Election News

Despite losing Devli Gaon, a Congress stronghold, and the addition of Saket ward, a BJP fort, after delimitation, Singh is confident of a victory. ``Devli Gaon has been supporting me for a long time and it will remain with my party. In Saket ward, I will solve the water problem which the corporator there failed to do,'' said Singh.

Associated with the Congress for the past 50 years, Singh also served as the development minister for seven years. He will bank on developmental issues. ``People are unhappy over the BRT. My agenda is to bring the Metro up to Pushp Vihar,'' he says. From 2004 to 2007, Singh allocated 504.5 lakh from his MLALAD fund, of which the major allocations were 187.1 lakh for development of roads, 136.3 lakh on water, 67.3 lakh on drainage system and 49.8 lakh on chabutras. Singh is known for his campaign against wine shops and he wants to continue his efforts on the same in the new areas added to his constituency. ``I won't allow wine shops in my constituency. I will weed out those in Pushp Vihar, Sainik Farms and Saket ward. People can purchase them from the neighbouring areas, but at least I'm doing my bit to keep a social evil away,'' said Singh.

The Congress candidate Kiran Walia and the BJP contender Ram Bhaj are the two key persons in their parties who are locked in a keenly watched contest.

Both these candidates have also gone through strong resistance within their party to get the ticket.

As the Delhi mayor Arti Mehra had been lobbying for a party ticket from this seat, but could not get it. Bhaj has to ensure now that his chances are not sabotaged by her. Similarly, Walia is to deal with internal dissidence led by the party leader Aman Verma and supporters of Delhi health minister Yoganand Shastri, who had been vying for a ticket from here.

Walia is a two-time MLA though her earlier constituency Hauz Khas got deleted in post-delimitation exercise, while Bhaj is a former MLA and was elected from Sarojini Nagar in 1998.

Walia has also served as the chairperson of Delhi Commission for Women.

Both the candidates belong to the Punjabi community, which constitutes a total of 21 per cent of the total voters in the area. Malviya Nagar is also interesting with the BSP having emerged as the

The party said it would provide interest-free loans to farmers and give free power supply of up to five horsepower for irrigation.

For the poor sections, the party promised wheat at Rs. 2 a kg and 35 kg of foodgrains a month to below the poverty line (BPL) families through the public distribution system. A subsidy of Rs. 2 a litre on kerosene would be provided to poor families.

Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia addressing a Congress meeting in the Govindpura constituency in Bhopal on Wednesday.

The manifesto was released here by senior leader and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, in the presence of State Congress chief Suresh Pachouri, Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs V. Narayanasamy and actor Raj Babbar, who recently joined the party after quitting the Samajwadi Party.

Mr. Mukherjee, while admitting that the manifesto should have been released earlier, told journalists that the party kept the welfare of all sections in mind while drafting the document.

The Election Commission (EC), which conducts elections to state legislatures and Parliament, had earlier sent back the proposal put up by the I&B ministry because it wanted some clarifications.

Specifically, EC had held that while such a move doesn't go against its model code of conduct, it can be launched only after a so-called programme code of radio is suitably modified.

The code defines the rules of commercial advertising on private radio channels, which, among other things, until now prohibited the airing of political ads.

"The EC has no problem.

Airing political ads on radio doesn't go against the EC's model code of conduct. It is just another medium like the print and TV. However, the programme code of radio has to be changed for this. Also, the content of these ads would have to be cleared by the ministry of information and broadcasting," election commissioner S.Y. Quraishi said.

An I&B official, who is familiar with the matter, but not authorized to speak to the media, said the government would lay down standards to ensure that political ads do not malign rival parties.

The official added that EC had sought some "technical clarification", which the ministry had submitted by Tuesday afternoon, but declined to disclose details.

Once EC signs off on the revised proposals, the I&B ministry will issue the required notification allowing private radio stations to air political ads. The move dovetails with a string of state elections that will lead up to parliamentary polls, which are due by May 2009. Access to this medium would potentially allow politicians to reach a wider audience, especially given the sharp spurt in the number of radio stations in the country.

There are at present about 400 FM radio stations in the country.

According to industry estimates, the additional revenue that could come to private FM stations once the recommendation is approved is about Rs120 crore.

PROFESSION: Before joining politics, Singh managed his father's petrol pump business, which his son now handles.

EDUCATION: Singh has studied till Class XII.

POLITICAL CAREER: Singh became associated with the Congress in 1977 and became vice-president of the Delhi Youth Congress. He entered electoral politics when he contested the Assembly polls in 1993 but lost. He was given a ticket again in the 1998 polls, which he won. In 2003, he won again. "I will create a hat-trick this year by winning the elections," said Singh.

FAMILY: Wife Sushma is a homemaker. They have a daughter and a son. Singh is a sports lover and plays cricket or badminton whenever he gets time from his busy schedule. "I never miss my morning walk around 5 a.m. in the morning. It keeps me fresh for the entire day," said Singh.

CARS: Singh owns a Ford Endeavour and a Maruti Van.

Pradesh Congress Committee chief Kaul Singh, leader of the Opposition Vidya Stokes and former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh formally welcomed these leader to the party at a meeting held here yesterday.

Prominent among others who joined the Congress were president of the Shimla district unit of the BSP Uttam Singh Kashyap, Shimla district convener Hira Mani Sharma, district Mahila wing president Bimla Prarthi and district yuva morcha president Harish Kumar.

In all, 42 leaders and activists deserted the BSP to embrace the Congress.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who was being targeted by the ruling BJP for completely ignoring Chhattisgarh in the current Assembly elections and criticised even for being "scared of coming to Chhattisgarh fearing that the party would lose", today chose the sleepy township of Kharsiya in Raigarh district to convey the party's message to the electorate.

Incidentally, her son Rahul was in Korba yesterday where he addressed an impressive gathering from a platform shared by Ajit Jogi, Motilal Vora, V.C. Shukla and Charandas Mahant. While it was Rahul's third visit to the state during the current Assembly elections, Sonia had not visited Chhattisgarh even once, leading to speculations regarding cohesiveness and election campaign strategy of the party.

For the Kharsiya rally, Sonia was also accompanied by almost all major state leaders, including Leader of the Opposition Mahendra Karma and former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi, both of whom have diametrically opposite views on the controversial Salwa Judum movement. While Karma completely favours the movement that has the support of the Raman Singh government, Jogi vehemently opposes it and would like to scrap it if the Congress comes to power.

PROFESSION: Kandera used to work as a sanitation supervisor in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. He joined active politics after he quit his job in 1958.

EDUCATION: He has studied up to Class VIII.

POLITICAL CAREER: "I spent seven years at the Gandhi Ashram, till I was 15," Kandera said. While with the MCD, he took active part in workers' union and is a known labour leader. He was the president of Safai Mazdoor Congress, Delhi Pradesh. He was also All India Vice President, Safai Mazdoor Congress INC. He was elected for the first time in 1998 and was re-elected as an MLA in 2003.

FAMILY: Wife Parmeshwari is a homemaker. They have six sons, who are all employed, and a daughter. To stay healthy during the hectic campaigning before elections, Kandera takes long walks every morning and also exercises.

CARS: The Kanderas own a Maruti Esteem.

Dikshit, who has been chief minister of Delhi since 1998, listed a string of achievements of her government over the past decade.

The manifesto has pledged to develop Delhi further as the city prepares to host the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

The party seems to have dropped the demand of a full statehood for Delhi, which it was emphasising in 1998 and 2003 elections.

Terming multiplicity of authority as a hitch in the development process, the Congress has sought `Special State' status for the capital in which the state government will have the police, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) under its jurisdiction.

The issue of full statehood had been part of the party manifesto in the past two elections of 1998 and 2003 when it came to power.

The BJP also has been demanding a full-fledged statehood for the Capital.

Speaking at the manifesto release function, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said that the Congress, if re-elected, would work to develop Delhi with a focus on the Commonwealth Games of 2010. "The games are not just a pride for the Capital, but the country as a whole. We would give priority for games-focused development", said Sheila Dikshit.

Such has been the impact of rebels in both parties that the BJP late on Sunday night changed candidates for seven constituencies that they had announced earlier.It also decided to share four seats each with the JD(U) and INLD, while the Congress changed two candidates whose names figured in earlier lists.

Late on Sunday night, the BJP decided not to field veteran Meena community leader and former food minis- ter Kirori Lal Meena from the Sawai Madhopur con- stituency,where Meena is a sitting MLA, and announced Jas Kaur Meena, his known political rival, in his place. On Mon- day, Meena said he was plan- ning to contest elections as an Independent from two con- stituencies, including Sawai Madhopur. Meanwhile, sources close to Meena said he was in contact with senior Congress leaders.

BJP candidate and sitting MLA from Hindoli, with a fair percentage of Gurjjar voters in Boondi district, Nathulal Guj- jar, also faced the axe on Sun- day night and was replaced by Agriculture Minister Prabhu- lal Saini. Incidentally, Hindoli constituency will now witnes sa fight between three sitting MLAs from three different communities, as the other two contenders include expelled BJP MLA and Gurjjar heavyweight Prahalad Gunjal as an Independent and sitting Hindoli MLA Hari Mohan of the Congress.

Addressing people on the way to her padyatras in her constituency, Dikshit accused the Bharatiya Janata Party for dividing people on communal lines for political gains.

Dikshit said that her party had always believed that maintenance of the social fabric was must for the overall development and stability of the country . And this can be done only by a Congress-led government, she added.

On a whirlwind tour of the areas of her constituency, including Kali Bari, Sarojini Nagar, Jor Bagh, Kaka Nagar, Bapa Nagar and Golf Link today, Dikshit was greeted with a large crowd of party workers and local residents.

Giving details of her government's achievements, Dikshit who has been the Chief Minister of Delhi for the last 10 years said that as far as the transport sector was concerned, already 650 green low-floor buses and 25 air-conditioned buses were plying on the road. In addition to this, 6,000 more low-floor buses will be added to the DTC fleet by 2010.

PROFESSION: Was a teacher in a government senior secondary school before taking voluntary retirement in 1993. He calls himself a social activist.

EDUCATION: Singh has done his Ph D in Education

POLITICAL CAREER: Singh represented the Delhi Teachers' Federation while in service. He jumped into politics after giving up his job. "Sajjan Kumar inspired me to join politics," said Singh. He first contested municipal elections in March 2002. In 2003, he won the Delhi Assembly elections for the first time.

FAMILY: Has two sons and a daughter. Wife Kalawati Singh is a homemaker, while sons and daughters-in-law are educationists and run their schools. "I spend most of my time interacting with my electorate and travelling for work that I do for organisations that I represent," said Singh. "Traveling, in fact, is my hobby too," he added.

CARS: Singh had three official cars given by different organisations. He claimed he surrendered them. His sons own a Maruti SX4, a Toyota Innova and a Hyundai Santro.

PROFESSION: Gangwal has a photostat and lamination shop in Madipur and also owns a stamp paper agency. The business is managed by his son.

EDUCATION: Political Science (H) graduate from Rajdhani College.

POLITICAL CAREER: Gangwal has been active in politics since 1983 and was a member of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi for more than seven years. He was first elected to the Delhi Assembly in 1998 and reelected in 2003. He is the General Secretary of the Delhi Dehat Congress. Including his tenure in the corporation, this is the fifth time Gangwal has got a Congress ticket.

FAMILY: Wife Rani is a housewife. They have a son and a daughter. Gangwal used to be a wrestler and was the DU champion for three years. "I was very fond of wrestling. Even now I keep fit by doing Yoga and walking five kilometres every day," he said.

CARS: Gangwal said they own a Maruti 800, which his son drives. "I don't own a car but my friends lend me theirs," he said.