Bharuch and Surat will have their say

And then, there’s the Asian vote. Blackburn, where Foreign Secretary Jack Straw is trying to inch his way to success, sums up the mood of the most dominant minority vote in Britain — the Muslims. In this constituency, the decisive vote is divided among Pakistanis and Indian Muslims — most of them from Surat and Bharuch. The Tory candidate here is a Bharuch Muslim, Imtiaz Ameen — not a local resident — and Labour workers aren’t happy.

‘‘It is Labour which has put Asian and Muslim MPs in Parliament, they (Tories) are doing so only to divide the Muslim vote,’’ says Suleman Khonat, a Labour councillor.

In fact, putting up candidates to divide votes, wooing the minorities and dummy candidates seem to be the norm as Labour hopes to cross the 323-mark, a simple 51 per cent majority.

The other fear here, for Labour at least, is the turnout.

Lord Adam Patel drops in a cheerful word for friend Straw, asking everyone to come out for voting. ‘‘The youngsters are expected to switch over to Liberal Democrats. There are few who are comfortable with Tories. We are keeping an eye on the voter turnout — the higher it gets it should help us,’’ he says.

Then there’s the Iraq factor that is expected to swing a fair share of minority votes.

Lord Bhikhu Parekh believes the Pakistanis are more keyed up on the war and Blair’s open US support. ‘‘Blackburn is a case in point, and it will be interesting to note how the Muslims vote this time,’’ he says.

While the Muslim Council of Britain has not come out in open support for Labour, its 10-point checklist — with a softer stand on Iraq — prompted community hardliners to accuse it of ‘‘selling out’’ to Blair.

The Hindu Council, too, has come out with an appeal. While it exhorts Hindu voters to be assertive, the council — the VHP is a member — brings to notice the decrease in Navratri-spending in recent years.