Stage set for elections

BHARUCH, Nov 24: The authorities are dismissing any chances of violence in Wednesday's Lok Sabha by-election here -- the only one in the Sta...

BHARUCH, Nov 24: The authorities are dismissing any chances of violence in Wednesday8217;s Lok Sabha by-election here 8212; the only one in the State 8212; even as some quarters apprehend untoward incidents.

Political observers, however, said that the ruling BJP will go all out to thwart any chances of violence since its prestige was at stake. 8220;What the Rashtriya Janata Party did in Radhanpur, the BJP will do here8221;, remarked a senior Congress leader, referring to the RJP8217;s alleged use of its official powers to win the election last year.

8220;However8221;, he added, 8220;We, the Congress and the Janata Dal will retaliate against any such move8221;.

Ruling out the possibility of any violence, Bharuch Collector B B Swain said that they had already alerted the police, who had deployed 4,000 personnel in addition to 280 Rapid Action Force and State Reserve Police personnel.

State Director-General of Police C P Singh and DSP N D Solanki, too, said elaborate arrangements had been made to preclude any violence during polling.

Notwithstanding their confidence that no violence would take place, Janata Dal candidate Chhotubhai Vasava, who bagged 1.45 lakh votes in the February parliamentary elections, says rival party workers are threatening his supporters with dire consequences if they vote for him.

The Congress8217;s Iqbal Kakuji, who lost to the BJP by a narrow margin last time, too, complained to Express Newsline that his supporters were being threatened by workers of the other parties. 8220;We8217;ve informed the authorities about this8221;, he said.

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BJP leaders, including spokesman Bharat Pandya, MP Jayaben Thakker and MLA Bhupendra Lakhawala, on the other hand, said that the Dal and the Congress could be raising terror, as they8217;d been associated with such acts in the past.

Boosting apprehensions of violence is the liquor flowing quietly in the entire constituency. This reporter saw several bottles of liquor 8212; both Indian Made Foreign Liquor and hooch 8212; changing hands in Bharuch, Valia and Dediapada.

Flesh trade has also got an unprecedented boost, triggered apparently by the influx of large numbers of party workers, officials and general visitors.