PRATAPGARH, Feb 14: The man is back. Hui nahin abhi koi der, aa gaya hai Kunda ka sher. (It's not too late. Kunda's tiger has arrived). This is how a group of 100 motorcyclists near Kunda town in Pratapgarh constituency welcome the return of UP Cabinet Minister Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya.Yesterday the High Court quashed the EC orders restraining him from entering Pratapgarh. Today, Raja Bhaiya was in Pratapgarh campaigning for BJP candidate Ram Vilas Vedanti.That, too, with additional security provided by the District Magistrate. For good measure, R Raman, the DDM, has also put a Magistrate on Raja Bhaiya's tail who is videotaping ``the minister's movements.''Minutes after the motorcyclists' jubilant announcement, comes Congress candidate Rajkumari Ratna Singh accompanied by about 150 jeeps and cars, on the last leg of her campaign which ended at 5 pm today.Caught between these two heavyweights, middle-level police officers at Kunda are complaining. ``We have never suffered so muchinsult. But we have to wear bangles only because of our senior officers''.There's resentment in the police: An inquiry into assault on them by Raja Bhaiya's men sometime ago has been transferred to the CID, better known here as the Cold storage Department of Investigation.Pratapgarh is tense; neither the police nor the administration is ready to elaborate on security threats and arrangements. ``We don't want to invite trouble,'' says a sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) who insists on not giving his name.This is probably why the Election Commission has classified Pratapgarh as one of the seven hypersensitive constituencies in Uttar Pradesh. Ratna Singh today spoke to EC once again complaining about the ``strong-arm tactics'' of Raja Bhaiya and his Youth Brigade members. ``Armed with illegal weapons they are going village to village, threatening people to vote only for the BJP candidate,'' she alleges.Vedanti, however, is all praise for Raja Bhaiya calling him ``Ram,'' and the local MLC, Akshay PratapSingh, ``Laxman'' who were out to ``finish off the devils'' of Pratapgarh.Ironically, Raja Bhaiya, according to police records, has over 20 cases against him, including those of murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, loot and rioting. His friend, Akshay Pratap, too, figures in several cases.Police claim Pratap procured two AK-47 rifles from Nepal-based Mirza Dilshad Beg for Raja Bhaiya.Raja Bhaiya's house in Bainti is built on forest land and he has allegedly captured large chunks of Railway land in Babuganj. He has accused Ratna Singh of being a pawn in his fight with local Congress leader Pramod Tiwari. Raja Bhaiya alleges that Tiwari is a master of booth-capturing. ``See, she trailed behind the BJP candidate in four assembly segments but managed to win the 1996 polls due to a lead of some 50,000 votes. I will not let it happen this time.''
