Poll Pot

The villagers mix fact and fiction with a dash of humour to poke fun at him. One story goes, Chautala came down to inaugurate a charitable hospital built by a trader. He was received with ceremony and offered a pair of gold-plated scissors to cut the ribbon. The Chief Minister did the honours, was affable to all and left in his motorcade. The scissors reportedly disappeared too.

MADLAUDA HARYANA: Former Congress chief minister Bhajan Lal, assured of the urban vote in Karnal, has always neglected the villages. 8220;At one rally when he was CM,8221; recalls Dhuli Chand, an elder of this village, 8220;he flashed a torch into the crowd to let them know there would always be light in hisrule. It was a double insult: after being blinded by that torch, only a quarter of the people promised power actually got it.8221;

Then the power transformers began to burn out. The fields were parched and the farmers petitioned the CM in Simalkha. 8220;Sons of owls,8221; Bhajan Lal allegedly said. 8220;Don8217;t you buy sheep and goats at the market? Can8217;t you buy one power department official? Pay up and get your work done like everyone else.8221; This year, the villagers of Karnal and Panipat might just make Bhajan Lal pay instead. The rural vote has swung 30 per cent in favour of I.D. Swami of the BJP.

MELGHAT: Same state, different worlds. If Mumbai is the commercial capital of Maharashtra, Melghat is its nether world, among the most backward regions and known for its tribal population and malnutrition deaths. Even elections here reflect the difference. While Mumbai will cast its ballot on electronic voting machines this time, the returning officer for Amravati district, which nestles Melghat, is knocking on localforest department officials8217; doors for a favour four elephants, to be kept on standby at all times. In this remote area, they are being used to ferry election officials and ballot boxes.

CHANDIGARH: Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has another factor weighing in his favour against bitter rival Gurcharan Singh Tohra. The rural voter in the state still associates the traditional Akali symbol takdi scales with Tohra. The latter8217;s loyal supporters assert that8217;s where they would put their mohar. Only, takdi is the Akali Dal Badal8217;s symbol and Tohra 8212; who has parted ways to float own party 8212; has been allotted car8217; as the symbol.

CHANDIGARH: One of the candidates for this seat, ex-serviceman Colonel Harsharan Singh, has formed a party called the Rashtriya Raksha Dal. To live up to that name, he campaigned in true military fashion 8212; two straight-backed men marched smartly on either side of his small cavalcade.

8212; Pratik Kanjilal, Smruti Koppikar and others