Sadhvi is not in

I go to only those Muslims who say Vande Mataram and Bharat Mata ki Jai,8221; said Malini Gaur, BJP candidate from Indore-4, and widow of former Madhya Pradesh Education Minister Laxman Singh Gaur.

I go to only those Muslims who say Vande Mataram and Bharat Mata ki Jai,8221; said Malini Gaur, BJP candidate from Indore-4, and widow of former Madhya Pradesh Education Minister Laxman Singh Gaur. She was responding to a query on Thursday on why she was yet to visit Bombay Bazaar, a minority-dominated area in her constituency.

Malini Gaur was in the spotlight recently, after a photograph of her alongside Sadhvi Pragya Singh 8212; accused in the Malegaon blast case 8212; came to light. Also in the photograph were BJP president Rajnath Singh and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. The photograph was taken at a condolence meeting after her husband8217;s death last February.

While the photograph continues to turn up in political discussions in Delhi, Malini Gaur skips any mention of Pragya Singh in her campaign. She focuses on 67 measures that her husband had taken as Education Minister, including the 8220;guru paada puja8221; a ritual touching of teachers8217; feet on Teachers8217; Day. 8220;Sadhvi Pragya Singh is a tapasvi, she is a saint. That is why she is not an issue for us. It is an issue for the Congress government in Maharashtra,8221; she says .

The BJP in Madhya Pradesh plays down 8220;terror8221;, but Congress leaders 8212; who come down from Delhi 8212; are breathing fire in Indore. Last Tuesday and Wednesday, senior leaders including former Chief Minister Digvijay Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma and AICC minority cell chairman Imran-ur-Kidwai addressed three separate press conferences here on the 8220;politicisation of terror8221;. While Kidwai sought to draw a parallel between 8220;Al Qaeda terror8221; and 8220;saffron terror8221;, Singh blamed the Sangh Parivar for other terror blasts.

With more than half-a-million Muslims, Indore is communally sensitive and forms part of the Malwa region, a traditional RSS stronghold. But given their scattered presence, varying from 15 to 20 per cent in the nine constituencies here, Muslims are the most neglected lot.

Sixtyfive-year-old Abdul Qadir of Bombay Bazar no longer rues the fact that not a single candidate contesting from Indore-4 constituency has visited the area yet. Bombay Bazar is estimated to have around 20,000 Muslims. 8220;We don8217;t expect Malini Gaur to come; even Laxman Singh Gaur never came here. And the Congress candidate knows our votes are secure whether he comes or not,8221; he says.

Notwithstanding the Congress8217; attempt to corner the BJP on 8220;terror8221;, the issue has failed to gain ground in Indore. Fearing a possible backlash by the majority community, even local Congress candidates seem wary of raising the issue.

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Congress candidate from Indore-5, Shobha Ojha, focuses on roads, water, sanitation, schools. 8220;The BJP is anti-minority and I don8217;t need to state the obvious. I would rather focus on development,8221; she said on Thursday.

Even the advertising war between the Congress and BJP focuses on 8220;development8221;. On Thursday, a BJP advertisement in major dailies described how electricity generation in the state increased in the five years of the BJP regime. On the same page, the Congress advertisement with Rahul Gandhi8217;s photograph claimed that with the 8220;international nuclear deal8221;, electricity would reach every village.