Lots of buzz at palace and rulers fort,little on way between

The Maharaja,Captain Amarinder Singh,who is contesting from Patiala,is not at home. He is campaigning for the party elsewhere,confident that the people of Patiala,many of whom see him as the Maharaja,are campaigning for him at home. His daughter,Jai Inder Kaur,is taking care of his constituency.

Few doubt Amarinder will win against the SADs Surinder Singh Kohli,father of the Patiala mayor. The focus is all on Samana. Raninder had lost to Sukhbir Badals wife,Harsimrat Kaur,in the last parliamentary elections from Bathinda.

His mother escorts him away; he takes at least 20 minutes to reach his vehicle through the crowd who want a word or a photo taken with him. Some farmers manage to shake hands with him and appear convinced of his prospects as a future chief minister.

His convoy comprises just three vehicles,with others asked to keep a distance for fear of attracting the Election Commission observers attention. Before he moves out,a Hindu priest says his prayers and offer him prasad.

Preneet Kaur will take a different route. She gets busy with her three handsets,giving instructions,asking for a booth-wise list of workers and checking out the areas they are covering. It is perhaps a good thing that the EC is keeping a close watch,she says,otherwise the Akalis would have wreaked havoc. She is confident in both her husband and her son,yet admits a respect for the organisational skills of the Akalis,particularly Sukhbirs. The last three days will be crucial for either side,she predicts.

The silent road

Along the highway from Patiala to Bathinda,which cuts across the critical Malwa region comprising half of Punjabs constituencies,there is little evidence of an election taking place. The usual flags and hoardings are missing,with candidates worried about watchful expenditure observers.

As the road reaches Sangrur and Baranala,there is no evidence who the candidates are. Rather than campaign hoardings,those here are advertisements,particularly of cellphone companies. Rather than stickers in support for candidates,those on vehicles have messages like Harpreet weds Manpreet.

The 155km national highway provides a smooth ride. The last five years have seen national and state highways improve,with the Akalis claiming credit and the Congress countering that the funds came from the Centre.

At Rampur Phull,the economic improvement is reflected in the lush green fields or the houses coming up; there appears to be a real estate boom with several companies having announced housing projects.

Bhag Singh,who has a two-acre farm in a small village along the highway,is not interested in the elections. I dont know who the candidates from here are. No one has approached us.

Closer to Bathinda,the area contrasts sharply with what it used to be a decade ago. What was one considered the states most backward area now has four-laned roads,bridges,a sports stadium,specialised hospitals and the latest Walmart Bhartis Best Price outlet for wholesalers. The Bathinda Refinery,built at Rs 19,000 crore and a national FDI landmark,has gone into operation and promises more for the economy.

The region,which the Akalis have focused on for development over the decades,has been getting more attention than ever since Harsimrat Badal won the Lok Sabha election. Bathinda,once considered an educationally backward area,today boasts the best coaching academies for engineering entrance tests,and can be termed Punjabs equivalent of Kota,the Rajasthan town known for its academies. Besides,the Badals have promised an international airport and a stadium of international standard.

Manpreet zone

It takes an hour and a half from Bathinda to Lambi,where the Big Fight is taking place between the three Badals chief minister Parkash Singh,his younger brother Gurdas Singh and their cousin Mahesh Inder Singh. The road,again excellent,passes through Gidderbaha,Manpreets stronghold from where he had won the last four elections,each time with a higher margin.

Surprisingly,the Akalis have fielded a Congress rebel from the constituency to take on Manpreet. Joga Singh,who works at a kinnow orchard,thinks it may be a ploy to let Manpreet win and rejoin the Akali Dal later. A colleague of Jogas differs: Why is Manpreet then contesting from two constituencies?

Manpreet is contesting also from an adjoining constituency,Maur,and drives his own SUV to ask for votes. His office on the main road has hardly half a dozen men who say they are not sure if their leader would return by the evening but volunteer to put the visitors through to his aides. He says voters of Gidderbaha know him fairly well and he is therefore spending more time in Maur.

His farmhouse,a little distance away from Badal village,has no political office. A group of labourers and his managerial staff are grading and packing kinnows. As for Manpreets politics,all that these people know is that he is busy and pass on the number of one of his aides.

Badal fort

Closer to the ancestral village of the Badals,from where their name derives and where they have adjoining houses,is a modern-day fort complete with a boundary wall 12ft high and a massive main gate. The sprawling complex,which could compete with the Moti Bagh Palace,is well guarded with no one allowed inside unless accompanied by someone from the family. Sharpshooters watch from towers while security men,many in mufti,move around the asking the identity of anyone they see. The octogenarian chief minister has made this complex his headquarters and been spending a lot of time in Lambi and the other constituencies in the vicinity. Locals say it is the first time he has been campaigning intensively in the constituency. In all previous elections,it was his brother Gurdas who had been overseeing the campaign to enable the elder brother to concentrate elsewhere. Now its become a prestige fight between the brothers. Add to that their cousin,the Congress nominee,who had contested Parkash Singh Badal in the past and now sees a golden opportunity to snatch a victory after the division of votes between the brothers. Even with the combined might of the two brothers in the 2007 Assembly elections,Mahesh Inder Singh had trailed by just about 9,000 votes.

The Congress election office at Lambi appears virtually deserted,with workers preparing for a meeting in the evening. The campaign office of the chief minister,on the other hand,has a couple of dozen men preparing charts and enquiring about a contact programme. The PPP office,a short distance away,too has a few men drawing up plans for the visit of the party candidate.

A little distance away is the office of the BSP where two youths work on a laptop. With a fight among all these Badals,we stand a good chance to win, says one of them. Their candidate Parveen Kaur had contested last time and got 3,500 votes.

Though the Congress lost the last elections,it led in Malwa region. One reason was what the Amainder government had done for farmers; another was the support from deras,particularly the influential Dera Sacha Sauda. The dera this time has interviewed nearly 200 candidates and may decide on supporting some individually rather than any party.