The Hindu : Door-to-door canvassing marks end of campaign

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Nov 30, 2003

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National

Door-to-door canvassing marks end of campaign

By K.V. Prasad

UJJAIN NOV. 29. As the poll campaign ended this evening, it was time for the contestants to make a final attempt to woo voters with door-to-door canvassing. It was also time for political parties to fine-tune their machinery for the battle of the electronic ballot for the 230-strong Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections on Monday.

There is a perceptible sense about parivartan (change) that the people of the Malwa region talk about. The region prides itself as one that holds the key to the centre of power in Bhopal. The plateau elects 65 representatives to the Assembly and was considered a stronghold of the Bharatiya Janata Party till the Congress stormed it in 1998 by winning 45 seats.

The claim of the Chief Minister, Digvijay Singh, of riding back to power on the basis of his work including Panchayati Raj and development notwithstanding, the party campaign in the region has been defensive especially on power, water and poor conditions of roads. Queering the pitch for the ruling party in some places is the presence of rebels, some now representing the Nationalist Congress Party.

The Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party, too, has entered the fray. The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party chief, Mulayam Singh Yadav, had a rally at Indore on Friday, the day his two party leaders, Amar Singh and Raj Babbar, spent time in Ujjain. The NCP State unit chief, Kalpana Parulekar, too is re-contesting from Mahidpur, a constituency that elected her in 1998 on a Congress ticket.

This religious city has a belief that the Government that prepares for the Kumbh here has not survived to witness the actual event. Ujjain is slated to host the 2004 Kumbh also known as Simhast during April-May and political observers cite precedents of power changing hands. While such arguments may not withstand political calculations, the "winds of change" (parivartan ki lehar) that the BJP has been talking of can be felt.

The BJP and its workers appear enthusiastic and the fact that the party's Chief Ministerial candidate, Uma Bharti, chose to sign off her campaigning from the city has boosted their morale. Though anti-incumbency factor would operate, there has been an attempt to introduce other elements by Sangh Parivar affiliates, engaged as they were in a subtle Hindutva campaign.

There have been several reports of pamphlets under the title `Jago Janata Janardhan' being distributed by the Hindu Jagran Manch. For instance in Indore, the organisation had even held a public demonstration last week that did not go down well with the people of the city.

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