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FRIDAY, MAY 9, 2014 DAILY EXCELSIOR, JAMMU daily Excelsior Two VVIP seats hog Established 1965 The scent of a new order ? Founder Editor S.D. Rohmetra y the end of next week we will happening and Rahul Gandhi began to spend nights in rural homes to do some election limelight know who is going to be raise economic issues instead of bang- poverty tourism. ‘The prince needs to By Kalyani Shankar BIndia’s next Prime Minister so ing on about secularism and commu- see what poverty looks like…I don’t Water testing laboratories this is a good week to examine what nalism. Sadly, all that he offered vot- because I grew up in poverty.’ And, here is a big hype about the VVIP contest in two constituencies in Uttar Pradesh this endless campaign offered voters ers was more of the ‘rights based while Rahul continued to list the rights - Amethi and Varanasi - from where the two Prime Ministerial aspirants are by way of choice. This is a particular- development’ that has been the leit- and freebies that a Congress Govern- Tcontesting. As the AAP chief Kejriwal puts it succinctly, "Benares and Ame- &K claims to have large resources of water. ly important exercise because for the motif of his mother’s Government in ment would give people if re-elected thi are the only two contests that matter in this election. Our priority must be to have Owing to almost year-round snowfall on high first time in any general election Indi- the past decade. Indians have been Modi offered nothing by way of hand- Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi defeated." While there should be no surprise at both JHimalayan peaks, we have dependable source of an voters were given a choice between given the legal right to education, outs choosing to speak instead of how winning their respective seats, the challengers are trying to bring down their margin. water to flow into rivers, streams, nullahs, springs and two diametrically opposed economic employment, information and cheap India could become one of the richest Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi is contesting from his family pocket borough ponds. All these resources are being tapped for supply ideas. In elections past the choice has food grain but when translated into countries in the world if everyone Amethi for the third time. Now that polling is over, we have to wait for May 16. Rahul been between divergent political ideas action these rights become meaning- worked together to make this happen. of piped water to the cities and towns. But not all towns had won the seat in 2009 with a 3.70-lakh margin. So why should his margin come but on the economy our two main less. What is the point of having a right He did not condemn Nehruvian down? Although ground level reports show that Amethi is quite disappointed with lack are connected to piped water lines. Villages do not political parties have been in agree- to education if there are not enough socialism in so many words but talked of amenities and infrastructure expected in a VVIP constituency, Rahul should be able have piped water at all. There are some kandi regions ment that India must remain of the ‘aarthic to retain the seat despite the anti-Congress mood in the country, many say. If Rahul also in Jammu province where there is scarcity of drink- socialist forever even if socialism So this time the Congress azaadi’ (eco- Gandhi loses the elections, then the challenger would also become a giant killer. ing water. We can say that no doubt we have plenty of has failed to provide Indians with nomic free- Secondly, Gandhi is facing two high profile challengers - Kumar Viswas of the Aam water resources but these are not equitably distributed their most basic needs. If the Con- Party seemed to be taken by complete dom) that Aadmi Party and Smriti Irani of the BJP - both outsiders. While Rahul is campaigning gress Party defined its socialism as came after the all over the country leaving it to his sister Priyanka Gandhi to campaign for him, the in the State owing to many geographical and topo- Nehruvian the Bharatiya Janata surprise when Narendra Modi made economic other two are camping in Amethi. graphical differences in three regions of the State. Party defined theirs as Gandhian reforms Thirdly, both the AAP and the BJP are keen to challenge the Gandhi scion. The BJP The Department of Public Health Engineering has and this was the only difference. In development and governance the two began. had shown that it could bring down the margin when it fielded Sushma Swaraj against the regular agenda of providing piped water to more the six years that India was ruled In the last Sonia Gandhi in Bellary in 1999 when Swaraj lost just by 55,000 votes. and more households in towns and villages and under by a BJP prime minister it became main pillars of his campaign. Modi’s days of the But comparing Varanasi and Amethi will be like comparing apples and oranges. several phased schemes this programme is being car- abundantly clear that Atal Bihari campaign the They have some similarities and also some dissimilarity. Both are witnessing a lively Vajpayee was no opponent of campaign message was ‘minimum Congress Par- fight - representing colour, caste, religion, emotion and symbolism. ried forward. However, it has to be noted that there is Nehruvian socialism. He tinkered ty has been While Varanasi is the ancient holy city for the Hindus, it is also important for the no modern and viable system of testing the drinking with privatization and built some Government, maximum governance’ forced to rely Buddhists and Jains. It is a symbol of Hindu religion, education and culture and there water consumed by either the town people or the vil- highways but made no effort to almost entire- is nothing surprising why Modi has chosen this seat It attracts not only pilgrims but also lagers. Some of the properties of water cannot be uni- reduce the powers of the state to and he managed to make the average ly on the tourists and has its old world charm in the 100 odd Ghats, lanes and by-lanes. The city form at all resources. Water that is put to the use of interfere in economic activity and vaunted is full of life as people are seen enjoying the famous Benarasi paan and lassi or buying no effort at all to improve gover- voter understand exactly what this drinking and cooking has different specifications in dif- charisma of Benarsi sarees. nance. the Dynasty. In contrast, Amethi is a sleepy rural constituency and comes alive only during elec- ferent parts of the State. It is necessary to subject all So this time the Congress Par- meant. tions. It has no signs of a VVIP constituency. The AAP and the BJP are fully utilising drinking water to laboratory tests and ensure that it So Priyanka ty seemed to be taken by complete has made the issues of lack of amenities, education and health. In the Assembly elections in 2012, does not contain any elements hazardous for public surprise when Narendra Modi herself more the Congress won only two seats in Amethi. made development and gover- ON THE SPOT health. It has to be remembered that there are several available to The BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Modi has chosen Varanasi as his second seat. nance the two main pillars of his water-borne diseases which could be even fatal. TV reporters First of all representing Varanasi is symbolic as he claims he has come from the land campaign. Modi’s campaign mes- TAVLEEN SINGH of Somnath to seek the blessings of Vishwanath. Most Prime Ministers including Vaj- People, by and large, are ignorant about water quality than usual sage was ‘minimum Government, payee had chosen the UP route to reach 7, Race Course Road. and has gone out of her way to attack parameters such as heavy and toxic elements, pesti- maximum governance’ and he man- schools? What is the point of MNRE- Secondly, Varanasi is considered a safe BJP seat as the party has held it for long. In Modi directly for such things as cides, chlorine by-products and bacteriological contam- aged to make the average voter under- GA if rural Indians are guaranteed the 2009, elections party's former President Murli Manohar Joshi narrowly won the ination. This is just because we don't have modern stand exactly what this meant. So only 100 days of employment out of ‘snooping’and for using language that seat. wherever I traveled during the cam- 365? What is the point of a legal right did not befit a man who wants to be Thirdly and more importantly, BJP hopes that the Modi magic might work not only water testing laboratories to warn and guide the con- prime minister. The ‘charisma’ card sumers. paign I met voters, rich and poor, who to cheap food grain when the public in 29 poorvanchal seats, but also 14 adjoining seats in Avadh region and nine in Bihar said they supported him because they distribution system is broken? has been played to the hilt with even influencing 52 seats in all. The Union Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation wanted ‘vikas’ and ‘parivartan’: When the Modi onslaught began Sonia Gandhi coming forward to Modi too has two min challengers - AAP chief Kejriwal and the Congress candi- has found it disappointing that there is no laboratory development and change. When ques- what made Rahul Gandhi’s task hard- make a televised appeal to the nation date Ajay Rai.