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Wednesday, May 05, 2004

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Meo voters to tip the scale in Bharatpur

By Mohammed Iqbal

BHARATPUR (RAJASTHAN), MAY 4 . The Congress supporters put up a brave face but there is a perceptible undercurrent of shock and disbelief among the party cadres here over the reported overtures of the senior Meo leader, Tayyab Hussain, to the Bharatiya Janata Party. The Meos, concentrated in four Assembly segments here, have a crucial role in deciding the fate of candidates in the Lok Sabha elections.

Mr. Hussain, who has been a Minister in three States in the past, had resigned from Congress a fortnight ago after denial of ticket to him from Faridabad in Haryana. The party is now worried about his reported plans to join the BJP, which would have a significant bearing on the way the 2.5-lakh-strong Meo community casts its votes.

The Assembly segments in this Lok Sabha constituency where the Meos are in a majority are Kaman, Nagar, Ramgarh and Laxmangarh. Mr. Hussain's defeat from Kaman in the recent Assembly elections by a narrow margin apparently paved the way for his "disillusionment'' with the Congress and search for new prospects in the BJP.

The fresh political equations emerging from Mr. Hussain's move just before the polling will benefit the BJP candidate and MP in the dissolved Lok Sabha, Vishwendra Singh, who has so far been relying on the consolidation of Jat voters. However, the political analysts here believe that the swing in the Meo votes may not be significant as the BJP would be an awkward choice for the community.

Mr. Singh -- belonging to the erstwhile royal family of Bharatpur -- is locked in a keen contest with Vedprakash Gujjar of Congress. Though Mr. Singh had shown his soft corner for the Indian National Lok Dal during the recent Assembly elections and there were speculations even about his joining the Congress, the BJP opted to field him in view of his indispensability.

The erstwhile royal family has represented Bharatpur in the Lok Sabha for as many as six terms. Mr. Singh's position within the party and in public remains as strong as it has always been and his hobnobbing with other parties has seemingly had no impact on his political ranking.

"There can be no question mark on Mr. Singh's capacity to win. This is irrespective of his political affiliations,'' A.K. Cheema, looking after the BJP's election office here, affirms. He claimed that the Congress would always be willing to draw him to its fold.

The Congress candidate, Mr. Gujjar, hails from neighbouring Haryana and had earlier contested here as a Bahujan Samaj Party candidate. His relatives and people from his native town seem to be dominating his election campaign -- causing some resentment among the local party activists.

Mr. Gujjar's father-in-law, Bharat Singh, speaking to The Hindu dismissed all speculation about caste equations and said there was no reason for Jats voting against the Congress. The senior Jat leader of the Congress, Natwar Singh -- who is actively campaigning for Mr. Gujjar -- oragnised a huge election meeting in his native village, Jaghina, the other day.

Mr. Natwar Singh has accused the erstwhile royal family of not taking any significant step for betterment of the region during its combined tenure of 23 years. He sought support for Mr. Gujjar while reminding the voters of the significance of the current Lok Sabha polls.

With the prospects of each candidate being weighed against the caste considerations, the local issues of lack of development of towns and villages in the constituency and the alarming proportions of unemployment do not find a mention in the campaign of both the major parties. The voters here are hoping against hopes that their elected representative would resolve the perennial problems confronting them.

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