NEW DELHI, 9 November 2003 — The forthcoming assembly elections in four states are supposed to be about governance and performance, but mudslinging appears to be putting the real issues out of sight.
For instance, one of the Delhi’s most gruesome crimes, the tandoor murder, seems to have become an unlikely election issue. The BJP wants to embarrass the Congress, since the guilty, Sushil Sharma, was a prominent Youth Congress activist.
But it is not Delhi alone. In Madhya Pradesh, the battle between the Congress and the BJP is focused not on power, unemployment and roads, but on a Dalit woman Jamini Bayee. A rape victim, Jamini appeared on stage at the prime minister’s rally in Bhopal last month and sparked off a bitter slanging match in the state.
“The BJP has politically exploited the rape of a Dalit woman. They will pay for this,” said Chief Minister Digvijay Singh.
“The shameful acts of crimes against women are part of Digvijay Singh’s rule and the Congress should be ashamed,” retaliated BJP General Secretary Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.
And the scene is no different in Chhattisgarh, where the campaign so far is more of a battle between Chief Minister Ajit Jogi and the rest.
High on the political agenda is the issue of Jogi’s tribal credentials, which the opposition claims as fake. In fact the BJP has even offered a 500,000 rupees reward to anyone who can prove Jogi isn’t a tribal.
And in Rajasthan, another state which is going to polls, the chief ministerial candidate of BJP, Vasundhra Raje Scindia is in tussle with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot over the issue of “Jat reservation.”
The state has, however, suffered a lot due to the drought earlier and the prime issue of poverty is also being ignored by both party leaders.
At present here, both the parties are suffering from internal bickering, some top Congress leaders of the state are dissatisfied over the allotment of party tickets, meanwhile, the situation is the same for the BJP on the issue of party tickets.
