Aurangabad Diary

Antulay8217;s national leader8217; image has somehow outweighed the obvious criticism against him of being a rank outsider, he is from the distant Konkan. The Sena is also finding it hard to brand him a communalist being a Muslim. People here remember him most for his decision to elevate Jalna and Latur to district status, something leaders from the region were unable to do. Of course, that still leaves them with the option of picking up from the mountains of corruption charges against Antulay. But then is corruption an election issue any more?

Interestingly, Antulay, has not yet stepped into theconstituency. And the first thing he would have to do on his arrival here is to search for a house. Hopefully Khaire would have set his own in order by that time.

Political power

The Maratha instinct to hang on to political power has put the Congress party in serious trouble in at least two constituencies in the district Vaijapur and Kannad. While former MP Ramkrishna Baba Patil is insisting for a ticket for his son from Vaijapur, Suresh Patil, chairman of the district corporative bank, says the Kannad assembly seat belongs to his son, Nitin alone. As a last-ditch effort, both the veterans have reportedly threatened to cross over to the Sharad Pawar faction, and the trick has worked, according to party sources. But unlike the two Marathas, the young and dynamic editor of the Lokmat group of newspapers, Rajendra Darda, has adopted a completely opposite strategy. Darda has let it be known through his chain of newspapers that he is not in the fray. That has surprised political observers here, for thepolitical situation seems to be all in favour of Darda. The Nationalist Congress Party of Sharad Pawar has decided not to field its candidate from Aurangabad west assembly constituency.

Moreover, with Antulay contesting for the Lok Sabha, the 1.25 lakh Muslim voters in Aurangabad city are expected to remain with the Congress, and what8217;s more, there are not many contenders for the Aurangabad West seat.

Curiously, last time Darda contested the seat and lost it to Chandrakant Khaire by a margin of 50,000 votes. Now everyone seems to be asking him why he is not contesting? While he is confronted with the question, why not, Darda isn8217;t ready to show his cards. Perhaps the editor has fixed a deadline for himself, to come out.

Ballot boxes on horse-back

Political parties and candidates are fast switching over to modern technology like internet websites and computer-generated analysis to study voter trends. However, some primitive aspects of the election process perhaps can never be done away within the Indian set up. In parts of the seven assembly segments of Aurangabad constituency, election officers will be able to reach the ballot papers to polling booths using only one method 8212; on horseback. And where horses are unavailable donkeys will be made use of. Ensuring that these ballot boxes reach the booths and then return to the counting centres safe and well in time8217; is no easy task. No wonder election officers maintain that even students from the world8217;s best management schools whether Japanese or American, will miserably fail to conduct a general election in India.