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Triangular contests in Bengal; Gorkha for Congress

          Siliguri: Poll campaign in West Bengal took a sudden turn as a regional separatist group announced support for the main Opposition Congress party in the May 10 elections. The Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF), a regional tribal organisation, which has been demanding a separate homeland, said it would support the Congress candidate in the Darjeeling constituency. West Bengal faces a triangular contest in the state as the ruling Left Front, the Congress and the NDA have fielded their candidates in all 42 constituencies. The Nationalist Trinamool Congress and the BJP are in alliance in the state.

         GNLF chief Subhash Ghisingh's appeal came even as local units of the Front gave a boycott call saying that political parties did not back their demand for a separate hill state. However, Ghisingh's plea has drastically changed the scenario. "We are supporting the Congress as there are many issues regarding the goodwill of the people living in the hills like that of the Gorkhaland and the other reason is that of the peace and security of this region. By bringing all the parties together we are trying to bring about further more development in this region," Kapil Chhetrie, president of the GNLF's local unit, said. However, the Congress candidate tried to play down the issue. "We have not made any conditions, there is nothing like that on the manifesto...I am confident that I will win..." Dawa Narbula, candidate of the Congress party said. In the last elections the support of the GNLF was crucial to the CPI-M-led Left front in the state, which sends 42 law-makers and has been ruled by the communists for the last 28 years. This time the party has fielded Mani Thapa, a local tribal leader in the area, to counter the anti-incumbency wave in the region.

           The city is completely flooded with red flags and the party left no stone unturned to ensure the victory of its candidates. The party said the issue of development and safeguarding secularism were the main issues in the elections. "The misery of population in all sections of the society is the main issue. Simultaneously, the issue of secularism, which is continuously being threatened. Obviously these two are the main two issues," Sanjay Chakroborthy, the CPI(M) candidate in Jadavpur constituency, said. Votes will be counted on May 13 and the results are expected the same day.

Confident BJP says NDA will return to power (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: The BJP on Thursday said that the NDA would return to power with a clear mandate shrugging off exit polls from four rounds of voting suggesting that the ongoing general elections will usher in a hung parliament. The party said this after a crucial meeting held here. "We have made an analysis of the fourth round of polls which was held yesterday. The exit polls are encouraging. The BJP is leading and we hope to continue this in the last phase," BJP general secretary Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told reporters after a party meeting in the Capital. Exit polls have predicted Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and his partners would win between 245 and 282 seats in parliament with 273 needed to form the government. Votes will be counted on May 13 and results will be out that day. Majority of the leading newspapers and TV channels of the country have given a thin majority to the ruling Alliance. The main Opposition party, the Congress, is seen winning 167-205 seats nationally.

Congress says it will prove exit poll results wrong (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: The Congress is unfazed by the exit poll results which showed NDA returning to power with a clear mandate, party spokesman Jaipal Reddy said here Thursday. The earlier three rounds had suggested the mammoth national election would usher in a hung Parliament. The Congress held a strategy meeting ahead of Monday's final and biggest round of voting, when 182 of the 543 seats will be decided. "The seven states where the elections were held we got the information from the party headquarters that in yesterday's phase it was in favour of Congress and against the BJP-led front. Overall assessment is that the NDA has been rejected and a Congress-led secular front will be formed," Reddy told reporters after the meeting. The fourth and last round of the ongoing general elections is slated to take place on May 10. The counting is to take place on May 13 and almost all the results would come the same day as electronic voting machines (EVMs) are being used throughout the country.

Left Front campaign turns Kolkata red (Go To Top)

          Kolkata: Is red the colour in Kolkata this summer? If you go around the city you will say yes. This has happened not because of any work by the Public Works Department. It is due to the campaigning by the CPI(M) for the general elections which is scheduled here for May 10. Every nook and corner of Kolkata has red flags fluttering around. CPI(M) enthusiasts have used road-dividers, lampposts, electricity poles and all public space available to put up the red party flags. The Left Front is leaving no stone unturned in its campaign in Kolkata for the Lok Sabha elections. The campaign method has also changed a bit. This time the party is trying to extend its reach.

          Sujan Chakraborty, who is contesting the Lok Sabha elections from the Jadavpur constituency on CPI (M) ticket, says: "We are trying to reach each and every individual voter. May it be the younger section, may it be the senior citizens of the constituency. I am trying to reach each and every individual directly or indirectly through letters, messages etc. I have given freedom to all the clubs and important organisations. Letters addressed to the families about the way we look at politics, the way we like to function in the Parliament is being written in form of a letter to all families. The legendary players of this area have also come out in my support because of my involvement in sports activities. Drama and music organisations, street theatre etc. are being employed in addition to mass meetings."

          Due to the use of drama, music and theatre, this time more young people are being seen in election meeting and processions. The processions are well-regulated and well-disciplined affair. Though it is another matter that these through the public life out of gear on the streets. Top party leaders like Jyoti Basu and Buddhadeb Bhattacharya are also making it a point to address local level meetings. Huge cut-outs of hammer and sickle are seen in these rallies. The all-out election campaign by the party seems to be bringing in some profits. Swati, a voter, says: "Firstly, I will keep the issue of democrcy in mind and secondly, the issues of equality, national harmony and peace. That is the main thing I beleive because especially the forces which are communal forces are rampant all over the country. So, I will vote against them so that peace and harmony in the country is maintained."

SC stays HC order barring criminals from contesting polls (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed an order of the Patna High court asking the Election Commission to take steps to bar candidates with criminal records from contesting elections. The Patna High Court had last week directed the poll panel to take a decision on countermanding elections for the ongoing national polls in constituencies where persons lodged in prison are in the fray. SK Mehandiratta, poll panel counsel, said the apex court had found the order impractical at a stage when the polls are in process. "It only said since the elections have reached the last stage, it was not practical at this stage to carry out the orders of the High Court, that is why the High Court order has been stayed for the moment," said Mehndiratta. "The hearing will commence after all the parties have appeared in the matter," he added. The High Court, in its order, had observed that when the right to vote of prisoners is suspended under the statute then why could such candidates not be debarred from contesting elections. The poll code is silent on the issue. The court also took note of jailed leader Mohammed Shahabuddin, who is contesting the elections from Siwan parliamentary constituency in Bihar. Shahabuddin is a candidate of the ruling RJD. Besides Shahabuddin, there are several other candidates in the fray who have criminal charges pending against them.

Sonia intensifies campaign ahead of final phase of polls (Go To Top)

         Chandigarh: As the general elections enter its last phase, the Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday continued her intensive campaign in the northern parts of the country shrugging off the exit poll results suggesting possibilities of NDA returning to power. Addressing a public rally in Chandigarh, Sonia said that all the development projects, on which Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and his ruling coalition have been banking on to win elections, were the results of the visions of past Congress party governments. "The green revolution, power revolution and industrial revolution which were promised by the BJP-led coalition did not take place in Punjab during Vajpayee's tenure. Projects like Bakhra Nangal, developmental projects in science, technology and nuclear development which were aimed at taking the country forward were the results of Congress party's vision," Sonia Gandhi said. She also criticised the BSP for dividing the Opposition votes. "Vajpayee and his partymen have been spending the public money for the election campaign of their party. There are some other parties contesting from Punjab, who do politics in the name of lower castes. But the parties like BJP are getting strengthened because of them," Sonia added. BSP has fielded its candidates in almost all the 13 constituencies in Punjab, where the Congress faces a fierce fight from the BJP-Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) alliance. Punjab goes to polls on May 10.