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Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008
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Congress harps on corruption, BJP focus on development in Madhya Pradesh

Vinay Kumar

Mayawati’s BSP and Uma Bharti’s Bharatiya Jan Shakti Party may throw up surprises

— Photo: A.M. Faruqui

Seeking votes: AICC president Sonia Gandhi campaigning for the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections at the Gadarwara township on Monday.

BHOPAL: Campaigning for the November 27 Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh reached its climax on Monday, a day before the cacophony of electioneering stops officially.

Both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress have brought their top leaders and star campaigners to different parts of the State to lure voters in a poll, where neither a wave is visible nor people seem excited about issues raised by the contestants.

While the BJP has focussed on “development and making visible improvement to the road network, giving cheaper foodgrains, cheaper loans to farmers and welfare schemes for the girl child, the Congress has harped on allegations of corruption, an “unholy nexus” between BJP workers and administration officials, and the failure of the government to utilise Central funds under various schemes.

There is yet another factor: Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party, Uma Bharti’s Bharatiya Jan Shakti Party (BJSP) and rebels have raised hopes of triangular or multicornered contests in a number of constituencies.

Political observers say a number of seats in the Bundelkhand, Baghelkhand, Chambal and Reeva-Satna belt can throw up interesting results. Nearly 120 seats in the State can witness such tussle.

Sonia’s charge

For the Congress, its president Sonia Gandhi addressed two meetings in two different regions — in Bhind and Gadarwara — on Monday.

She charged the BJP government with misusing the Central funds meant for development projects, doing nothing to check rampant malnutrition among children and failing to fulfil its promises made to the people in 2003. The Congress, presenting the picture of a divided house but putting on a united front, has raised the campaign pitch in the past three days. The party appears to have improved its chances of giving a tough fight to the BJP.

The BJP has left no stone unturned in its bid to score a back-to-back win for the first time in Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls. Party president Rajnath Singh, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha L.K. Advani and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi have, over the past three days, went on a blitz over the arrest of Sadhvi Pragnya, on the charge of involvement in the Malegaon blast case. They have charged the Congress and the Anti-Terrorism Squad of Maharashtra with humiliating “spiritual figures like the Sadhvi and demeaning Army jawans” for their alleged involvement in terror-related incidents.

Projecting Chauhan

The BJP has unitedly projected the leadership of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan, who is seeking a second term in office.

“Though I am not impressed with the BJP’s bid to raise emotive, religious issues, I feel it has not performed that poorly in the past five years. Given that Mr. Chauhan is the third Chief Minister and is not known for his administrative skills and that he got bogged down by corruption cases against his own Ministers, he comes out as a simple, ordinary man who is identified with the masses and is keen to work for the welfare of people and weaker sections,” said Saurabh, a first-time voter.

If the Congress utilised the services of the former Samajwadi Party leader and actor Raj Babbar, who recently joined the party, the BJP stormed the scene with the “star power” of Hema Malini, Navjot Singh Siddhu and Shatrughan Sinha. On Monday, the witty former cricketer was showcased before mediapersons at the State party headquarters here and he praised the performance of Mr. Chauhan on all fronts — economic, social, education and infrastructure.

The BJP, the Congress and the BSP have put up candidates in almost all of the 230 constituencies or reached an understanding in others. The BJSP released its manifesto on Monday, but the BSP has not felt the need for issuing its set of promises, saying the exercise means nothing to the people.

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