Advani's Haridwar rally fails to draw crowds

MANDATE 2004

A crowd of just 3,000 people were waiting to greet Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani when he came to campaign here on Thursday.

The poor show has come as a huge embarrassment for the BJP, which has claimed it all win the five Lok Sabha seats in Uttaranchal.

Though Advani blamed the heavy security for the poor turnout, local leaders admitted the party leadership in the state had failed to create enough publicity for Advani's visit.

"They did not publish any reports in the local media about Advaniji's visit," a local BJP leader said.

Ironically, overconfidence had cost the BJP dear in the last Assembly elections in the hill state.

The BJP gained its foothold in Uttaranchal largely because of the Ram temple movement in the early 1990s, a fact conceded by even the ruling Congress.

Since then, the saffron surge was unstoppable, with the BJP bagging four of the five seats in the 1999 Lok Sabha elections, a performance replicated several times in the past.

The BJP received a jolt in the Assembly elections held in February, 2002, when the Congress stormed to power in the state.

"The BJP lost the state elections because of overconfidence. But this time, we are sure of winning all the five seats," BJP State President Bhagat Singh Koshiyari said.

Koshiyari, along with other BJP leaders, are now claiming that all the five seats are in their pockets. The BJP's perceived invincibility stems from three factors "" the infighting in the Congress, the strong track record of the BJP candidates and the exit polls.

However, Congress leaders are setting aside their differences and closing ranks in a show of unity.

"Yesterday, we addressed an election rally at Narendra Nagar in which all of us were there," said state Industrial Development Minister Kishor Upadhyay, who till recently had serious differences with Vijay Bahuguna, a Congress candidate from the Tehri seat.

But now Both Upadhyay and Bahuguna are addressing rallies together. Even Irrigation Minister Shurvir Singh Sajwan is also campaigning for Bahuguna, despite the differences between them.

However, the BJP does'nt seem to be too bothered.

"The anti-incumbency factor is also favouring us," said Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly Matbar Singh Kandari.