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Battle of the ballot for Subhash Nagar today

Staff Reporter

`Ration cards will not be accepted as proof of identity of voters'

ON CAMPAIGN TRAIL: BJP candidate Meera Kawaria with Delhi Pradesh BJP president Harsh Vardhan,Vijay Kumar Malhotra and former cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu campaigning for the Subhsh Nagar municipal by-election in New Delhi on Saturday Photo: Shiv Ku mar Pushpakar.

NEW DELHI : With polling for the Subhash Nagar municipal by-election scheduled for Sunday, both the BJP and the Congress intensified their campaign over the weekend by roping in big leaders and film stars to give a last-minute thrust to the battle of the ballot. Both parties took out big scooter rallies on Saturday to mark the culmination of the campaign.

In a related development, the State Election Commission on Saturday issued an order that said ration cards would not be accepted as proof of identity of voters. The Commission said the ration card was meant for purchase of essential commodities from the public distribution system and could not be used as a document of identity. The voters registered in the Subhash Nagar municipal ward were advised to carry their Election Photo Identity Cards or any other documents mentioned in the public notice issued by the Commission on July 27.

Meanwhile, both the BJP and Congress made a last-minute effort to woo the voters. The BJP roped in cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu who flagged off a scooter rally in the area on Saturday morning. The party also brought into the campaign film-star-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha to garner support for the party candidate, Meira Kanwaria. Senior BJP leaders including the Member of Parliament from South Delhi, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj have already campaigned for the party candidate and galvanised the party cadres who are on the offensive against the Congress party and its Government in Delhi. The power and water crisis in the city along with choked sewers and skyrocketing prices of essential commodities have become a big issue in the election campaign. The Congress led by DPCC president Ram Babu Sharma and Delhi Pradesh Youth Congress president Amit Malik went round the constituency on scooters to canvass support for the party candidate, Seema Luthra. The party's campaign got a boost on Friday with Union Minister of State for Urban Development Ajay Maken addressing public meetings in support of the Congress candidate. Interestingly, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, her Cabinet colleagues and senior Congress leaders have stayed away from the campaign leaving the entire show to Mr. Ram Babu Sharma who has been camping in the constituency for the past fortnight.

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