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Saturday, Apr 17, 2004

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National - Elections 2004

Setback for Congress before the polls

Aarti Dhar

MAHASAMUND

The "mahayudh" of Mahasamund has somewhat lost its intensity with the absence of one of the two key players, the former Chief Minister, Ajit Jogi, who is undergoing treatment at the Mumbai Hospital. The Congress campaign has virtually come to a halt ever since Mr. Jogi met with a serious accident on Sunday last and the party will really have to concentrate on this constituency if it has to ensure Mr. Jogi's victory.

While all local leaders are busy in their own constituencies braving the `Vajpayee wave,' Mahasamund is being neglected and the Congress workers are crest-fallen. "The commander is away and his soldiers are taking a break," the Congress leaders themselves admit. Even the funds meant for election materials are yet to reach the eight Assembly segments. It was only after several frantic requests were sent to the high command that it was decided that Delhi would take over the campaigning in Mr. Jogi's absence.

Mr. Jogi's wife, Renu Jogi, who resigned as assistant professor at a medical college to campaign for her husband, is said to have spoken personally to the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, and sought her for campaigning. After the telephonic conversation, senior leaders, including Mr. Jogi's arch-rival Digvijay Singh, Ashok Gehlot, Moti Lal Vora, and others were asked to visit Mahasamund. The campaigning schedules of the film stars have been rescheduled and most of them diverted towards this constituency. Ms. Gandhi herself might make a brief stopover here during her tour of Andhra Pradesh on April 17.

With Mr. Jogi's son, Amit, strictly prohibited from venturing towards Mahasamund, the responsibility is completely on Ms. Jogi who has so far kept herself away from politics. She is expected to arrive here soon and head straight for the constituency where her husband is pitted against Vidya Charan Shukla. The party has been bringing out huge advertisements in local newspapers with pictures of Mr. Jogi in hospital splashed all over along with a letter written by him appealing to the people to vote for him. The copies of the letter will also be distributed to the people. Everything will now depend on the campaigning in the next five days.

"The only good thing about the entire episode has been the lessening of bitterness between the activists of the two major parties," says a senior official. Tensions have come down and there are no personal attacks on each other. The BJP had to change its strategy and refrain from making direct attacks on Mr. Jogi. In fact, Mr. Shukla has been publicly praying for his rival's speedy recovery. Also, the Prime Minister is said to have refused to address a rally in Mahasamund "while the rival candidate lay in hospital."

The battle will not be easy for Mr. Shukla either. The five-time MP from the constituency, his detractors feel, has not done enough for the area. Lack of adequate irrigation, unemployment and drinking water problems continue to dog the region. And, despite having been in Chhattisgarh for a major part of his life, he cannot speak Chhattisgarhi — the local dialect. But the charge against Mr. Jogi is even more serious. He is being accused of promoting `casteism' in the region. "How else do you think a Brahmin like Mr. Shukla would have been elected five times from a constituency that is tribal-dominated and has no Brahmins at all," asks a tea-stall owner. If banking on tribal and Scheduled Caste votes was enough, the Congress would not have lost, he adds. Little wonder then that the BJP has won seven of the eight Assembly seats here. The Congress now hopes to win the seat only on rural votes and Nationalist Congress Party supporters who have dissociated themselves from Mr. Shukla because they admit that the urban people still see Mr. Jogi as a `tryant.'

Mr. Shukla, who won the seat while in the Congress and later in the Janata Dal, is now contesting on the BJP ticket.

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