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FIRST TIMERS Beginner's LuckEven for politicians there is always the first time. From loyal sons and retired judges to former maharanis, each election brings a new crop of aspiring politicos. The coveted prize: the suffix MP. T.N. SESHAN
-- ACTING THE CUDDLY COMEDIAN
ANITA ARYA -- THE
MAYOR PLAYS THE DALIT LEADER
MANAVENDRA SINGH
-- CAPTAIN VERSUS COLONEL Main Rival: Colonel Sonaram Chaudhary (Congress). 1998 Result: Congress: 53.23 per cent, BJP: 43.03 per cent. He's a star son trying to pull off a surprise act in this Congress citadel. Manavendra Singh, son of External affairs Minister Jaswant Singh and a product of Mayo College and the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, was working as a journalist in The Indian Express before he decided to follow in papa's footsteps. A stint in the Territorial Army gives him the rank of captain who is pitted against two-time Lok Sabha member, Colonel Sonaram Chaudhary. The captain versus the colonel. Dressed in a Marwari dhoti and pugree, the young captain pits the videshi Sonia against Vajpayee. "Do you know Sonia's birthplace in Italy? Even I don't know," he tells a village crowd. He concludes with a flourish: "Janmabhoomi swarg se badkar hai . (Motherland is greater than heaven). Don't betray it." SUDHA YADAV -- WAR
WIDOW GOES INTO ACTION
DR B.P. RAJAN --
DENTIST BARES HIS TEETH Main Rival: R. Dhanushkodi Adithan (TMC). 1998 Result: AIADMK: 49.34 per cent, TMC: 40.59 per cent. Former vice-chancellor of MGR University and prominent dentist, B.P. Rajan has spent a life-time examining peoples' teeth. "Now it's their turn to examine my teeth," jokes the Jayalalitha devotee. He's certainly campaigning hard, standing all day long in his improvised Tatamobile, hands folded in a greeting, pausing to address roadside meetings. "After all, I'm used to standing all day long examining people's teeth," he laughs. Jokes apart, Rajan has a good chance in a constituency where Jayalalitha still has a loyal following. His campaign promises among other things safe drinking water and better drainage. Besides, he also promises to give up his lucrative practice in Chennai and shift to his village which falls within the constituency. "With Amma and the AIADMK behind me I cannot lose. " SRILATA SWAMINATHAN --
FROM SOCIAL TO POLITICAL ACTIVISM Main Rival: Giridhari Lal Bhargava (BJP). 1998 Result: BJP: 56.43 per cent, Congress: 38.83 per cent. She knows she can't win. "I just want to find a political foothold here," says Swaminathan, the well-known ultra-left activist. Comrades are helping out in a campaign that targets only the unauthorised colonies and slums of Jaipur. Her speeches are unusual -- she talks about exploitation of the poor and her landing in jail for fighting for their rights. "The rich amass 90 per cent of the country's wealth," she tells her audience. Her life is more fascinating than her campaign. Granddaughter of the late Ammu Swaminathan, niece of the legendary Lakshmi Sehgal and Mrinalini Sarabhai, cousin of Subhasini Ali, she has been a colourful livewire of the ultra-left. Trained in theatre, she moved to a remote village in Banswara, Rajasthan, where she organised tribals to fight for their rights. Now she's not asking for people's votes. She's telling them not to vote for the Congress or the BJP. JAGAT SINGH
-- SUAVE SON TRIES HIS HAND
T.T.V. DINAKARAN --
AMMA'S BOY ALL THE WAY Main Rival: K.P. Selvendran (DMK). 1998 Result: AIADMK: 53 per cent, DMK: 41 per cent. He's got his ticket because he is the nephew of Jayalalitha's soulmate Sasikala Natarajan. Like the two ladies, he's also done a stint in jail for corruption. He's been charged with FERA violation to the tune of Rs 65 crore in connection with the JJTV case. Now the 35-year-old wants to become an honourable member of Parliament "with Amma's blessings". Initially, Dinakaran was a nervous campaigner dependent on speechwriters. Now he can manage a few lines without any help. He traverses village after village in his recently acquired Tata Sumo, describing himself as "Aammavin aasi patra anbu pillai (beloved son who has the blessings of Amma)." The first-timer doesn't stop there. "I am contesting from this constituency following the loving order of our goddess of heart and revolutionary leader," he gushes. And in case there's any doubt, he's referring to Jayalalitha. S. CHANDRASHEKAR --
ENACTING A NEW SCRIPT Main Rival: C. Sreenivasan (AIADMK). 1998 Result: AIADMK: 46 per cent, TMC: 44 per cent. He's been a DMK member and a Karunanidhi devotee for a long time now. So much so that his style of speaking resembles his mentor's. Actor S. Chandrashekar, who has played the lead in six films scripted by the chief minister, has been handpicked to defeat the AIADMK's three-term sitting MP. He's uncomfortable interacting with local partymen but displays the actor's ease while making speeches replete with emotion-charged rhetoric about his childhood days spent in the constituency. When a fire engine goes past, he seizes the opportunity for some theatrics. "The firemen will save lives by pouring water. You use your vote like water to elect Vajpayee because only he can save India from dangers like Kargil." The marriage of Hindu and Dravidian nationalism finally appears to have taken place. A.P. ABDULLAKUTY --
YOUNG FACE WITH A WIDE BASE Main Rival: M. Ramachandran (Congress). 1998 Result: Congress: 46.44 per cent. Independent: 46.17 per cent. He's up against a rival who has won each time since 1984. Abdullakkutty, the 30-year-old president of the Students' Federation of India, is raising the CPI(M)'s hammer and sickle in a seat that was traditionally left for its allies. It's a highly polarised region known for violent clashes between the CPI(M), RSS and Congress. But Abdullakkutty, the first member of an influential local Muslim family to embrace communism, is in with a chance. There's a significant Muslim population in a region where assembly segments are routinely won by the CPI(M). He speaks the language of the committed communist. Land reforms, total literacy movement and so on. "People's warmth towards me is because of the excellent performance of the Left leadership." His real assets; youth and the Muslim card. MURALI --FROM REEL TO
REAL LAL SALAAM Main Rival: V.M. Sudheeran (Congress). 1998 Result: Congress: 50.81 per cent, CPI(M): 45.46 per cent. It's a seat earlier represented by communist veterans like P.T. Punnoose, P.K. Vasudevan Nair and Susheela Gopalan. This time the Left has sprung a surprise in fielding top Malayalam actor Murali. His only qualification for the new role is that he's played the revolutionary in the runaway hit Lal Salaam and Rakthasakshikal Zindabad, films which specifically dealt with the movement's history in Alappuzha, the land of backwaters and paddy fields. It's also a seat that slipped out of Left control due to differences between the CPI and CPI(M). Left hopes are now pinned on Murali, a natural crowd-puller. The minute he appears there are cries of "Saghavu DK (comrade DK)", a role played by him in Lal Salaam. Quips Murali: "This is my territory. A retake is easy." Clearly a rare instance of real life imitating reel life. PARNEET KAUR --
MAHARANI COMES CALLING Main Rival: Prem Singh Chandumajra (SAD). 1998 Result: SAD: 51per cent. Congress: 47 per cent. At 7 a.m. every day Maharani Parneet Kaur leaves Patiala's Moti Bagh palace and steps into her air-conditioned Cielo to hit the heat and dust of an Indian election. Clutching a sleek cell phone and a purse stashed with tissues to wipe the sweat generated by mixing with commoners, she says, "I never let my royal image become a hindrance in establishing a rapport with the masses." The wife of Punjab state Congress chief and scion of the Patiala house, Amarinder Singh, Parneet's chances are hinged on a split in the Akali vote between the SAD and G.S. Tohra's All-India SAD. Her focus: women and the Dalit vote bank. Her speeches are short and direct minus any attack on her opponents. Her USP: the royal family. "Our family has been with you for the past 300 years. Who knows your problems better than I?" The Maharani also makes a pertinent point about being a first-timer: "The advantage is that the voters hold nothing against me. I have no sorry face to show them because of unkept promises." JUSTICE V. RAMASWAMY
-- JUDGE IN THE PEOPLE'S COURT Main Rival: Vaiko (MDMK). 1998 Result: MDMK: 50.68 per cent. CPI 33 per cent. Justice Ramaswamy is used to being in the public eye. He's been charged with financial irregularities during his tenure as chief justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Soon after, he moved south and became a Jayalalitha favourite. Amma appointed him chairman of the Tamil Nadu Law Commission in 1995. Now he's contesting the high profile seat of Sivakasi held by MDMK chief Vaiko. Ramaswamy travels through the narrow streets of Sivakasi, known for its fireworks and match industry, in a Tempo Traveller. After sweating it out on the campaign trail, he periodically ducks into the air-conditioned comfort of a hotel. "There is a new enthusiasm in the AIADMK cadres which will see me through," he says. But with the local AIADMK strongman also contesting as a rebel, even Amma's blessings may not do the trick for Ramaswamy. |
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Main Rival: L.K. Advani
(BJP). 1998 Result: BJP: 59.86 per cent, Congress: 29.26
per cent. The boot is now on the other foot and there are two complaints of violating the
code of conduct against former chief election commissioner T.N. Seshan. Taking on L.K.
Advani in an impregnable BJP fortress is a tough task. And the tough-talking former CEC is
a much mellowed man as he tries to catch the voters' attention. The response to him rates
from poor to average. One disadvantage for the retired Tamil bureaucrat is that he
stumbles with his Hindi. While winding up his speech in a rural segment he forgets the
Hindi word for the Congress symbol. Party workers have to come to his rescue. There's a
touch of desperation in the manner in which the man who once barked orders now tries to
play the lovable comedian. He's picked up some Hindi film jargon. "Hum to dil de
chuke sanam (I've given my heart)," he tells an amused group of farmers, adding "Hum
dulhaniya lene aye hain (I've come to take the bride)." In Gandhinagar Seshan
tries to convince morning joggers to vote for him. They listen politely, then trot away. 
Main Rival: Meira Kumar
(Congress). 1998 Result: Congress: 48.79 per cent, BJP: 47.17 per cent.
Hands folded, beatific smile in place, a young woman corporator is the BJP's choice to
take on Meira Kumar, daughter of the late Dalit leader Babu Jagjivan Ram in Delhi's only
reserved constituency. Chants of "Aai hai Dalit samaj ki kanya (here comes
the daughter of the Dalits)" rent the air as Delhi Mayor Anita Arya makes her debut
in Lok Sabha politics. For a first-timer, the 36-year-old Arya exudes a great deal of
confidence. Her convoy moves slowly through the narrow lanes of Karol Bagh, festooned with
party banners and flags. Crackers are burst before some high-pitched sloganeering from men
in a tempo trailing the lady -- "give the mayor of Delhi a chance to serve you in
Karol Bagh". Arya herself limits her speeches to a few slogans about Prime Minister
Atal Bihari Vajpayee: "Ab ki bari, Atal Bihari," she repeats ad
nauseam. She's certain the Vajpayee appeal will help her make up the one per cent votes by
which Kumar won in 1998. Her supporters naturally bill the contest as the battle of the
Jatavs. May the best woman win. 
Main Rival:
Inderjit Singh (Congress). 1998 Result: Congress: 41.5 per cent, BJP:
32.91 per cent. Sudha Yadav embodies the most potent theme of the BJP campaign. She's a
Kargil war widow and Kargil is the BJP's new religious mantra. Sudha lost her husband,
Dy-Commandant Sukhbir Singh of the BSF, on May 26 when he was inspecting a post at Kargil.
The former schoolteacher with a PhD in Chemistry has now accepted the BJP ticket as an
honour to a war widow. "In any case I've always subscribed to BJP's ideology. I am
after all the product of a Saraswati Shishu Mandir," says the widow in a display of
political sophistry. Every morning Sudha gets into her maroon Tata Safari and begins on a
tour of the villages. In a region full of ex-servicemen she tells small village audiences
that she has decided to dedicate her life to forgotten war heroes. "I am an ordinary
village woman. One of you. Even after winning the elections I will stay among you."
It's an appropriately simple campaign for the lady dressed in widow's white. 
Main Rival: Vishvendra
Singh (BJP). 1998 Result: Congress: 38.52 per cent, BJP: 28.08 per cent.
He's young, suave, of impeccable lineage and now he's inherited "Dad's"
constituency. The 31-year-old Doon School-educated son of Congress leader Natwar Singh
drives a Pajero, smokes imported cigarettes and has his half-Jordanian wife in tow. The
general secretary of the Youth Congress says he's learnt the ropes participating in his
father's campaigns. Three Doon School mates are helping Jagat Singh run his campaign. His
pitch is stability that only the Congress can provide. "Can the BJP government give
stability in 13 months?" he asks. Besides, just like Dad's been insisting at the
Congress briefing: "The BJP has failed to defend India's borders."