— Photo: PTI

GEARING FOR THE FIGHT: Uttar Pradesh Minister and Samajwadi Party candidate for the Kunda seat Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya arrives at the District Magistrate's office in Pratapgarh to file his nomination for the Assembly elections. — Photo: PTI

AGRA : Even as electioneering drew to a close on Thursday in 62 Assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh that go to the polls in the first phase on April 7, the campaign will be best remembered for many firsts, thanks to the insistence of the Election Commission on strict adherence to the Model Code of Conduct.

For the first time, the usually high-pitch electioneering is absent. With fear of coming under the scrutiny of the EC, all parties, candidates, their campaigners and workers have shown the utmost respect for the norms of the Model Code. There are no hoardings, billboards, banners, flags, buntings or mega-size cutouts.

A thing of the past

Walls in this historic city of Taj Mahal are clean as defacement of public property has become an offence. There are no posters and wall writings with catchy slogans.

Long motorcades with loudspeakers belching out appeals to voters and the show of strength with processions through the main streets of the city are a thing of the past.

Then where are the polls being contested? The keen tussle is largely confined to the media - be it print or electronic. Leading political personalities, film stars and the young ``brand ambassadors'' like Rahul Gandhi of the Congress, Jayant Chowdhary of the Rashtriya Lok Dal and Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party are busy with their roadshows and meetings.

Also, for the first time, people cutting across political leanings, vocations and castes are expressing their gratitude to ``Gopal Babu,'' whose writ is the only one that runs in this Hindi heartland. Many were of the opinion that the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) N. Gopalaswami has achieved something unheard of.

``The city has been spared high decibel electioneering. Walls are clean and there are no traffic jams on the roads. If you do not open the pages of local newspapers, you would not even know that there is an assembly election going on,'' says Shekhar, a manager in a leading hotel of the city.

A shopkeeper echoes his sentiments. He says that the crime rate has dipped and the city is heaving a sigh of relief. With regular flag-marches by Central forces and vigil by the observers and police, candidates and parties are taking no chances.

Police `highhandedness'

Allegations of police high-handedness have also surfaced.

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) office near Sanjay Place was raided at night by a police team and the matter was reported to the EC by the district in-charge Dinesh Kumar Gautam. Another allegation of harassment was levelled by the Jan Morcha workers in Agra Cantonment.

Surprisingly, the poll expenditure of many candidates has come down considerably, as they have to depend on door-to-door campaigns. Many reported an average expenditure of about Rs. 1.20 lakhs till March 31 and some had spent only a few thousands.

``The money is being diverted for advertisements on television and in newspapers and for distributing leaflets and party batches to the people,'' says Mr. Gautam of the BSP. While Bharatiya Janata Party advertisements have played on ``Yam'' in Mulayam and ``Maya'' in Mayawati and are describing them as leaders who have indulged in deception, the party offers the former Chief Minister Kalyan Singh as the only alternative.

N. Gopalaswami

``Proxy advertisements''

Trying to rekindle a passion among the youth for participation in the elections, the Congress has appealed for a change, recalling its days in power.

The ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) has stuck to its advertisements featuring Amitabh Bachchan and Chief Minister Mulayam Singh whose, punchline is ``Kayam rahe Mulayam'' (Let Mulayam prevail).

Also, for the first time, a string of ``proxy-advertisements'' on behalf of some socio-cultural organisations have appeared in local dailies targeting the Mulayam-Amar Singh duo as well as Mayawati.

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