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Congress plans Jogi's video cassettes to woo voters

MAHASAMUND, APRIL 13. With their leader seriously injured in a road accident, former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi's campaign managers are working on plans to make video cassettes of his message from his hospital bed in Mumbai to woo voters in Mahasamund constituency where he faces BJP candidate and veteran V.C. Shukla.

They are even desperate to get Mr. Jogi at least for a day to the constituency which goes to polls on April 20.

"Since the entire campaign of Congress is concentrated on Mr. Jogi, the party workers of Mahasamund want Mr. Jogi, who has expressed a desire from the hospital bed to come at least once to the constituency before the polls," Mr. Jogi's chief election manager Anil Tah said here today.

But that will solely depend on his health condition and the permission of the doctors, Mr. Tah said.

He said they were planning to videograph his message from the hospital bed in which he would appeal to the voters to make him victorious and that will be aired in the entire Lok Sabha seat as part of the new strategy.

Today, a set of audio and video cassettes had been prepared and sent to the constituency made from the last speech Mr. Jogi had delivered at Bagbahra town, a day before his accident in the wee hours of Sunday during electioneering when his vehicle collided with a tree in the Gariabandh jungle of Raipur district, he said.

These cassettes have been distributed in large numbers among the workers and voters for airing in all the villages as Mr. Jogi physically could not reach out to them.

Mr. Jogi's managers plan to put up big screens on two special vans to show his message in the villages. A message from Mr. Jogi has also been sent to the voters today in which he has stated that his strength was the workers and followers. In the wake of his being confined to bed, they should feel they were the real candidate and work accordingly, Mr. Tah said.

Expecting a sympathy wave after the accident and in an attempt to encash it, a strategy has been drawn for large scale worships in front of all the local deities and prominent places of all religions of the Mahasamund area for the speedy recovery of Mr. Jogi, his other close followers said.

Mr. Jogi's accident has also made his opponents change their strategy.

Mr. Shukla's campaign was based on alleged "reign of terror and corruption" during the previous Congress Government headed by Mr. Jogi. "But we will not hit Mr. Jogi personally now for what he had done since it is not time for politics. We are also praying for his speedy recovery," Mr. Shukla's main election manager and his close associate Anil Verma said here.

Dr. Verma said, instead of attacking Mr. Jogi, Mr. Shukla will now concentrate on a "positive" campaign and BJP will seek vote in the name and works of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the BJP-led NDA Government.

Meanwhile in the Congress camp, Amit, the only son of Mr. Jogi, arrived here today to take stock of the situation after spending two days with his father in Mumbai.

Amit had discussions with party leaders. There is a move to appoint his father's loyalist and former home minister Nand Kumar Patel as the main campaigner for Mahasamund, sources said.

PTI

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