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Mandi: Congress yet to name candidate
It will be NDA vs RJD-led alliance in Bihar Muslim vote up for grabs in UP Bhujbal on comeback trail TN campaign lacks ‘stars’ SP not to field candidate against Sunil Dutt BJP in a spot over Solapur seat CPI issues final list 4 Bihar ex-CMs race for LS berth
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Opening Hussainiwala border for trade his aim
KNOWN as “ dependable and reliable friend forever” in the Ferozepore parliamentary constituency and in political circles too, personal loyalty to SAD supremo Parkash Singh Badal and performance in the past about six years as sitting Member Parliament (MP) from this seat, has earned third time nomination to Mr Zora Singh Mann as SAD-BJP alliance candidate for the coming Lok Sabha elections. A simple farmer-turned politician, Mr Mann, who is matriculate, has been making efforts to make a hat-trick this time. So for, he has been facing Mr Mohan Singh Phallianwala, a BSP candidate, who entered into parliament after being elected from this seat in 1991 and 1996. He is also a member of Shiromani Gurdwara Barbandhak Committee (SGPC). Born in Chak Suhelewala village of this district, elections are not a new thing for Mr Mann as apart from two Lok Sabha elections, he has fought election to village sarpanch many times. He remained sarpanch of his village from 1972 to 1998 and after that his son Vardev Singh Mann became Sarpanch of the same village. Mr Mann was one of the two SAD (B) candidates, who managed to win in the last Lok Sabha elections in 1999 while all other SAD (B) candidates were defeated. “My main aim is to get Hussainiwala border, that falls in Ferozepore, opened for trade and cultural exchange between India and Pakistan. It will benefit both countries and generate employment opportunities on both sides of the border. I have done the groundwork for it. The Chief Minister of Pakistani Punjab has also been making efforts for same. The moment the BJP-led NDA government is established at the Centre, the Hussainiwala will be opened for public within no time,” he claimed. His other
priorities included overall development of border areas by providing roads, civil amenities and educational facilities in a big way. Mr Mann, who has distributed about Rs 14.60 crore from his MP land scheme funds among people of rural and urban areas for various development projects, has taken an advantage in the campaign from his
opponents as he has covered the entire constituency once and now making second tour to the area. Having personal rapport with the people at the grassroots level and significant connection among the traders, employees, industrialists and workers, Mr Mann has been reaching out to maximum number of people with ease. “I am seeking vote on may performance in the past six years. The people of area know one thing that what I promise, I always fulfil it. The initiation of civil work on the Abohar-Fazilka rail link is one of my biggest achievements” said Mr Mann and added that residents of Ferozepore district were fed up with the atrocities committed on them by the ruling politicians in the past two years. |
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Social change his main election plank BELONGING to a down-trodden section of society, Mr Mohan Singh Phillianwala has been nominated for the coming Lok Sabha elections for the sixth time by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) from this border parliamentary constituency inhabited by people belonging to all types of castes. Mr Phillianwala, who was elected Member of Parliament (MP) from this seat in 1991 and 1996, unsuccessfully contested against SAD-BJP alliance candidate, Mr Zora Singh Mann in 1998 and 1999. Both Mr Phillianwala and Mr Mann have been facing each other for the third time in a row. A founder member of the BSP, Mr Phillianwala is now contesting his sixth Lok Sabha election on the BSP ticket. He had headed the party for years together in Punjab. Born in Phillianwala village, situated on the Muktsar-Jalalabad road, Mr Phillianwala, who has done giani degree in Punjabi, has seen problems and people from a close range and for him the elections are now a routine affair. After working for have-nots of society for years together, Mr Phillianwala has not been finding it difficult to reach out to the people with ease despite the fact that he started his campaign about two weeks ago and has been covering 10 villages daily. His supporters have
been approaching the electorate by covering village to village and town to town on bicycles in groups. “My main aim is to bring a social change to make a society of equals. Apart from it, I am working hard for the economic liberty of the people. I have given grants to a number of rural schools to remove educational backwardness that is prevalent in the area and dharamshalas. During my two stints as MP, I also got a number of bridges constructed over canals and rainy drains in the area to make travelling easy. If elected again, I will try to bring more industries to the area to generate employment for the youth,” said Mr Phillianwala. He said he had been fighting for those, who had been suffering due to indifferent attitude of successive governments of Punjab and the Centre. He would work for the overall development of the border areas by taking along all sections of society as per the policy of the party, he added. He said he had been holding the village and town level meetings so that he could send his message to the people effectively. Party’s national leader, Ms Mayawati would also address one or two rallies in the coming days, he added. He said funds for elections was not a problem for him as he would spend the amount, which would be contributed by his voters and supporters. He said his voters and supporters were also taking care of his election campaign. |
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Mandi: Congress yet to name candidate Shimla, March 30 Although Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, has been extensively touring the constituency, the party’s campaign has been hampered because of the non-finalisation of the candidate. The state election committee and the high command had cleared the name of Mr Kaul Singh, Irrigation and Public Health Minister, but he has been reluctant to enter the fray. In fact, he has been publicly stating that Rani Pratibha Singh, wife of Mr Virbhadra Singh, is a stronger candidate. Rani Pratibha Singh, had not applied for the party ticket. Mr Virbhadra Singh had time and again stated that she was not in the race and maintained that she would give a serious thought to entering the electoral arena if the high command asked her to contest. As both Mr Kaul Singh and Mrs Pratibha Singh have been accompanying the Chief Minister during his visits to the constituency and addressing public meetings confusion prevails among partymen. Incidentally, the Mandi seat has been mostly held by the rulers of erstwhile state since 1952.Rajkumari Amrit Kaur was the first to represent the seat in Parliament, winning the 1952 elections. Subsequently, Raja Lalit Sen and Raja Virbhadra Singh held the seat for consecutive terms. Mr Ganga Singh was the first commoner to win the seat riding the Janata wave in 1977. Mr Virbhadra Singh again wrested the seat in 1980. Mr Sukh Ram successfully contested from Mandi in 1984 after taking over as the Chief Minister of the state. Royalty triumphed once again as Mr Maheshwar Singh, who also hails from an erstwhile ruling family, won the seat in 1989. Since then both have won the seat twice. While Mr Sukh Ram was successful in 1991 and 1996,Mr Maheshwar Singh emerged victorious in 1998 and 1999. Mrs Pratibha Singh is considered a strong candidate as Mr Virbhadra Singh himself held the seat four times. She lost in 1998 as Mr Sukh Ram joined hands with the BJP to ensure the victory of Mr Maheshwar Singh. This time the situation is different as a Congress Government is already in place in the state which will work to her advantage. However, the matter of concern to the party is that Mr Sukh Ram has announced his intention to contest the seat. His presence in the electoral arena could cause a few problems for the Congress. The BJP has already chalked out its strategy to take on Mrs Pratibha Singh in the electoral arena. Its workers have spread a word that the candidate should be either from Mandi or Kulu districts which together account for 13 out of the total 17 Assembly segments. Rani Pratibha Singh is from Shimla district only one segment of which falls in the constituency. The Congress maintains that such a ploy would not work simply because Mr Virbhadra Singh had been winning the seat and there was nothing which stopped his wife from doing so. |
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It will be NDA vs RJD-led alliance in Bihar
Patna, March 30 Ending several weeks of uncertainty, the secular alliance came into being on Saturday with the RJD deciding to contest 26 seats, the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) of Ramvilas Paswan (eight), the Congress (four) and the CPM and the Nationalist Congress Party one each. The NDA, which had reaped a rich electoral harvest winning 30 of the 40 LS seats in residual Bihar in the 1999 elections, is going to the hustings bereft of support from Mr Paswan, a force to reckon with in the caste-ridden electoral politics of the state. In the last elections, 26 seats saw a straight contest between the NDA candidates and those of the RJD-led alliance with the NDA bagging 21 and the RJD and its partners left with only five in their kitty. While the RJD got three, its allies — the Congress and the CPM secured one each. Purnea was the only other seat to have had a straight contest from where Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, emerged victorious defeating the BJP. Mr Yadav recently joined the LJP. After bitter haggling over the number of seats, the BJP and the JD(U), the two constituents of the NDA in Bihar, claimed to have amicably settled for contesting the poll in which the former would field candidates for 16 seats and the latter for 24. Though BJP General Secretary Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi sought to downplay the resentment in the party’s rank and file at Muzaffarpur following JD(U) President and NDA Convener George Fernandes’ decision to shift there from Nalanda, nearly 50 of the district executive members resigned last Saturday in protest. Despite the top leadership claiming to have quelled the simmering discontent in time, none can be sure it would not recur, a BJP insider said.
— PTI |
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Muslim vote up for grabs in UP THE Muslim vote in UP is up for grabs. Self-styled leaders have sprung up for short-changing the interests of the community for personal profit. If the Muslims, who constitute 20 per cent of the electorate in UP, could be made to exercise their franchise judiciously, no party or leader would take them for granted or use them as electoral putty. It is not difficult to understand why every party wants the Muslim vote. And wants to divide it if it looks like going to the rivals. The Dalit factor is now more or less settled in favour of Ms Mayawati and the Bahujan Samaj Party; the other backward castes are firmly with Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav and the Samajwadi Party; the bulk of the upper caste voters have a soft corner for the saffron party; and the Congress relies heavily on the dwindling support of a strange mix of caste and religious denominations who are with it as a matter of habit. For the Muslims to float their own party would be suicidal. So they have no choice but to identify with either of the four key players in the arena. Deep down Muslim representatives would want the right to reject all of them. However, since the present system allows only people the right to vote, they have to make the most of a bad deal. Tokenism is the name of the political manipulation of Muslim voters in UP. The BJP now has Mr Arif Mohammad Khan and Mr Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi as its Muslim face. The saffron party may not be aware that it has managed to accommodate the two main sects of the Muslim community by making the ever-shifting Khan to join its ranks. Mr Naqvi represents the Shia face of the community; and Mr Arif Khan is a Sunni. To cause further confusion the BJP poll managers have floated Muslim organisations that swear by Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Mr L. K Advani. One such outfit calls itself the All-India United Muslim Morcha. It would organise yatras in UP to plead with the community to give up Babri Masjid and concentrate on issues like unemployment and education. They are raising the same demands that were announced by the Milli Council in Delhi a fortnight ago. Among other things the so-called Muslim organisations want job reservation for Muslims and all other benefits that are available to the Dalits and the OBC under the social justice package. The BSP has given the ticket to 17 Muslim candidates. However, the Muslim intelligentsia is unhappy with Ms Mayawati for having made a habit of becoming Chief Minister with the support of the BJP. Incidentally, Mr Arif Khan’s secular conscience was shaken the last time Behanji became the Chief Minister with BJP support. He left the BSP and returned “home” to the Congress, although he is a product of the post-Emergency coming together of disparate outfits under the banner of the Janata Party. The honeymoon between the Muslims and Mr Mulayam Singh too has gone cold. The Yadav leader sees himself playing a bigger role in national politics. The tag of Maulana Mulayam is proving to be an impediment. The desperate gestures that he made by announcing a half-day holiday in schools on Fridays boomeranged on him. The Muslim leaders rejected the Friday “chhutti” as a stupid act that would be used as proof of the secular parties’ policy of Muslim appeasement. The Muslim Personal Law Board and the Majlis-e-Mushawwarat, recognised as genuine organisations, have thus far not shown their hand. There is talk in certain circles of identifying the political priorities of the community. This process of identification has made the community leaders zero in on the need to stop the saffron party from returning to power. They believe that if the Muslims of UP vote wisely this objective can be achieved. Since the resources at the disposal of the members of the Muslim community are limited, the leadership is willing to use it for backing the “common-secular candidate” against Mr Vajpayee in Lucknow, the heart of Muslim Avadh. But it is for the other non-saffron parties to implement this strategy. The Muslims can only back it, not make it happen. |
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Bhujbal on comeback trail Mumbai, March 30 Bhujbal is quietly mobilising the Mali community he belongs to against Maharashtra Chief Minister Narayan Rane of the Shiv Sena and Deputy Chief Minister Gopinath Munde (BJP), saying that their links with Telgi were covered up by investigators with an ulterior motive. Already posters carrying pictures, purported to be of top Shiv Sena and BJP leaders with Telgi, have appeared in different areas of Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra. However, nobody has claimed responsibility for putting up these posters. Bhujbal and his nephew Sameer, who were questioned by investigators from the Special Investigating Team, have earned a breather after the Supreme Court handed over the probe in all major cases pertaining to the fake stamp paper racket to the CBI. Sources here say the CBI will require several weeks to take off from where the SIT left off, by which time the Lok Sabha elections may be over. Bhujbal is making the most of the interval to mount a high-pitched campaign to win back his supporters. He began the first of several rallies in the Mali-dominated constituencies of Maharashtra like Parbhani in Marathwada district where he hit out at the Shiv Sena and the BJP. In his rallies Bhujbal has dragged in at least two unnamed union minister, who, he says, are involved with Telgi. The former Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister made it clear that he had nothing against NCP President Sharad Pawar, who is widely seen to be behind the move to install Mr Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil in place of Bhujbal. Bhujbal made it clear that he was not joining any other political party nor was he starting his own. In fact, Pawar himself put in an appearance at Bhujbal’s rally in Parbhani last week creating an impression of unity in the secular alliance. On his part, Pawar cannot afford to antagonise Bhujbal because of the considerable clout he weilds among the other backward castes in Maharashtra. |
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Chennai, March 30 The South, especially Tamil Nadu, which has promoted the cult of turning tinsel world heroes to political stalwarts, remains “starless” by and large on the eve of the Lok Sabha poll this time. Thus, while a clutch of Hindi cinema’s one-time and present-day bigwigs lend sparkle to the line-up of the BJP and Congress bandwagon, neither of the two bitter major foes in Tamil Nadu — DMK and AIADMK — have a really big star to boast of at the hustings. It’s still just AIADMK supremo and Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, herself a yesteryear heroine of Tamil and Telugu cinema, along with main opponent DMK supremo M. Karunanidhi, himself a script, dialogue and lyric writer, who are trying to woo voters with their own pithy dialogues. While the BJP in Tamil Nadu will have only Tamil comedian S.V. Sekhar and Telugu super-heroine Vijayshanthi, the DMK has in the fray just its Rajya Sabha MP “supreme hero” Sarath Kumar and another screen villain Napolean, MLA. It is not known whether another actress Radhika, who has been a regular campaigner for the DMK — be it General or Assembly elections — will be on the campaign trail this time. However, by approaching the voter in a strongly-worked out alliance reflecting the caste spectrum across the state, the DMK is not paying much importance to the presence of stars in the heat and dust of electioneering. Gone are the days in the Deccan when stars lured the people for election meetings, says a senior partyman, also a functionary, discounting the importance of cine actors in the political arena. The AIADMK also does not have any big glamour stars this time, barring the ones like its MP S.S. Chandran, a comedian, and Radha Ravi, who shifted allegiance to the party from the DMK to win the 2001 Assembly elections. He is the son of legendary Tamil actor M.R. Radha, also known for making an attempt on MGR’s life in the 1970s. Only a few relatively lesser-known stars are to campaign for it. It was Tamil Nadu that offered an alternative pasture — politics — to film stars to capture the people’s hearts. As it is common knowledge now, some of the political stalwarts ruling the roost in politics, be it Jayalalithaa or Karunanidhi, were all from the tinsel world. Ms Jayalalithaa was the heroine of yesteryear before her screen hero-turned-political mentor M.G. Ramachandran introduced her to the world of politics. Mr Karunanidhi, who forced MGR to turn into a full-time politician — starting the AIADMK by expelling him from the DMK in the late 1970s — was a celebrated script, dialogue and lyrics writer in Tamil filmdom. Then, there was another matinee idol and MGR’s rival in the film industry, the late Sivaji Ganesan, who also plunged into politics, albeit with limited success. Adding credence to the argument that this General Election in Tamil Nadu would be “Starless”, is the fact that the BJP is making efforts to woo “superstar” Rajnikant to campaign for it. Senior BJP leaders like all-India general secretary L. Ganesan are cautious about admitting this, saying that he does not wish to say anything which Rajnikant may not like. The ace actor himself had telephonically congratulated a BJP candidate for North Chennai, Sukumaran Nambiar, who is son of well-known Tamil screen villain of yesteryear M.N. Nambiar. However, Rajnikant’s fan club has announced that the followers of the superstar would support BJP-AIADMK candidates in six constituencies where the PMK, the DMK ally, is contesting. This is in the wake of PMK leader S. Ramadoss’ criticism of Rajnikant, whose films, he claimed, left “a bad influence on the youth.” The stars in Tamil Nadu, it seems, won’t be playing a major role in the elections this time, it appears.
— UNI |
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SP not to field candidate against Sunil Dutt Mumbai, March 30 The Uttar Pradesh-based party, which has a major influence among Mumbai’s Muslims, has decided not to field a candidate against Mr Dutt thereby causing a straight fight between the secular parties and the Shiv Sena’s candidate, Mr Sanjay Nirupam. The Shiv Sena has now alleged that the SP was acting on behalf of the Sahara group of companies. Mr Nirupam had raised a number of uncomfortable questions about the NDA government’s disinvestment of the Airport Centaur Hotel at Santa Cruz in suburban Mumbai. Batra Hospitality, the company which won the bid, subsequently sold the property to the Sahara group at a neat profit. Mr Nirupam had raised the matter in parliament calling for a probe and alleged that the exchequer had lost money in the deal. According to sources here, the Shiv Sena is likely to turn SP’s support for Sunil Dutt into a campaign issue However, Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh denied that his party was supporting the Sahara group. “The Sahara group has nothing to do with my politics,” Mr Amar Singh said. Mr Amar Singh further added that the SP was impressed with Sunil Dutt’s commitment to secularism and loyalty to the Congress even though his son, Sanjay Dutt, was sent to jail during its tenure. The contest for the Mumbai North-West seat has turned prestigious after the Shiv Sena decided to field Mr Nirupam, its Rajya Sabha MP and Editor of its mouthpiece, Dopahar ka Saamna against Dutt. Sanjay Dutt’s decision not to campaign for his father in the election came shortly after Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray made a public appeal to this effect. Sanjay Dutt, who was arrested under TADA for his alleged role in the serial bomb blasts that rocked Mumbai in March 1993, was released on bail following a sustained campaign by the Shiv
Sena. |
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BJP in a spot over Solapur seat Mumbai, March 30 The party’s sitting MP from Solapur, Mr Pratapsinh Mohite-Patil is unlikely to contest the elections with the nomination of Mrs Shinde. Mr Pratapshinh’s brother, Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil, of the Nationalist Congress Party is Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister. The BJP has been trying
unsuccessfully to get Mr Pratapsinh to contest the elections from Solapur. Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani, who began his Bharat Uday Yatra earlier this month, met with Mr Pratapsinh, but to no avail, say sources. Solapur was considered Sushilkumar Shinde’s pocketborough till he had to quit on becoming Chief Minister of Maharashtra last year. However, the Congress candidate, Mr Anandrao Devkate, lost to Mr Pratapsinh who broke away from the NCP to contest on the BJP ticket. Observers felt that Mr Pratapsinh contested on the BJP ticket to put pressure on Mr Shinde and Mr Pawar to induct his brother Mr Vijaysinh as Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister. Mr Vijaysinh got his chance when incumbent Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal had to quit in the wake of the Telgi scam. |
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CPI issues final list New Delhi, March 30 The CPI has already announced the names of candidates for 30 Lok Sabha seats in Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Jharkhand, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. The party has decided to field its state Secretary and former MP, S. Sudhakar Reddy from Nalagonda in Andhra Pradesh. Ram Chandra Mahato has emerged as the party’s choice of candidate for the Samastipur seat in Bihar. In Maharashtra, the party has announced the names of Isa Khan and Dr Gunjal for the Hingoli and Nasik seats, respectively. In Madhya Pradesh, the CPI has announced the name of Anil Tiwari for the Damoh seat. Sources in the party said the names of candidates for five Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh would be announced soon. Sources said the party was holding talks with the Congress to work out a seat-sharing arrangement in Andhra. |
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4 Bihar ex-CMs race for LS berth
Patna, March 30 Former Chief Minister Ram Sundar Das would try his luck on the Samajwadi Janata Party ticket from Hajipur against Lok Janashakti Party (LJP) president Ram Vilas Paswan among others. Another former Chief Minister, Dr Jagannath Mishra, is seeking the mandate from Jhanjharpur constituency where the RJD has fielded Debendra Prasad Yadav.
— UNI |
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