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Advani: Chariot ride a big success

          Ahmedabad: Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani on Sunday termed his chariot ride to drum up support for his party as a big success in establishing a people-to-people contact. Advani concluded the first leg of his chariot ride to campaign for his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the April- May national elections on Friday. The first phase covered eight states and ended at Amritsar. "My experience of chariot rides is that it is more useful than rallies to make people-to-people contact. This has helped me a lot in my campaign. When people hear there is a chariot ride even from remote places they come over and so this is a big help," Advani told party workers while inaugurating the BJP's election office in Ahmedabad. Advani's nationwide campaign tour called a "Bharat Uday Yatra" or "India Shining Journey", aims to capitalise on a "feel good" factor to win a second term for the ruling BJP-led coalition on the back of a good monsoon, an accelerating economy and burgeoning peace efforts. Opinion polls say the National Democratic Alliance is expected to win the polls easily, riding on 79-year-old Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's popularity and peace with Pakistan.

Bangaru's wife says she is nominated on merit (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: Wife of tainted former BJP chief on Sunday said she was chosen as a candidate for the coming elections by the party leaders on merit. Critics have called Sushila Devi's nomination by the BJP as a move to assuage former party president Bangaru Laxman who had to resign from the post after being implicated in a corruption scam. Devi was compared to Rabri Devi, Chief Minister of Bihar who assumed office after her husband and then state chief Laloo Prasad Yadav was implicated in a multi-million rupee fodder scam. Sushila downplayed the criticism, saying she was well qualified to become a lawmaker. "I am not like her (Rabri Devi). I am well educated, I have done MA in Hindi. I know everything and can judge people well. I am a teacher, who works by judging others. I will not do anything like a puppet or to just show people," Sushila said. Sushila said she had been into politics for the last 35 years and closely followed her husband's career. Meanwhile, Sushila's husband Laxman said his nomination as a candidate got delayed as the commission of inquiry was yet to submit its report. In March 2001, Laxman resigned as BJP chief after a news portal released video clips showing him accepting wads of currency. Tehelka.com said it was part of a sting operation to expose corruption in defence deals.

Haryana BJP renominates five sitting MPs (Go To Top)

          Chandigarh: The BJP and the INLD (Indian National Lok Dal) led by Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala have renominated eight of the ten MPs of the dissolved 13th Lok Sabha for the May 10 election. The BJP has given tickets to three of its sitting MPs, discarded one and is yet to announce the decision on one seat. The list of contestants released by the BJP in New Delhi included all the five who won the 1999 elections in alliance with the INLD. The two parties are contesting on their own this time due to recent break-up of the alliance. Union Minister of State for Home I D Swami (Karnal), Rattan Lal Kataria (Ambala Reserve), Kishen Singh Sangwan (Sonepat), Ram Chander Bainda (Faridabad) and Sudha Yadav have been fielded again by the BJP. INLD has denied ticket to Capt Inder Singh who won from Rohtak in 1999. The party has nominated Bhim Singh Suhag, who has announced his decision to quit as Vice-Chancellor of Maharishi Dayanand University (MDU) at Rohtak following allotment of INLD nomination to him. The three renominated by the INLD are the Chief Minister's son Ajay Chautala (Bhiwani), Surender Singh Barwala (Hissar) and Sushil Kumar Indora (Sirsa). The party is yet to decide the fate of its lone woman MP Kailasho Devi (Kurukshetra). BJP has so far announced candidates for five seats, INLD eight and Haryana Vikas Party (HVP) led by former Chief Minister Bansi Lal five while the Congress is yet to announce any candidate.

'Unholy alliance' between NC, BJP (Go To Top)

          Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir Congress on Sunday accused National Conference of entering into an unholy alliance with the BJP and fielding "weak candidates" in some constituencies like Udhampur and Jammu inorder to help BJP defeat Congress candidates, according to Congress leader and Health Minister Lal Singh. Addressing a rally in Doda, he said: "NC and BJP are two sides of the same coin and people must see through this sinister design". The Congress leader said while NC is raising the bogey of autonomy and pre-1953 status for the state, its "unholy alliance" partner BJP is communalising the situation on one pretext or the other, Singh added.

Ladakh promises tough fight between former allies (Go To Top)

          Leh: Ladakh region in Jammu and Kashmir promises a tough fight between the National Conference and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). With Zanskar, Leh, Nobra and Kargil districts, Ladakh makes up the constituency of mountainous region of the troubled state. Ladakh is dominated by Buddhists, Kashmir valley has a majority of Muslims, while Jammu is Hindu-dominated. India goes to polls in five phases in April-May. Voting in Jammu and Kashmir has been split in four phases due to security reasons. Spread over an area of 54,000 sq kms, Ladakh, relatively free of terrorist activities, would vote on May 10.

          For the past two decades, the constituency was dominated by Buddhist leaders, but in the last elections in 1999, National Conference (NC) leader Hassan Khan won by a margin of 32,000 votes. NC was an ally of BJP-led ruling National Democratic Alliance, but pulled out in 2002 citing political differences. NC was turfed out of power when it fought state elections alone. Khan, the incumbent lawmaker, hopes to retain the seat by cashing in on the development undertaken by him. Khan boasts of the improved quality of education in Leh. "We have provided assistance to small schools in Leh, where we have given them funds to buy computers. I have even undertaken construction of buildings in remote areas. Quality of education is very important for me. In the last ten years, the number of children attending schools has also increased," said Khan. Residents in Leh, however, say Khan spends most of his time in Kargil, neglecting the capital. "Hassan Khan is our lawmaker here, but we hardly see him here. He's doing more work in Kargil than here," said Nawag Rigzen, a resident.

          Giving a tough time to Khan is Sonam Paljori, a social activist, quite popular among the masses. Paljori is the first time candidate from Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's BJP. He is also being backed by two major Buddhist organisations, which have been demanding federally-administered territory status for Ladakh for accelerated development in the region. "The BJP-led government at the centre has focused on development. We will also focus on development here. There is no electricity here. We will provide electricity. We will construct roads, especially in Zanskar. We will also improve infrastructure in Kargil which is a backward area," said Paljori.