New Delhi, May 6
With just two days left for the campaigning to end for the May 10 Lok Sabha elections for the seven seats in the National Capital Territory of Delhi, political parties and candidates have intensified their efforts to woo the voters.

Political heavyweights who had been busy with campaigning in other parts of the country have returned to the Capital in strength and for the next 24 hours would be going all out in support of their parties.

The campaigning is expected to reach its feverish pitch on Friday and Saturday with Sunday having been reserved for one to one contact in the respective constituencies.

In the prestigious New Delhi constituency, the experienced Jagmohan of the BJP and the youthful Ajay Maken of the Congress, are locked in a virtual duel.

The two candidates have their own vision of making New Delhi a model constituency, and both are banking on their performances—one as a Union minister and three-time MP from here, the other as a state minister who brought about major reforms in the power and transport sectors.

Aware of the fact that the government servants who form the bulk of the electorate in this constituency could swing their fortunes, both Jagmohan and Maken are promising them better emoluments, working conditions and living environment.

Outer Delhi: Claiming an outstanding victory for himself from the Outer Delhi parliamentary constituency here, Congress candidate Sajjan Kumar today said there was a ‘Congress andhi’ and not just a ‘leher’ sweeping Delhi.

Addressing mediapersons, he said the non-performance of Union Labour Minister Sahib Singh Verma has assured him of Congress’ victory. “Vermaji has lost contact with the people. He has neglected his constituency and people are determined to punish him this time.’’

Sadar: Infighting in the Congress, which plagued Tytler’s campaign initially, seems to have been buried for the time being with all four Congress MLAs from the area openly coming out in his favour.

Goel is making a desperate attempt to woo the substantial number of Sikhs by lambasting Congress for “ignoring the sentiments” of Sikhs by giving a ticket to Tytler.

South: In South Delhi, BJP’s Vijay Kumar Malhotra is pitted against the Congress candidate, R.K. Anand, an eminent lawyer. Malhotra claimed that the Unit Area Method, the new system of property tax assessment would become a burden for the Congress. Under the new system, they will also pay the tax.

However, the Congress candidate says that residents of South Delhi do not have water supply. They go without power for hours.

Chandni Chowk: The BJP candidate from Chandni Chowk constituency in walled city, Mrs Smriti Irani and the Congress candidate, Kapil Sibal are raising development issues. The BJP candidate claims that during the NDA government, a lot of development have taken place in the country and if given a chance again, his party will work more for strengthening the country.

According to the information reaching here at the Divisional Headquarters, the first incident of violence occurred in village Dharari of Khurja Dehat Kotwali police where some upper caste people allegedly stormed a Dalit Basti when some Dalits refused to pull down the BSP’s banners and posters.

The attackers killed an old person while six were seriously injured. Dharari is an upper caste-dominated village.

In another incident, an RLD leader Sudhir Rahti (45) was shot dead in Tikri town of Baghpat on Wednesday morning when he was going to the fields. At least a dozen armed youths fired on him indiscriminately. Rathi tried to escape but was gunned down.

New Delhi, May 6
A city court today remanded two police personnel, accused of taking bribe from the father of the prime accused in the CBSE All India Pre-Medical Test paper leak case, in 14 days’ judicial custody.

Special Judge Pratibha Rani sent the accused Sub-Inspector Sanjay Gupta and Constable Umed Singh in judicial custody till May 20.

The accused today moved an application before the court for a separate cell in Tihar Jail and a separate van whenever they are required to appear in the court, saying that they apprehended a threat to their lives from fellow undertrials.

Acting on the application, the court directed the lock-up in-charge and Tihar Jail superintendent to take necessary steps for the safety of the accused.

On the recovery of 125 blank medico-legal certificates from Gupta, the CBI told the court that the agency had asked his department, the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police, for a report regarding how the blank documents were taken by him to his residence.

The CBI had arrested Sanjay Gupta on April 29 on a complaint from the father of Ranjeet Verma, the prime accused in the case. Umed Singh was arrested for allegedly conspiring with Gupta in demanding the bribe.

The accused were in CBI custody till today.

Meanwhile, Sanjay Gupta is likely to face another charge of perjury as the CBI claimed he lied before the court. Gupta, who has been booked by the CBI under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Penal Code, had allegedly lied before the court that he had not made any seizure from the residence of main accused Satinder and Ranjit Verma.

Their father, Om Prakash Verma, whose complaint led to the arrest of Gupta and Constable Umeed Singh, had moved a petition before a local court pleading that things seized from his place, including jewellery, cash, mobile phone and other documents, should be returned.

Gupta had informed the court that he had not seized anything from the residence of Verma despite raiding their residence on four occasions.

However, when the CBI arrested Gupta it found several things belonging to Verma from his official drawer which included their family album and other things.

New Delhi, May 6
Four persons were crushed to death and two injured this afternoon after an Army Public School bus lost control and hit them in the Simon Boilvar Marg of New Delhi district.

The police said that the victims have been identified as Manushi Gautam (22), resident of Delhi, Ravinder (28), Davinder (30) and Dayanand (35), residents of Gurgaon. The injured Manish (20) and Mohan (23) were admitted to the RML Hospital.

The police said that the bus which was carrying at least 40 children was heading towards Chanakyapuri from Dhaula Kuan at around 2 pm when the incident occurred. It was during this time the driver lost control of the bus and hit those standing near the red light. The incident caused considerable tension among the parents of the children as after the news broke out, anxious parents phoned up the school authorities and the police for ascertaining the well-being of their children.

New Delhi, May 6
The CBI has registered six cases against 22 officials serving in different Union ministries who had allegedly obtained appointment as Scheduled Tribe candidates by submitting fake caste certificates.

These cases have been registered on the orders of the Delhi High Court passed in the Civil Writ Petition filed by an Office Superintendent with the National Archives of India, Chandreswar Prasad, a CBI spokesman said here today. Investigations were continuing to ascertain the facts and also find out if the fake ST certificate racket was an organised one.

In his petition, portions of which form the basis of FIR, the petitioner alleged that a large number of persons from Bihar had obtained employment under the Scheduled Tribe category in DDA, MCD, NDMC, AIIMS and schools and colleges of Delhi on the basis of forged and fabricated caste certificates.

New Delhi, May 6
The Delhi High Court today ordered issuance of a public notice to all schools, including unaided recognised public schools, on the practice of forcing children and their parents to face interview for admission to pre-primary classes like nursery, LKG, UKG and class one.

A Division Bench of Justice Dalveer Bhandari and Justice R C Jain asked the Director of Education of Delhi Government to publish the public notice in The Times of India, Hindustan Times and Nav Bharat Times seeking assistance of the schools on this “important question of larger public importance”.

The court, which had on February 23 last issued notices to Montfort School, its Principal, Delhi Lt-Governor and Director of Education, fixed May 21 for further hearing.

The court is seized of a petition filed by three parents challenging a judgment of Single Bench of the court which had on January 12 last year rejected the plea for banning interviewing of children and their parents for admission to the primary classes.

Petitioner’s counsel Ashok Agrawal sought a ban on interviewing children on the ground that it was arbitrary and violative of their human rights.

Such a practice was violative of their fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 14 (right to equality), Article 21 (right to life & liberty) and Article 21-A (right to education for children below 14) of the Constitution as also provisions of Delhi School Education Act, 1973, he argued.

Agrawal submitted that by subjecting the children to interviews, public schools were violating the recommendations of the Kothari Commission (1964-66) and Yashpal Committee (1993) and urged the court to direct the schools to give admission in pre-primary classes by draw of lots only.

Rewari, May 6
As many as 1,506 polling stations have been set up in Mahendragarh parliamentary constituency, according to its Returning Officer, Mrs Neerja Shekhar, who is also the Deputy Commissioner of Rewari.

She informed that there would be 496 polling stations in Rewari district, 497 in Mahendragarh district and 513 in Gurgaon district. Besides, 166 polling stations had also been set up for voters of the weaker sections in the entire Mahendragarh parliamentary constituency. These include 13 polling stations in Rewari segment, 21 in Jatusana segment, 25 in Bawal segment, 25 in Mahendragarh segment, 21 in Ateli segment, 25 in Narnaul segment, nine in Gurgaon segment, 15 in Sohna segment and 12 in Pataudi segment.

She further informed that 48 sector magistrates had been appointed in the entire constituency while the three segments of Gurgaon, Sohna and Pataudi would have four sector magistrates each. The three other segments of Rewari, Jatusana and Bawal would have eight each and Mahendragarh segment would have five, Ateli segment four and Narnaul segment three sector magistrates.

Sonepat, May 6
A number of ulema have strongly condemned the issuing of fatwa by the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, Ahmad Bukhari, asking the Muslim voters to vote for the BJP in the elections.

In a press statement issued here today, the national president of the All India Jamiat Shah Vali-Ulla, Maulana Karim Siddiq, stated that India was a secular and democratic country and there was no relation between elections and religion.

“In these circumstances it is illogical to issue a political fatwa from the religious post,” he said, adding that the fatwa was a religious act and it could be issued in religious matters only. The general manager of the Mufti Illahi Naushah Academy, Mr Nurul Hassan Rashid, stated that ulemas had supported various governments on the basis of assurances that these governments would not lean towards any religion and no efforts would be made to make India a “Hindu rashtra”.

“Ahmed Bukhari has misused the post of Imamat and if he is interested in campaigning in favour of a political party he should first resign,” he remarked.

The general secretary of the Majlis Tahfuz Khatam-E-Nubuwat, Maulana Mohsin, pointed out that in Islam prominent molvees have established centres at places like Deoband, Lucknow, Madrasa Aminia, Delhi, Bareilly Sharif, Hyderabad, Amarat-e-Sharia Bihar, Saharanpur and Agra for issuing fatwas.

The president of the Milli Islami Foundation, Maulana Mohmmad Illias, observed that by issuing a fatwa Abdulla Bukhari had harmed the respect and regard of the Imamat and he had done it for temporary gains.” We believe in the fatwa of Deoband in which it has been made clear that a fatwa should not be issued in favour of any political party,” he said.

Rewari , May 6
The Rewari District Ex-services League has decided to extend its unstinted support to Mr. Raghu Yadav who is contesting the Lok Sabha poll from Mahendragarh constituency as a candidate of the Samajwadi Party headed by the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav. The District Ex-services League is a representative body of about 36,000 ex-servicemen of the district. The above decision was unanimously taken after due deliberations at its meeting held here on May 1.

The meeting, which was chaired by its president, Lt-Col Ranbir Singh Yadav (retd), was attended by representative officers, JCOs and jawans from the Bawal, Nahar, Jatusana, Rewari and Khol blocks of the district.

Crystallising the one-point agenda of the meeting, Lt-Col Ranbir Singh Yadav (retd) complained that successive union governments in the past five decades had failed to redress their genuine and long-standing grievances, which included provision of one rank, one pension, removal of disparity in the amount of pension available to disabled ex-servicemen retired before 1996 and after 1996 and amendment in service rules to scrap the mandatory condition of 33 years’ service to become eligible to earn full–fledged pension after seeking voluntary retirement) . As regards certain other vital local demands he deplored that the establishment of a recruiting office in the Ahirwal region, opening of a sainik school and creation of an Ahir regiment in the Indian Army had been hanging in the balance for a pretty long time.

Emphasising the urgency of sending such a resolute and dauntless representative to the Lok Sabha from Ahirwal who could potently espouse their cause in the House, they unanimously resolved that among all candidates contesting the Lok Sabha poll from Mahendragarh this time Mr Raghu Yadav alone could do it competently and efficaciously.

Consequently, they decided to vote en masse for him.

Simultaneously, the Dakshini Haryana Berozgar Sangathan headed by Mr Nand Kishore Jangir, a retired intelligence officer of the Prime Minister’s House, has also announced its support for Mr Raghu Yadav.

Sonepat, May 6
The Union Health Minister, Ms Sushma Swaraj, has said the people were aware that the country had suffered during the Congress rule and the BJP-led NDA government had given a new hope by pursuing the policies of development, progress and prosperity.

Addressing an election rally in support of the BJP nominee, Mr Kishan Singh Sangwan, in the Anaj Mandi here last evening, she said the party was seeking vote for Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee’s five years of good governance against the Congress’s 50 years of bad governance. She attributed major problems dogging the country including unresolved issue of Kashmir, unemployment, militancy, division of country on the basis of caste and creed, poverty and farmers plight to Congress.

She said the Vajpayee government had turned the tide in favour of the country by improving its self-esteem.

The country had suffered during the reign of the Nehru-Gandhi family and questioned the wisdom of the people who felt that Sonia Gandhi could become the Prime Minister, she added. Taking a dig at opposition parties including the Congress for their inability to announce their Prime Ministerial candidate, she said they were trying to outwit each other for the coveted post.

She said the NDA would form the new government and Mr Vajpayee would be the Prime Minister. Counting achievements of the NDA government, she said the Prime Minister’s Rural Roads Plan had provided nationwide road network. She has a dig at Sonia Gandhi’s repeated declarations of being an Indian at heart, she said the Congress president had only one home and that too in Italy as declared by her the Election Commission at the time of filing her nomination. She said this was not her allegation but had been admitted by Sonia Gandhi and “home is where heart is”. So, it was clear where Sonia’s heart was, she said.

Faridabad, May 6
As the poll date draws near, the contest here seems to have narrowed down between the BJP and the Congress candidates, with the every possibility of a keen battle and an interesting result. While only two days of campaigning left, the candidates and their supporters have also started firing all their engines of energy and strategies.

Notwithstanding their weaknesses and minus points, the main candidates and their supporters have started an analysis of how much support and votes they could get from each of the segment. Faridabad has nine segments including various Assembly constituencies. It includes three segments in Gurgaon district and this Lok Sabha seat has a total of about 15.42 lakh voters.

While the factors that could affect the outcome of the result here could be many, but it seems that the exit poll surveys and results that have been announced recently, could have some impact, at least on the educated and urban voters, according to certain political observers. The BJP candidate, Mr Ramchander Bainda, who is seeking election for the fourth time from here, is confident that the Vajpayee factor was still strong and the people would not ignore the achievements of the NDA government at the Centre. Supporters of Mr Bainda appear to be in an upbeat mood following the move of certain top leaders of Meo community to support the BJP and the reports of infighting among the ranks of the Congress party here.

According to reports, some local Congress leaders owing allegiance to a former Chief Minister of the state, have not come in support of the Congress candidate here and an undercutting of votes could be affect the chances of the party nominee here. Although the Congress nominee has tried to win over many of the dissidents, but it is learnt that the situation was not very optimistic.

Moreover, fielding of Gurjar candidate by the HVP has also been seen as adverse factor for the Congress candidate as he himself belongs to the same community. On other hand, the joining of the Congress party by the firebrand leader, Mr Karan Dalal, and the latter’s active role in the campaign seems to have lend an important support to the Congress candidate in some of Assembly segments here. Mr Dalal claimed that the party candidate would easily gain lead over his nearest rival in some areas including Palwal. Mr Dalal is sitting MLA from here.

It is learnt that while supporters and leaders, owing allegiance to Mr Bhajan Lal, have been inactive so far. The supporters of Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, leader of the Opposition, have started campaigning for the Congress candidate, who was welcomed and weighed against coins at some places including Sector- 7, Sector-16 and Old Faridabad. Amir Chand, Inder Bhan, Om Prakash Dawar, Tara Chand Miglani, Basant Virmani, a former Deputy Mayor, and Vas Dev Saluja of the local Punjabi Sabha pledged support to the Congress candidate. It may be recalled that community wise Meos residing mainly in the Mewat region, who have as many as four lakh votes, were the largest vote bank. While nearly every main candidate is claiming support from the area, the denial of the Congress party ticket to a Meo had led resignation by Mr Tayyab Hussain, and Mr Khurshid Ahmed, who have been former MP’s from here. It is now learnt that their campaign in support of the BJP has led to worries in both the Congress and the INLD camps.

Although the anti-incumbency factor may prove disadvantageous for the both the BJP and the INLD in certain areas according to political observers, but they also feel that the latest round of the exit poll result could have some impact in balancing the above quoted damage.

Jhajjar, May 6
The Atal Behari Vajpayee factor and a fresh face are helping the BJP in the Rohtak Lok Sabha constituency make steady progress in the rural areas in this region. The BJP nominee, Mr Abhimanyu, is drawing moderate but enthusiastic gatherings in the street shows being organised in the rural areas. Hitherto, the party has been depending on its urban vote bank.

Given the response of the people to the BJP, it comes quite clear that the party has started making a dent in the traditional stronghold of the ruling INLD in particular and other parties, including the Congress and the HVP in general. The route of the BJP nominee’s street show today was on the Kosli road comprising villages of the Jhajjar and Salawas assembly segments. Starting from Khajpur village, he is expected to cover about 40 villages till night.

People did not disappoint the BJP workers and the candidate. The number of flags on the housetops, buntings hanging across the streets and posters of parties, shows greater political involvement of these villages of this region. Interestingly, the BJP was almost equal to the two major rivals in campaigning in this region. The flags and posters of the three main parties, the Congress, the INLD and the BJP, were seen in great numbers in the villages. When asked about the mood of the people regarding the support extended to political parties here, people responded boldly in favour of their choice but admitted to a close contest between the two main contestants in the fray, the Congress and the BJP, while the INLD was also not far behind, particularly in certain village, including Hasanpur, Kasni, Majra.

As the convoy of the BJP entered the villages situated on the periphery of the Ahir belt, the Rajput villages seem more influenced by the BJP. Villages like Ratanthal, Vas, Jakhala, Bhundla are stated to be traditional strongholds of the party and a fresh face along with his high-pitched campaign by reaching out to each village filled them with enthusiasm. As Mr Abhimanyu reached the villages to address the gatherings in the main street of the village people spontaneously come out of their houses. They would listen to the speech mostly devoted to Atal Behari Vajpayee and his government’s achievements. Then he brought up the issue of the welfare of the constituency and took a dig at the Congress nominee, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, on his pet plank of chaudhar (leadership). Putting a question to Mr Hooda on how much development he had done in his three tenures as a member of Parliament from this segment, he criticised him for raising the issue of leadership, saying that the people needed development and not leadership.

He promised to carry out record development of the constituency and give an option to the people to reject him if they considered him incompetent in comparison to his rivals, Mr Hooda of the Congress and Mr Bhim Singh Suhag of the INLD. He stated that there was no need to talk about the INLD nominee as Mr Chautala had annoyed all sections of society by his undemocratic and oppressive style of functioning.

The presence of the BJP was almost negligible in the countryside so far. But the scale of campaigning by the BJP helped in introducing the party and its nominee to the villagers. The electorate seemed to be influenced by this fresh face coupled with the Atal factor. This influence was being strengthened by dedicated cadre of the party fanned out in this region. But the villagers, who had acute political sense and feel the pulse of the Haryana politics still believe that the BJP is not in a position to have the upper hand in the countryside, at least in this election, while admitting that the future battle seems to be between the two national parties, the Congress and the BJP.

Another factor helping them is that the workers are adding more people to their vote kitty, adopting a much complicated style to woo the voters: by putting pressure on family relatives and close friends on them.

Bhiwani, May 6
Tilak Bhawan, the Congress headquarters here, has fallen victim to the apathetic attitude of its own partymen. People are surprised to see that the official headquarter is under lock and key whereas the son of the party’s state president, Mr Bhajan Lal, is in the fray from here. Local Congressmen have expressed concerned over such an attitude and observed that this was the office which had seen veterans like Mahatma Gandhi, late Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru, Sher-e-Punjab Neki Ram Sharma and several other leading leaders. It is quite surprising that Mr Bhajan Lal chose a separate election office for his son’s election which is far away from this office.

Earlier, as per practice party members and activists used to start their programmes by arranging meetings and paying respects to their leaders before launching any agitation from this office. It is learnt that Mahatma Gandhi had announced building of Tilak Smarak on his Bhiwani visit 68 years ago and it was constructed within the stipulated period thereafter. Several leading leaders had then participated in its inaugural function.

Sonepat, May 6
The INLD candidate Krishna Malik has reportedly devised a new method to woo the voters, particularly the married women and aged persons. The mahila groups of INLD was going door to door for canvassing, distributing pamphlet carrying photographs of Devi Lal, Om Prakash Chautala, Krishna Malik, election symbol of “chasma” and a ‘Bindia’ pasted on it. And these groups reportedly urge the married women to take a vow of their “Suhaag” and vote for INLD.

On the other hand, the men groups of INLD in their efforts to exploit the sentiments of elderly persons are reportedly distributing spectacles (Chasma) and turban (Pagri). The turban is always regarded as a symbol of respect and regard by the elderly persons.

According to reports from Gannaur and some other villages, these new methods of canvassing are certainly leaving impact on the voters in one way or the other—for married women, if they are forced to take a vow for the sake of “Bindia” to vote for INLD, it becomes very difficult for them to turn away from the vow for the safety of their “Suhaag”.

Several married women say they will vote for INLD candidate because they feel that it involves the safety of their “Suhaag” and “we can go to any extent for this”.

But they are also of the opinion that by adopting this method, the INLD had hurt the ego of the women and it was gross violation of the model code of conduct. They demanded that this kind of publicity and distribution of “Bindis” must be banned so that the women sentiments were not exploited.

However, the elderly persons have taken it in other way.

They have appreciated this effort by saying that it would help in reviving the “Pagri” culture, which has been diminishing for the last three decades.

Sonepat: The District Magistrate of Sonepat, Mr M. R. Anand, has issued an order directing the owners of all liquor shops to close down their shops from 5 pm on May 8, till polling is over on May 10.

Noida, May 6
Claiming that the Opposition had no leader of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s stature, BJP president Vainkaya Naidu said NDA not only had a leader like Atalji, but also an agenda for the development of the country. However, the Opposition can claims to have six candidates for the Prime Minister’s chair.

Addressing a public meeting in Noida, Mr Naidu appealed to people to vote for BJP for development and stability. He also asserted that BJP will ensure that Gautam Budh Nagar’s status as a separate district will be restored.

BJP president was addressing a public rally in support of the BJP candidate Ashok Pradhan in Noida.

He said that the Congress would decide its leader only after the elections. Mr Naidu said present Congress was not the original Congress party, rather it is the duplicate Congress party. He said many had left Congress to join BJP, as they no longer had faith in the present Congress party.

New Delhi, May 6
Mr Subhash Chopra, election agent of South Delhi Congress candidate, Mr R.K. Anand, in a complaint letter to the Chief Election Commissioner of India, Chief Electoral Officer, Delhi and Returning Officer alleged that the BJP candidate Mr Vijay Kumar Malhotra violated the model code of conduct.

Noida, May 6
Even after finalising the voter’s list this time, some 700 new names had to be added to the voter’s list. A new voter’s list has thus been issued afresh.

According the Deputy Election Officer and SDM (Dadri), Mr Yoginder Yadav, all the respective Residents Welfare Associations have been given a new voter’s list as well as the chart of polling centres and the polling booths.

Some 169 polling centres and 376 polling booths have been finalised for Noida this time. Out of these polling booths, from 1 to 136 have been located in Noida town and those from 137 to 376 are spread in the rural areas. Polling booths No 191 and 192 will also be located in the town.

The Deputy Election Officer agreed that still it may be difficult to locate the specific polling booth and the members of the same family may find that they have to cast their votes at different polling booths.

In a meeting, called by the election office, the representatives of the different RWAs were given the list of the voters for their respective sectors.

New Delhi, May 6
Congress candidate from New Delhi Lok Sabha constituency Ajay Maken got a shock of his life when a person named Sonia pointed out several lapses in his recently launched website.

Mr Maken had invited his BJP rival and Union Tourism and Culture Minister Jagmohan to a live chat on the website which started on Sunday, but what he got was a shock of his life when ‘Sonia’ first asked him who his web designer was, and then pointed to many grammatical errors in the website. “After scolding me for quite sometime, Sonia revealed that he was my supporter who had studied at the Delhi University,” Mr Maken revealed at a press conference here today. Mr Maken said the response to the website had been impressive with an average 20 persons chatting with him daily between 11 pm and midnight.

Ghaziabad, May 6
Having abducted two minor girls in Laxmi Garden Colony of Loni, criminals have reportedly demanded a ransom of Rs 1 lakh for their release. Both girls had gone out to buy some goods from a shop.

Laxmi Garden comes under Indirapuri police post from where Varsha (6), daughter of Ajay, and Payal (7), daughter of Surinder, were abducted at 9 am when they had gone to the shop.