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| Deteriorating quality of electioneering in UP | | 'Rahul Gandhi looks like a pig to me': Azam | | BL KAK
NEW DELHI, Apr 27:
Anti-Congress hardliners within the Samajwadi Party headed by the beleaguered Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh (UP), Mulayam Singh Yadav, have taken a tough stance against Rahul Gandhi, parliamentarian son of Sonia Gandhi. Worse still, Mulayam Yadav seems to have granted unbridled freedom to his principal 'yes-man', Mohamed Azam Khan, who is UP's Urban Development Minister.
Mohammed Azam Khan is an expert crowd-puller who can really sway partisan crowds. Unfortunately, this time he is falling back on rabid language to attack Rahul Gandhi, who is considered to be Samajwadi Party's sworn enemy. Azam Khan's highly provocative remark: "If a mosque looks like a building to Rahul Gandhi, then Rahul Gandhi looks like a pig to me".
This remark as as some other developments on the UP scene confirm that the quality of electioneering in the State has been deteriorating. The BJP is already facing the music for becoming linked to an extremely controversial CD. And Rahul Gandhi is paying a price for threatening to take a big slice away from the Samajwadi Party's assured minority vote bank.
"What work has been done in UP? This question was raised by Rahul at a rally. And Rahul himself answered it by saying: "I think the Mulayam Singh Yadav government did nothing". Azam Khan seemed to be deliberately playing with religious sensitivities when he said: "Rahul Gandhi called the Somnath Temple just a building!" It is a no holds barred campaign. The language often lacks civility and decorum. The war for Uttar Pradesh is going to be more and more bitter as the long election schedule draws to a close.
And it is crime and money again in Uttar Pradesh polls. The fifth round of the staggered polls on Saturday will again, like the first four phases, witness a strong presence of contestants with criminal antecedents and huge wealth. Of the 863 candidates in the fray for 58 Assembly seats in this round, as many 115 face criminal charges while there are 61 multimillionaires. The nine districts-- Hardoi, Unnao, Lucknow, Rae Bareli, Pratapgarh, Sultanour, Fatehpur, Chitrakoot and Banda-- going to the hustings in this phase also have a high crime record.
Lucknow tops the list with 194 murders, 156 attempts to murder, 38 culpable homicides, 51 rapes, 150 kidnappings (including 136 women) and eight dacoities, as per the 2005 report of the State Crime Record Bureau. In all, the nine districts recorded 756 murders, 604 attempts to murder, 275 culpable homicides, 207 rapes and 413 kidnappings, including that of 337 women, besides 24 dacoities.
The Congress, once again, takes the cake for fielding the richest nominee, though the ruling Samajwadi Party tops the list with 18 multimillionaires in the fray. It is followed by the Congress party's 14 candidates, the Bharatiya Janata Party's 13 and the Bahujan Samaj Party's 8. However, there are 12 contestants who claimed to own no assets at all. The belief that criminals taking refuge in politics are usually illiterates is also belied in this phase. Out of 115 such candidates, as many as 58 are graduates, postgraduates or hold other professional degrees. Also, the bulk of them are in the age group of 41 to 60 years.
This time the BSP tops the list of candidates with criminal records with as many as 26 such nominees. The ruling Samajwadi Party that topped the list in three of the four earlier phases stands a close second with 21 candidates facing criminal charges. The BJP has 12 contestants with criminal backgrounds while the Congress trails behind with seven. The rest belong to either smaller political outfits or are independents.
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