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Betul by-election campaign in top gear

BETUL: The main contenders in the upcoming Lok Sabha by-election from Betul in Madhya Pradesh -- the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, the Congress and the Samajwadi Party -- have put their entire election machinery in top gear for the big day.

Polling is due on April 12.

Campaigning for its candidate Sunilam, the Samajwadi Party is banking on the anti-incumbency factor and targeting the United Progressive Alliance Government at the Centre for its “failure’ to control rising prices.

The Congress leaders, on the other hand, have been seeking votes for their candidate Sukhdev Panse recalling the Union Government’s “pro-poor policies” and the State Government’s “failure” to maintain law and order.

The Congress campaign is being spearheaded by PCC president Suresh Pachouri and Union Minister Kamal Nath.

The ruling BJP appears undeterred by the onslaught of charges, especially allegations of corruption against those at the helm of affairs in the State, and also the accusation that the State Government was “anti-farmer”. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan and other party leaders were busy campaigning in Betul on Monday. On Wednesday, senior party leader Venkaiah Naidu, accompanied by film personality Hema Malini, would be campaigning for the candidate Hemant Khandelwal, son of the late BJP Member of Parliament, Vijay Khandelwal.

The Samajwadi Party chief, Mulayam Singh Yadav, addressed three public meetings in this constituency on Sunday.

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Betul by-election campaign in top gear

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