seats now than in 1999," Shiv Sena leader and heir apparent Uddhav Thackeray said at Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani’s Bharat Uday yatra at Nagpur last week. The Shiv Sena-BJP combine was predicting a clean sweep till NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Congress President Sonia Gandhi went to work tying up alliances across the state. The Shiv Sena and the BJP, contesting 22 and 26 seats respectively, have been wooing prominent community leaders hitherto aligned with the Congress and the NCP to shore up their defences. In Eastern Maharashtra, farmers’ leader Sharad Joshi has switched over to the BJP. He was joined by the Maratha Mahasangh, which had so far been with either of the two Congress parties. The BJP even dropped its Union Minister of State for Shipping Dilip Gandhi and fielded Mr N.S. Pharande, a leader of the Mali community in Ahmednagar (South). Apart from the tough task of carefully choosing
their candidates, the two groupings are banking on local issues for the poll.
While the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance is playing up the fake stamp paper racket
masterminded by Abdul Karim Telgi in the urban centres, drought and lack of
development are the flavours in the rural areas. |
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Poll notification today
New Delhi, March 23 The President will issue three sets of notifications calling upon the voters of 142 parliamentary constituencies, spread over 17 states and union territories, to elect their representatives in the first and second phases on April 20 and 22. The Governors will issue notifications for the first phase of Assembly poll on April 20 to elect 344 MLAs in Andhra Pradesh (147 seats in the 294-member House), Karnataka (120 of 224) and Orissa (77 of 147). Unlike last elections, voting will be held for 10 hours — from 7 am to 5 pm — across the country in all 543 parliamentary constituencies going to the polls in five phases and in the Assembly elections in four states, the fourth being Sikkim where voting is scheduled for the last phase on May 10. For the first time, the country will witness paperless polling with the commission using electronic voting machines in all constituencies. The candidates can file their nomination till March 31 and the scrutiny will take place on April 1 and in some places the next day. The last date for withdrawal is April 5. The states which go to the polls in the first phase are Andhra Pradesh (21), Assam (6), Bihar (11), Gujarat (26), Jammu and Kashmir (2), Karnataka (15), Maharashtra (24), Manipur (1), Meghalaya (2), Orissa (11), Chhattisgarh (11), Jharkhand (6), Dadra and Nagar Haveli (1), Daman and Diu (1) and Andaman and Nicobar Islands (1). The number candidates contesting the Lok Sabha election witnessed a steep fall in 1998 when 4,750 contested as against 13,952 in 1996. The drastic fall in the number of candidates has been the result of doubling of security deposit, Rs 5,000, in 1997. As the number of non-serious candidates continued to increase, the commission sought to increase the security deposit to Rs 20,000. With requisite amendments made, the candidates contesting for the 14th Lok Sabha will now have to deposit Rs 10,000. Further, for the first time, the Election Commission will place in public domain the criminal records, financial assets, liabilities and dues to the government of all candidates aspiring to contest the Lok Sabha throughout the country. The information to be furnished by candidates relates to outstanding bills for facilities of telephone, electricity, water, accommodation and vehicle availed of by them beyond the limits permissible under rules. Besides, the commission has ordered that all candidates should file an affidavit along with their nomination papers stating information on criminal antecedents, movable and immovable properties in their name, in their spouse and dependents and liabilities and their educational qualification. In a move to disseminate the information contained in the affidavit to the electorate, the commission has asked returning officers to make available copies of the affidavits freely to other candidates, general public and others on the very day the nomination is filed by the candidate. The commission has also appealed to the citizens and all interested parties to cooperate with the election authorities for the widest dissemination of this information. |
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Caste crucial factor in TN
CHENNAI: All political parties, be they regional ones like the AIADMK, the DMK , the MDMK and the PMK or national parties like the Congress, the BJP and even the Communist parties take into consideration the caste factor in each constituency.
As such, compared to the AIADMK-BJP combine, the Demoractic Progessive Alliance (DPA), led by the
DMK, is considered to be a formidable alliance as its individual constituents have vote-banks which if added up lead to a majority. And it is independent of the increasing proportion of votes which “swing”. The situation has reached such a state that the DMK is now forced to refuse nominations to candidates from the smaller caste groups, including the divided Dalit parties. In the districts of north Tamil Nadu, the powerful Vanniar community, a support base of the
PMK, is opposed to the “Adi Dravidar” Dalits, socially and economically backward sections in the Hindu community. In southern Tamil Nadu, the militant Thevar community from which Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa draws her support is bitterly opposed to a local sub-sect known as the Devendra Kula
Vellars. However, other than the PMK, which could mobilise the Vanniars, the Dalit political leadership in the respective regions has not been able to mobilise them under a unified leadership. But this may harm the electoral prospects of the DPA because it could lead to an “anti-Vanniar caste consolidation”. The DMK had all along won seats in northern Tamil Nadu because of the upper caste Mudaliar and Vanniar consolidation. The Mudaliars had led the Dravidian movement since the days of the Justice Party, which had spearheaded the Dravidian movement, but now they are feeling left out of elected posts, which they had occupied for generations. Because of the “anti-Vanniar consolidation” the DPA could also suffer losses from the differences between the PMK and the Congress over the lone Pondicherry seat.
Pondicherry has been a traditional Congress stronghold irrespective of its alliance with whichever Dravidian party. This time political observers in Tamil Nadu are surprised at how Pondicherry was made a sacrificial lamb by Congress President Sonia Gandhi. She relinquished it to the DPA. The DPA, instead of contesting the seat, gave it away to the
PMK. The BJP-AIADMK combine might suffer if it overplays the Dalit card in northern Tamil Nadu. The Dalit Panthers, backed by the Adi Dravidars and the Puthiya
Tamizhagam, supported by the Devendra Kula Vellars, both small parties representing the two sub-sects, have tied up following the decision by the DMK not to allot any seat to them. If wooed by Ms Jayalalithaa by some pre-electoral sops, this small but formidable front might turn out to be the Achilles’ heel for the DPA in some of the constituencies. The BJP-AIADMK combine stands to gain in the south and west Tamil Nadu where the DMK seems to have made it easier for it by allotting traditional Congress seats to its partners, instead of a straight contest. This would certainly help the BJP-AIADMK front as it would lead to a “pro-Hindu consolidation” of the Nadar community votes. The Nadars and the Thevars had never been on the same side being arch rivals, but during the 1998 Lok Sabha elections when the AIADMK and the BJP joined hands, they supported the block. But that was also due to the Coimbatore blasts, which united the upper caste Hindus. In the western districts around
Coimbatore, the socially backward “Kongu Vellar” community is politically strong. They had always aligned with the AIADMK since the party was founded by the late
M.G. Ramachandran in 1972. This time they are likely to support the BJP-AIADMK front. However, despite these caste factors, which are extremely important in a caste ridden anti-Brahmin electorate in Tamil Nadu, a lot would depend on the kind of imaginative campaigns the political parties would resort to. The BJP is trying to rake in the feel-good factor to overcome Ms Jayalalithaa’s “anti-incumbency” factor. It might also highlight the foreign origin issue of Ms Sonia Gandhi, which might cut ice with the upper class, but will have no sway over the general electorate because it is a non-issue in Tamil Nadu. In the end it is basically a battle between Ms Jayalalithaa and Mr
Karunanidhi, and neither Mr Vajpayee nor Ms Sonia Gandhi figure in it.
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Friends turn foes in battle of
ballot
Lucknow: Mr Sachidanand Shakshi once claimed himself to be a “spokesman” for Mr Kalyan Singh. Six years ago when Mr Kalyan Singh was shown the door by the BJP leadership, Mr Shakshi poured vitriol over the BJP leadership for “forcing Mr Kalyan Singh to leave the party.” When Mr Kalyan Singh returned to the BJP-fold, Mr Shakshi followed suit and joined the BJP. There were rumours that Mr Shakshi would be the BJP’s candidate from Farukhabad, the constituency from where he had won twice.
Mr Kalyan’s spokesman turned into a Kalyan critic once Mr Shakshi was denied the ticket. “Mr Kalyan Singh used me as a doormat … and has ignored me after taking full use of my potential,” Mr Shakshi told reporters recently. He announced that he would contest from Farukhabad as an Independent candidate with an aim to teach the “BJP a lesson.” This is not an isolated case. After the declaration of the first list of candidates, dissidence in the BJP, said to be a disciplined party, has come to the fore. A BJP Mayor, along with some corporators, resigned in Varanasi in protest against the candidature of Mr Shankar Prasad Jaiswal, a four-time MP from Varanasi. A section of the BJP wanted that senior party leader Kalraj Mishra should contest from the temple town of Varanasi. Another senior party leader from Bahraich, Mr Bhagat Ram Mishra, resigned from the party alleging that dedicated party leaders were ignored by the party leadership. Former MP Prakash Narain Tripathi, who had recently joined the BJP, too decided to quit the party after he was denied the ticket from Banda. “I was assured the party ticket before I joined the BJP,” he told reporters in Lucknow. Mr Tripathi has also decided to contest the Lok Sabha elections as an Independent candidate so that he can teach the “saffron party” a lesson. Former Chemical and Fertiliser Minister Chattrapal, a sitting MP from Bulandshahar, resigned from the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Cabinet after he was denied the party ticket. Mr Kalyan Singh will contest from Bulandshahar. Though Dr Chattrapal had claimed that he would support the BJP candidate, no one is taking his words seriously. Party workers have started questioning the criteria for the selection of candidates. State BJP chief Vinay Katiyar is the party candidate from Lakhimpur Khiri, where he is considered an outsider. Similarly, Dr Veena Pandey, the BJP candidate from Sultanpur, is on outsider as she belongs to Varanasi. Rattled by the developments, Leader of Opposition Lalji Tandon has toured Farukhabad, Varanasi and Lakhimpur Khiri to pacify party workers. “In a democratic party like the BJP, every worker has the right to voice his views. If anyone has objections regarding the selection of candidates, he is free to air his grievances,” Mr Tandon said while trying to push the growing dissidence under the carpet. “It’s natural. There is nothing new in it. It happens in all parties during the ticket distribution. We can’t satisfy all ticket-seekers. This anger is momentary and I hope they will work unitedly to strengthen the hands of Mr Vajpayee,” Mr Tandon said. |
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Sanjay Dutt under pressure not to canvass for
father
Mumbai, March 23 Angry Congress leaders say that Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray is using
his relationship with the star to prevent him from working for his father if not actually campaign for Nirupam. Sanjay Dutt is indebted to the Thackeray family for their support during his arrest and imprisonment under TADA for his alleged role in the serial bomb blasts that rocked Mumbai in 1993. The Thackerays actively campaigned for Sanjay Dutt which resulted in him being released on bail. Since then, Sanjay Dutt has been a regular visitor to the Thackeray household and has been photographed performing religious rituals with members of the family. While Sunil Dutt is the sitting MP from Mumbai (North-West), Nirupam is trying to wrest the seat for the Shiv Sena. Congress sources allege that the Shiv Sena is using the ongoing blasts case as a lever against Sanjay Dutt to prevent him from campaigning for his father. |
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Lucknow, March 23 Almost 22 years ago a river had changed course, creating an island of five villages in Mohanlalganj, which comes in Lucknow district, But it
constitutes a separate parliamentary constituency. The Election Commission had recently announced its decision to ‘rationalise’ its booths for the general election. Under the new scheme, the strength of voters had been increased from the present 1,200 to 1,500 per booth. After the reorganisation, the number of booths in UP has come down from 1.20 lakh to 1.02 lakh. After nature played traunt with people of villages, including Pegumpur, Rasoolpur and Jagarpur, several politicians promised them a bridge. “But none has fulfilled the promise though several elections have passed,” said Nurul. The island of 1,500 person though have learnt to live with their peculiar problem, they find it difficult to manage routine affairs. They barter 20 kg of grain for a boat ride to Gosainganj during the monsoon. A ‘kutcha’ road also helps them reach for hospitals and other services. While the road is around 14 km long, the distance was a mere 4 km before the river changed course 22 years ago. Locals claim that due to this peculiar problem, “outsiders” refuse to give their daughters to “deserving” bachelors. — UNI |
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George for foreign origin issue in manifesto
New Delhi, March 23 “I think it is a mistake that it was held back. We will include this issue in our manifesto this time”, he said at a function held here to mark the birth anniversary of socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia. “It is not a question of one person. If high constitutional posts can be occupied by people of foreign origin, then any person can be paid by outside power to take up such posts”, Mr Fernandes said. |
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Geeta to challenge Bhupinder Hooda in
Rohtak
Chandigarh, March 23 In a press statement issued here, Ms Grewal claimed that two political parties had already approached her for contesting the election from Rohtak as their nominee. Ms Grewal said that she would not like to identify the parties at this juncture. Ms Grewal said that by challenging Mr Hooda at the hustings, she would expose the Hooda family and tell how they treated her for dowry after she got married to Mr Hooda’s son, Deepender. The statement added that while womenfolk throughout the country looked up to Ms Sonia Gandhi as their saviour, the Congress president was showing double standards in her action and her stated principles as far as the Hooda affair was concerned. Ms Gandhi should expel Mr Hooda from the Congress, Ms Grewal said. Ms Grewal said that though arrest warrants against her estranged husband had already been issued, Mr Hooda was not ready to hand him over to the Panchkula police. The police must contact the Interpol and the US Embassy to arrest Mr Deepender, the statement said. |
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‘Expedite’ proxy voting
process
New Delhi, March 23 Noting that the force wanted to maximise voting by service personnel in the Lok Sabha polls, Additional Director- General (PS) Maj-Gen P.D. Samanta said the Army had taken a number of steps to educate the troops about the facility which they can avail on an all-India basis for the first time since the law came into effect since September 22 last year. Proxy voting is a dream project of Defence Minister George Fernandes and an attempt was also made in the last round of assembly elections to ensure its success. However, it was not a success and just eight votes were cast in Delhi. General Samanta told reporters here that since a large number of women were serving in the Army, “spouse” instead of wife should be brought within the definition of service voter. Dependents, residing with service personnel, should be allowed to be registered as service voters like spouse. The force also wants a waive-off on fees charged by notary for authenticating signatures of proxy. The Army has also sought speeding up of movement of postal ballots so that votes reach service electorate in time for fast response and validity, the General Samanta said. He said the force had taken up these issues with the Election Commission and officials at Army Headquarters are in constant touch with the electoral body in this regard to ensure proper exercise of voting rights by the service voters. |
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EC notices to 3 Karnataka ministers
New Delhi, March 23 The show cause notices have been served on Mr Ramalinga Reddy, Urban Development Minister, B.K. Chandrasekhar, Minister for Primary Education, and Mr B.S. Patel, Special Representative to the Karnataka Government, EC spokesman A.N. Jha told reporters here today. The commission had asked the state Chief Secretary to explain as to why the model code of conduct was not followed by the three ministers, Mr Jha said adding that a reply had been sought within two to three days. The ministers had made some announcements to the media on various types of promises to the people like providing drinking water facility which is not permitted under the model code of conduct. |
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FACE
TO FACE
AFTER humbling a BJP stalwart,
the late Krishan Lal Sharma, in the last parliamentary elections from
Chandigarh, Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal of the Congress is now set to meet his old
rival, Mr Satya Pal Jain, who has once again been fielded by the BJP to contest
from City Beautiful. Mr Bansal has thrice crossed
sword with Mr Jain on the electoral battlefield in the past.
A
newspaper hawker, who
became an MP eight years ago, is set to try his luck once again at the hustings
in Chandigarh. Mr Satya Pal Jain (52), a member of the National Executive of the
BJP, who has again been fielded as the party nominee for the Chandigarh
parliamentary seat, makes no secret of his humble beginning as a footpath worker
from the nearby township of Kharar.
