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Journalism of Courage
NEW DELHI: Congress president Sitaram Kesri is not afraid of debates, ONLY television. According to him, that was the reason he didn8217;t turn up for a one-to-one with BJP president L.K. Advani. Call me for a full-fledged debate on Ramlila grounds, Kesri has said, and see how I accept. There were many invitations from the electronic media but he feared they would 8220;edit8221; due to constraints of time, the Congress president explained to newspersons here on Sunday. However, he added, if a debate was held at Ramlila grounds, it was there for all the people to see without anybody8217;s intervention. Any takers in the Congress?
CHENNAI: The superstar has finally spoken. Rajnikanth has declared that his support to the DMK-TMC combine will continue and that the alliance would win the Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu. An appeal has gone out to Rajni Rasikar Manrams 8212; the organisation of Rajnikanth fans spread across all parties, including arch-rival AIADMK 8212; to not canvass for any party other than the oneto which the star has extended his nod.
Rajnikanth has also warned against the dismissal of the DMK Government, saying there would be a revolution if this happened. 8220;I will lead the revolution myself and I don8217;t bother whatever action they take,8221; he thundered.
For now, the star8217;s Press meeting where he vowed support for the DMK-TMC alliance has caught the notice of other parties, and hence the EC. The commission has asked Sun TV that telecast the meeting for an explanation.Lande Punjab: Gulzar Si-ngh, a supporter of Congress candidate Jagmeet Brar in this village, was determined last week that his 102-year-old mother would vote, even if he had to carry her on a stretcher to the polling booth. The great-grandmother is just the kind of voter TV crews and newspapers hunt for on polling days. But behind the cameras, the granny8217;s concerns were more personal: her shoulders ache, she cannot walk nor digest food and water, and has seen too many deaths. 8220;I do not know the laws,8221; she said. 8220;My onlyprayer to you is to escort me to the other world.8221; But for her son, her voting was important. For, Singh said: 8220;Who knows? Sometimes one vote can be the deciding factor.8221;
Sriperumbudur: The action in this constituency was reserved for much before voting time on Monday. Arriving here at a polling booth at 6.45 a.m., DMK men were 8220;rudely8221; shaken off their sleep. On one side was a statue of MGR displaying the AIADMK election symbol and on the other, a wall covered with graffiti praising J. Jayalalitha and running 50-ft in length. The DMK members threw a fit, demanding that both the statue and wall be covered before polling time, which was just a few hours away.
As the hapless election officials watched, they also put up boards hailing the DMK right in front of the booth as a 8220;safety8221; measure. Finally, someone came up with a brain wave: a gunny-bag lying around was used to cover MGR8217;s hand displaying the AIADMK symbol and some old newspapers came handy to paste over Jayalalitha. The placated DMKworkers then took off their boards. All in a poll day8217;s work.
