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Oct 11, 1999
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Elections 99
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NEWS, VIEWS, FOOTLOOSE
Poll Diary 99PARKING PROBLEM
BJP's internal strife is out on the streets
While there is considerable interest in the Lucknow
constituency where Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is pitted against the Congress'
Karan Singh, what grabbed the Lucknowite's attention last week was another poll. Conducted
by Lucknow First, a local organisation, this poll had just one issue: should parking of
vehicles in the upmarket Hazratganj market be banned? That's what the high court had said
in a July order which had infuriated both traders and shoppers. A political twist was
added later when the wrangle was attributed to the rivalry between Chief Minister Kalyan
Singh and his cabinet colleague Lalji Tandon, who is also Vajpayee's campaign manager.
"The state did not challenge the court order just to make Vajpayee unpopular among
the locals," a Tandon aide says. So, is the PM jittery?
-Subhash
Mishra
What Crime? THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
This man has a penchant for walking into trouble. And the surprising thing is, he is a
chief minister. The dust kicked up by E.K. Nayanar's alleged display of his stamped ballot
paper is yet to settle but he is now in the midst of another storm. Congress leaders in
Kerala have complained to the EC that Nayanar violated electoral rules by voting in his
native Kannur while he was also listed as a voter in the state capital. "It is a
violation of the Representation of People Act and can invite a prison term of up to one
year," says Congress leader Aryadan Muhammed. To which Nayanar's reply could well be:
there are Congressmen with worse crime records roaming free.
-M.G.
Radhakrishnan
Favoured Party Delhi:
Being the ruling party has its advantages, as the BJP fund managers are
finding to their delight. So they had an old party sympathiser who runs a small aviation
company placing his fleet -- consisting of one four-seater Piper aircraft -- at the
party's disposal. What's more, he even piloted the plane himself. His only demand: The
price of aviation fuel being what it is, the party should foot the gas bills. Other
freebies that came its way included one from a TV studio owner in Delhi who made all
facilities available to scores of BJP leaders to record their election broadcasts that
were aired on Doordarshan. This man evidently had a larger heart: he did not even recover
the cost of the tapes.
-Saba
Naqvi Bhaumik
YADAV NO. 3
The fight in Madhepura was not just about two Yadavs. There
were three in fact. Suraj Yadav, son of B.P. Mandal who authored the Mandal report, is a
young history lecturer in Delhi University. "This time, all calculations will go
wrong," says a confident Suraj. For once, arch rivals Laloo and Sharad are likely to
agree -- that this man is talking through his hat.
-Saba
Naqvi Bhaumik
FAMILY FIRST
Internal rivalries in the Orissa Congress often assume comic
proportions. Chief Minister Giridhar Gamang wants to better the five seats the Congress
won under J.B. Patnaik in 1998. And hopes that Berhampur, from where Mrs Patnaik
contested, is not among those. Patnaik, on the other hand, wants to ensure that the party
wins one seat and that is not Koraput, from where Mrs Gamang fought.
-Ruben
Banerjee
TRIVIAL PURSUIT
Poll officials had to trek 75 km through forest and
rain to enable 33 voters in Abujhmarh area of Bastar in Madhya Pradesh to cast their
votes.
"Guiness" H.K. Ramaswamy, a candidate in
Bangalore South, is contesting his 77th election. He has lost 76, but says he draws
inspiration from Abraham Lincoln who failed in his first 18 attempts.
CLASH OF COUSINS
In the erstwhile Gandhi belt of Amethi-Rae Bareli-Sultanpur,
the battle became decidedly nasty as D-day approached last week. And candidates found that
the best way to a voter's heart was through their siblings. Taking a break from her hectic
campaign for mummy in Amethi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra drove through Rae Bareli where old
family faithful Satish Sharma is pitted against -- who else? -- uncle Arun Nehru.
"The BJP candidate here is someone who betrayed Indiraji's family and plunged a
dagger in my father's back. How did you let that traitor even enter this place?" she
said, alluding to the fact that the constituency was once represented by her grandmother.
The crowd responded with a chorus of "Priyanka nahin yeh aandhi hai, is yug ki Indira
Gandhi hai" (She is not just Priyanka, she is a typhoon, the Indira of this era). Not
to be left behind, Radhika Nehru, daughter of the portly BJP candidate, joined the fray.
But not being campaign savvy, her language was far from that of a politician. Asked about
her relationship with her cousins, she merely said: "My father told me not to look
back but to move on." So, is the future beckoning?
-Subhash
Mishra
IN-LAW SYNDROME
If being a Gandhi family bahu can be a safe bet for Sonia
Gandhi in Bellary, can something similar fail Margaret Alva in Karwar? She lost badly to
A.K. Hegde last time, but Alva pressed on with the Karwar bahu card. To the uninitiated,
Alva's father-in-law Joachim represented Karwar for three terms. That, however, is not the
point. As one denizen put it: "One election one daughter-in-law." Take your pick
Margaret.
-Stephen
David
EAGER HANDS
All roads lead to Lucknow
Congressmen are always willing to lend a helping hand -- to each other
particularly. The infighting in the Uttar Pradesh BJP last week saw some Congressmen
entertaining visions of Karan Singh defeating Atal Bihari Vajpayee. What followed was an
influx of VVIPs into Lucknow. Problems arose as they demanded five-star accommodation, ac
cars, et al. They petitioned Singh who by then was at the end of his tethers. His SOS to
the high command elicited the following: "Those eager to campaign must make their own
travel and lodging arrangements." The flow of visitors stopped.
-Javed M.
Ansari
FORK HANDLE
Same name, similar symbol
Nepal Chandra Das, the Congress candidate in Karimganj, Assam, was on a good
wicket. Or so he thought until came along an independent candidate by the name Nepal
Chandra Das. The confusion was confounded by the fact that Mr Independent's poll symbol
was a fork and the posters he pasted around showed a fork with so short a handle that it
looked like a hand, the Congress symbol. The matter now rests with the EC.
-Avirook
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