NEW DELHI, 25 April 2004 — Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi’s political fate will be decided by voters tomorrow when Indians go to the second phase of national elections spread over five stages. The first was held on April 21. Feverish second phase campaigning ended yesterday in constituencies going to polls on April 26.

These include 32 of 80 Lok Sabha constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, 24 of 48 seats in Maharashtra, 21 out of 42 in Andhra Pradesh, 17 of 40 seats in Bihar, 13 of 28 in Karnataka, 10 of 21 in Orissa, eight each in Assam and Jharkhand, two in Goa and one each in Manipur and Kashmir.

The second phase of the poll will cover the final stage of assembly elections in 147 of 294 constituencies in Andhra Pradesh, 104 out of 224 seats in Karnataka and 70 out of 147 seats in Orissa.

Eager to maximize their base in Uttar Pradesh, that has 80 seats in the 545-member Lok Sabha, of late parties in the fray have tried their hands at all possible strategies including exploiting the Ayodhya issue.

Hoping to create a split among the Samajwadi Party supporters, the NDA has tried a new strategy, that of projecting the Samajwadi Party as its future ally. Samajwadi’s base in Uttar Pradesh among Muslims and lower caste Hindus rests on it being anti-BJP, which is held to be anti-Muslim and pro-high caste Hindu party.

Hurling this political missile at the Samajwadi Party, NDA convener George Fernandes said to a private news channel:“Mulayam should join the NDA as there are very few differences of opinion between him and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.” Fernandes specified: “I share very good relations with Mulayam and I want him to be a part of the NDA.”

Taking strong offense to these comments, at a press conference yesterday in Lucknow, Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh said that these showed that the NDA and BJP were “nervous and their defeat is certain.”

”Though SP President Mulayam Singh Yadav and Fernandes have been associated with Ram Manohar Lohia, noted socialist thinker, unlike Fernandes, we have never compromised with principles for power,” he said. “We did not abandon our path for the sake of power.”

Describing assertions of Vajpayee and Fernandes as a “well-thought strategy,” Singh said that these were aimed at creating confusion among minorities.

In Uttar Pradesh, behind the scenes, even Congress is hoping to cash on its accusations against Samajwadi Party and BJP being “aligned.”

Claiming that only Congress could ensure development of Uttar Pradesh, while addressing a rally at Deoria, Sonia Gandhi blamed the none-Congress governments for the state’s backwardness.

“There was a time when Uttar Pradesh was a model state and leaders from here were accorded great respect... The Ganga-Yamuna (mixed) culture of the state was the role model but now the situation has changed,” Gandhi said.

She lashed out at the BJP-led coalition government for dividing the state along caste lines to serve their interests, selling a number of public sector units at throwaway prices rendering many people unemployed and failing to provide jobs to the unemployed as promised.

Asserting that only Congress could ensure the state’s development, Sonia appealed to the people to vote for it.

During the 1999 elections, Congress won 10 seats against the 29 won by BJP, 26 secured by Samajwadi Party and 14 by BSP.

Meanwhile, Sonia Gandhi is not the only woman candidate in the fray for the April 26 polls. Among the 1,278 candidates whose political future will be decided tomorrow, 60 are women. While the maximum number of women contesting in the second phase of Lok Sabha poll, is 16 out of 421 candidates from Uttar Pradesh, the second highest number is 13 among the 202 candidates for 24 seats in Maharashtra.

Andhra Pradesh has 7 women candidates out of 147 spread over 21 seats, with Karnataka and Jharkhand having 6 women candidates each out of a total of 79 and 97 contestants fighting it out for the 13 and 8 seats, respectively.

Out of 46 contestants in the poll battle for 10 seats in Orissa, five are women. Only three women out of 183 contestants are in the fray for 17 seats in Bihar.

In Kashmir, among 13 candidates racing for the Srinagar seat, two are women. Assam and Goa have one woman each for the eight and two seats going to the polls, although in all 68 and 16 contestants are in the race, respectively.

While six candidates are trying their luck for one Lok Sabha seat in Manipur, there is no woman candidate in the running from there.