Poll Briefs

North-East: Soon after the ULFA called a ban on elections, there have been two incidents of attacks on party leaders here. An Indepependent ...

North-East: Soon after the ULFA called a ban on elections, there have been two incidents of attacks on party leaders here. An Indepependent contesting the assembly by-election in Henglep in Manipur’s Churachandpur district was abducted by unidentified gunmen on Wednesday night. T. Kamkhanpao was taken away while he was campaigning after a shoot-out in which his security guard was killed. The attackers also took away the guard’s weapons.

In another incident at Raishabari in Tripura’s Dhalai district, suspected underground guerrillas attacked a CPI(M) office and injured two partymen on Wednesday night. However, security forces immediately reached the spot, forcing the militants to flee.

Vadodara: With money short, candidates can’t aim too high this time. Not even garlanding a statue. This is what two contestants for the Sayajiganj assembly seat in Vadodara discovered when they reached Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s statue here to pay their respects. When they rang the fire brigade to ask for twoladders so that they could climb up, they were told they would have to pay and, more importantly, the sum would be included as poll expense. They promptly dropped the idea.

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Shimla: The manifesto released by the Himachal Pradesh Congress here on Thursday makes no mention of corruption though Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had been promising to make the issue a poll plank. One such assurance had been made by him just two days ago.

Jaipur: The Janata Party may have itself long disappeared but an election record set by it here still stands after 20 years. In the post-Emergency Lok Sabha elections held in Rajasthan, the party had secured 65.21 per cent of the total polled votes (24 of the 25 seats in the State). No other party has even come close to this, with the best performance put up here by the Congress being 53.5 per cent, achieved back in 1957, and the BJP being 42.36, secured in 1996.

Agartala: Tripura Ch-ief Minister Dasarath Deb has requested the CPI(M) not to renominate himfor the February 16 election in the State as he hasn’t been keeping well. At an election rally here on Wednesday, the 82-year-old veteran Marxist said: “I do not like to hold power at this stage as I have been ailing long.” An emotionally charged Deb also urged the people to give the Left Front one more chance.

Bhopal: The ruling Congress here has fielded six of its State ministers for the Lok Sabha polls in the hope of bolstering its chances. None, incidentally, has contested a parliamentary poll before. The six are Home and Public Relations Minister Charandas Mahant, Education Minister Balendu Shukla, Ayacut Minister Jageshwar Sahu, Tribal Welfare Minister Kantilal Bhuria, Manpower Planning Minister Narendra Nahata and Commerce and Industries Minister Rajendra Singh.

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Jamnagar: For the first time in the Jamnagar Lok Sabha seat, a separate poll booth has been set up for employees of the Lighthouse and Light-ships Department and their families living on Pirotan island in the Gulf of Kutch,18 km off the coast. A polling booth exclusively for women would also be set up for the first time at Dhrafa in Porbandar Lok Sabha constituency, as the town has mostly Rajputs, whose women traditionally observe purdah.

Dausa: As members of the Rajasthan Assembly will vouch, Congress Mahuwa MLA Hari Singh Mahuwa is fond of his voice. From Sonia Gandhi’s rally at Dausa on Wednesday it seems, no one else is. Before her arrival, Mahuwa had been tutoring the crowd that if he said “Sonia Gandhi kaisi hai”, they were to shout back “Indira Gandhi jaisi hai”. But the plan fell apart as soon as Sonia came. Despite Mahuwa’s repeated exhortations and finally pleas, the people — perhaps tired of the long wait for the Madam — refused to respond. The MLA eventually gave up with a lame: “I understand only my voice is being heard.”