Vaghela changes poll scene without star cast

The Bharatiya Janata Party8217;s Jaysinhji Chauhan simply finds himself pitted against a candidate, whose stature has gone up exponentially after joining the Congress. He may not like it, but he is inevitably compared to the charismatic leader, and comes away a loser; at least on that count.

If Chauhan and the party are burning the midnight oil 8212; he usually returns home after midnight 8212; Vaghela carried himself throughout the last fortnight as if he could foretell the result the day he filed his candidature. His confidence stems from the fact that the total votes 8212; at 4,04,964, 60 per cent of the votes polled by the RJP and the Congress far exceeded Chauhan8217;s in 1998.

On the face of it, the BJP is strong in urban segments and the Congress in rural areas.

Vaghela8217;s campaign managers assured him that they would take care of the constituency in his absence, something the BJP could not boast of. It roped in prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee at the first opportunity, and crowd-pullers like Shatrughan Sinha and Naresh Kanodia. Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel will address meetings in the last leg before it8217;s curtains for campaigning.

A party insider confides, 8220;VHP and RSS are active. Like ordinary workers, they are also campaigning from door-to-door.8221; He says there is 8220;heavy pressure to bring in Sadhvi Rithambhara to give that final push.8221; Chauhan himself denies any such attempt, but admits the division among Kshatriyas-Rajputs and OBCs will be exploited. 8220;I represent the larger chunk of Kshatriyas at 42 per cent,8221; he says, reflecting on how caste has becoming the most important issue.

The BJP is exploiting Kargil, and the martyrdom of a soldier from Nirmali village has bolstered its campaign. And the party is countering Vaghela8217;s onslaught by calling him a 8220;back-stabber who has changed ideologies several times.8221; And it says that 8220;earlier Praja was his high command, now it is Sonia.8221;

Vaghela tells people at rallies how the BJP is digging up scandals to malign him. At the same time he slings mud at opponent Chauhan. 8220;The audience is hired,8221; a charge the Congress also levels against his party. He has also made it a point to campaign for himself in the last five days.

Chauhan claims he has been to all villages that fall under the seven Assembly segments during the last fortnight. Vaghela on his part picked up important villages and towns from the seven segments. Since Vaghela is himself considered a star campaigner, no stars or star campaigners have set foot in his constituency. Sudama Chaturvedi, a sadhu from Mathura, is all for Vaghela8217;s defeat.

Though he has not been brought by the BJP to campaign against Vaghela, he would like Atal Behari Vajpayee to be given one more chances. Fulsinh Dabhi from Antroli village is confused: 8220;Hava banne baju chhe8230;pun jor Bapuno chhe.8221; Stiching in his small shop, a few feet away from Vaghela8217;s public meeting, when conversation is impossible with loudspeakers belching out patriotic songs, Noor Mohammed, a ladies tailor, is not not impressed. 8220;I don8217;t watch TV, nor listen to radio. I don8217;t bother others. Nobody bothers me.8221;

There are many like him who won8217;t have anything to do with the electoral process, even whens undry leaders claim their village will witness cent per cent voting.