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Vajpayee for debate on foreign origin issue

          Jawhar (Maharashtra): Raking up the foreign origin issue of Congress President Sonia Gandhi for the first time in the election campaign, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Thursday sought a debate on whether a foreigner could occupy a high office in the country. "Whether a foreigner can occupy a high office in the country is a matter of debate which should take place in a calm and composed atmosphere," he told an election rally in this tribal-dominated area in Thane district without naming Sonia Gandhi. Ridiculing the alliance of Congress and NCP in the Lok Sabha polls, the Prime Minister reminded the people that NCP had parted ways with Congress on the "big issue" of foreign origin.

Guwahati in the grip of poll fever (Go To Top)

          Guwahati: Guwahati, known as the gateway to the north-east, is perhaps one of the most important constituencies of the region. Following the announcement of the poll schedule, Guwahati is gripped by the election fervour. While political parties are busy campaigning in various parts of the city, the citizens are hoping that the party which comes to power, this time around, will be able to provide sure-shot solutions to their problems.

          Bashant Narayan, a Guwahati resident, says "Unemployment is one of the major problems. My brother who has passed out of the university had to open a small shop. There are so many graduates who are now working as rickshaw pullers. As the elections approach, we are always given a lot of assurances but at the end everything is in vain." In Guwahati Lok Sabha constituency there are a total of 13,55,169 voters. Out of these - 3.33 are Assamese, 2.06 are Tribals, 2.45 are Muslims and 1.46 are Bengali Hindus. A look at the past history of the constituency reveals, that in 1984, Dinesh Goswami, an independent candidate, emerged as the winner, whereas the year 1991 saw Kirip Chaliha of the Indian National Congress, coming to power. Asom Gana Parishad's contestant Prabin Chandra Sarmah defeated INC's Bhubaneshwar Kalita in the 1996 elections.

           However, the INC regained power in the constituency when Kalita once again won in 1998. But opening BJP's account in the prominent constituency was Bijoya Chakravarty, who defeated Kalita in the 1999 elections. However, Bijoya Chakraborty, the Union Minister of State for Water Resources, has been replaced by none other than noted singer Dr. Bhupen Hazarika, who joined the BJP recently. While political parties have welcomed the move, there are many loyalists who feel that Chakraborty still stands a better chance to win.

          Brindaban Goswami, president of the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), says: "We have a lot of problems. We are facing flood problems, we ae facing influx problems, we are facing economic and communication problems. Lots of problems we are facing but she's (Bijoya) failed to fulfil the hopes of our state and has failed to fulfil the aspirations of the rural people of her constituency, the Guwahati constituency." Hamidul Rehman a Guwahati resident, says: "Yes, I am happy with her (Bijoya) job. We are happy with what she has done. We are expecting more from her. Let's see when she comes again, we'll get better benefits."

          Consisting of 14 seats Assam goes to polls in two phases - the 20th and the 26th of April. Apart from unemployment, prevention of floods and underdevelopment, the issue of illegal immigration from Bangladesh into the state could figure as the main plank, based on which political parties would campaign in the state. A group of 44 rebels surrendered this week in Tezpur district of Assam. The militants belonged to the United Liberation Front of Asom, National Democratic Front of Bodoland, Muslim Liberation Tigers of Assam and Kamtapur Liberation Organisation. They also laid down an array of guns, explosives and detonators.

Secular front in W.Bengal - an exercise in futility (Go To Top)
by Gautam Ghosh

          Kolkata: At a time when the Marxists are trying their best to create a political front of secular forces including the Congress to prevent the NDA's return to power, West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's anti-Congress stand and uncomplimentary observations about Sonia Gandhi have caught the party leadership on the wrong foot. The CPI(M)'s central committee, which never tried to conceal its efforts to involve the Congress in a broad-based anti-BJP alliance, has, of late, been dismayed by Samajwadi party chief and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav's reservations about entering into seat adjustments with the largest opposition party.

          The CPI(M)'s central leaders have not only urged the Samajwadi party chief to mend fences with the Congress "in the greater interest of the people" but also taken care not to rub the party led by Mrs Gandhi the wrong way. However, the state CPI(M) leaders' occasional anti-Congress barbs have threatened to strain bilateral relations between the two parties on the poll eve. Unlike the central CPI(M) leaders, the party's state functionaries have never fought shy of their anti-Congress attitude. The state party leaders have been quite consistent in attacking the Congress for its "anti-people economic policy and the help it has been providing to communal forces from time to time." Bhattacharjee recently went a step further and observed that Congress chairperson Sonia Gandhi "hardly knows the country."

          The chief minister's assertion at a public rally took both the party politburo and the Congress high command by surprise. However, top leaders of both the parties decided to ignore his remarks as they felt any attempt to defend or oppose Bhattacharjee's contention would only be politically exploited by the BJP and its associates in the NDA. Bhattacharjee's remarks against the Congress in general and Mrs Gandhi in particular stood in sharp contrast to the stand adopted by his predecessor and veteran politburo member Jyoti Basu. The latter has been harping on the need for the CPI(M) co-operating with the Congress to ensure the defeat of communal elements represented by the BJP in the coming Lok Sabha elections. Basu's stand was subsequently endorsed by the CPI(M)'s central committee as well as the politburo. However, a powerful section of the state CPI(M) leaders, including Bhattacharjee, state party secretary Anil Biswas and Left Front chairman Biman Bose, has all along refused to spare the Congress from their attacks.

          According to informed sources, the anti-Congress stand of the CPI(M)'s hardcore elements is part of a clever political game- plan to reap good harvest in the coming polls in West Bengal. State CPI(M) leaders feel a "soft attitude" towards the Congress in West Bengal will only lend credence to the oft-repeated contention of Trinamul Congress and the BJP that the Congress has been playing second fiddle to the Marxists. The CPI(M) leaders here also believe that anti-left votes may become vertically split if they try to project the West Bengal Congress as a formidable political force.

          Trinamul Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee, however, has apparently seen through the CPI(M)'s game-plan and urged the people not to "waste their votes by supporting the CPIM)'s B team." The Trinamul Congress leader, who has already kick-started her party's poll campaign in the districts, is also greatly depending on the Election Commission to ensure a peaceful and fair poll in Bengal. Ms Banerjee hopes the poll panel will take all the necessary steps to prevent the CPI(M) workers "from rigging the coming elections with the help of a subservient and partisan state administration."

          The state Congress, however, is yet to overcome its organizational disarray as is evident from the party's decision to put up non-political persons in crucial constituencies like Calcutta South and Calcutta Noeth-east. The high command's failure to name a party candidate for Calcutta North-west and its decision to support rebel Trinamul Congress leader Sudip Bandopadhyay have also not been taken kindly by the party workers in the constituency. Besides, the high command's decision to allow PCC chief Pranab Mukherjee to contest the polls from the Jangipur seat in Murshidabad district has threatened to create a void in the party's state leadership on the poll eve.

Orissa tribals taught to vote by machine (Go To Top)

          Malkangiri (Orissa): In one of their toughest assignments, poll officials in India's eastern Orissa are training the most primitive Bonda tribals to use electronic voting machines (EVMs) to cast their votes. The tribe will join 670 million people across India to choose a new government for the world's largest democracy this April-May. Living in the dense forests of Malkangiri and Koraput region, the Bondas, also known as the "naked people" have been described by an anthropologist as a wild and ferocious tribe. Dressed in beads and hand-spun cloth they are extremely protective of their territory and attack any outsider trying to enter their villages.

          The federal government has declared the area housing some 5200 tribals as "protected" and special permission is needed to enter the region. The authorities are trying hard to educate the 3608 voters in this tribe about elections and the new electronic voting procedures. This will only be the second time since India's independence that the tribe will vote. In 1999, 500 tribespeople voted after the authorities arranged special training camps for them. Most tribals have turned up for training out of sheer curiosity and the trainers could teach only some of them about the EVMs. Interestingly, among the Bondas, it is the women, who are more enterprising and have been much faster at picking up the training. Visibly more dominating and confident, they interact freely with the officers, often prodding the men as well, to join in. "Now we have learned to vote using this machine. Yes, we think we will be able to cast the vote," Mahira, a tribal said.

          District officials said the tough exercise has been succesful. "Since they are a primitive tribal group special attention is being paid towards their development and welfare and towards involving them in all the activities of the administration. As a special effort, since they are a primitive tribal group, we have gone out to virtually each village to conduct intensive training of these Bonda tribals, exposing them to the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) so that they are able to exercise their franchise in the most effective fashion. It was a required exercise and it has been successfull," Manish Moudgil, district collector, Malkangiri, said. The Bondas are expert farmers practicing shifting agriculture and also hunt and fish, including an extremely brutal ceremonial hunting exercise in March and April.