The first phase of the assembly elections, which was by and large peaceful in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, was marred by violence at several polling booths in Bihar which left at least 20 persons dead and over 100 injured. All the 320 Assembly constituencies in Madhya Pradesh and parts of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra were covered in the first phase of the poll. The remaining constituencies in these three states will be covered on March 5. Polling was suspended in several booths following violent group clashes and attempts to snatch ballot boxes.
Bangladesh Turmoil
At least 100 Bangladesh opposition politicians and student leaders went into hiding as the police raided their homes, opposition sources said. Prominent leaders from the 15 and seven-party opposition alliances were among those fleeing as the military Government of General H M Ershad banned all public rallies, announced a referendum for March 21 and imposed a night curfew throughout the country. Sources said, however, that Hasina Wajed, chief of the 15-party alliance, and Khaleda Zia, who leads the seven-party combine, were still in their homes on the outskirts of Dhaka. General Ershad in a nation-wide broadcast, accused the country’s politicians of hindering his efforts to hold parliamentary elections scheduled for April 6 and of spreading anarchy.
Textile Policy
PM Rajiv Gandhi held out a promise of reviewing the textile policy to help it come out of the present crisis. Addressing an election meeting during the Lok Sabha elections, he had promised that steps would be taken to tackle the textile problem. Gandhi said already there had been a couple of meetings on the issue and it was felt that the entire policy would have to be thoroughly examined.
