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Panchayat Poll Fever Grips Punjab
WSN Bureau
FARIDKOT:
With just
a week to go for the Panchayat elections, slowly but steadily
Punjab is
getting into the grip of poll fever. Allegations against each other
are flying in the air and the ruling Badal-BJP combine and the
Congress are leaving no stone unturned to outshine each other at
the hustings whereas the rural agenda of development, water supply,
power and adequate food grain prices has been replaced by personal
attacks against the leaders of each political party.
Not many years
ago, Panchayat elections were contested at the village level and the
divide amongst the voters depended upon the reach and pull of the
candidates alone. It was the towering personality of the village
leader who would determine the unanimous choice of the Panchayat
chief. With the polity severely divided on party lines and with the
social and religious contours affecting the reach, ethics and the
final decision in most elections, including the Panchayat elections,
the present elections are already showing a sign of a battle royale
as the incumbent ruling party spares no effort to strengthen its
sway over rural Punjab.
Not to be
outdone, the Congress is attempting to up the ante with poll boycott
in many districts, and protest demonstrations in others against
what they describe as “blatant misuse of official machinery” The
Congress has already decided to boycott he Zila Parishad and Block
Samiti elections in the entire Faridkot district. This is typical of
all Panchayat elections in Punjab as well as in the rest of country.
The ruling party gets cancelled the nominations of rival candidates
with full complicity of the poll officials. This was done when the
Congress was in power and this is what the Akalis too are doing. Any
serious poll observer can discern that with every Panchayat
election, it is the “the same old story.”
“Humiliation of
opposition leaders” and “murder of democracy” is what we are hearing
far too often during and we stand witness to the flagrant use of
liquor, money and violence to influence voters. Everyone seems to
accept the situation, even if everyone keeps telling the next person
that such elections are a sham.
A distinctive
feature of the present elections is the desperation of the Bharatiya
Janata Party to cash in on its relationship with the ruling Badal
Akali Dal and make political inroads in rural
Punjab.
The BJP
leadership has snubbed the Akali district and state leadership by
putting up candidates in various villages in Sangrur, though some
candidates adopted by the BJP have withdrawn their candidature at
the last minute.
District BJP
chief Jatinder Kalra has said that the BJP was contesting one seat
of ZP and nine seats of Block Samitis in the district on its party
election symbol “Lotus”. He said besides Andana ZP seat, the BJP
was contesting the Block Samiti seats of Badrukhan, Mangwal, Sakrodi,
Kapyal, Bharro, Hathoa, Sherpur, Sheron and Manakmajra. Whether the
Congress loses or the Akalis win, like the Assembly elections a year
ago, the BJP is likely to win and that is not a good omen for
Punjab.
7
May,
2008
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