New
Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday finalised
seat sharing agreement with the Janata Dal (United) a coalition
ally in Karnataka for the upcoming national elections. One
of the last bastions of the Congress party, Karanataka will
have simultaneous assembly and Lok Sabha elections on April
20 and April 26. The Congress recently got a jolt in the
state when popular leader S. Bangarappa joined the BJP.
The BJP is banking on the unrest within the Congress state
unit, to make inroads into the region. "The decision was
taken in the presence of George Fernandes that JDU and BJP
will contest elections and campaign in Karnataka together.
In this decision JDU will contest four Lok Sabha seats and
BJP will fight 24 seats. In assembly, JDU will contest 25
and BJP 199 seats," BJP spokesman and Union Commerce Minister
Arun Jaitely told a news conference in New Delhi.
North-east
polling hours revised (Go
To Top)
Agartala:
The Election Commission (EC) has extended the polling
hours by one hour in the entire north- eastern region (NER),
official sources said here on Tuesday. The commission has
now fixed the polling hours in the seven north-east states
from 0700 to 1700 hours instead of previous polling hours
from 0800 hours to 1700 hours. The polling hours varied
from season to season and during the winter the polling
hours were less than the summer season, the official added.
The sunrise and sunset are much early in the north-east
region compared to the extreme northern and southern regions.
Meanwhile, state election department sources said that the
authorities were fully prepared to hold the April 22 Lok
Sabha poll in the state. The Tripura government has urged
the EC to provide at least four helicopters and 226 companies
of central para military forces to conduct the parliamentary
polls in the state. The EC might consider the request in
view of the extremist activities and hilly terrain in the
state.
'Dharam
Paaji' may follow 'Dream Girl' to BJP (Go
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by
Pankaj Yadav
New
Delhi: Veteran film star Dharmendra, better known as
"Dharam Paaji", may follow his "Dream Girl" Hema Malini
into the BJP in a couple of days, party sources told this
correspondent today. According to one source in the BJP's
media cell, "talks are on with Dharamendra to field him
from the Bikaner or Jhunjunu parliamentary constituency
in Rajasthan.
Hema
Malini formally joined the party about a month ago, and
Dharmendra, who hails from Punjab's Phagwara district, is
being considered from one of the constituencies in Rajasthan
because the party reportedly does not have enough credible
candidates to field from the state. Party general secretary
Pramod Mahajan said: "Talks are on with him ... but as of
now whether he would contest is not sure."
Meanwhile,
the party is yet to decide its candidate for the Amritsar
constituency. While former cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu
is a front runner, party sources say a Hindu candidate can
also give a good fight there. As far as the Chandni Chowk
constituency is concerned, the BJP is seriously considering
the option of fielding a Hindu candidate, despite the area
having a dominant Muslim population. According to a senior
party leader, if the party fields a Muslim candidate from
here, the Congress' Jai Prakash Aggarwal would have an easy
go.
Bangarappa's
Shimoga set to see battle of titans (Go
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Shimoga
(Karnataka): It will be a clash of titans in Shimoga
constituency in Karnataka as powerful leader S. Bangarapa
takes on stalwart Ayanur Manjunath of the state's ruling
Congress party in next month's national elections. The constituency
has seen major upheavals in recent months as top leaders
changed loyalties and parties, sparking, what analysts say,
will be one of the country's fiercest political battles.
Bangarapa, who is looking for his second term in Shimoga,
broke away from the Congress to join the Bharatiya Janata
Party last month.
Stung
by the move, the Congress almost immediately roped in BJP
heavyweight Ayanur Manjunath, Bangarappa's arch-rival and
a dominant force with the region's powerful Lingayats and
Brahmin communities. Bangarappa, on the other hand, takes
with him to the BJP a sizeable votebank of Muslims and the
lower caste Idigas and Bhovs. Though facing a tuff battle
from Manjunath, Bangarappa claimed he had the support of
all irrespective of castes. "People from all castes support
me. During last national elections I not only got votes
from the backward classes and minority communities but also
from Lingas and Brahmins. Even Marathas supported me. Therefore,
people are not looking at me on the caste basis they have
held me above all castes," Bangarappa said.
Manjunath,
on the other hand, claimed that poverty and unemployment
had increased in the constituency and the angry electorate
would throw Bangrappa out for his poor performance. "The
lawmaker Bangarappa (Sarekoppa Bangarappa) was unable to
do anything for the people, whereas when I was in power
for 13 months I brought Rs. 3.2 billion for the development
of the region. It had never happened in the history of Shimoga.
There people are angry with Bangarappa...sugar factories
have closed, employees are suffering, palm oil factories
have closed down in Shimoga district," Manjunath said.
And
even as the BJP and Congress prepare for the battle, the
socialist Janata Party is fielding Kannada film actor Doddanna
from the constituency. Though popular with the masses, Doddanna,
who has been dubbed by local media as the "dark horse" in
the race, is unlikely to dent the two stalwarts. Elections
in Shimoga have traditionally been about caste and personal
charisma of the leaders, who are treated as demi gods. But
this time as the leaders do absolute volte face changing
parties, which way the voter will swing remains anybody's
guess. "In these elections the fight is mainly between Bangarappa
and Manjunath.
Voters
in Naugarh village give tough time to candidates (Go
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Naugarh
(UP): In a unqiue move, angry villagers in Uttar Pradesh
have asked poll candidates to give in writing that they
will live up to the promises they make or face prosecution.
Villages in Naugarh in Chandauli district, one of the poorest
regions in the state, say they are fed up with politicians
turning up during poll time, assuring development, which
never really happens. The impoverished region hit the headlines
in 2002 due to a series of starvation deaths. Poor and uneducated
villagers say they get no help from the administration.
Initially, the disillusioned villagers had planned to boycott
the polls, but later they decided to hold the politicians
accountable. "We plan to ask candidates of all parties to
sign a bond paper. So that if they go back on their promise,
then we can challenge them in court," said Baccha Lal, a
villager. "The change is that people are becoming aware.
People have started coming together openly to express their
anger. They are challenging as well as opposing the government's
policies. This the change," Vinayan, another local, said.
Uttar Pradesh, which sends the maximum 80 lawmakers to Lok
Sabha will go to polls in three phases-April 26, May 5 and
May 10.
