UP, Gujarat, UT, Punjab- Election 2007

UP, Gujarat, UT, Punjab- Election 2007 - Printable Version

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UP, Gujarat, UT, Punjab- Election 2007 - Guest - 04-14-2007

QUOTEGovt faces SC flak 
Abraham Thomas | New Delhi
'Centre should have consulted CEC instead of AG'
Pioneer.com
NDA plea on Chawla
The UPA Government suffered a major loss of face in the Supreme Court on Friday over its decision not to consult the Chief Election Commissioner on the NDA petition seeking removal of Election Commissioner Navin Chawla.

Hitting out at the Centre's decision to consult the Attorney General instead of the CEC to dispose of an Opposition plea against Chawla, the Supreme Court Bench remarked, "The President has to seek opinion of the Chief Election Commissioner under Article 324(5). He does not act on advice of the Cabinet."

The Bench of Justices Ashok Bhan and VS Sirpurkar agreed that the matter required urgent consideration and fixed May 8 to decide it finally. Additional Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium appeared for the Centre while senior advocate Soli Sorabjee and Arun Jaitley represented the petitioner. The court asked both sides to submit replies before the next date of hearing.

The court's tough stand on the issue has come as a shot in the arm for the National Democratic Alliance which had initially lodged its protest against Chawla by submitting a memorandum signed by 205 MPs with the President.

The petition had quoted news reports that a trust run by Chawla's wife received funds from Congress MPs under MPLAD scheme. He had even received discretionary allotment of land in Delhi and Jaipur from the Congress Government, the reports stated.

The Centre had dismissed NDA petition on the advice of the Attorney General. While exonerating Chawla, the AG told the Centre that the charges related to the period prior to his appointment as EC in May 2005.

The matter came to Supreme Court when Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Jaswant Singh contended that the Government should have taken CEC's opinion before deciding the NDA petition against Chawla.


Now CD case is gone and over, unless and until congressi fools do very stupid thing.

UP, Gujarat, UT, Punjab- Election 2007 - Guest - 04-15-2007

QUOTEIn silent mode, BJP surges ahead 
Pioneer.com
Sidharth Mishra | Bijnore/Moradabad
Cool response to RLD, SP, BSP in Charan Singh land
The improved performance of the BJP in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, which is taking pollsters by surprise, is not just fuelled by SIMI-Afzal-bashing, as a majority of analysts would like to believe.Â

A leading 24x7 channel, which initially did not expect the BJP to get more than 60 seats, is already putting the party's tally at three figures after two phases of voting. But the channel is crediting inflammatory speeches by inconsequential leaders for the BJP's comeback. Obviously it has not bothered to look beyond public meetings.

Bijnore, best known politically for initiating Union Minister Meira Kumar and BSP boss Mayawati to electoral politics, would probably offer a clue to those looking for reasons behind the BJP's resurgence.

On the northern bank of Ganga, this region remained inaccessible and politically isolated for a long time. When the region goes to poll on April 18 for the remaining seats of west and central Uttar Pradesh, it would reflect in a big way the changed social and political scenario of the region.

Home to Jat and Muslim kulaks, Bijnore gave Chowdhary Charan Singh seats on a platter. This time around, it's the BJP that is the constant factor in all the seats, which go to the polls on April 18. Pitted against the BJP are candidates varying from Ajit Singh's Lok Dal to BSP to Samajwadi Party and even the Congress.

What makes the BJP a force to reckon with in an area that is known for rural affluence and has a very nominal urban electorate?

The uppermost factor is anti-incumbency. There certainly is an element of disillusion with the Samajwadi Party Government. And there is a section that wants to vote for change, looking beyond the caste of the candidate. Such voters may be less but they do act as catalysts.

Which is the party that can be an alternative to Mulayam Singh Yadav's family farce? Certainly not the BSP, whose campaign is totally based on spitting venom at its rivals and caste arithmetic. The Congress, despite its roadshows, is still far from being taken as a serious challenger. This leaves the BJP as an option worth consideration. The BJP's strategists are in no mood to let go of this opportunity.

In a way, the BJP is replicating its Delhi campaign in this part of Uttar Pradesh. In Delhi, it had put its house in order, organised a well-coordinated campaign and benefited from the disgust that people harboured for their Congress councillors. The hard work by the party's organising secretaries, who are RSS pracharaks, to galvanise cadre and consolidate voters in rural Uttar Pradesh has given a big boost to the BJP's chances.

In Delhi, voters were constantly reminded of inflation through pamphlets carrying the comparative prices of vegetables and pulses during the NDA and the UPA regimes. In this region, the benefits that accrued to farmers during the NDA regime at the Centre and the BJP Governments in the States are finding focus.

The comparison is very simple. Just before the polls were announced, the Mulayam Government decided on an all-time high of Rs 125 per quintal as the support price for sugarcane. The BJP cadre have been quick to point out that when their party went out of power five years ago, it was paying Rs 100.

To drive their point further, they say that while the BJP Government paid Rs 100 for cane when sugar sold at Rs 900 per quintal, Mulayam's Government is offering a support price of Rs 125 for cane when sugar is selling at Rs 1,400 per quintal. <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/mad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='mad.gif' />

To the credit of Kalyan Singh and Rajnath Singh Governments, the sugar mills during their time were forced to pay sugarcane growers within the stipulated period. This year, the mills are refusing to pay up, citing cash crunch. In a region where there is at least one sugar mill in each of the seven constituencies, the non-payment of sugarcane dues could be a major grouse against the incumbent Government.

UP, Gujarat, UT, Punjab- Election 2007 - Guest - 04-15-2007

Second phase
Exit poll

Channel BSP SP BJP Cong
NDTV 14-16 8-10 18-20 6-8
Star 19 4 12 6

ower all
NDTV 115-125 110-120 95-105 35-45
135 100 101 28

UP, Gujarat, UT, Punjab- Election 2007 - Guest - 04-15-2007

x-post
The unravelling of Uttar Pradesh
Tavleen Singh
As someone who believes that India is a rich country that has been impoverished because of the incompetence of our political class, I have watched the election campaign in Uttar Pradesh with growing dismay. You only need to walk down a street in Mumbai or Delhi to see that poverty caused by bad governance is the only issue in Uttar Pradesh.
---------------------
This was lucidly confirmed, a couple of weeks ago, by the Chief Economic Adviser to the Finance Ministry, Ashok Lahiri. This is what he told Outlook magazine: âThe Ninth Plan (1997-2002) document said that the amount of money we spend for poverty alleviation â around Rs 40,000 crore â would have given around Rs 8,000 per month per poor family , which would be sufficient to buy three kilos of food grain every day.â
---------

UP, Gujarat, UT, Punjab- Election 2007 - Guest - 04-15-2007

instead of accepting that the opinion polls are wrong, he keeps on rambling about inane stuff
Middle classâs growing distance
Vir Singhvi
Depending on which set of results you choose to look at, this government is either doing very well or itâs doing very badly. If you look at the opinion polls commissioned by a variety of TV channels, newspapers and magazines, they all tell the same story: the UPA is far more popular today than it was when the last general election was held. If India went to the polls now, the government would easily be re-elected.
Thatâs one set of results. But others tell a completely different story. Wherever there has been an election over the last six months, the Congress has been defeated.
..................

UP, Gujarat, UT, Punjab- Election 2007 - Guest - 04-15-2007

Vir Singhvi is not seeing writing on wall. All pollester were same guys, head fool was Yogender Yadav. He is now everywhere, NCERT, planning commision, pollester, TV Channels.....

UP, Gujarat, UT, Punjab- Election 2007 - Guest - 04-16-2007

<!--emo& Sad

--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /> How much appeal a slogan has e.g.
B-SP's
Haathi nahin Ganesh hai
Brahma Vishnu Mahesh hai

UP, Gujarat, UT, Punjab- Election 2007 - Guest - 04-16-2007

QUOTE(rraajjeevv @ Apr 15 2007, 11:44 PM)instead of accepting that the opinion polls are wrong, he keeps on rambling about inane stuff
Middle classâs growing distance
Vir Singhvi
Depending on which set of results you choose to look at, this government is either doing very well or itâs doing very badly. If you look at the opinion polls commissioned by a variety of TV channels, newspapers and magazines, they all tell the same story: the UPA is far more popular today than it was when the last general election was held. If India went to the polls now, the government would easily be re-elected.
Thatâs one set of results. But others tell a completely different story. Wherever there has been an election over the last six months, the Congress has been defeated.
..................
[right][snapback]67110[/snapback][/right]


These GAND? dynasty a**-lickers have no clue. The polls are all manipulated questions and even made up. NDTV s nothing but a COMMIE drumbeat making up LIES.

Let us all see how long these MORONS keep lying.

UP, Gujarat, UT, Punjab- Election 2007 - Guest - 04-16-2007

via e-mail:

QUOTEFORUM FOR SECULARISM & DEVELOPMENT (USA)
3145 Gilbert Avenue, Roseburg OR

AN APPEAL TO INDIANS, INDIAâS FRIENDS AND WELL WISHERS
Want change of policy, change policy makers

Dear friends,

Take a look at India today both internally and externally and one comes to the inescapable conclusion that the country is at the âcross roadsâ and unless citizens exercise their power and correct the nationâs course things are bound to go from bad to worse.

Remember who said it a long time ago (Urdu couplets):

Watan Ki Fikir Kar Nadaan Mushibat Aanay Wali Hai
Teri Barbaadiyon Kay Mashware Hain Aasmanon Main

Na Samjho gay to mit Javo gay aye Hindustan walo
Tumhari Daastan tuk bhi na hogi daastanon main

Subject: The opportunity to transform Indiaâs future course through the ongoing UP elections:

The desire to stay in power is understandable. But to abuse laws and appease and manipulate some sections of the electorate through divisive means for votes to hold on to power against the long term welfare of masses and strategic interests of the country, is immoral and therefore, unforgivable. More often than not politicians in a democratic setup can be served a stunning message through elections. The ongoing elections in UP present such an opportunity. If the goal of the electorate that is sick and tired of the âtyranny of the manipulated minoritiesâ in India is to have a âregime changeâ, now is the time to act.

It is a matter of serious national concern that some politicians and political parties don't seem to bother about the long term vision of a stable, prosperous and powerful country - their objective being perpetual governance even through devious means like unconstitutional religious based reservations for some patronized minorities. If the Supreme Court ruling goes against their plans, they get angry and engineer enacting laws to counteract the ruling or amend the Constitution. A bad precedent in this context was set by the Parliament by effectively nullifying the SC ruling in the Shah Bano case.

Here are some additional instances of Govt. actions at the Center and their willful neglect of events in states that has deeply anguished and frustrated citizens resulting in a feeling of helplessness and hopelessness. At this point in time the lack of hope and faith must give rise to intense electoral activism for brining about the change that is desired:

1) Introduction of religious based reservations culminating in social fragmentism, polarization and abuse of Constitution;
2) Enforcing a communal quota system at the topmost technical and management institutions - IITs and IIMs, thus brushing aside talent and professional preparation;
3) Promoting suicides by farmers through utmost neglect of farming sector;
4) Religious persecution of Hindus as exemplified by politically motivated arrest of Kanchi Shankaracharya on concocted charges;
5) virtual demolition and de- Hinduisation of Hindu religious infrastructure under Govt. control by taking away freedom to worship, temple revenues and endowment lands thus rendering them dysfunctional;
6) Issuance of the two rupee coin with a Christian Cross violating the mandate of the secular Constitution;
7) Demolition of Rama Sethu Bridge, one of the top most symbols of Indiaâs cultural and religious heritage, for a shipping channel against the wishes of the Majority community;
8) Hush hush nuclear deal, which in its present form surrenders Indiaâs national sovereignty and security, without open discussion in public and Parliament that could land India in renewed & perpetual subservience;
9) Encouragement of terrorism by negotiating with terrorists, scrapping POTA and appeasement policy leading to terrorist insurgency and Bangladeshi infiltration into India;
10) Toothless policies towards Indiaâs neighbors particularly Pakistan and Bangladesh who have proved to be a permanent threat to Indiaâs security and sovereignty;
11) Fundamentally defeatist policy towards Nepal, thus jeopardizing Indiaâs special relationship with the only Hindu Kingdom in the world;
12) Disintegrative policies towards J&K, Maoists and Naxalites with serious security and strategic implications;

For those in India and abroad wishing to send a message of disapproval to the Govt. there is an opportunity in the ongoing elections in UP with 5 more days of spread out polling till May 8. Such activism from outside the polling zones could take the form of contacting people directly and indirectly by phone and email amongst other means, explaining to them the serious problems, to urge them to forego caste issues and other allurements like sarees, cash and booze and vote for their future and Indiaâs cultural heritage.

Henceforth, this patriotic strategy should be applied to all levels of elected bodies may they be local, district, state or national.

In a democracy a Govt. that is respectful and sensitive towards the will of its citizens and is transparent and accountable can be brought about only through the active involvement and participation by its electors. It is our hope that all Indians and friends of India will activate themselves, use telephones, e-mails and other form of communication, emphasizing upon the real voters in UP that âif they want change of policy, do not flounder the opportunity to change the policy makers.â

With our best wishes,
Dr. Jagan Kaul
Krishan Bhatnagar
Forum for Secularism and Development (USA)
email: krishan.kb@verizon.net
April 14, 2007

PS: This letter will soon be posted at http://www.bharatjagran.com/
Krishan Bhatnagar krishan.kb@verizon.net

UP, Gujarat, UT, Punjab- Election 2007 - Guest - 04-17-2007

<img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/argue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='argue.gif' /> Read my latest blog on elections wrt UP
www.o3.indiatimes.com/RxIndiandemocracy

UP, Gujarat, UT, Punjab- Election 2007 - Guest - 04-18-2007

Mulayam needs a lead today to stay in raceQUOTEThe possibility of a Mulayam Singh Yadav-led Government retaining power in Uttar Pradesh after the Assembly election depends heavily on the Samajwadi Party's performance in the third round of voting on Wednesday. Tipped as Yadav's stronghold, 57 seats of Uttar Pradesh Assembly go to polls on Wednesday.
.......

The demographic profile is heterogenous with Jats dominating one region, Yadavs another and Kurmis and Thakurs coming into the picture on some seats. Muslims, too, dominate a large number of seats and there is a consistently visible Brahmin and Dalit population in almost all the seats.

...
With the exit polls showing average performance from the Samajwadi Party in the first two phases and lagging behind BSP, this could well be its last chance to go into the remaining four phases on an equal footing with arch rival BSP. BJP has slowly been emerging as a serious contender with every passing phase. A well-coordinated campaign led by Kalyan Singh from the front, withdrawal of Uma Bharati from the contest and polarisation of Hindu votes, following the secular parties pushing the agenda of minority appeasement a bit too far, could well see the saffron party not only hold onto its 2002 position of 11 but even add a seat or two to it.

The Congress on its part could consider itself lucky if its holds onto it four seats won in 2002. Though there was a substantial improvement in the party's performance in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, the confusion created by Rahul Gandhi's wavering line during the road shows would certainly not add to party's health

UP, Gujarat, UT, Punjab- Election 2007 - Guest - 04-18-2007

What DP, who Bukhari, says VP
QUOTEThe Pioneer had reported on Tuesday about the support extended to DP Yadav by VP Singh, as he was seen prominently sporting himself with Yadav in campaign advertisements published in dailies.

A number of advertisements were released in the local editions of national newspapers in which Singh appears with DP Yadav, Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid Ahmed Bukhari, Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan and Jan Morcha leader Raj Babbar, seeking support for Rashtriya Parivartan Dal candidate and Yadav's wife Umlesh in Bisauli constituency.

The Jan Morcha has also denied that it has any tie-up with the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid. "Jan Morcha has tied up with chairman of UDF Haji Yakub Qureshi and there is connection with that religious leader," the communiquÃ© said.
link

RPD was behind couple of Dalit riots in last 6 months.

UP, Gujarat, UT, Punjab- Election 2007 - Guest - 04-19-2007

QUOTESurge for BJP in third phase 
link
Pioneer News Service | Lucknow
50 per cent turnout in peaceful poll

The polling percentage improved marginally after the first two phases to nearly 50 per cent in the third round on Wednesday.

The saffron party is expected to notch handsome gains this time. Apart from this, Lok Sabha member from Pilibhit Maneka Gandhi may also contribute positively to the BJP as she and her son Varun have campaigned extensively for the party, contrary to the last elections when she fielded candidates of her choice under the banner of Shakti Dal. Though none of the candidates fielded by Maneka won, they did damage the BJP's prospects.

Polling in the 10 districts remained peaceful barring the controversy over the exclusion of sitting Congress MLA Louis Khursheed's name in Kayamganj and the death of an ITBP jawan with a bullet fired from his own gun.
....................

NDTV's exit poll on phase three of the election in UP, which were held on Wednesday, has predicted a three-way split with the BJP gaining the most.
According to the exit poll,
the SP will get 10-14 seats,
the BSP 15-19 seats,
the BJP 20-24 seats and the
Congress which is lagging far behind 4-8 seats in this phase.

If the trend continues in the rest of the phases,
the final position is likely to be SP 105-115 seats,
the BSP 120-130 seats, the
BJP 110 to 120 seats and
the Congress 35 to 45 seats.

UP, Gujarat, UT, Punjab- Election 2007 - Guest - 04-20-2007

BSP on top, BJP 2nd in UP: Exit poll 
PTI | New Delhi
Bahujan Samaj Party would emerge on top followed by BJP relegating ruling Samajwadi Party to the third spot in Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, an

NDTV exit poll said after the third phase of polling in the state.
If the swing remains the same in the next four phases
BSP would bag between 120 and 130,
BJP 110-120 and
SP 105-115 in the 403-member House, the projections showed.

The poll placed Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, whose party has its core support base among Muslims, in third position in areas dominated by the community.

It predicted
35 to 45 seats for Congress and
10 to 20 for other groups in case the voting swing remained the same throughout until the last phase of elections.

The exit poll put BJP at the top in the third phase in which 57 constituencies went to poll,
predicting 20 to 24 seats for the saffron party,
15 to 19 seats for BSP,
10 to 14 for SP and its allies and
4 to 8 for the Congress.

The BJP won the maximum 27.6 per cent of the vote share followed by
BSP (24.5 per cent),
SP (23.5 per cent),
Congress (15.1 per cent) and
others (9.3 per cent), the poll showed.

An exit poll by Star News predicted
138 seats for the BSP,
107 for the BJP and its allies,
93 for the SP,
27 for the Congress and
38 for others.

Its projections from today's polling in 57 constituencies gave the
BJP the maximum number of 20 seats followed by
17 for the BSP,
12 for the SP, and
four for the Congress and as many for others.

An India TV-C Voter exit poll showed the
SP securing 23 to 27 seats, the
BJP 13 to 17, the
BSP 11 to 15 and the
Congress two to six seats from today's voting

UP, Gujarat, UT, Punjab- Election 2007 - Guest - 04-20-2007

QUOTEVote banks fracturing 
Pioneer News Service | New Delhi
BJP set to gain from division of Muslim votes, fair polling
An Analysis:
Six months ago, even the most optimistic BJP supporters were not willing to place a bet on the possibility of the party staging a recovery in Uttar Pradesh from where it launched the Ram temple movement to capture power at the Centre. But the return of the core vote bank and division of the ruling Samajwadi Party's support base seem to be propelling the BJP to a situation where its leaders are now claiming to even pip the frontrunner BSP at the post.

In a vast State like UP, where every region has its own complex caste arithmetic, such early claims and counter-claims could only be taken with a pinch of salt, but there are indications that a social churning is taking place in the caste and communal cauldron of UP with the gains going to the BSP and the BJP.Â Â

One of the significant aspects of the first three phases of the UP poll has been the breaking of the myth of strategic voting by the Muslims to defeat the BJP. 

Exit polls and ground reports indicate a four-way division of the Muslim vote among the SP, the BSP, Congress and the smaller outfits-funded and driven by individual Muslim chieftains. Undoubtedly, the SP has been able to secure majority of the Muslim vote, but its failure to polarise Muslims may turn out to be Mulayam Singh Yadav's nemesis.The exit polls' prediction about a poor show by the SP in the third phase is based on assessments that at least 35-40 per cent Muslims have voted against Yadav.

The trend so far has also indicated that the upper castes are now returning aggressively to the BJP fold. In fact, in the first three phases, where the BSP fielded relatively fewer upper caste candidates and the Congress hardly a serious challenger, the BJP expects to gain a large chunk of its traditional votes.

The social churning that saw non-Yadav OBCs rejecting the leadership of Lalu Prasad in Bihar seems to be repeating itself in UP also. Over the years, the dominating character of Yadav leadership has alienated the non-Yadav OBCs and Mulayam is finding it difficult to rally them around under the slogan of social justice. The emergence of smaller outfits like Apna Dal, Beni Prasad Verma's Samajwadi Kranti Dal, Om Prakash Rajbhar-led Bhartiya Samaj Party are indications of this shifting socio-political reality of Hindi heartland. These parties may not be more than small blip on the vast canvass of State with a population of over 10 crore, but collectively they espouse the growing aspirations of the non-Yadav OBCs for their share of power in post-Mandal politics.

The BJP is best suited to encash this disenchantment of the non-Yadav OBCs to the hilt. The projection of Kalyan Singh as BJP's chief ministerial candidate has led to the return of Lodh votes to the BJP. Similarly, the party's alliance with Apna Dal could help it make serious inroads into Kurmi vote bank. With an eye on these votes, the BJP has roped in Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

The non-Yadav OBC votes are clearly up for grab in UP, and both the BJP and the BSP have made deep inroads into the SP's terrain here.

Political observers feel that the BJP has successfully implemented the Madhya Pradesh experiment UP. In MP, the BJP's success to bring OBCs and upper castes on one platform saw them sweep the Assembly poll. Now the party is hoping a repeat of the same in UP

UP, Gujarat, UT, Punjab- Election 2007 - Guest - 04-20-2007

These UP elections & their media coverage is strange.

1. Every newspaper acknowledges that Congress is a distant 4th in UP. But if you look at the coverage given even to a minor sneeze by a member of the dynasty, you would think that Congress was the only game in town. I am surprised and appalled at seeing every day a picture and story of Rahul/Sonia gandhi in major newspapers reporting on UP. When did you last see a picture of Mulayam, Mayavati, Kalyan Singh or Rajnath singh on the front pages? Weird. Even weirder is that nobody has commented yet on this obvious anomaly.

2. Media tried very hard to make it appear like a SP/BSP game. BJP was mentioned as an insignificant third. Despite all the early media polls showing BJP close to SP & BSP. Now after every exit poll BJP seems to be gaining, media is getting a bit discomfited. Third phase elections exit polls showed that BJP was leading, but ALL the report headlines mentioned that BSP was leading 'overall', and only in the text you could gather that BJP actually led in the third phase.

3. BJP's gains are becoming clearer every day. It also follows the trend in other elections nationwide. It also makes perfect sense.

My prediction: Despite media prophesies, BJP will get the most seats in UP. Can't say yet whether they will manage a simple majority by themselves or not.

UP, Gujarat, UT, Punjab- Election 2007 - Guest - 04-21-2007

QUOTECong alarmed over BJP surge 
Pioneer.com
Yogesh Vajpeyi | New Delhi
Plans to make saffron main target
Unnerved by the reports projecting a surge for the BJP in the Uttar Pradesh electoral battle, the Congress poll managers have now decided on a mid-course correction in their strategy.Â

Instead of concentrating their firepower against Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, its star campaigners will now project the Sangh Parivar and the BJP as the principal threat to "secular India"

A clear indication of the change in the tone and tenor of the party's campaign was given by its spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi on Friday when he accused the BJP and its allied organisation of trying to communalise UP election.

"The party will now tell the people of UP how the BJP and its allies were bent upon tearing the secular fabric of society by whipping up communal frenzy. It will also expose the SP's lukewarm reaction to the BJP's objectionable CD on the basis of which the Congress and other secular parties have asked the Election Commission to derecognise it as a national party," he said.

Taking note of the SP's "worsening" plight that was especially seen to have come out in sharp relief in its north UP bastion after the third round of polling, some senior Congress leaders feel that the party should start going after the BJP more than the SP now.

"The SP is clearly on its way out and increasingly losing ground. With the BJP surging ahead behind the BSP, it will be more prudent for us to promote the BJP as the principal target of our onslaught," said a senior AICC functionary involved in monitoring the party's election campaign in UP.

The Congress party managers realise that the resurgence of the BJP in UP could accelerate the pro-NDA trend witnessed during the recent Assembly elections at the national level. So they have decided to make the controversial CD allegedly brought out by the BJP a major issue in the next round of poll.

"By projecting the BJP as the main threat to communal harmony and social amity, the party could hope to win some of the seats in Oudh and Eastern Uttar Pradesh where it has put strong candidates. Muslims in these areas could switch their support to the Congress if they see the BJP gaining ground," said an AICC general secretary.

During the past two days, party leaders like Digvijay Singh have already started projecting the Congress as the only party that could meet the saffron challenge, he pointed out. "Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and others are likely to dwell on the theme more prominently in their election meetings."

Friday's AICC briefing saw Congress Singhvi dub the "BJP-RSS-VHP Associates" as a corporate house bringing its "new IPO" through the disc after becoming "bankrupt" in the last Lok Sabha elections.

Singhvi dismissed the BJP's argument that the Election Commission had no powers to act on issues of political ideology. " When the ideology is of a divisive nature and anti-secular and went against the Constitution, the EC is duty-bound to intervene," he said.

"The company has Bangaru Laxman as its chairman emeritus and Babubhai Katara as its managing director," he said, adding that the "new public issue" showed the true face and character of the main opposition party.

Communal congress is calling BJP communal. <!--emo& Big Grin

--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' />

UP, Gujarat, UT, Punjab- Election 2007 - dhu - 04-21-2007

Press Trust of India
Saturday, April 21, 2007 (Varanasi)
In a major haul, police have seized 6,000 detonators and 400 highly explosive gelatin rods from near Ramnagar area, suspected to have been transported by naxalites to disrupt the ongoing Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.

A police team on patrolling duty near Vishwasundari bridge situated on the border of Varanasi and Chandauli district found these explosive materials lying abandoned in the jungle area late last night, Ramnagar police station incharge D K Tripathi said.

The seizure of explosives in the area prone to naxal activities points to the possibility that the consignment could have been brought by naxal outfits for carrying out subversive activities and vitiating the assembly election process in the region, Tripathi said.

The plans of MCC, a naxal outfit, to take revenge for the killing of their self-styled zonal commander Sanjay Kol in Chandauli district earlier this week in a gunbattle could be another motive behind the explosive consignment. http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story...EWEN20070009451

Scion rahul was in the area today. Rahul in Ramnagar