PM finds Karnataka not exactly Punjab

GULBARGA, February 20: Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral was badly snubbed by his own partymen in this northern Karnataka city today. He was...

GULBARGA, February 20: Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral was badly snubbed by his own partymen in this northern Karnataka city today. He was here to address a public rally on behalf of Qamar-ul-Islam, the Janata Dal candidate for Sunday’s Lok Sabha elections, but was completely ignored by heavyweights of his party.

Gujral looked forlorn as he shared the dais with candidate Islam, Gulbarga mayor Dharam Prakash Patil and nominated MLC David Simeon. Karnataka Chief Minister J.H. Patel, who was scheduled to attend the rally, returned to Bangalore after campaigning further south in Davangere and Koppal yesterday. S.R. Bommai, Gujral’s cabinet colleague, too was conspicuous by his absence. C.M. Ibrahim, another Central minister, was in the city yesterday, but left before the Prime Minister arrived.

Less than 2,000 people turned up to listen to the Prime Minister. The poor turnout was rendered even starker because the Police Parade Ground, where the rally was held, can accommodate up to 1 lakh.

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Around the timethat Gujral commenced his speech, a scant 50 km away in Sedam former Prime Minister H.D.Deve Gowda was addressing another Janata Dal rally for Islam. The crowd was better (around 5,000) and in attendance were two Karnataka ministers (Malikayya Guttedar and Sharnabasappa Darshanapur), apart from three of the four JD MLAs from the Gulbarga parliamentary constituency. The ministers then accompanied Gowda to Chincholi for another rally.

Gujral, who began his Karnataka tour on Wednesday, spent last night here in the sprawling Aiwan-e-Shahi, which in pre-Independence India was the guest house of the Nizam of Hyderabad. There was scarcely a JD worker in sight to meet the Prime Minister. This morning, Gujral even delayed his the start of his rally by an hour as embarrassed police officials tried their best to get people to fill up the parade ground. Off duty policemen and home guards were enlisted in "civvies" to pass off as enthusiastic listeners.

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