 |
|
TN Cong house divided
Moushumi pitted against Panja, Salim Bullet-proof cars in short supply Where crime syndicate decides poll outcome Caste is key factor in Hoshiarpur Aizawl: religion may play crucial role BSP to stay away from poll alliances Haryana SAD to contest 3 seats Ekta Shakti Party to focus on jobs
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Swami banking on refinery to see him through A bureaucrat-turned-politician who got a ministerial berth in the Vajpayee government as the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Mr Swami has very few choices, particularly after the INLD parted ways with the NDA alliance. Political observers say that the BJP is on a sticky wicket in Haryana without any leader of national stature. Karnal is not an exception to this. Even as Mr Swami was given a key post in the Union Government, he has not been able to develop his image in the state to strengthen the BJP. The 75-year old Mr Swami has no time for the local media and is busy campaigning alone to win over the confidence of people. His biggest achievement as member of the Lok Sabha, he claims, is the extension of the Panipat refinery at a cost of Rs 10,000 crore, which would generate jobs for the locals. However, the people of Karnal and Panipat have lots of complaints against the Brahmin leader for neglecting the constituency during the past five years. They say that he was not available for the public and party workers alike and could not get a flyover sanctioned in Panipat, besides four overbridges. The toll barrier and his failure to get a medical college set up in memory of Kalpana Chawla, has also made the people lose faith in him. There are several problems for him at the local level and he might find the going tough. Businessmen of Panipat have expressed their concern over growing crime in which many businessmen had lost their lives. Some of them have been forced to migrate to safer places. Mr Swami has little to give them by way of an assurance. He says that the law and order problem is a state subject.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Bhatt hopes to gain from BSP split Mr Bhatt claimed that he was getting a fairly good response from Valmikis, Muslims and the economically weaker sections. “There are at least 1.25 lakh Valmikis and 50,000 Muslims in the constituency and a majority of them are likely to poll in my favour,” he claimed. He said the people-friendly programmes initiated by the SP government in Uttar Pradesh would have an impact in the border areas of the constituency. “My top priority will be to serve the poor,” he said. “The poor farmers, landless farmers, labour class and other economically weaker sections have always been ignored in Haryana,” he said. He hoped that the splitting of the BSP would help him as he had already worked in that party and had developed close relations with hundreds of local party workers who had been left in the lurch. With hardly any influence of BSP leaders on its workers, the chances of getting support from Dalits associated with the BSP were high, he claimed. He said the other issues that would work in his favour would be the anti-incumbency factor, rampant corruption in the state, deteriorating law and order situation and rising unemployment.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Surender Hooda promises jobs, better healthcare Regarding his main plank, he said as per his party policies and programmes, he promises to provide jobs and include employment security in the fundamental rights of the Constitution. The party is of the view that a medical card should be provided to every child at the time of birth so as to ensure better healthcare free of cost, besides free education up to the graduation level and subsidised education in professional courses and higher education. On plans for Karnal and Panipat districts, he would initiate development works. His priority would also be to restore the law and order situation that has worsened. The party stands committed to ensuring equal rights for Dalits and his priority would be to create harmony among all castes and check incidents of atrocities on Dalits. Mr Hooda
promised to stand by the farming community that is under heavy debts. He would work to ensure better marketing facilities for their produce and help them diversify from the traditional cropping pattern, besides, making sure that at least one educated member of the farmer’s family gets a job in other sectors so that their economic position could improve. The LJP candidate’s other plans,are to remain in the constituency and devote time to the public. He would endeavour to get Kalpana Chawla Medical College sanctioned at Karnal. Ensuring that sugarcane growers get competent MSP and attract more investments to set up industrial units in the constituency, besides executing work on flyovers and over-bridges in Panipat and Karnal are other areas of concern to Mr Hooda.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
TN Cong house divided Chennai, April 14 As such, the prospects of a majority of the Congress candidates do not seem very bright. The Congress has an electoral alliance with the DMK-led Democratic Progressive Alliance (DPA) and is contesting 10 of the 39 parliamentary seats in Tamil Nadu. During the 1999 general election and the 1996 assembly poll the party had an electoral tie-up with J. Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK. Tamil Nadu had never been a Congress bastion. Even during the first general election in 1952, the Congress alone could not form a ministry in undivided Tamil Nadu, which was then known as Madras Presidency. The present Andhra Pradesh and a part of Karnataka was then in Madras Presidency and a majority of the Congress legislators were elected from Andhra Pradesh. The first Congress Chief Minister, Mr Chakravarti Rajagopalachary, had to form the government with the support of the Toilers’ Party and the Common Weal Party. After 1967, when the first non-Congress Government was formed in Tamil Nadu, the Congress leadership in Delhi never bothered to keep the state unit of the party independent. The Congress always aligned with either of the two main Dravidian parties – the DMK and the AIADMK — depending on their vote banks. The last few elections witnessed alliances, which were like a jigsaw puzzle. The AIADMK first went along with the BJP, switched over to the Congress and now after the DMK and its allies left the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government and aligned with the Congress, the AIADMK teamed up with the BJP. This time the Congress is trying to ride piggyback on the DMK and exploiting the anti-incumbency factor of the Jayalalithaa Government. The party certainly would have succeeded but for the sabotage being carried out by its own partymen. To begin with, the selection of party nominees except for three — Mr Mani Shanker Aiyar from Mayiladuthurai, Mr R. Prabhu from the Nilgiris and Mr J.M. Haroon from Periyakulam — were controversial. In the remaining seven seats Tamil Nadu Congress president T.N. Vasan prevailed upon AICC leaders Kamal Nath, Pranab Mukherjee and Dr Manmohan Singh. Among Vasan’s favourites was Ms K. Rani, a former legislator nominated from the Rasipuram (reserved) Lok Sabha seat. Last week angry party workers from Rasipuram stormed the state party headquarters, Sathiyamurthy Bhavan, in Chennai, protesting against her nomination. Factional feuds are likely to defeat the Congress candidates in the constituencies of Salem, Gobichettypalayan, Palani, Dindigul and, of course Rasipuram. Though Ms Jayalalithaa has reportedly said she does not want to see three contestants, including Chidambaram and Aiyar in the next Lok Sabha, they seem to be batting on strong wickets. Congress workers in Sivaganga are not happy with Chidambaram being nominated but he will certainly receive the traditional Congress votes and, with the support of the DMK, is likely to make it to the Lower House. For Aiyar, it might not be a cakewalk but he too has an edge over his AIADMK rival. In the case of sitting Congress MP from Periyakulam, Mr J.M. Haroon, the odds are heavy because he is pitted against AIADMK nominee T.T.V. Dinakaran. Mr Dinakaran is the nephew of Ms. Shashikala Natarajan, Jayalalithaa’s best friend and confidante. Jayalalithaa will certainly leave no stone unturned to get him elected. If the Congress manages to win more than three of the 10 seats, it should consider itself fortunate because its own leaders do seem to be interested to see their nominees emerge victorious.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Moushumi pitted against Panja, Salim Panja is one of the few leaders who has survived politically in the CPM bastion of Bengal since 1977 as he has his “own mastery of art” of winning the elections. Panja engages himself in campaigning from day one and follows a scientific method of wooing the electorate. He even won the 1999 Lok Sabha poll by defeating a strong candidate, Md Salim of the CPM. However, the margin of his victory narrowed down to only 40,000 votes against his previous margins varying between 90,000 and 200,000. In this election also, Md Salim is again in the fray against Panja. Salim is in a more advantageous position this time because he is an important minister in the Left Front government. He has also learnt the Marxist art of winning the elections. But since Moushumi is in the picture, it has been a matter of concern for Panja. Salim too is perplexed on finding a Bollywood actress as a contestant. He feels that she cannot be ignored. Moushumi admits she has never been in politics before. And neither her parents, nor the in-laws (singer Hemanta Mukherjee and Bela Mukherjee) had ever been close to any political party. But they had been supporters of Mahatma Gandhi and the Congress. “I never aspired to be in politics,” says Moushumi. “I did not want to contest. I wanted to work for the country as an ordinary Congress member”, says Moushumi. However, it was Mumbai Chief Minister Sushilkumar Shinde who insisted that she should contest the election. Sonia Gandhi and Pranab Mukherjee also welcomed the decision, disclosed Moushumi. The actress has now taken up the electioneering job seriously. She comes out in the streets, campaigning for her victory. She conveys the message to the voters that only a secular government headed by the Congress could save the nation which is being destroyed by the BJP and other communal forces.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Bullet-proof cars in short supply Sawai Madhopur, April 14 Reports here suggest that the state administration is facing a kind of shortage for the bullet proof cars which are mandatory for the leaders under security cover. The administration is working overtime to ensure the availability of the bullet proof cars for the VIPs during their travel within the state for electioneering. But there are times when they have fallen short of them. Reports here said that the shortage of bullet proof cars was felt not only during the recent visits of BSP leader Ms Mayawati but also during the yatra undertaken by Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani. The Deputy Prime Minister was apparently not provided with a bullet proof car at one of the places where he was to address a rally. While the Election Commission has given specific instructions to the state administration to provide for the bullet proof cars for the VIPs with ‘Z plus’ security cover, sources in the administration said that there were just seven such cars available in the state. While five were in Jaipur, one each was stationed at Udaipur and Jodhpur. Sources said for the next two to three weeks these seven cars would be in great demand as a number of VIPs were expected into the state. With electioneering yet to gather pace, the demand would actually reach the peak when canvassing reaches a feverish pitch. It is expected that besides senior central leaders even Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, who is not only a former Chief Minister of the state, but is also among the towering political personalities from the state, might make a visit. So, one of the bullet proof cars would be kept in reserve for him at any cost. One bullet proof car costs around Rs 35 lakh and it would not be prudent to buy such cars in hurry now, sources said. Even if special permission is given for the purchase of bullet proof cars, there would be a shortage of specially trained drivers for them. Since they are specially armoured against attacks they become very heavy and need specialised drivers to handle them at high speeds. The state administration meanwhile, has worked on an alternative plan in case it is not able to provide the VIPs with bullet proof cars. The VIP would then be provided with not only escort cars but also pilot vehicles to ensure that he gets a clear passage.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Where crime syndicate decides poll outcome Etawah, April 14 Etawah, Jalaun, Mainpuri and Auraiya are a handshake away from the notorious ravines of the neighbouring Bhind and Morena, in Madhya Pradesh. They represent the badland of UP. Crime is a way of life here. In fact, the “baaghis”, a euphemism for dacoits, provide protection to the villagers from police terror. During elections, they work for candidates who provide them money and political protection. Raja Bhaiyya and Mukhtar Ansari are not a product of this system. They represent the ruthless face of urban crime. Dacoits usually do not torment poor villagers. They provide protection to the villagers, the villagers provide them shelter and food on demand. New gangs replace the ones that are eliminated by the police or after aging gang leaders decide to “surrender” and reap the benefits of the package for the rehabilitation of “baaghis”. Joining electoral politics too is now a viable option. Etawah is incidentally the janmabhoomi of Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav. Mainpuri, from where he is contesting for the Lok Sabha, is his karmabhoomi. In 1999, he had chosen Sambhal in western UP because of his standing among the Muslim voters. Reports of a shift in Muslim votes may have made him pick the safer option of contesting from a predominantly OBC constituency. Jalaun, next door, is the janma and karmabhoomi of Phoolan Devi. In the urban areas, the Samajwadi leader is despised by most middle class persons for having given respectability to criminals by inducting them in electoral politics. It is the terror of the candidates rather than their popularity that helps them win. In semi-urban and rural areas, he is perceived as the saviour of the underclass. Old-timers blame Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav for the criminalisation of politics. They recall his role as an opposition MLA in 1980 and now. He had demanded the resignation of Mr V. P. Singh as Chief Minister after Phoolan Devi killed 22 Thakurs in cold blood in Behmai, near Kanpur. However, he used the terror factor of criminals for giving the Samajwadi Party, established by him after the collapse of the Janata Dal, a regional presence. He demanded Phoolan Devi’s head as an opposition leader. He rewarded her with a Lok Sabha seat as Chief Minister to strengthen his hold over rural and backward UP. The Samajwadis’ writ runs in most of UP. The Bahujan Samaj Party, that uses the same tactics for strengthening its hold on the unlettered and impoverished Dalit voters, too, enjoys equal clout in the badlands of UP. The high crime rate is an issue that is highlighted by the non-Dalit parties during elections. For instance, the current hot news is the alarming increase in the incidence of abduction of rich businessmen or their family members by dacoits for hefty amounts as ransom. In Auraiya alone, 12 cases of abduction and disappearance were reported within a span of three months. Only six persons have been returned after their families paid the ransom money to their abductors. However, it is unlikely that the high crime rate will make the voters reject the BSP or the Samajwadi Party.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Caste is key factor in Hoshiarpur Hoshiarpur, April 14 Out of the nine Assembly segments, four — Balachaur, Mahilpur, Tanda and Gardhiwala — are held by the SAD and two — Garhshankar and Hoshiarpur — by the BJP. The Congress has the remaining three — Dasuya, Nangal and Anandpur Sahib. Much to the chagrin of the District Congress Committee, the Hoshiarpur seat has been offered on a platter by the Congress high command to the CPM, given the close proximity of CPM leader Harkishen Singh Surjeet to the Congress President, Ms Sonia Gandhi. This had piqued the sitting Congress MP, Mr Charanjit Singh Channi, who has joined the BSP. He s now its candidate. This development will further polarize traditional Congress vote and is expected to even divide the Dalit, Hindu, Sikh and Saini vote, as well. Interestingly, when the Congress had denied Lok Sabha ticket to Mr Kamal Chaudhary in 1998, he had joined the BJP and won the seat. He was defeated by Mr Channi in 1999. Now Mr Channi has left the Congress for the BSP. The least that the Congress had expected was that Mr Channi would join BSP, whose supremo, Mr Kanshi Ram belongs here. Mr Channi’s presence in the fray has triggered a debate among voters belonging to different strata of society. Such is the composition of this seat, that the CPM has virtually no base here barring some semblance of support and vote in the Garhshankar and Mahilpur areas. The CPM candidate is Mr Darshan Singh Mattu. He had unsuccessfully contested against Mr Khanna in the Garhshankar constituency in the 2002 Assembly poll. In fact, Hoshiarpur is believed to be a Congress seat. But so intense is the internecine war and fragmentation in the party’s organisational and legislative wings that sensing the mood of the party, even Ambika Soni, not trusting full support from her own party, reportedly decided against contesting from here. She belongs here. Here, factors like caste, biradari and community will play a significant role, which will mean a division of votes. The division will be more pronounced in respect of the Congress, Jat Sikh and Hindu or businessmen votes. This chunk will be hesitant to vote for the CPM and may vote for the SAD-BJP. The other key vote blocks are of the Sainis, Ramdasia and Adharmis and Rajputs, Balmikis, Mazhbi Sikhs etc.Their division could be of advantage to the SAD-BJP.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Aizawl: religion may play crucial role Aizawl, April 14 The MNF, having recently joined the National Democratic Alliance, is being labelled a communal party siding with Hindutva. Caught on the wrong foot in this predominantly Christian state, the MNF has to spend most of its time convincing the people that being a part of the NDA does not necessarily mean having aligned with Hindutva. The MSF, however, has taken advantage of playing to the Christian sentiment by nominating Dr Laltuangliana Khiangte, an academician and well-known writer. The opposition is playing up the fact that Dr Khiangte is the grandson of one of the most famous pastors in the Mizo community, Reverand Liangkhaia. The MNF, meanwhile, is not sitting back and taking the flak quietly. Chief Minister Zoramthanga has stressed time and again that the MNF, having come back to power after the 2003 Assembly elections, has found favour with God. In effect, he is saying the MNF has God on its side and the people would do well to side with it. Another angle the MNF is pursuing is that the state needs experienced parliamentarians to represent it. It also says the state does not need an MP in the opposition. Meanwhile, a small thorn on the side of both the MNF and the MSF is the candidate from a little known party called the Ephraim Union, which has decided to rake up the old issue of Mizoram’s independence. The Ephraim Union says that the first Mizo political party, the erstwhile Mizo Union, had signed a pact in 1947 to be a part of India for only 10 years. The Ephraim Union was formed by a section of the Mizo society which believes that the Mizos were descendants of the ten lost tribes of Biblical Israel and hence the name, Ephraim, the son of Joseph and grandson of Jacob. However, the people of Mizoram do not seem to be paying much attention to what this party has been saying because of lack of written records. In all probability, the fight for this lone seat would be between the MNF and the MSF. What is clear is that despite the country’s secular colours, the main issue would be Christianity versus Hinduism as the MSF has played heavily on the persecution of Christians in different parts of the country during the last five years. The MNF, having joined the NDA, has no choice but to prove itself the better Christian so as to attract almost 100 per cent Christian vote.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
BSP to stay away from poll alliances Sangrur, April 14 Mr Kashyap was speaking at a function, organised to mark the birth anniversary of “Messiah of Dalits Dr B.R. Ambedkar here today. The function was organised by the BSP. Mr Avtar Singh Karimpuri, president of the state unit of the BSP and Mr Margat Rai Bansal, BSP candidate from Sangrur Parliamentary constituency, also attended the function. Mr Kashyap said the BSP had fielded its candidates from 325 Lok Sabha seats, including 13 candidates from all Lok Sabha seats in Punjab, and had not joined hands with any party in the country. He claimed that there was a strong wave in favour of the BSP in the country. Later, Mr Kashyap also inaugurated the election office of his party candidate, Mr Mangat Rai Bansal, near the Fire Brigade Office here.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Haryana SAD to contest 3 seats Kurukshetra, April 14 A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting held under the chairmanship of the HSAD president, Mr Sukhdev Singh Gobindgarh, Gurdwara Chheivin Paatshahi here yesterday. Mr Sukhdev Singh Gobindgarh and the party general secretary, Mr Kartar Singh Takkar, said today the HSAD had decided to field Mr Sahab Singh Virk from the Kurukshetra constituency, Mr Surat Singh Tarak from the Karnal constituency and Master Raonak Singh from the Ambala constituency as Independents. They lambasted the former Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, and said to his adamant attitude, the HSAD had snapped its ties with the SAD on March 28.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Ekta Shakti Party to focus on jobs Panipat, April 14 Addressing a press conference, he said the party would work for the uplift of the poor as the Congress, BJP, HVP and the INLD had ignored them. Mr Sharma said he belonged to this place and thus aware of the problems of this area. He said north Haryana had always been ignored by earlier Chief Minister as they did not belong to this area.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HOME PAGE |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Videos
The BJP candidate from the Karnal parliamentary constituency, Mr I.D. Swami, is fighting for political survival in this politically-sensitive constituency. He won the Lok Sabha elections from here in 1996 and 1999 but this time it seems to be a tough contest for him.
The campaign of the Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate from the Karnal parliamentary constituency, Mr Raghu Mal Bhatt, is in full swing even as the Congress and the INLD have yet to announce their candidates. The SP President, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav, had campaigned in Mr Bhatt’s favour at a rally here recently.
Contesting the elections for the first time, 35-year-old Surender Singh Hooda from Panipat is trying his luck from this constituency on Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) ticket. 
Kolkata, April 14
