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Voice for Jammu’s statehood
becomes louder
Jammu: Cong prestige at stake Graphic: Amethi:
Past
electoral performance Remove Sibal, Bitta asks Sonia Stage set for mother of all battles in Bhiwani We don’t need actors for campaign, says Chautala Rebellion bane of Rajasthan Cong They switch loyalties for greener pastures Cong wants DC, SSP transferred Political turncoats have field day in Bihar ‘Akha Teej’ eclipses
election fever Rajnikant fans send shivers down PMK spine
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Voice for Jammu’s statehood becomes louder
Jammu, April 5 The feeling of disenchantment has become more pronounced with elections nearing and small organisations like the Jammu State Morcha (JSM) and others holding roadside meetings in support of their demand. The people of this ‘city of temples’ claim that the centre has “Kashmir-centric” policies and that their demands and interests have been overlooked. “The interests and concerns of Jammu have always been ignored. The reason for this is the policy
that favours Kashmir and neglects Jammu,” feels Anjali Malhotra, a senior citizen who was born and brought up here. People here feel that Jammu has to suffer on two aspects. First is tourism. The rush for Mata Vaishnodevi, sees a serious dip if there is an incident in Kashmir. Secondly, the government continues with its special packages which are Kashmir-centric in nature. “Jammu has never sheltered or sympathised with militancy or gun culture. This has been a peaceful region all through,” says Abhinav Rai, a sociology graduate. Business prospects in Jammu have to bear the brunt as and when normalcy gets disrupted in the valley. Santosh Khosla, a businessman feels, “The tourism graph in Jammu registers a steep fall whenever guns scream in Kashmir. This coupled with the lack of an investor-friendly climate yields low earnings for Jammuites.” “The business community in Jammu tries to observe strikes and bandhs on working days and we avoid closing business centres and shops on Sundays or public holidays. That way we try to minimise the losses. But, the dark shadow that the militancy-infested Kashmir casts over our tourism industry is beyond our control,” he says. Amidst this tough talking, some moderate voices, though few in number, can also be heard. Senior IAS officer Ram Nayak Singh says that the state is one and shall remain one. The political noise is also against any such proposal. “Diversity, be it cultural or religious, is our asset and it must be preserved. If we accede to the demand of separatism then we are playing into the hands of those who want to dismember the Indian federation,” says M Y Tarigami, CPM leader and member of the coalition government in state. The state Assembly adopted a resolution moved by Tarigami recently, whereby the MLAs have voted that the state could remain one. Tarigami, however, says that he is aware about the feelings of discrimination against Jammu. “I have moved a proposal in the assembly for maximum autonomy for the Jammu region while staying within the framework of state autonomy. Lets work towards achieving greater say for the people while staying within the framework of one state,” he says. “We are aware that Jammuites nurture a feeling of injustice and discrimination meted out by the Kashmiri leadership. Such grievances must be addressed and we must seek a way to unify and not further mutilate the country,” Tarigami adds. Other political parties, including the National Conference and ruling Peoples’ Democratric Party (PDP), also oppose any division of the state on regional lines while the mainstream national parties like the Congress and BJP have preferred to maintain a taciturn policy towards the issue. The BJP though has provided a covert support to the Jammu State Morcha as the party has virtually no political stakes in the Kashmir valley. The coming elections would only be yet another indicator as to how much support was there for a separate Jammu state.
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Jammu: Cong prestige at stake Jammu, April 5 The opposition BJP and the National Conference (NC) are leaving no stone unturned to win the seat. Both parties are in the fray from this seat. The Congress which bagged eight of the 13 segments in Jammu district in the Assembly elections 17 months ago, was now facing an uphill task here although all local party MLAs have been made ministers. Mr Mangat Ram Sharma, who represents the Western constituency of the city, is Deputy Chief Minister and Mr Tara Chand, who also won from the district, is Speaker of the Assembly. Dr Farooq Abdullah launched the poll campaign of the party today in a whirlwind tour of the border districts of Rajouri and Poonch. Both these districts, which are a part of the Jammu lok sabha seat, are considered as a bastion of the NC. The Congress has only one of the four Assembly seats in Rajouri district, while the NC swept all three seats in Poonch. Muslim-dominated Rajouri and Poonch are the weakest points of the BJP that does not hold even a single Assembly seat in these two districts. The BJP polled only 4.92 per cent votes in the three segments where it fielded its candidates in the assembly elections and 0.62 per cent votes in Poonch district where it contested on two seats. The Congress polled 30.53 per cent votes and won only one seat in Rajouri district while the NC got 35.84 per cent votes with two seats. The Congress campaigners have to do a lot of exercise in the Poonch district where the party polled 31.93 per cent votes in the Assembly elections but could not bag even a single seat whereas the NC secured 48.41 per cent votes to sweep all three seats. The BJP, which claims to have its base in Jammu district, was able to bag only one of the 13 seats in the districts by polling 12.65 per cent votes. The Congress and the NC got 31.26 per cent and 21.63 per cent votes, respectively. Mr Sat Mahajan, AICC observer and a minister of Himachal, was trying to patch up differences among the party’s rank and file. Similarly, state BJP chief Nirmal Singh, who is the party nominee for the Jammu Lok Sabha seat, lost the byelection here three years ago because of opposition by a section of the BJP activists.
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Remove Sibal, Bitta asks Sonia Mandi, April 5 He released a copy of the letter written to Ms Gandhi in which he had demanded the removal of Mr Kapil Sibal as Congress spokesman for defending terrorists. He also took exception to the joining of Mr Ram Jethmalani into the Congress. It was amusing, he said, that film stars were joining politics. He described the dialogue on Kashmir with Pakistan as futile because Kashmir was no issue. It was an integral part of India and the question of handing over any part of it to Pakistan did not arise, he asserted. Mr Bitta said the issues to be taken up with the Pakistan Government were the returning of the prisoners of war and demolition of terrorists training camps. He regretted that the present Congress leadership was ignoring old and experienced leaders like P.V. Narasimha Rao.
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Stage set for mother of all battles in Bhiwani Bhiwani, April 5 Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala’s elder son Ajay Singh is seeking a re-election from this seat on the Indian National Lok Dal ticket. Haryana Vikas Party supremo Bansi Lal’s son Surinder Singh is keen to avenge his 1999 defeat. The Congress, after a lot of dilly-dallying, has fielded Haryana Congress chief Bhajan Lal’s younger son Kuldeep Singh Bishnoi in the hope that this time he will successfully storm this erstwhile party citadel. Although the Bharatiya Janata Party has yet to announce its nominee for this seat, the presence of the three prodigals in the fray has ensured that the contest will be one of the keenest in the country. This constituency was for a long time a
pocket borough of Mr Bansi Lal and through him the Congress. But after he parted ways with the Congress and floated his own party, Mr Bansi Lal’s son dominated the scene, winning this seat both in 1996 and 1998. In 1996, he won with a record margin of 2.20 lakh votes. He won this seat two years later, defeating Mr Ajay Singh, but this time the margin was reduced to just 9,000 votes. In 1999, Mr Ajay Singh avenged his defeat and won by a huge margin, relegating Mr Surinder Singh to the third position. Mr Dharamvir of the Congress came a poor second that year. An interesting feature of the constituency is that Mr Bhajan Lal’s Assembly segment of Adampur is part of this Lok Sabha seat. Whenever Mr Ajay Singh contested this seat against Mr Surinder Singh, Adampur somehow backed the former, giving rise to speculation of under-the-table political deals between Mr Om Prakash Chautala and Mr Bhajan Lal. However, now that Mr Kuldeep Singh Bishnoi himself is in the fray, Mr Ajay Singh will miss the support he derived from Adampur. The presence of Mr Kuldeep Singh has added another dimension to the contest. Both Mr Surinder Singh and Mr Ajay Singh are Jats while Mr Kuldeep Singh is a Bishnoi — a non-Jat minority community. With no major political issues figuring in the poll and negative sentiment dominating the scene, the presence of Mr Bishnoi can divide the electorate on caste lines, making the contest even keener. Both the Jat stalwarts will have to ensure that there is no polarisation on caste lines since that could spell trouble for both of them. While the Jats are the single largest community in the constituency accounting for about 33 per cent of the voters, the non-Jat communities put together are almost double this figure. The contest will thus test the nerves and political acumen of not only the progeny, but also their fathers. The Congress is upbeat after Mr Bishnoi’s nomination, hoping to cash in on this factor. Both his opponents have their own USPs too. Bhiwani is known for backing those in power. This gives much solace to Mr Ajay Singh’s supporters. But much depends on how the election progresses and what impression the INLD is able to create in the rest of the state over the next few weeks. So far as Mr Surinder Singh is concerned, he is the powerful local with deep roots in the entire constituency. This will stand him in good stead.
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We don’t need actors for campaign, says Chautala YamunanNagar, April 5 The INLD supremo further said his party did not need the help of actors as his party workers were fully equipped to campaign. He stated that his party would contest elections only in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. He further said election surveys were sponsored programmes and had no validity. They only give a false picture to the voters. He said no third front would be formed after the elections. He added that like-minded regional parties would play an important role in the formation of the government. Mr Chautala said in the last elections the BJP were given five Parliament seats and 29 Assembly seats. He said of the 29 the latter had won six only. The rally was addressed by Mr Sher Singh
Barshami, state unit president, INLD, Mr Ashok Arora, Transport Minister, Mr Rajesh Sharma, Deputy Chairman, Planning Board. KURUKSHETRA: Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala on Monday criticised the BJP-led Central Government for the rising prices of several commodities and said the “capitalists were looting the common man”. Mr Chautala, who was addressing an election rally at Mathana village near here, said the Central Government had given a number of incentives to the capitalists in its last budget whereas the economic interests of the farmers, labourers and employees were not safeguarded.
— PTI
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Rebellion bane of Rajasthan Cong Tonk (Rajasthan), April 5 With reports of favouritism reverberating in the Congress office corridors over the distribution of ticket, the local worker is not very happy with the state of affairs. Local leaders are also saying that as evidenced in the assembly elections, the Congress leaders at the Centre were foisting unknown and unwanted candidates on them and ignoring the claims of those who have worked in their constituencies. Local leaders point out that while the Congress leaders from the state sitting in Delhi were not ready to come back to fight elections, they were nominating candidates with very little standing. This has led to at least three senior leaders of the Congress joining the BJP. The biggest name to shift camp on Friday last was Dwarka Prasad Berwa, who is not only a former Member of Parliament but was also the president of the Congress in Tonk district. The importance of Mr Berwa for the BJP can be gauged from the fact that none else than Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje welcomed the Congress rebel into the BJP fold. Although he would not be the BJP candidate from any constituency, his presence in the party would be a boost for its prospects in Tonk. The Congress overlooked Dwarka Prasad Berwa’s claims in giving the ticket to N. K. Berwa. The BJP candidate from the constituency is Minister of State at the Centre Kailash Meghhwal. In the Pali Parliamentary constituency as well, the rebellion within the Congress just does not seem to die down. Upset over Surendra Sarana being made the candidate, at least two senior leaders of the party including former legislator Shivdhan Singh Rathore, have resigned from the Congress in Pali. However, Congress leaders disclosed that
efforts were also under way to bring around the rebels who had left the party during the last elections or had been dismissed from party membership due to their anti-party activities. Senior state leaders have already established contact with each and every member of the party who is angry or even those who had turned rebels and fought the last Assembly elections independently. The letters issued for disciplinary action against the rebels have been put in cold storage. At least one former vice-president of the RPCC has been reinstated and two rebels who had triumphed in the Assembly elections taken back into the party fold. However, local leaders insist these small gestures would not be enough for the Congress party to turn round their performance if the party leaders do not overcome their short-sightedness at the earliest.
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They switch loyalties for greener pastures
Mumbai, April 5 Among the major turncoats in Maharashtra was former Union Minister Balasaheb Vikhe-Patil, who deserted the Shiv Sena to join his original party, the Congress and was rewarded with the party ticket for Kopargaon. After much dithering, Mr Vikhe-Patil, who was asked by Sena supremo Bal Thackeray to resign as a Union Minister, joined the Congress. Incidentally, the Sena leadership had inducted the stalwart of the co-operative movement to make inroads into the Congress-NCP-dominated western Maharashtra, where it has little or no base. Not to be outdone by Mr Vikhe-Patil springing surprise ahead of the general election, Mr Thackeray announced that the Sena would be fielding a “mard” (he-man) to take on Mr Vikhe-Patil. And the Sena pitted Mr Bhanudas Murkute, an NCP leader and a known rival of Mr Vikhe-Patil in district politics, immediately after he joined the saffron party. Another major turnocat was Mr Jaisingh Gaikwad, a BJP leader and former Union Minister, who hails from Beed district in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra, which incidentally is the home district of BJP state unit chief Gopinath Munde. Mr Gaikwad, who was sulking after he was stripped off his Union Ministry at the “behest” of BJP leaders Pramod Mahajan and Gopinath Munde, joined the NCP. The NCP immediately fielded him from the Beed Lok Sabha seat while the BJP had to field Mr Prakash Solankhe, the party’s sitting legislator from Majalgaon in Beed district. Another setback to Mr Munde was when his trusted lieutenant and Beed district BJP chief Mr Phulchand Karad, joined the NCP. The BJP, on the other hand, received a shot in the arm when Mr Prithviraj Jachak, a staunch associate of NCP President Sharad Pawar, joined the saffron party. He was rewarded after the party pitted him against the Maratha strongman in the latter’s bastion of Baramati. Earlier, Mr Pasha Patel (NCP), who had polled over one lakh votes from the Latur Lok Sabha constituency in the 1999, had joined the BJP. He was made the saffron’s party’s state unit general secretary and the party plans to utilise his oratorial skills in the run-up to the elections. After Pasha Patel, Mr Shivajirao Patil Kavhekar, who trounced former Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh in the 1995 Assembly elections in Latur constituency, joined the BJP. Former independent MLA Harishchandra Chavan, who joined the BJP was rewarded with the Lok Sabha ticket from the Malegaon reserved constituency. Former Janata Dal (Secular) leader Sambhajirao Pawar, NCP leaders Madhukar Kamble, Prasad Hire, Salim Zakaria, Radhhakrishna Patil, Baburao Adaskar, Prasad Dhakne joined the BJP recently. Referring to the large influx of NCP leaders from the Marathwada and western Maharashtra regions to the BJP, the saffron party’s state unit chief says: “Most of these leaders had joined hands with Mr Pawar after he raised the issue of Congress Presiednt Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origin.” With Maratha strongman changing his stance on the “pivotal issue”, all these leaders are switching to the BJP, which is truely a nationalist party in their view, Mr Munde claims.
— PTI
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Cong wants DC, SSP transferred Rohtak, April 5 The demand comes in the wake of reports of the two officers, directly connected with the election process, allegedly attending a meeting of the ruling INLD party leaders with Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala’s son Abhay Singh here on Thursday night.
— PTI
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Political turncoats have field day in Bihar
Patna, April 5 As the nation watched in bewilderment the summary entry and exit from the BJP of
D.P. Yadav, the notorious liquor baron of Ghaziabad who has several criminal cases pending against him, the party with a difference inducted Anwarul Haq, RJD MP from
Sheohar, facing a number of criminal charges. Haq, whose entry into the BJP was subdued and lacked all the attendant publicity that marked Yadav’s induction, is no small fry in terms of firepower. Haq has been rewarded with the BJP ticket to contest from his old
seat. Sukhdeo paswan, RJD MP from Araria, who quit to join the BJP on the eve of the Lok Sabha poll, has been nominated to contest from his old constituency on the Bihar-West Bengal border having a sizeable Muslim population. Dr Jagannath Mishra, thrice Chief Minister of Bihar, whose political career almost got doomed following his implication in the fodder scam cases along with RJD strongman Laloo Prasad Yadav, saw his time ticking away in Mr Sharad Pawar’s NCP and promptly sent feelers to the BJP and the
JD(U). He was eagerly lapped up by the latter and is contesting from the Jhanjharpur seat. The four-time MP from Jhanjharpur and a former Union Minister, Mr Devendra Prasad Yadav, who fell out with the
JD(U) leadership, is now trying his luck on the RJD ticket against Dr Mishra. Mr Uday Singh, the younger brother of Planning Commission Member N.K. Singh, who unsuccessfully contested from Purnea against controversial member of the dissolved Lok Sabha Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, on the Congress ticket several times, has migrated to the BJP and is once again in the fray. The BJP’s eagerness to have Uday on its side was evident when he was granted party nomination without even joining the party which he did
later. Uday’s mother Madhuri Singh, twice represented the constituency in the Lok Sabha. The maverick Samata Party leader and sitting MP from
Gopalganj, Mr Raghunath Jha, who almost brought the party to the brink of a split over the question of its merger with the
JD(U), is a prize catch for Bihar’s ruling RJD. Mr Jha, a frequent party-hopper, who had won the Gopalganj seat in the 1999 elections on the
JD(U) ticket, has been rewarded for switching sides and is now the RJD’s candidate from
Bettiah. But the RJD too had its share of losses in electoral sweepstakes when the Food and Civil Supplies Minister in the Rabri Devi cabinet, Mr Puranmasi Ram, resigned as minister, legislator and primary member of the party to join Ms Mayawati’s BSP and is now tipped to contest the Bagaha (reserved) seat. Pappu Yadav, the Indian Federal Democratic Party
(IFDP) leader, who had won the Purnea seat as an Independent, recently joined the Lok Janshakti Party of Mr Ramvilas Paswan and was promptly given the LJP ticket. Mr Mobarak Hussain, an old Congress hand who had given BJP’s Nikhil Chaudhary and NCP’s Tariq Anwar a run for their money in the last Lok Sabha poll in
Katihar, is now fighting as the Samajwadi Party candidate from the seat. However, lady luck refused to smile on Jai Narain Prasad
Nishad, thrice MP from Muzaffarpur and a former union minister. Nishad, who had won the last election on the
JD(U) ticket only to join Mr Paswan’s LJP before throwing in his lot with the BJP, is finding himself in the wilderness as
JD(U) President and NDA convener George Fernandes is contesting from Muzaffarpur, a seat he had won four times. Grapevine has it that Nishad would be accommodated in the Rajya Sabha as part of a compromise formula worked out between the two NDA partners — the BJP and
JD(U) — following the Muzaffarpur district BJP unit revolt against Mr Fernandes’ candidature with a large number of its executive members resigning.
— PTI
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‘Akha Teej’ eclipses election fever Ajmer, April 5 It falls on April 22 and for the villagers, it will be this first round when many toddlers would be married. For the moment this is the primary concern of the people and not the Lok Sabha elections or candidates. Although the state administration tries hard to control this age-old tradition still prevalent in this part of Rajasthan, it is unable to do so in the villages. It would be of interest this time, especially as any wrong move could go against the newly elected BJP government in the state. As for the villagers, some are busy selling their crop to get money for the marriage. Some are busy shopping and yet others are busy trying to get their daughters married on this ‘very’ auspicious day. Since the harvest this year has been good due to the good monsoon, the villagers are very happy with the amount of money available to marry off their daughters. What, however, comes as a surprise is that the villagers are not untouched by the progress being made elsewhere in the country. They are busy buying beds of the latest designs, almirahs, TVs and refrigerators from the money they get from selling their crop, to give in dowry. Although there is a law against child marriage, the people here believe that the child marriage ceremony only forges a relationship and the real marriage takes place when the girl becomes an adult and goes to her in-laws’ house after the “Gawna”
ceremony. To be safe from the eyes of the administration the villagers have also gone about inviting people by word of mouth rather than getting marriage cards printed. Printing invitation cards can land them in trouble with the administration.
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Rajnikant fans send shivers down PMK spine
Chennai, April 5 The Rajnikant Fans’ Association has decided to work against PMK nominees to ensure their defeat in all five seats in Tamil Nadu and the lone seat in Pondicherry allotted to it by the Democratic Progressive Alliance. The seeds of fued between PMK and the megastar were sown about two years ago when the PMK founder, Dr S. Ramadoss, had asked his partymen to boycott the Rajnikant starer “Baba” as it allegedly incited violence. He also alleged that the youth took up smoking seeing the actor’s stylish way of doing so in his movies. Following the PMK’s protest against smoking, well-known film producing company AVM announced that its movies would not contain such smoking scenes. The PMK was also against fan clubs for actors as it felt that the energy of youth, who formed the clubs, were diverted to “unproductive purposes”. PMK youth wing volunteers headed by Dr R. Anbumani, son of Dr Ramadoss, were also barred from joining any fan clubs. Due to the PMK protest, “Baba” became a “flop” and Rajnikant even returned the money to the film distributors, who purchased its distribution rights at a fabulous amount. Rajnikant fans were waiting for an opportune moment to strike back and when the Lok Sabha poll was announced, they decided to work against PMK nominees in all six seats allotted to it. The attack allegedly by securitymen of Dr Ramadoss at Madurai on April 2 on Rajnikant’s fans — when they attempted to stage a black flag demonstration against the PMK leader — had only aggravated the issue. Rajnikant’s fans played a major role in bringing the DMK to power during the 1996 Assembly poll in the state. However, the megastar himself remained neutral in the subsequent elections. Rajnikant’s decision to disassociate himself from the Tamil film industry’s protest at Neyveli Lignite Corporation on the Cauvery issue had alienated him from the rest in the industry. However, his fast at Chennai demanding the linking of all Indian rivers and the announcement of Rs 1 crore as his contribution for the project — was well received by the people of the state.
— PTI
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