BJP fears violence, petitions EC

MANDATE 2004/ Fates of Vajpayee, Joshi, Mulayam, Laloo to be sealed today

Already touchy and nervous after exit polls forecast reverses for it, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) swung into action to make rigging and election violence the issue for the crucial phase of the general elections tomorrow.

Voters in 83 parliamentary constituencies in seven states "" most of them in the Hindi heartland "" will decide the fate of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, Union ministers Murli Manohar Joshi, Sharad Yadav, Shahnawaz Hussain and Subhash Maharia.

Two former chief ministers, Kalyan Singh (Bulandshahr-UP) and Laloo Prasad Yadav, who is challenging Sharad Yadav (Janata Dal-United) in Madhepura (Bihar), are also in the May 5 race.

The polls tomorrow will cover 30 of the 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh, 25 seats in Rajasthan, 12 of the 29 seats in Madhya Pradesh, the last 12 of the 40 seats in Bihar, one each in Jammu and Kashmir and Nagaland and two in Arunachal Pradesh.

Janata Dal (United) chief George Fernandes went to the Election Commission along with BJP General Secretary Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and other party leaders to warn Chief Election Commissioner TS Krishnamurthy about apprehensions that polls may be disrupted in Bihar, including the Kishanganj, Banka and Madhepura constituencies.

The BJP announced that it was setting up "vigilante squads" at 700 "sensitive" booths in Bihar and UP to "prevent violence and ensure maximum polling".

"The party has identified sensitive booths in these states and will deploy these nigrani dals (vigilance squads) comprising local cadre of the party's youth and women wings, to ensure that maximum number of voters turn up without the fear of violence, threats, booth capturing and coercion," Naqvi said.

But the squads, equipped with video cameras, would be "unarmed and will assist the law and order machinery and will not take the law into their hands," he said.

The idea of vigilance squads is the brainchild of BJP General Secretary Sanjay Joshi, who held a meeting with Bal Apte and Pyarelal Khandelwal, and was evolved specially for this phase of elections, which is a prestige issue for both the Congress and the BJP along with its allies.

The poll panel added its bit to the grimness and tension associated with violence in polls by ordering the state administration in J&K to file a first information report (FIR) against People's Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti, who is a candidate for the Anantnag Lok Sabha constituency going to polls tomorrow, for allegedly intimidating voters during the April 26 phase of polls in the state.

He said there were complaints from the state alleging that Mehbooba had gone to a polling station and intimidated voters and allegedly pulled the veil from the face of a voter. In Anantnag, violence was very much in the air as militants hurled a grenade at a polling station at Shopian in the constituency, injuring a civilian.

In Lucknow, the BJP complained to the poll panel that it feared rigging.

"The poll panel has been apprised of the chances of rigging in tomorrow's polling and a request has been made to take necessary steps to check it," Union Agriculture Minister Rajnath Singh and senior party leader Kalraj Mishra said.

In Chhindwara (Madhya Pradesh), a law and order problem arose after a clash between BJP and Congress supporters of the two candidates, Prahlad Patel and Kamal Nath.

The poll panel said it had taken note of the clash.