RAYMONDS CLASSIC STRATEGY FOR FORMAL SHIRTS.Cove: Story—Elections 4 national contest without issues, without verve & Eeivovial YO ot icebergs and sunken continents: by TN. Murari 116 FRONTLINE-IMRB Opinio Poll 21 Prestigious contests (UP.) 25 Opposition in disarray (Rajasthan) 27. Sympathy trance (Bihar) 31. Straight fights (MP) 34 Aroaring fight (&P.) 39 Who has the edge? (7.) Letters 44 Dear Editor. FRONTLINE Eseay G5 Political artists of India Actualines 5 Bhopal’s gas chamber Cover Story—Elections 9 The fights not (Karnataka) 1) Glose contest (Kerala) 7-2 Caste wil play its role (Gujrat) 7.3. New pinpricks for Congress (I) (Maharashtra) 75 Battie of Patnaik (rissa) 77 Built-in advantages for Loft Font (West Bengal) 7-9 North-East: Manipur batts willbe close 181 Norther zone: Many things sping for Congress () 8.9 The track record December 18-28, 1984 Vol. 1, No. 2 Politics 94 Issues of insecure security ines Aftaize 95 On hold, but expectations: ‘many ale “© The Nobel Prize and all that: by RK. Narayan The English language 27 Parting onthe lavish Seiance 101 A young Indian's exciting mathematics 106 Smita Pati: a natural actress Who will win and by how much? | Is there 9 “symosthy wave” and wil Pajy Gandhi make © agaist 2 fragmented and somewhat dis friented Opposition? How effec: live 2 campaigner is. say. Charan ‘Saigh? What are the issues posed before the electorate and what the ideological spectrum? What is the aigaficance of the contest? “Ths is the cover story, wih many pars’ and exclusive colour photographs. 16883 The exclusive re: tonal opinion pal reves the fection in which the -pottical wind isblowing and ts intensity. And FRONTUNE's de tailed study of India’s track |e cord at the polls is revealing ‘Smita Pat. ve 104 ‘816U8, Sensuous. in tense. ntelbgert emotional = natural actress says Shyom Be. egal tp. 110) FRONTLINE inter: views Smita in Bombay and Ooty there's a. eric’s ew. and an ex lusive study in Colour of the per son and her art 59 It was tke chemical warfare ‘against innocent, unsuspecting people... like 3 gas chamber at large... whole Tamviies wiped ul mortuaries choked. hosp tals filed to the erm. A heart re riding story. with moving inter- views and colow transparenci, of Bhopals wicims. A look at the company’s culpabilty... the res: orsibiliy of governments. the \widorisves... Be futur. Salo MESSRS RASTURLE SONS IO, nw Boo macros arm Macaroon 5 RANGARAIAN onIt’s a national election weak in issues, without verve. The outcome will hinge on the ability of the Congress(I) to make up its probable Southern losses in the Hindi zone. The ling party’s strategy is, aside from checking Opposition gains by mobilising the “sympathy factor”, to render it leaderless by specially targeting the top leaders. The Opposition is fragmented where it counts most. So how does it look? Charan Singh (fd and Raj Gandhi ‘above campaigning nthe Hind heart Tan wil be orci ore, HE Eighth General Elections have in air CF semiesiity behind ther, in that they have come against a back: ground of major develooments the Ration has not really been prepared for. ‘The issues that might have Figured in 2 contest held under less extraordinary. circumstances have been taken out of focus, they have not been obscured. The national contest will be signif: cant in some other ways, It will be the First held after the brutal cuting off of Indira” Gandh’s sway” over political affairs that began in 1966 and was con- tinuous, excopt for a three-year break The fears, the uncertainty and the cor- fusion have. atleast for the time being. boon moderated, even if they have not been dissolved. OF course, answers to mary political and socio-economic questions have been dodged in the process. Wet, realistcaly, are the chances of the major contestants and what are the practical options? Will the ruling Congress @, is future now seeming #© rest in the hands of Indra Gandh’s son ‘and politcal inherit, receive a clear fend decisive popular mandate ina ‘wave of sympathy” relative to those ranged, under quite inhibited cr. cumstances, against it? As- suming—ebout this there is absolutely fo doubt—it will be the single largest Party to emerge from the elections, What will the margin of difference be? Oris there eny real chance that the fragmented Opposition will hold any kind of whip hand inthe new Lok Sabhe? in any case, what will be the internal political co-elations within the Opposition, among its various con stituents ofthe Fight centre and Left? India's, in this national round, elec- ting representatives to some $11 seats in the Lok Sabha out of a total of 542 seats. The numberof constituencies par tlipating in ths round. should have been 515, but an uncontested victory. the postponement of the contest. in snow-bound Ladakh in Jammu and Ka- shmir, and the countermending of the poll in one constituency each in Tamil Nadu and Andra Pradesh on account ofthe death of the candidates have re- duced the figure to S11. The statistics ‘re staggering. For the 515 conatituen cies. the number of electors involved will bo 3785 milbons, involving some 466,000. polling stations and some 5.300 candidates—an average of over 10 contestants per constituency. an un flatering commentary on efforts to limit the number of candidates and to el- mina the entry of les-than-serious car- dates, “The Congress (0 i in the direct con test in 492 constituencies. itis highiy ‘sgnficant that none of the Oppeetion praries—not the BYP, not the ‘Janata—has so much as half the num: ber of contestants the Congress () has fielded nationally. What is the overall significance of Fone, December 1625, 1604 3‘of soats the Congress (Dis. the contest? Here © @ story about another kind of Parliament, tha 18th contury British House of Commons: particularly bsireperous Member of Parliament re plied in these terms to his constituents fwho had written 10 him asking him 10 ote agsinst the budget. “Gentlemen”. he seid, "I have received your letter ‘about the excise and I am surprised fat your Insolence in writing to me at all. You know and I know that | bought this constituency. You know and. | know that | am now determined to sell ‘And you know what you think I don't know, that you are now looking for another buyer: and | know what you ‘certainly don't know, thet | have found ‘another constituency to buy.” This episode was recounted some years ago in a BBC serial on the ‘Workings ofthe British Parliament. Although patterned to an extent on the UK. model, India's elective system did not have to undergo the experien- ‘ces the “mother of pariaments” dic ‘over time, certainly not such practices '2 the auctioning of constituencies. But there have been various other pro- biems—the pernicious influence. of money power which makes @ mockery fF the law on election expences, the Janata's Chandra Shekhar: no Opposition party is contesting half the number ‘abuse of authority in_various ways which the Election Commission has been trying to check, the easy resort to demagogy and so forth. Yet. while several spectic reforms are neodes, the parliamentary electoral system has—eertainly relatve 10. the ex perience of other developing countries, for a startin the region—beon a su: cass. By and large, it hae answered the requirements of @ highly complicated, pluralistic democratic society. The 1964 general elections cannot, fas we argued earlier be regarded as typical. Cautious in the choice of its candidates, the Congress 0 refrained from any drastic changes in the ex isting © setup, renominating roughly tworthieds of its siting members to the Lok Sabha. Obviously, electoral com. pusions rather than the exuberance of the Prime Minister's advisers, the "com- pputer boys", and their obsession with modern Management techniques pre- valled. "This was political re ‘alism—there was no point. it was re cognised, In introducing new young faces end running the risk of an un ccertzin voter response on the one hand ‘and a revolt In the party on the other. Even with regard to the seats the Cong: ress @ lost last time, the claims. of those who put up a good fight were not altogether ignored. The ruling poty hao stl reckon with rebe verily estimated benween 80 and 80. nein st leost 90 siting MPs. But cd sayone ‘xpect@ total siminaton of refractory tendencies? “There wes evidence of deliberation ‘and dosgnn tho aelocton of Congress @Prominees to confront top Oppostion leaders The ‘strategy had 2 twofold ajectve~one, to rander the Opps tlon setup inthe new Lol Sebhit fede tries, on! secondly to pin down the ‘Tojo leaders In tough figs. in ther ‘onstwvenees, Wit ths strategy in background, Machavrao. Seindis hos ten feded Cera feintng operation) apoinet A.B. Vapayee n Goralce and rtabh Bachchon ogainst tre OMKP Sonor. HN. Bahugora, in Alahabod in" Baghoat in western Uttar Procesh the Congress tb has impictly en couraged Ra) Narain. againet Charan Singh by puting up an significa cm ‘ate hee the ruling pany. sso ‘unnng for Chordre Sbekhor in Balia Freester Uttar Pradesh Erscton in india have frequent re volved around personalities, but ol Ses nd programmes have figured == interesting aojncts. For didnot the “Geriot Notao! Away: with Poverty) siogen help Indra. Gendh swoop the polo, in 48717 Did rot the revulsion gant Emergency rule—the nearest the Oppesiton fos come to. the evolution of a. broadly “coheront pre Grarve see. her it OF power in (Gtr? And cid rot be ness mage ot tho slant exporment pave the, wy fo she rounding vata oko Con “he election hetoric of the 1984 ele tion's for tre most part ond barring tho Itaneve compoigh of te Lah sh Bars ofthe country, weak in policy and {Geological conten, The exceptions are the two Communst partes, and eapec: aly the CPI (Wh where t's n'a postion to campaign inoncively. 60 the BLIP ‘on he Fight to rome extent. But they fave no tusions about any mediate prospect of providing a national arma. {ve fo the rug party. The Commun’ St wil bo content wth rotang. Tow strongholds. while aiming for 2. sight exporsion But the." controvery Sin ‘Anda Pradesh has not helped ino fecerathe rage of growl ca The BUP's adherence to Its ideology ‘comas in the way of any truck with fithor of the Communist parties, which, of course, fully reciprocate te ‘sentiments NNetther the Congress (D nor the Op: postion nor the non Communist parties by themselves offer any defined, cla fied policy options. On the contrary, the themes are conspicuous by their sameness in a basic sense. The Cong a Frontine, December 16:8, 1964cess (0 seeks a renewed mandate on the plee of its indispensabilty to the ‘country’s Unity and intgriy, Seen as threatened. The Opposition parties are blamed ‘not only for ther alleged In- difference to the alimpartant question, but also for helping. witinaly or un- wittingly, the forces of "dostabilsa tion”. In the campaign, Rajiv Gandhi hin self hes projected this theme somewhat dagressvely. Equally strong in their pleas for ra ‘ional consolidation andi unity, the Op- position parties hold the Cengress 1D ‘esponsble for the present disruptive tendencies. for promoting confront: tion and division rather than coopers tion and unity. All of them find fault with the ruling pany for ts faire to check the price rise. to maintain law fond order. to reverse economic mis ‘manegement, 1o check financial wast, to combat corruption of which itis char Tountansource, and 10 Grovide 2 "government that works" thar ‘charges include the tampering with democratic inettuton ard values {rd the practice of dynastic succession. Had serious poliey or ideology come to the fore. neither the ruling party nor the Opposition would have started the poll campaign long before releasing Franifestoes, Not that many of these [a borously deefted documents. excited the electors in the past. Nevertheless, many of the parties had adhered inthe past to the stance of giving "primacy" 1w thel- declarations of tert. Revealingly this time, the Congress © chief and Prime Minster. Rav, was rot present at the caremony of re leasing the perty manifesto. ‘Sie 2ues have no doubt cropped up once the campaign hes progressed. Punjab has figured as a controversy. Coalition versus strong, “stable govern ment as. another, Rav Gandhi the manner of his lnducton a5 Prime Min: ster and his competence for the job a a thd sve; violence In. ec tWoneering as 2 fourth, "The debate cver Punjab has bean rather heated, with Rajiv Gendhi char ‘ging that the Opposition parties have been supporting the Anandpur Sahib recolution—and the leaders of several ‘Opposition partes hitting beck stron ly at him for misrepresenting the ele- mentary facts Regarding Raji’s focus on Punjab ‘as 9 move to “pacts the Hindus the ‘act segment of the eleotorate, the BNP. Int back with "a serous accusa- tion—that Rajiv had once offered the Chief Miistesshp “of Punab to Gurcharan Singh Tohra, the SGPC hel. who according to the Govern: ment was responsible for the bullé-up of armed extremism in the Golden Temple. For 2 simplified study of the voting behaviour or of electoral prospects, tho ‘country con be divided into four major Zones, oF which tho Hindi belt with 225 ‘seats end the South with 131 account for more than twothirds of the Lok Sabha seals, The two other major zones are Western India comprising Maharashtra and Gujarat, andthe Eastern Zone made up of West Bengal (Oriesa and Tripura. Besides thooe there are the Noctheaster Szates and, inthe ron-Hind! North Zone Puriab and sJemmu and Kashmi. which form some- thing of @ special category in electoral behaviour in 1980, the support received by the Congress in the Hind belt was ‘mayor, bu rot monolithic even in terms ‘of seots. One point that stands out from past performance is that the fortunes Of the Congress or the Congross (0 have Fictuated for more violent in the Hing: bet than in the South. In the South, political behaviour has differed ‘markedly from the rest of the country. raising interesting questions about ‘ahether this behaviour Being IeSs Su ject fo "waves" ls more evolves. ‘What sot of Indieators does this pro- vide for the 1964 outcome? There’ nas been @ decisive shift nthe poltical Iga ofthe rope the South nr lation to the Congress) since 2s evidenced by the 1983 Assembly flection result in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The rejection of the Cong ress () was clearly more decsive in ‘Andhra Pradesh, although the shock in Karnataka was not mild either. In Tara "Nad, there has been no change in the ‘A.powerful orator: BIP President Atel Behari Vejnayee faces an unexpected challenge from Madhavrao Scindia in Gwalior.‘Two formidable opponents of the Congress ( in the South: NT. Rama Rao, a tough, imagi tive campaigner out to ‘humble Rajiv Gandh's party in Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka's shrewd Janata Chief Minister, Ramakrishna Hegde. ‘Congress (D strategy developed in the post-1967 period, of alying with one (oF the other regional party. In the South, the Opposition has had lose of @ prabiem ia agreeing on seat adjustment. This was because there Is ‘one dominant Opposition perty in each of the four States and its primacy is recognisad by the rest, Howaver well it performs, the Cong ress (0 is likely to be leh with only 3 dafictin the South, relative to the back Ing it got here in 1980. Where could ths be made up? Not in Western India Which last time voted overwhelmingly ‘and, solidly for the Congress (0. Nor in Orissa in the East. although it may Improve its tally in West Bengal where last tine it was hopelessly routed by the Loft Front. It appears that the outcome of the poll wll hinge chiefly on the ability of the Congress © to make good the peo- bable couthern defict in the Hindi belt. Chiefly in Utter Pradesh and. Bihar whieh own more Lok Sabha constituen ies than the entire South. Given such ireumstances, the national outcome of the 1884 general elections will be de- sively settied in these two sprawling Stat “The Congress 1 has been able to draw salisfaction from the fallure of the Opposition parties to achieve. in the Hind region, the modest objective they had set for themselves—challenging the rulng party with a jontly backed ‘candidate in every constituency. Failure to achieve ths has been bad enough, but worse has beon the intorminable wrangling and the psychology. and image of disunty projected before the voters ‘A wave of sympathy for the assas- sinated Prime Mister Indra: Gandhi wwhvch can be traneferred—in the ab sence ( unled“Opposton “to Sours vopusly dscemble. The Cong ‘oss ig posttve t's tere: the Oppost tion perheps conims t to an ertent by protesting the pont 100 frequently Saye H_N. Bahuguna, who is ited agarst Amtebh Bachchan. "The other Gey. I diated ot length ot 2. pubic ‘meeting on how Ms Gendh's policies hod led to disruption ard the ausionce applauded" “he Hn bol dose hold ou the pro mise covery at leet patil he Blobabis Congiees ©) atk I the Sth: Shoud mean an warn Biuous majoety, even # the merge I rolgod. Yor the culng pary, Witt the “aympaty facto. questo OF co now tru pow many seats for tne—tne Congecs cag fe found ool no Good ‘esl ot Togble rine grin General lector Butte fct that tone ofthe Oppose ton partes, 28 mentored are hes pap corcicats even el the Uk Sion “Continence donors tore of tm hos ay ison Shout "comng to power sngle han tay. Oespte! the ‘SIP general sec fat, cvonrs asain that he ial ngrtance of seat adtents is Srtonated thse he cara the fragertaton ofthe Opgostion efor Oe mage te prope we cle tore rave vitally toe out any char Soe Saino Sores © arergerer: Sein Bowe Nw Bet ne conve KK. KATYALEditorial Atime to choose Tit Elatth Sonera! Elections are being held ‘as due under the Constitution and the de- mocratic rules of the game, but the nation has been through far more than its due of violent shocks end upsets during the run-up to the con- test. That the parliamentary democratic process hes epperently absorbed these shocks and, in any case, has not been thrown off course—as very nearly happened in the mid-1870s—ie hear- tening. But complacency would be dangerous. In fact, it can be stated quite postively that the outcome of the 1984 parliementary elections will pose many more questions then it will answer, in the sense there is a pressing need to look be- yond the immediate numbers and work out speci- fic measures ond instruments to revitalise the polit- ‘cl institutions and culture and improve the perfor- mance in the socio-economic and developmental ‘sphere. Unfortunately. the leading ner, Rajiv Gandhi, has chosen this sensitive time to ‘come out with charges on the Opposition’s stand ‘on the Punjab crisis that seem sweeping, abrasive ‘and less than accurate. Not that the Opposition ‘camp offers at the national level any Kind of credi- ble alternative to the ruling party. All this suggests, that tolerance of divergent views, a full accep: tance of the pluralistic nature of the experiment, the habit of consulting widely on major problems, ‘end scrupulous respect for the people's Judgment, will heve to be worked for consciously after the elections. ‘The FRONTLINE-MAB public opinion poll round. the -which is carried in this issve—points clearly to the Congress (D headed. bby Rajiv Gandhi returning as the mejority party In the Lok Sabha. But this does not mean there ‘will be an unbroken, uniform pattern across the nation, for example in Andhra Pradesh or West Bengal Aa I Ketyal apes ie vatonel election assessment. the outcome appears to, hinge decisively on the ability of the Congress. to make up in the Hindi belt—porticularly in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar—the probable losses for it in the South relative to the 1980 result. India ig a largerthamlfe, diverse, pluralistic, complicated society—although to note only this ‘end “underestimate the common elements, the lerger consciousness and the deep mass urge for a united nation would lead to wrong political con- clusions. Over time, Indian mass political be- haviour has become—see the study of the track record carried in this issue—more participatory, more assured, less tolerant of non-serious candi- dates and parties, and perhaps, less skewed in favour of perticipation by one sex or one social segment in the electing process. «Today, it ‘appears. more evolved then at any point pre- vieusly and also moving in a direction that Sug- ‘gests clear. even if somewhat volatile, preferen- ‘ces under conditions where governmental perfor- mance is way, way short of the socio-economic and developmental expectations of the voters. This issue of FRONTLINE is something of fan election special. It offers. along with the: national election assessment. the public opinion survey and the computer-aided study of the track record, a detailed zone-by-zone campaign round- up: qualitative perceptions of the leaders, the ‘campaigns, the rhetoric and the mass responses; ‘and @ new feature, FRONTLINE Essay, on Poi ‘cal artists of India. And there is a major offering ‘of exclusive photogrephs, in colour. If the substentive Issues are unfocussed in the eighth Test in the national series, there are some issues that, in a basic and irreducible human sense, go beyond elections. Bhopal’s colossal tragedy—the havoc wrought to the lives. liber- ties, health, happiness and future of hundreds of thousands of people, the culpebilty of the multi ‘rational company whose high-risk. safety-poor pesticide plant in the midst of @ concentrated human habitat brought on the tragedy, the ‘accountability of the governments thet allowed the ‘operation to go on. under such circumstances, despite the warning signals, the wider industrial ‘and social questions—all this is spotlighted in ‘2 major text-and-visual feature that expresses FRONTLINE’s solidarity with the victims. For an Issues Focus on Bhopal, we invited 8 valued intellectual “and long-term contributor to THE HINDU. K. S. Shelvankar, now visiting India from his home base in London, to contribute his reading oF this calamity beyond comparisons. ‘Frontline, December 1628, 1064Campaign Styles Of icebergs and sunken continents |ETAPHORS threaten me even be Hore jet iag has faded. On arrival in Deli arport a large sign welcomes dologates to "The Sith Annual Con vention of Fractures." My traveling com onion ard photographer, Krishnan, 3 mintive man with 2 bearing smi, S lunartant beard and a permanant at tachment to 3 large aluminism case of cameras. raises an eyabrow and on (quires politely: ‘What fractures? suspect this innocent question is 10 test this sem-expatriote Indian novelists grasp of the incomprehers': bile that is So0n to face us. “Doctors, 1 explain firmly, “setting fractured bones”. Krshrian remains unconvinced. “Mey be architects,” I ry again. "Stress fractures” From his glance, | fee! Im ‘geting warm. “Palit then, the frac. {ures of India Kran smiles enigmat cally and! desparately ask: Whet hen? “Idon't know.” he says. “That's why | asked you Befuddled by @ cloth banner even P's manifesto, before | have begun, | wondar wy, | have Flown 10,000 miles at 8 moment's rotiee. ad covered elections before bout then there. was sill the sere of Continuity and those old faces, shuffled like 9 magician’s pack of cards, were, iF not dependable, at least comforting They are. of course stil wth us. those same faces in the daly papers, those Same speeches, the same parade of ‘nemes—Charan Singh Raj Narain, ‘Jegivan (Morar thankfully throwing In the towel tke a fighter stil surprised. by his knockout of the champion) and onder whether they wall ever let go ‘of us. They cling to us with old hands and old thoughts. For Incira too. whom T'mouned, the time had come to st with the others ia the fading winter sun light to dream of past gloves. | had come to witness change or chacs. The fexternal world Is ‘beting. chaos and some of our politica! heroes, t seems ‘are rushing to comply. ‘We will see, But before that thought 's even complete, our taxi passes. a huge hoarding wih a saying of Rain’ Gandhi's. Syeophancy continues and doesn't augur well fer change though thankfully we commit their thoughts merely to pant rather than chisel ther fon stone tablets. Change in power wal nly be a quick whitewash of the sayer (f such wisdom. Krishnan and | are joined for this voyage by another companion, Appan. He's also a bearded man, who during the post Indira rote, was mistaken For 2 Sikh and wae nearly set upon by the robs. Appan i t0 be our navigator trough ‘the paltical end linguistic shoals ahead of us. LUKE A METEORITE ‘The fist problem is discovering the presse, mharaabouts of Rap, Gar ike 9 Scarlet Pimpernel he is here and ‘here but no one wil tell us here. In Madres, | had prepared to rush to Katpadi when he helicoptered in but then his whole vist to Tamil Nadu was ‘abruptly cancelled for that phase. | was told he would be visting Sonepat (not far from DelhD and bere | am poised to catch him as ne whirs dows from the sky “Ist defintely Sonepat?” Yes. yes everyone concurs. The newspaper 'S an unimpeachable source and s0 ore four highup government contacts, though not lo be quoted. The word ie ‘rontine, December 186,198ELECTIONS security” hangs over al of us tke funeral pall TRe next moming, Apoon sea Sonepat cored “Where then?” ane and he. shrugs. Raji ‘down South where just em from snd” traveling, ke 3 meteorne Showering contttuencies wit his pre Sonce,| area feo! my tertatve geep fn this election slipping” a8: te mah contender hovers permanently In Navesarnope we set naive Prados!) ‘roniine, Deconibor 16.8, 1066ELECTIONS Opinion Pol The West: Congress (I) well ahead [IN 24 Western rion the Congrase CD enjoys @ comfortable lead over the ‘other parties. In Jalgaon. a largely rural ‘constituency in Maharashtra, the Cong: ress () runs substantially ahead of the rearest rival, the Congress (), in the poll The Congress (Ds tally 6 almost 13per cent higher than what i polled here in 1980 while a. ite over a fith ‘of the respondents remain undecided. Voting preference—Western Zone In Surendranagar in Gyros, 0 3 rural constituency, the Congress share at this point stands below the 57-4 por cont it obtained in the 1980 poll. ‘But nearly a third of the res Pondents were as yet undecided. The ‘shares of the two major Opposition par- ties in the State, the Janata and’ the BMP. remain surprisingly low. ‘Cong. @ Corgi) Jerata BJP Others? Dont oe Boor, ase adhoraehwa) Serdar so (Gian 7 oe ae 319742 B00 The Hindi belt: Opposition eclipsed? S$ in the Wester region, in the Hindi Bet too the Opposition par ties appear to be logging far Behr in'Uiter Pradesh, in the urban const tency of Agra'n the west and the lr ely ral ‘Khslabad in the north Secton part of the State the combined average votng. preference for the major Opposivon parties the OMKP. ‘Janata 8nd the BP. does. noted Up to even a double dig porcertage ‘The Congress share touches amost 80° per nt, In 1660. Ht polld” an ‘average of 35.4 percent n the two con Sttvensos white ithe State os 8 «hoe is share was 359 per cent Over quae tor of the respondents. appear undoes ‘ded and only they shit wholesale 0 ‘he Oppestion would he contest sppearto become worthahie. ‘A-simiar vend i noticeable in Bar where the poll sample Included Ranch Inthe south and the largly rural oon sttvency of Seharsa in the noshern Dart of tho Stato The rajority oF the respondents expressed "8 preference for the Congress (0 while the pary's shore in the two constituencies in 196) ‘woe st an average of 303 per cont Voter preferance—Hindi belt Early polls in U.S. HILE the first documented poll in the United States was pubii shed on vuly 24, 1824 in the Harrisburg. Pennsylvanian on that year's Presiden: tial elections, tis commonly believed that the first person to have benefited from the use of 2 systematic public opinion poll was Mrs. Alex Miller in 41932 when she was elected as the first woman Secretary of State in fowa. The pollster happened to be her son-inaw. George H. Gallup. But public opinion polling suffered a major setback over the prediction of the 1996 Presidential ‘elections. when the Literary De ‘gest—on the basis of mailed question- faires—predicted a major victory for ‘AIF Landon, wien just the reverse took place and Roosevelt won. Gallup. on the other hand, had predicted the result correctly and scientife opinion polling gst hoiand so es ae Cong OP (Sear Prades) overs & Sahareo esas She tndore aso. Qaacinye Frade) are, srs josthard SP ents Otters Dont aor a) ae a ee eT) wa 02S w2 22328 ln the last ection. the party plod 364 per cent of the votes in the State ‘and took 30 of the $4 seals in the con. text of a three-way split in the Opposi- ‘von ‘vote among the two factions of ‘the Janata and the Congress (U. In Madhya Pradesh end Flajasthan, where the main Opposition party is the BUP. the share of the Oppostion is ‘somewnat higher (around 20 per cer bout even here the Congress 0 is sub- Stantialy ahead. In indore in Machya Pradesh, “where the Congress (0 obtained 51.8 per cont of the votes in 4860, the party's share in the opinion poll almost touches 65 per cent “The positon is semiar in Payssthan where, inthe urban constituency of ‘Aimer, the BJP obtains. virwally. the ‘seme ‘proportion asin Indore and ‘where the Janala and the DMKP mark thee presence. The Congress (0 share here is almost 13 per cant higher than what i poled inthe 1980 election. Trontine, Deceribor 15-28, 1864ELECTIONS The national mood on election eve LOING beyond the immediate voting preference to the factors underlying the choice, one finds. that ‘while the sympathy factor over the as sassination of lndica Gandhi. the popularity of Fav Gandhi ard the not too favourable image of the Opposition leaders are obviously at work for the Congress (0, there no major issue ‘that generates intense anger or con cern to make the people tin away from the party. On the other hand. the negative perceptions on the Govern: ments performance in some areas ‘appear 10 be balanced by factors that ‘30 to the support The FRONTLINEIMRB public fopinion survey finds that 2 large pro- portion of the respondents fee! that pr ‘bes have not at al been under control (688 per cend and that corruption has sonally under control in the last two ‘years, 688 per cent of the respondents feel that prices have not at all been ‘within control. Ths. perception, how. ‘ever. does not seem to affect thelr voting choice: 68.4 per cont of those who express a preference for the Cong- ress @ also feal the same way. ‘On the assessment of the economic ‘condition and the standard of living, a significantly higher proportion (40.3 per end fee! that It has Improved rather than deteriorated (252 per oend,Inter- fetingly. among those who chacee the Congress (D, 2 larger proportion (46.7 per cond feel it has improved and a ‘smaller percentage (22) that it has de- terlorated. Regional variations here are fot very large except that in Madurai in Tamil Nadu the proportions get re versed, with only 27.1 per cent feching Dismissal of the N.T. Rama Rao Ministry 1 you tik te dams! ofthe NT. Roma Rao Minny in Andra Pradooh at Recta ort erserages wes uted 75) 69 eae Pes al ation Be 3 BO es 738 SB Can't sy/Donit know Increased (62.7 per cen. but ins feeling has virtually no impact on the voting preference As against this, there seems to be a certan measure Of satisfaction over the performance of the economy as shown by the fact that the proportion of those who feel that their economic condition has improved in the last five years ie substantially higher than those who feel it has de- teriorate ‘The miltary action in Punjab is a plus factor for the Congress ©, with the ma- jority of the respondents deeming itjust fied: On another issue oF concern from the standpoint of democratic practice. the dismissal of the N.T. Rama Rao Ministry in Andhra Pradesh. while the fooling’ of injustice is strong in the South, the overall impact is muted with 2 large proportion of the respondents 82" per cend remaining unaware of the isove. Quite contrary to the wholesale price index and the consumer price index that show that Inflation hes been rea: it has improved as egainst 422 per ‘cent who say thas deteriorated. ‘On the miitary aetion in Punjab, 522 er cent fee! it was justified, with only 445 per cont saying it was not justfied. However. there was a significant var tion botween the South and the rest ‘of the country on the one hand and Opinion Poll Can'tsay Don't nay 2% between the Congress ruled States ‘and those with Opposition party Gov- ‘ernenents on the other. (On the diemigsal of the N. T. Rama Rao Minisiry in Andhra. Pradesh, the majority overall seem unaware of the Issue but among those who express an ‘opinion. four times es many say it wos ot justfied as those who hold i was justified. Here to0, there is a vast di ference between the responses in the ‘South and inthe other regions ‘The verdict on corruption, with 62:7 Ber cent feeling that it has increased In the last five years, doas not appear to have any impact on the choice of the party. indeed, 63 per cent of those who choose the Congress (D also feel Te has. increased. Contrary to the popular impression, in Bihar the pro- portion of those’ wio say that. corrup- tion has increased is much lower Ct 48 per cont than the national average. (On the other hand. the figure is 74 per cent for Madurat. N.RAVIAND G, BALACHANDRAN Fronline, Decenber 28,1068This is a picture of an Elektron tubelight CPU ra ite ec ons ted tect thle (om ‘ Pe Dt Still providing light after 7000 continuous hours. Average life of a tube:5000 hrs. It's the reason why entire cities and institutions are switching over to Elektron For example, Bombay's inter- national airport has chosen Elektron fluorescent lighting Over 10,000 tubes provide 24 hour ‘daylight’ at Sahar, this means more light at less cost, a performance that puts other lighting companiesin the shade. Equally hardworking are Elektron’s GLS lamps. Other energy-saving inno- ‘ations have been added, ‘among them sodium vapour, mercury vapour and halogen lamps. Elektron. It will be worth Watching closely in the future. Livewires in lighting. Lamps. Fluorescent Tubs. Fatings Halogen Lamps, Mercury Vapot ‘Sodium Vapour Lamps Wate Line No. 1. Madras 00018 Member of ARTIGKLCP:104-4,Prestigious contests in U.P. FRONTLINE’s correspondents round the nation survey, in some detail, the election campaign, the parties and the prospects. It’s a feature presented zone-by-zone. KEP NUP SM ator, ec MLC ond wr ter says, "ask 9 man his caste belore you a6k him how he wil vote” Vieualy Sey conmoraoy wom | at, plan, Lctivi. lawyer, seholon, prospective carat ‘Sota, legen winenr of elactons. had more ‘or fess the same thing to say. In campaign headquarters. strategists recoumted the caste and religious breakup ef each 99% ‘ment of her conettvencien wth elfotlons tne, and the combinations hat woud eau Inthe victory ef ther candidates. Fev Tet {hat ther man would win Just because he Soran fo the rgh poy: conated the ‘ight Weoloey «for that mattor was the beter man “The State les in the region which has historically bean roger’ aa tho heart oF Inc, in cold clectoral term, ks Importance in. forming. the Goverment” Deb is Sbvious. No less tran toe prospective Prime Minatera) canddates ere comesting from vis State-Fayn Garahi om Amott in cocval UP. Charan Singh from Baghest 1m western UP. and Chondra Shekhar frm Balla in the east Ip fact, more tan 1200 ‘candidates hove entered the ay for 85 Lok ‘Sabha seat Canfuting” would be the wrong word to describe the electoral scane savers days before the actual date of poling. A borer ‘Word may be ‘anavehis” Vtualy every con. ‘hiveney hae multiple contestants, Luckhow hs 8 record umber Sf 40 and Kanpur 30 Prime Minster Raj Gand faces 31 op" ponents wo come fram a parts of the cour fry and. inclde he stern, Monako ‘Gandhi In'lohabad, the veteran polticlan FON: Batuguna of the DUIKP faces # pol ‘But the anarchy realy emerges when e see the numer of parties, some stil the process of gazing recognition the DNIKP. [example Fah the election as the Lok Dal‘with ts. symbod. some emerging nd others vanshing. Departures and. arvalg From partise nave uickened new oom! binations shaging up. some limited to jst corstivencies or example, the inlzatal “ata Party leader Peat Feman Singh, e- lared his support to. Bohuguna ‘a being lined 10 tha constaveney). Everything, fact oeme to be na sate of Fixe Frontline, December 1628, 1988 Forunatly, however, the voter, over \whelminaly urakoasce, provides 8 bedrock OF taity to the whole scene, Bowidered, mused. he etoealy watches the scone un folding refusing to commit himset "We wil ote forthe best cordate says 3 vod Imo. aged woman in Shekhargaon i the Kmethi corattuancy. “The cancidte who (works the hardest and (9 most deserving Val natwraly get the vote" says, Sankara Praca Trived fom Baragacn in Varanasi idatrct. "Who do you Bune we ought to vote foc?” saye Mohactmed Hof with @ twekla ln hs eye st 2 pontoon crossing on Sango Bikintoger der & Reryon Fickahaw-puler in Alghobac wae move for- teght We usally vote the way ou Chautry Gellage leader. who "is also Harjar tals ue Gauging the rural voter! ‘head can be an exeroe i hy ‘Some people have tended to discount the centre busness of the "caste Tactor™ he Scent elections. They point to the more oF leea soouls sweeps OF 1977 and 1077 Cin the former, the Opposition got only 17 oats ‘nd in he Tater the Congress got zero) $ (Charan faces a stif fight in his own constituency, Baghpat. awhere neither caste nor creed nor local com: ‘Bratiors Impacted ‘upon the unorm rex. ores of the voter throughout the Stato. I rust be noted trot in both elections, thers whee. 8 “earwal issue in 1971 was ‘parts halao" and in 1977 a wos “irda hazao In 1980, too, there was the ecu oF the falre cf the dnsta Paty Cenral Gov: eroment ‘The wave, f any. is yet to develop. Ray Gandhi's specch at Veranesi Ucking of hi ary campaign eal this month had thee areal point there was atest to the unty fd intorty of the ation, the Congress (3 ‘wos the. only party tht could stave of the threat. the Gppostion wos infact guity of fercouraging trove trends, was clear that Site the Trst two. ports crew some ap. fPrecation fom the ‘auckenee. tho. guit oF {he Oppositon in conniving with the forces of dedtabiloaton wes rot ute accented For ts par. te Oppostion has been un able to project Its postion wth any dagres Of efectwenens. Toa conaiserabie degen! thie # product of Inde Candie rocking eats, While Corgrase @ “mstulo™ wos & potent save before October 31, todey has Fecaded in importance. Rajiv sooms to nave the boveht oF deubt His youth. his “clear Image and the deere to ‘vehi chance” have negated even tbe sou of "dynastic ‘succession rotagonsts of the “wave theory muck rota tht I 1860, despite the fact Pat the Congress (0 had very. efectively made ‘jonata miue the conrallesue of te elec ton the. wave" forced the Congress St Lok Sabha seats fom the State, moet of thom wih a minority share oF the vote OF the 85 conetvenceg,m ony si ad tbe sunning candidate poll more than 50. per ‘ent ofthe vate almost al the conser {eso canckdate got more than 40 per ‘cen ofthe votes ‘A suvey covering 22 constituencies across the State does not indicate that ane Cental issue is posed 10 become a decisive actor in Yas election, hy thesn ceumstan 0s, ives of caste, creed and. personaly could be especialy significant nthe out Caste and religion a2 the two baste sosal “cisions in UP. Muslire form roughly 15 per cent oF the population. In tho "agar bet of the north-western pains isvicta they coreuluze atound 30 per cert Of tw population 6 dist. They usvaly ‘ote on bloe though thore are some di Sloe between the Musimn gory who have traltionaly. supported the Congress ara ‘Sonteue f0 do so, ard the large mass who ‘Somprase mainly peasants. arsars, weavers ‘and eattomen who have sited Seay fom the Gongrese since 1977. In one quarter of the consttvencies in UP. thors sil be Secisive vote. In almost all the other cont Sttvences, th votos will Fave to bo 1. ‘koned with by al contestants. “The reasora for the Muslim dleonchant ment with the Congress are mary. To begin ‘th es jut the ateniation” campaign ‘durng the Emergency. Later it hardened, Wath the spate of Sommura ote that rook UP. inthe late Soventes ord eorly Enntes, mainly n Moradabad end Moarut dtict. Mistins were rot untouched by tie wave oF islamic reascerton and prise sll over be | r 4s world, Secondly, they attained some pro- pert inthe "Gall Boom making te pride ‘more saserve. inthe context of the ong erlod o depression nthe communty since Barton tie acted as a dastabtisng factor 2 good Mislin candidate there Papper tobe one Intr-caste conflict has been loa marked in UP. than n oer States Caste sorties tion is oft largely restricted to loca eaeto ‘eups. However, te last two decades, Supra regional dorofication hae been get: ting sharper. The largest caste group in the State ve te Chame’ which combed with ther Scheduled. Coste groupe. consists of ‘oughly 2025 per cent ofthe State's popular tion Earier Congress majorities were based ‘nthe potent combination of Scheduled Ca. HN. Bahuguna, a seasoned political campaigner, faces in Allahabad a fnew entrant from the make-believe world. see and Muslin, Now, the votee are-no [Snger guaranteed and the Congress (D hae ‘ear (0 reflect the State's caste combina. tors in selecting ts eancites. Ir westery UB. secoraing to Hol Shamehed Armed ‘OeMMUA ond BNKP Gahigune group) m=. Ibe just one signal ror Babu vagivan Fm wil decide te fate of soveral Candia. toe This tootance ofthe Farin vote and Babuj's Fold on t wos underined by Cong: fees activate in Ssheranpur 0s wall tt fot surprising therelore that Charan Singh Fas Unbent the moet a the Congress iin othe pats of UP. Xs sad thatthe Hanjon vote wa remain with the Congress Bul ther caste equations would noua Frontino, December 1828, 1964zo tha carton, Tough nan am Baten of A sa Cr Fant mr the acronym stands for python Hind has faled to shape up. the “backward” castes, former tenants of Rajput nd Brahmin land lerds have aways voted ogart the Cong. ross fn te at wo docades is tay ho form tha aieetay ofthe Oppoaton. ike the oigoe urioea party thet i i, the Congress 0 of course comet be ere: fie with any shgla caste or comunity. At present, the Congress () ig. 8 overaimale fog “eset wre, a Brain Thar Koha. ‘ty party. The DMMP tha Lok Dal and LD ints former mnitstaton the party ofthe “backer” castes. Nether the Mus lms er the Harn. the two largest Srgle Communit, have eectve pallial ven (as of tar own At poser, wae the Cong. feos (0 hoper to cach fn Uo generaly Dostve Tesings towards pmongat. tie Bepulace (rive not reglectrg” considera: fone of costa and creed, of cours), tha ONCE ard te Raetriya Sarjay Monch bid fav to socwo a gonorous chre of the Mos Im vote. Tre OM hao benefited in ths egard though #9 sllorce wih Bahugune info has assidsSusly cubated the western (OP. Mal eommurty fr years ‘Tho asrvya Sanjay March fe the polt- calmavarok on te UP. pelea stage. Com Bising manly formes Saray tyalt of the 545 oge group snd headed by hs widow. it cornat be gasiy ignored, especialy horh canal UP. Alber Alma who sarc ogee tone of wing he Nant ook foe emerged os 2 Nusim leader oF sors though he vehemently denis the accusation of ory camel bias on hs Own part“ We ‘nal capture the votes of the youd of all ‘orm |ANETHL CAMPAIGN In Ameth, Menaka Gordhi's tachadtobea the maj burt th poet dea facut Whi ealar she. promised FRaly Gandy an extremely tough fight today hor campaign is faltering. The people of ‘mats are now looking at the Congress @canaidate with new eyes as the Prime Mosetr othe nation Tn aden, the vest resources of the ring party Fave been town ino the care alg The ioe UP. Miter for brign tion and Power, Vir Bahadur Srgh 6 coor dating Ns corpsign slong. wit sng of miner Minster the canal campaign fice has fenced! te constituency with 60 Dope rd tre of ord of potas a rin Local infos. the I Bachchan, film superstar, learns poltics on 2 month's crash ‘cdurse. inser): Wife Jaya lends her box office’ appeal to husband's new: Project.The few that stays with you...right through.28.and had along political Me aead. ‘There are a four “prestigious” elec- ions to watch in the State In adision to Fi Gandhi's, there le tw thane struggle Dbetween the superstar Amitabh Bachchan 4nd the seasoned Bahugurs in Allahabad. Wi ‘the tial euphoria of Bachchan's arrival receding, he hes got down to the Serious ‘busness of learning poles in ‘rash course of one month, Bahugura wth his #0 yoors of paitcal canngeton wth Al lahabad and. recogred. pallial abilies ‘and populanty seems confident iran Sigh does rt anon J be tiroly content inhi home shpat wihere he 1s belng faced by 2 Congress @ omenety as well ashi erste Honan. Fg) Narain Perhaps, the OMKP leader 12 \wOrried bout the 1050 arthate Inthe Lok Sabha elections that year, as Prime Minster he got 328077 voles (G5. per cent) as against only 319 per cent votes socured by Rie rival RC. Vial. In the Assombly elec. Sera tein the yr, however ty lost tres of the five Assembly’ segments ‘making up the conettvancy to’ te Cong. ress The Janata Party leader Chanda ‘Shekhar, who won narrowly hom Blinn 1980 wih a1 per ew oF the voto, soome to be on a sticky wicket. facing is of rua egganath Chouey. The lukewarm Sip bot extended to hin by vanaehwar Mire ‘who had got 19 per cert af the votes mey ‘ot be of much help, The elactong are ikely {0 decide he fat ofthe Janata Party claim to serious consceraton asa national en ‘The sudenness with which the ection came following the terse cays ater Mra Gone emgenraton, ook all parton aback. The Congress has anyway gone In best repared. bu even ths partys card ‘tes ae frding inal organo aiicat Given the state of pote! partes today nee of daeiine, ergeisaton one om ‘mimerd.eooh conde hast fen oe SEIT he's a VP lke Gachonan or ay Wer Bein ‘Neth Cems er fice puts mn specal fers on har as Th problems of the Congress (cards date howeve pole ino wesghicare whan ‘orared wth fat ofan Oppostion tue Cartoons by te probes 9 renasces Sue a5 to what ther Parone partes wore Secaing in Delv ard ‘hen, n any event brave to hold back 0 36 notte “posk’ too carly wih tei effort which they have re. served forthe last couple of days The Congress (0 campaign, offically. at least embodies “management” techniques. All siting Mute ‘ore responsible for thew respective Assembly ‘segments. Mristers have beon doputed for key contests The message is clear perform, or no ticket for Rajasthan finds Opposition in disarray "RADITIONALLY, Rojosthon sot fa: voured the Congrese-—whatever the suftiin elections tothe Lok Sabha, Only twice, 1 1957 ard 1080 cid & send 9 con ‘Sderable number of Congressmen to that Fosse Ard in 1977, made common couse withthe Hind hearing an sort 24 anata fren. The victory of the Congress at leader, Nathurem Mirdho, wos the oly €on ‘elation for that party. The postion was eversed in the 1960 pol The Opposition secured jst 013 per eats tae vols poe by te Cok eco, butt could win only. seven seets— tre Janata four, the Lk Dal two and the Congress (U) ore— against the Congress Ws 18, Tho Congress polled 4268 per cont ofthe votes. whie in he de ‘Wed Oppostion camp the Janata garnered 3042 per cent ard the Lox Dal 1211 por one ‘Once esa the Oppostion parties ae ‘unning sonra he log o atti The jective ere simiar bot Wy aro in foal Seeray eran sr 18 aye of hat ae ‘ang, A nga accord on 2eatodptmerts Smog the BP. the Jota ord the Bale Mazdoor Kison Barty was repudiate by the BYP since the norms” by the Pune resting of the National Counc of the pany were no! folowes. Ths also wes an Sem ‘Fe naity of te pares to come cowar ‘Bolram Jakhar, Speaker ofthe Lok Sabha... confident of a win.‘The receiving end of the Congress @ campaign in Jodhpur. senhere in the Hird! heartland “Admitedly, te Congress 0 mage reads «lot of burrishing. Said a loading ight of ‘be pany’ “The peoples anger agaiet the corupton and iseeratity of the bureaus Foy te quite well founded. But they have foting against the pry and ks policy” With th, tongue sn-eheek evaluaton It bbe contrasted the manner in which te BU Opocstion leager and former Chief NE ster, Bhavon Singh Shekawat, reacted 10 Mra. Gandhi sesassination. raving heard Of i over Radio Pakistan while mablng Sets and Raps te rerthorect of F fthan he ruth’ bale 10 Jaipur Ta ‘bie comegpondent ina wire agency howe "Our target ie gore". SUCCESSION ISSUE From ouch 8 confounding station, te ‘Qppostion has rot wavelled far thous Natruram” Mirdra,DMKP pristont, 206! "the svecession issue fone thing that ram home. the campaign. And sccording {2 Shekawat. "people wil have ro eyreathy fer the hureely netoled Raj Gandhi Sy rmpathy 16 factor that al lead ‘5 speak of as having worn tn ‘The Oppostion ably to close its ranks cor aveld tiengular fights however ronal Sod thus toch and every constuency ‘9nd abilities, Ever In a multecornared fight, the rest lee thir deposits. The fat inver- ISbly between two song candidate. And ‘ete the Oppostion’s hope In ll constituencies, except Jslore ond LUceipur. where f would be vetualy eee ht Fah barwoer the BP arc the Congress {O. the stage fs set for mubtpary. toh. Both the OMKP and te Janata have 16a ‘Saaten, the BP has Bet oid Fed fryone er Naga contested by the Raj. thon DMP chet Nathuram Ndrcha—and the Congress (©) twee At least 12 con Shae wines to Oppenioncand- Gatos fighting the Congress 0 and in ine flhers treo partes fave the Congress (0. ‘The feo thot has surfaced thot a tiengulor fighe between te Jarota chef Kalsh Singh Kai the DMRP ‘chef Nathiram Medha fc the Congress (0's Rarn Niwas March, 13 Union Morse, wil spit tho Jt vote bet swoon the two Mirdhaa and cut t0 avec the new Jet aout aliance tht e boing In rovatively but up by he Opposition The, Congress (hes set up two “out sdes'—Unon Minister — Buta Sigh (Galore and the Lok Sabha Speaker Balam Jahar Stea?) both of om aud not cor {eat Irom ther home State of Pury where flectone ove not being held now. A third Big rome—ineddton to” the. toe Jete—ie K, Notwor Singh who que tho indion Foreign Sewice he Cong ress (As the Aajestan Ope sidert Noval Ktora Sharma sald Natwar Srghs presence io the arene fa “eolace 16 the reoloctane of he Ste Sl costes have been eccommodated in the party Int whch compress Tettng MPs. ‘OF the 22 piney States tha formed Ran stan, Bheretur alone wos ruled by a Jet prince while wip, Bikaner Udapor and Sechour mere Rajput The Fajout and ‘ee vate have boon am inmiecble par ot Goninare communtiog “one the oppressor Srd the other oppressed snd icsted ono {cing seciel seaiee reed over si he conattuenees Say, Gaur, Shar, Gore ‘orogor Negaur, Bhoratpur and Bikaver ee et emaino with a predictor for Oppost ton partes ord Kote, Jawad end Jeu are BP strongholdn Tes in tus context that the coming to- ether ‘of tee Jat leaders Kumar Koya” ntawrom Maran Ont fam Ssfan-vunder tho OMIKE banner ges sgn ‘eance, The Jets have sted to coalesce tnd ts impact wil not be. minor, The Fojputs wivo wid covaiderabi lence {© Bharon Singh Shekawat who a tyng {o bring nan amaigar oft ae Rajat iter t he fore Wan grat Pokal freight, Shekawat raked pte ‘eave of toa Sate Cover trons plan to fake reposooeion of © pak Frontine, December 1628, 1664oF land near Jaipur under the contr of the Fejpu ‘Sama He brought together the formar Prince of Jodhpur and the Ruler of sJoipur on the sama plotorm, slong wth Jt spedkore, Ths has helped bind. 8 nov ah Troe, isnot without reason thatthe Cong, ‘exe () thought of feding Lt Col. Bevan Siegh, former Ruler of wipur. The part) (gave up the attempt for urdiclozed reasons [EROSION IN CONG. STRENGTH 1's, conceded that thera has been an ‘xesion in Congres ( etrangtn i the State ‘Wit eix months ofthe lat Lk Sabha alee tne, Uw ‘elections to. the ajaahen As sembly were aleo held: And ofthe 200 seas, iP secured 133" 6 ogoinet 1 in 1877. But ft leoet St MLAr were returned with mar ‘Shs Rovering around a mere 1000 votes. ‘nthe two porlementary byslactions ate the 1980 polm—to the Bayana seat vacated by Jagannatn Pahacia andthe Udeipur at folowing the death ofthe former Chel Min ‘ter Suthada- the ‘Congress on by foro marge. © the ax Aaserbly by elec fee SoaDa_ Nerve ‘Thanagae, and Pindnara-the Congrese retained itree. gained two ed fost Dausa ‘eich forms part of the PCC @ president Raval Kishore Sharma's partarentary corm Shtueney, to tne EWP. The gas ware wth ery narrow margins ranging betwee 1.000 ‘nd 1200 votes The State has so far elected i all the previous elections put together 99 MPs of the Congress and 79'cf various Oppcatton oupnge Barer. Chars, Ska, dap fork Kote, Bermer, Jochpur, Jpalawad and Gitorgeh beveled Opposition ar. dates. Since 1952, Bhoratpur hes retired fn equal nurber of MPs from the Congress land the Opposition. Gangoragar, Udapur ‘Alwar whup. jer, Bhiwese, Sewama chopur ard Barswara have shown 9 pre feronoe for the Congress (, Chur as ‘Saye returned non Congresemen. An unaual feature this te Ie tht tho penoes ore rowiere Inthe ineup—ethes EF the Opposition or the Congress (0. This fas helped the Congress) t0 project on arteudal image wougs che Shing. OF people ram one conatueney t0 1 ater Preealton ta the coutalder factor” oF Buco Singh and Balam donor bos created 2 piquant stuation for Loca) cadres have Fesisted hs orth fected Yr enthuse fmm for campagning, Rajesh Paot was sh ‘toa from Bharatpur to eccommodste Nat ‘war Singh, Dausa wae the radtoral ground for Naval Kishore Sharma, POC © chi, be he finds hireol fr Jolou against the Bup "stalwart Saleh “Agarwal, Boondgyal Verma, brother of Chil Minster Shiv (Charan Mathura even former Cet Mins ‘Ser Jagannath Pahacia were 20k nominate. Pohade iss eident lease, and eisaerts fre Too amarphove a group i te Congress @ bout urericaly strong enough rot to be ismissed.ighly” As ih ober States the rope of the party that the sympathy weve following the astassinton of ira Gandh ‘wallhelp overcome te peobloms. 7 ‘MAHESH VIJAPURKAR Trontine, December 15,1664 Sympathy trance in Bihar "HE day aftor the general lectiona wore rnovreed. Nandi of Pick 9 remate village “it Nalerds. parliamentary const tueney. “erned sparking white “khed ‘lathes and a cap ara hoisted the Congress (O'fing stop he howe. A sralitme no, he told vilagors, “let us take. @ vow here ‘sed. now 10, vote for Indep and her son Feira agar were cuck to shout in chon “wa would have aynay voted for Inca an er son” Indica Gan dead bht'por vate. presonce fe fetal over Bihors cowrtyee where the bulk of he ‘estore ven ‘Borie ken Kem Prick, in Kana oho vilage sicteoter Une. Singh, wired i meumacre and nsracted hs Man Fe ‘day"Arun Segh to Cina ad ears ‘nd ctockpleamimunton lncucing ox Bomos, fr vee on poling day. Una Sg nd Chandra Singh bass 9g ef cad Seeded mereenoiee nto move From con siuency to corettnncy to rapture booths {or corde of ther cane on “comract bss For "serves rndred" to codids tes who ao rot long to thet caste. ty ‘Sarge heowly ond for conten of ee ‘hae they er aac ao. "These, meroonary vote cotrectors reed sot have Taher ol tt woubl. an the Capes Yor machi! fas been severe tale by to Elocton Commons decison toihave a one-oy pol im Bia, popuous Sate tw rind heotand which, ret 0 Uesr Pradesh sence the largest coningort {Gato Sw Lak Sabha, Another and Mere ‘important chalenge tothe mafia vote cor. trecors comes Hom the eration Srerged (people wo are determines Sock stems st boot capture, Obvious the mos importane factor ich ali uae votre tn th Satie Bogen ‘Sowell ympaty forth sin Prime Min ‘Ser and ho son ond suseaton The. Op: Boation hos clay been pt at © mej Sevamage ntha compat ‘uancen srrusrion ‘Although caste and fection leaders may clam cre ex what loo ea a ronan Sietery for the Congress @ at the State lovel, the Wath is that they have bean re. sone of them sobbing uncontrlably, re feed t0 cook and nore of us fet ike aking feven 2 revel only the chicren ate what ‘was realy avalible “Ac the Intligensia sees & Mis. Gandy ded to resiroct her reoibund pty ‘Yiew, the people, meting those who crit ‘el helt leader or policy and sdmints: ‘we lapses are to atone for thelr harsh com ‘monte on tho mother by showerng Wot 3 {ection on the oa. Among he cite the Ie acmwaton for the menrer in whieh the ‘hem Prime Minter handled the national er 132 folowing the assassnaton. Said Huda Principal of Bina Netonal Cologe The pre fessonalpoltcian in our courtty has ‘equred bad image, We have great hopes fram sxe now Primo Manistee Bocaune he |S young. untainted, ‘modest and unos suming. The real architects of the ru arty victory n the comvra electors wi for be Congressmen but Inve Gondh and fer son Iranelly, while the rl pocrn Bihar con- tinue te mourn Mrs, Gandhi's deth. her por ‘ymen boger barely a fright alter Per par Shing. squabbling over ceste quot 19 the ‘lotment of perty ticket the Aajuts. de- bravenly demanded ket for thor Tomly rmombore. some for thor wives, ohare for {ho hesbenda, sore, sorsin law ard 99 on. There were protest walk-outs by members of the ‘State’ Congress (0 Election Com fies An important commites member re fee to attnd fs mowing when the vere ‘wae ahfted from the mangogroved. So. ‘doqust Ashram, hesdquosere of the State Congres (,t0 the Chief Manetor Chane Skee Singhs oficial reaidonce STORY BEHIND LIST ‘The fst st of party rominees, carried personaly by the Bihar Congress O chet Brncneanar Dube. containing tre nomen of athe 20 ateg MPs and a pane! of tee fo seven names for 22 sels ord singe ames for two. seats, was survneriy fe Iected. by tne High Command A harned Babe flow back to Patra by te fst fight the folowing morning, and the Staw Elec- ‘ion Commitee once sqan eld several ses. ‘sone to prepare another let for the High Commands approval The sessions were ‘marked by hestod exchanges. and mutual Fecrmiraton. The Rajput chitin, Soyer {re Narain Sinha: ane the former Chet Ni ‘Sor Jogannath Wistra conducted bohind the soone paceye =) which Sinha. reporcly ‘red to secure Mihra’s support for'a move {o hit hi wile, Khor! Saha, siting mor ber from Vaisoll to the “comparatively ‘Sster" Chopra seat “The “wily Brehiin” from Mita proved too trod 1 ba taken by Sinha’ 2e- furancea oF loyalty to nim in his contin ‘ost with the Chil Minster. Party sources feid Micra worl tho we Walang he une onthe Grief Minstor's wile, Manorara han asprert to. the Barks perl mentary seat and plotng the casos of his Supportor. belonging to Ue backwar. Boh ‘in Bhumiher and Men commutes. Bedlam broke looce at the Sodaguat Asam wih all and sundry staking or