 |
|
Video-CD upsets
Cong poise in Rajasthan
This nominee is
above party & issues No government
degree college despite vows Regional issues
dominate Votes are on sale
here No takers for
proxy voting Key Constituency OBC votes most crucial in Kangra DHARAMSALA: Having remained in political isolation eversince his resignation from the Union Cabinet, BJP leader and former Chief Minister Shanta Kumar, is trying his level best to retain the Kangra Lok Sabha seat for the third consecutive time in the absence of much support from his own partymen, belonging to the Dhumal faction. Rohtak: In the absence of core national issues, prominent political leaders have adopted a “self-before-party” approach to campaigning. They are seeking votes to stay in the race for the office of Chief Minister after the Assembly elections in Haryana due early next year. Spotting the
winner in coffee house Jat factor at
play
Jakhar shaky
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Video-CD upsets Cong poise in Rajasthan Jaipur, April 28 According to
political observers, the development is likely to adversely affect the poll
prospects of the Congress in the Lok Sabha elections to be held on May 5. It
is bound to hamper the revival of Mr Gehlot in Rajasthan. Gehlot had been
virtually disgraced by the Congress high command because of the debacle of the
party during the state Assembly elections held in December last. Neither was he
installed as Leader of the Opposition in the state legislature nor did he have
any say in the selection of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections. Now that
the present Chief Minister, Ms Vasundhra Raje, has ordered an inquiry into the
matter and the Director-General of State Anti-Corruption Bureau, Mr Balbhadra
Singh Rathore, has initiated investigations saying that prima facie, it appeared
a case of corruption, it has created a difficult situation for the
Congress. The video-CD depicts three former Cabinet colleagues of Mr Gehlot —
Mr Gulab Singh Shaktawat, Home Minister, Mr Chhoga Lal Bakolia, and Mr Takiuddin
Ahmed, both Urban Development Ministers — taking several lakhs of rupees. They
were to allegedly help the builder, Mr Ranbir Singh Pahalwan, in settling the
case of compensation at the level of the Chief Minister in respect of the land
of the Kashipura Housing Project near Durgapura on the outskirts of the Pink
City, which had been acquired by the state government. The CD shows Mr Bakolia
keeping the money in the inner pockets of his pyjama. In the case of Mr
Takiuddin, his son Mohsin is accepting the illegal gratification in his father’s
presence. The go-between, Ms Mini Siddu, widow of an Army officer, has been
shown taking money from Ranbir for Mr Gulab Singh Shaktawat in his presence. The
CD also gives a glimpse of Mr K.S. Gehlot, elder brother of Ashok Gehlot, and Mr
Damodar Thanvi, considered to be a trusted lieutenant and think-tank of the
former Chief Minister. Ranbir Singh Pahalwan also disclosed that he engaged
Mini Siddu on a salary of Rs 50,000 per month for her services in keeping close
liaison with the high-ups and promoting his interests of land and property
business. While BJP leaders are describing the contents of the CD as a proof
of the corruption rampant during Congress rule, Congress leaders are rejecting
the CD as a fabrication designed to malign the former ministers and harm their
party at this critical juncture. Former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has
interrogated the propriety of releasing the CD so late. He has posed the
question why Mr Ranbir Singh did not release the CD at the time of Assembly
elections, if he really bribed the ministers.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
This nominee is above party & issues Bharatpur, April 28 Have you ever come across a politician who brazenly indulges in
pressure politics, whose wife is the national vice-president of a rival
political party and who gives a damn to the political party which has sent him
to Parliament twice and still he is a sureshot winner from this
constituency? Meet Mr Vishvendra Singh, former Maharaja of Bharatpur who is
seeking to enter the Lok Sabha for the third time on BJP ticket. The 38-year-old
Maharaja knows that he will be elected. If he is not, he gives a damn. He is not
a trifle bothered. One thing that Vishvendra Singh is bothered about is that his
iron grip on his erstwhile “riyasat” should not loosen even in such mundane
matters as the selection of candidates. That is the stuff Vishvendra Singh is
made of. Vishvendra Singh is known to be at daggers drawn with Chief Minister
Vasundhara Raje, a royal figure. You can call it royal rivalry of you like. Left
to her, Ms Raje would never have allowed Vishvendra Singh to have BJP ticket for
the Bharatpur Lok Sabha seat. The Rajasthan Chief Minister is not the only
person who would like to torpedo the electoral chances of the former Maharaja of
Bharatpur. Deputy Prime Minister L. K. Advani would have reasons to do precisely
that because Vishvendra Singh had just a few months ago ridiculed Mr Advani as
“ganja” (baldy) at a public rally. Mr Advani simply ignored Vishvendra Singh’s
diatribe. This is not all. Vishvendra Singh’s wife Divya Singh is the national
vice-president of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD). It is not surprising that
the INLD won two seats from two of the eight Assembly segments of the Bharatpur
Lok Sabha constituency in last year’s Assembly elections, including one from the
Bharatpur segment. Then why is Vishvendra Singh the most sought-after commodity
in Bharatpur after all? What makes Bharatpur so important and a key constituency
on the national electoral map? Consider this fact. Bharatpur is the only
riyasat in the country where Jats are in the role of ruler! Everywhere else, the
Jats are subservient to Rajputs. Bharatpur is the only exception to the rule
that only a Rajput can rule. It is not the pride of Bharatpur which is at
stake. It is the pride of the people and major political parties like the
Congress and the BJP which is at stake. Development or foreign origin or “feel
good” factor are not the issues in this constituency. The candidate himself —
Vishvendra Singh in this case — is the issue. If Vishvendra Singh were to lose
from this seat — an unlikely event and a dream wish of Chief Minister Vasundhara
Raje — it would mean a loss of face for senior Congress leader K. Natwar Singh
who hails from this constituency and has won the election from this seat once.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
No government degree college despite vows Pathankot, April
28 The backwardness of the area can be judged
from the fact that there is no government degree college in the city of over 2.5
lakh people. The setting up of a degree college has been a promise made during
all elections held so far right after Independence, whether to Parliament or the
Assembly. There are four private colleges managed by various non-government
organisations. But for these colleges, not many students, particularly girls,
could have dreamt of being graduates. According to Mr Dharampal, a local
resident, each and every legislator and Member of Parliament has promised to set
up a government degree college in the city, but none of them have fulfilled the
promise. He said it is a pressing demand of the people in the area. Even Master
Mohan Lal, who represented the Pathankot Assembly segment between 1997 and 2002
and served as Minister for Higher Education did not do anything for the city.
When he was appointed the Minister for Higher Education by Mr Parkash Singh
Badal, local residents had hoped that he will ensure a government degree college
here. But he did not. However, Master Mohan Lal maintains that when he was
appointed minister, he set up a degree college in the Dhar area, where there was
no institution for higher education. He said he was in favour of a government
degree college in Pathankot but could not get sufficient time for setting it
up. Even the incumbent MLA, Mr Ashok Sharma, had promised to set up a college
in Pathankot within two months of the formation of the government. But more than
two years have passed and there is no indication to this effect so far. Mr
Sharma claims that he has already got the college sanctioned for Pathankot. He
claims that there is a difference of opinion among people as some of them want a
professional college. He pointed out that since four private degree colleges
were already catering to the demands of students, a government professional
college will help in modern and job-oriented education. But the people are not
convinced. Mr Ved Bhushan, who is a post-graduate and running his own business,
maintains that such promises have been made “from times immemorial and these
remain promises only.” He hopes that anyone who is elected to Parliament this
time will allocate some money from the MP’s Local Area Development Fund for
setting up a college here.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Regional issues dominate Jammu, April 28 A lot of mudslinging has been done between Ms Mehbooba Mufti, PDP
chief and party candidate for the Anantnag seat, and Mr Omar Abdullah, president
of the National Conference (NC) who is contesting from Srinagar. The Congress
and the BJP in Jammu are also washing the dirty linen in public. Interestingly,
hardly any national issue has been focussed in the state and the Lok Sabha poll
has been reduced to the level of a panchayat election with the candidates
listing their own achievements. This is more so because the PDP and NC, the two
main parties in the valley, are of regional outlook and have nothing to do with
the bosses at Delhi. Mufti Sayeed, who has become Chief Minister with the
support of the Congress, was also silent about Ms Sonia Gandhi while campaigning
for his daughter Mehbooba Mufti and other candidates of the PDP. In his
campaign, he was trying to project himself as the one who had prepared the
ground for a dialogue between the separatists and the Centre, reopening of the
Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road and the peace talks between India and Pakistan. On
the other hand, Ms Mehbooba Mufti is hitting the NC and making personal attacks
on the Abdullahs. The NC has also not spared the Mufti government, accusing it
of not implementing election promises, non-performance, increased human right
violations and failure to disband the special operation group (SOG) of the
police. The Congress candidates in the two seats of the Jammu division — Mr
Madan Lal Sharma, Public Works Minister, and Mr Lal Singh, Health Minister —
highlighted their own performance in the roads and buildings and health sectors.
The BJP candidate and Minister of State for Defence, Mr Chaman Lal Gupta, has
brought out a 93-page booklet to highlight his performance since 1996 when he
first became an MP from Udhampur. Mr Bhim Singh, Chairman of the Panthers
Party, in his election campaign is not leaving any stone unturned to damn the
Mufti government that his party was supporting in the Assembly.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Votes are on sale here Faridkot, April 28 Here no resident, especially those belonging to the weaker sections
of society, is willing to cast his vote without taking money or getting any
other material favour. Learning from their past experiences when candidates
distributed money, narcotics and liquor for buying votes, the voters are putting
their votes on sale. Interestingly, the voters have no qualms in admitting that
they had accepted money during last elections and would do so this time too.
“I will cast my vote in favour of a candidate who repays my debt. I had
purchased a tractor last year after taking a loan from a bank and now I do not
have resources to pay it back. Who-so-ever is willing to pay back the loan will
get my vote,” says Mr Mohinder Singh, a poor farmer of Mukandsinghwala village
in Muktsar district. Residents of this constituency say that the election
process in the area was a very costly affair as candidates in the past had made
the voters ask for money and it had become a Herculean task for poor candidates
to garner votes. Most voters are waiting for the campaigning to end in the
area, when supporters of various candidates will come to distribute money in a
clandestine manner. “Crores of rupees would exchange hands. Those who will be
able to lure many more in favour of the same candidate would benefit the most,”
said a farmer, adding that sometimes smart voters accepted money from both
parties. “Who knows I have accepted money from both parties? They both will
come to me and pay money” said Mr Mukhtiar Singh of Maari Mustafa village in the
Panj Grain Assembly segment. In Sukhanand village of Moga, a vote was sold for
anything between Rs 50 and Rs 2,000 during the last parliamentary elections.
“Last time they had promised me to pay Rs 2,000 but at the time of voting I was
paid only Rs 50. When I grumbled I was also given half a kg of poppy husk to
keep shut,” says Malkiat Singh, a Majahbi Sikh and a field worker for whom an
election means that the thatched roof of his “kutcha” house will be repaired for
which he requires a wood log worth Rs 200, an amount he was not able to
spare. Similarly, Ms Gurdeep Kaur of the same village, will vote for the
candidate who pays her son’s admission fee of Rs 150.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
No takers for proxy voting Ferozepore, April 28 The Returning
Officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner, Mr Ranjit Singh, had sent letters to these
voters, termed as classified service voters, late in March to respond by April
27 if they would like to cast their votes by proxy. Such voters are required to
appoint their proxy voters, who would have the right to cast their votes in
future elections also till the right is cancelled. Most of these voters are
defence personnel. The proxy voting system was introduced after much debate,
mainly on the demand of defence personnel, who were not able to exercise their
right because of postings at far-away places. These persons used to be given
postal ballots. But then there were problems of late delivery of post. The
postal ballot system was never popular. However, due to the dismal response to
the proxy voting scheme, the authorities have no option but to send postal
ballots to these persons. Mr Ranjit Singh, Returning Officer, told The Tribune
that after waiting for a month, they today dispatched postal ballots to these
1338 voters.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Key Constituency DHARAMSALA:
Having remained in
political isolation eversince his resignation from the Union Cabinet, BJP leader
and former Chief Minister Shanta Kumar, is trying his level best to retain the
Kangra Lok Sabha seat for the third consecutive time in the absence of much
support from his own partymen, belonging to the Dhumal faction. It is not just
his rivals within the party who are trying to make the going tough for him but
the Congress decision to field an OBC candidate in the form of Mr Chander Kumar
has added to his woes. Even BJP workers admit that they were finding it
difficult to retain the initial edge that Mr Shanta Kumar had over Mr Chander
Kumar as Congress leaders and party workers were working overtime, making it a
close contest. Though there are six candidates in the fray, it will be a direct
contest between the BJP and the Congress. In sharp contrast to the Congress,
who is putting up a united show, none of the BJP leaders including former Chief
Minister, P.K. Dhumal, has canvassed in favour of Mr Shanta Kumar. Barring the
presence of Mr Dhumal at a public meeting addressed by Union Minister, Mrs
Sushma Swaraj at Shahpur, the former Chief Minister, has tried to keep himself
busy in other parts of the state. On his part, Mr Shanta Kumar has tried to
seek the support of Dhumal loyalists like Mr Rajan Sushant, Mr Rakesh Pathania
and Mrs Shraveen Chaudhary, whom he met personally. Though Central leaders,
including Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Mr L.K. Advani are scheduled to visit
Kangra, Mr Shanta Kumar at present seems to be a political loner in the
state. While the BJP is seeking votes in the name of Mr Vajpayee, the Congress
is solely banking on the wide mass base enjoyed by Chief Minister Virbhadra
Singh, who is the star campaigner of the party. The BJP is trying to impress
upon the voters that had it not been for the liberal financial assistance given
by the Prime Minister, the road network, schools and subsidised ration would not
have been available to the people of the state. The BJP is also trying to
convince the voters that during the one-year Congress regime, the pace of
development had slackened. However, the voting pattern adopted by close to 2.50
lakh OBC voters in the Kangra seat, could turnout to be the deciding factor.
While the Congress is trying to woo the OBC voters as its nominee is from this
community, the BJP is drawing solace from the fact that during the 1999 Lok
Sabha elections, the party had got a massive lead from the OBC belt. Mr Shanta
Kumar had a lead of 20,282 votes from the OBC-dominated middle belt of the
Dharamsala, Nagrota, Shahpur and Kangra Assembly segments in 1999. His electoral
fortune will greatly depend on retaining his lead of 25,042 votes from Palampur
and Baijnath subdivisions. While the Congress is likely to fare well in the
Guler, Jwali, Nurpur and Ganggath areas, the BJP is well-entrenched in the
Thural, Rajgir, Palampur and Bhattiyat segments. Even as the political fortunes
of the two main candidates fluctuate, the campaigning is likely to pick up when
central leadership of the BJP and the Congress comes calling.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
No core issues to the fore
Rohtak: In the absence of core national
issues, prominent political leaders have adopted a “self-before-party” approach
to campaigning. They are seeking votes to stay in the race for the office of
Chief Minister after the Assembly elections in Haryana due early next
year. While Chief Minister Om Parkash Chautala is working overtime to overcome
the anti-incumbency problem and stay in the race for the post of Chief Minister
after the Assembly poll, Congress leaders Bhajan Lal and Bhupinder Singh Hooda
are appealing to voters to vote for the Congress so that they can make a bid for
the coveted office later on. The Haryana Vikas Party, too, is not making
pretences of playing a role at the national level and its campaign is focused on
its supreme leader Bansi Lal and the next Assembly poll. The BJP is the lone
party which wants votes for its candidates to help Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee
become the Prime Minister again. A senior Congress leader explained that the
average rural voter was more concerned with who he wanted to be the next Chief
Minister than who would be the Prime Minister. So, he said, there was nothing
wrong in wooing the voter by “placing self before party” because in any case a
win would in the end strengthen the hands of Mrs Sonia Gandhi only. Likewise,
INLD leaders make no qualms about seeking votes to help Mr Chautala win the next
assembly poll. Mr Dharampal Makrauli, an INLD leader and Chairman of the Zila
Parishad, said: “This is not a question of national or state issues. By seeking
votes for him we are only asking voters to repose their faith in his leadership.
He has proved to be a successful Chief Minister and we want another term for
him. However, BJP supporters differ. A local functionary said Congress leaders
were projecting themselves as none of them actually wanted to be personally
involved in the contest as they had their sights fixed on the Assembly poll. For
them it has always been self before party. And in any case, unlike Mr Vajpayee,
Mrs Gandhi’s name was unlikely to fetch them votes. The common man seems to
agree with this assessment, albeit with a difference. Newly enrolled voter
Jatinder Kumar said: By projecting themselves as future Chief Ministers, these
leaders are dangling carrots before the voters. They are implying that they will
dole out favours later in return for their votes now. It’s that simple. They are
not interested in the people raising issues of general concern. They are only
slogging for themselves.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Spotting the winner in coffee house Allahabad, April 28 Kashi se jal, Prag se amrood leejiye… The
season for savouring the famous Allahabadi amrood (guava) will come in December.
Right now, it is the heat and dust of the Lok Sabha elections that is keeping
the people busy. The city of the sangam has not allowed the new brand names to
destroy its down-to-earth coffee house culture. It is here that the fate of
parties and candidates is forecast without the help of crystal balls or tarot
cards. Spotting a winner is as easy for a coffee house regular as flicking
cigarette ash. Even before the exit poll reported a swing in favour of the
Congress in Uttar Pradesh, the coffee house mood in Allahabad was against Union
Human Resource Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi retaining his seat. Last
time he had beaten the Samajwadi Party candidate, Mr Reoti Raman Singh, by
70,000 votes. The Samajwadi Party is now contesting the elections as a minister
in Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav’s government. Will he be second time lucky? Coffee
house regulars are not sure. If they had the money for placing bets, they would
have backed the Congress candidate, Mr S. P. Malviya. He has quite a few
developments going in his favour. One is the strong urge among a cross-section
of voters to show Mr Joshi the door for not doing enough for his constituency.
The second is the release of the controversial advertisement in a section of the
Urdu press equating the contribution of Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav for the Muslims
to the sacrifice of Imam Husain in Karbala. Kareli is a pre-dominantly Muslim
locality on the outskirt of old Allahabad. It evolved into a Muslim basti after
the demolition of the Babri masjid and attacks on minorities across the country.
Real estate prices in Kareli shot up phenomenally following the post-Godhra
carnage in Gujarat. Even before the controversial advertisement forced the
voluble Samajwadi general secretary, Mr Amar Singh, to issue an unconvincing
denial of his party’s involvement, the mood in Kareli had been made up in favour
of Mr Malviya. While Muslims in western UP appeared undecided about abandoning
Mr Mulayam Singh, because of his pro-saffron overtures, and those in the eastern
part of the state, where elections were held on April 26, were willing to give
him the benefit of the doubt, the Muslims in Allahabad appeared more focused and
certain about where their vote would go. They seem to have made up their mind to
dump Mr Reoti Raman Singh and return to the Congress. Of course, the Muslim
vote by itself would not be sufficient to tilt the scale in favour of Mr
Malviya. The upper caste voters, particularly the Brahmins, would play a crucial
role in deciding which of the three key players gets the nod. They are waiting
for a strong signal from the Muslim community for backing Mr Malviya. They are
willing to try any voting combination for clipping the wings of Ms Mayawati and
Mr Mulayam Singh and their Dalit-OBC constituency. Mr Joshi appears to have
been ruffled by these developments. In sheer desperation, he has reverted to
promising funds and inputs for modernising the madarsas. He sent an emissary to
Mohammad Kaif, who has become a local cricketing icon, to campaign for him. The
cricketer politely turned down the request. He has managed to rope in former
Aligrah Muslim University Vice-Chancellor Mr Mehmudurrehman and former Allahabad
University professor of Urdu Jaffar Raza for building bridges with the members
of the Muslim community for keeping himself in the race. Urdu pamphlets are
being distributed in Muslim-dominated localities asking them: “Kya Joshi aap ke
vote ka haqdaar nahin?” The question will be answered during the second round of
polling in UP on May 5, and the answer known on May 13.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Jat factor at play Sonepat, April 28 This time as there are four
Jat candidates — Mr Kishan Singh Sangwan, Mr Dharampal Malik, Ms Krishna Malik
and Jasbir Singh Malik — are in the fray, the Jat votes will be divided among
them. As a result, political observers say, now the non-Jat voters will play a
role in deciding the fortunes of the candidates unlike in the past when just a
couple of candidates used to be Jats.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Churu, April 28 Fighting a battle to prove his stature after losing successive
battles in the last two elections and earlier tasting defeat at the hands of
Devi Lal in 1989 in Sikar, Jakhar is leaving no stone unturned in Churu. His
rival in the elections is another Jat and sitting MP Ram Singh Kaswan, who has
made the “fleeing nature” of Jakhar his main plank. Kaswan has also termed this
election as a battle between Jakhar’s “money power” versus “people’s power.” Jakhar
is said to be going to New Delhi often, an issue BJP leaders explain saying that
“if he cannot devote time even during the elections, how do people expect him to
be available after the hustings”? But the Jakhar camp is still riding high,
saying that the leader enjoyed an “international” stature and his position in
national politics would benefit the constituency. Jai Prakash, who belongs to
Abohar, home town of Jakhar, to ensure victory of the Congress leader, said the
BJP was on the defensive and his leader would romp home with a margin of over
one lakh votes.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HOME PAGE |
|
If the results of the Sonepat Lok Sabha elections
held in the past are taken into account, the electorate of this constituency in
Haryana has preferred only Jat candidates. The Sonepat constituency came into
existence in 1977. Of the seven Lok Sabha elections it has witnessed so far, six
times Jat candidates were voted to power irrespective of their party alliance.
Only once in 1996 did a Brahmin candidate (Arvind Sharma, Independent) win the
elections against three Jat leaders. So, it is no surprise that all major
political parties — the Congress, BJP, HVP and INLD — have fielded Jat
candidates. The about 11 lakh voters in this constituency include 4.5 lakh Jats,
1.5 lakh Brahmins and 50,000 Punjabis and others. 
