Campaigning is in full swing in Arunachal Pradesh. The election machinery is also leaving no stone unturned to ensure peaceful elections. All the election observers have been deployed to their respective locations. AIR Itanagar correspondent reports that a total of 511 polling stations have been declared as hyper sensitive booths.Electioneering is by and large going on peacefully in Arunachal Pradesh except a few incidents of clashes among workers in some areas.The administration has imposed Section 144 in some pockets of Bomdilla, Teju and Dirang to contain possible outbreak of violence. The ruling Congress, Trinamool Congress and NCP are banking on security, development and women empowerment.The BJP is mainly focusing on price rise and corruption. All the candidates are resorting to all sorts of means to woo the voters. Some are using promotional items like swine flu mask and eco-friendly marketing bags. Rural Development minister Agatha Sangma is arriving tomorrow while AICC general secretary Rahul will campaign in the state on Wednesday.In Haryana, the election campaign has picked up in Panchkula constituency with the visit of Union Tourism Minister Selja , INLD and BJP leaders. In constituency, apart from poll issues like development, price hike, power shortage etc, Slum rehabilitation is another volatile issue.The Panchkula assembly segment has been carved out of Kalka constituency. The only one village Khadar in the Raipur Rani area, part of the previous Nariangarh seat has been included in it. The constituency with more than one lakh 43 thousand voters will decide the fate of 14 candidates, who are in fray from here. The congress candidate D K Bansal MLA from Ambala in the dissolved Assembly and BJP candidate Gian Chand Gupta former mayor of chandigarh has been labeled outsiders Former Deputy Chief Minister Chander Mohan is out of scene as he has been denied ticket by the congress. The Haryana Janhit congress has fielded a dissident, former Haryana Youth Congress President Shashi Sharma has held many offices in the district and state units of the party in last about 26 years. The INLD candidate Yograj Singh father of cricketer Yuvraj Singh has been facing resentment from party cadre, now with the intervention of Chautalas the cadre has become active. The BSP has given ticket to Sanjeev Bhardwaj who is votary of social engineering formula of Mayawati.Although all major candidates are plagued with factionalism, there is no candidate one can bet on, as the election can go anyone`s way. In poll bound Maharashtra, unexpected showers have altered some of schedules of political campaigns in the state. Congress President Sonia Gandhi's election campaign has been postponed by a day due to heavy rain in various parts of the state. Mrs. Gandhi will now be addressing election rallies in Nashik and Nanded tomorrow.On the other hand, leaders like BJP General Secretary Gopinath Munde, Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari and BJP President Rajnath Singh will be campaigning in Mumbai later today. AIR correspondent reports that Shiv Sena Executive President Uddhav Thackeray will also hold a rally for three of his party candidates in Mumbai this evening.BJP national general secretary Gopinath Munde today said that the problems of inflation and power shortage will be the main issues of the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance for the upcoming polls in Maharashtra. He was speaking at a press meet in Mumbai today. AICC spokesperson Manish Tiwari, who also addressed a press meet in Mumbai today said that the motto of UPA is to give education and 80 per cent jobs to locals. BJP leader Nitin Gadkari addressed a rally in Darda today. He was there to campaign for BJP candidates contesting from the Buldhana district. While NCP chief Sharad Pawar addressed a public rally in Dhule to campaign for candidate Rajwardhan Karambande. Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati is in the state to campaign for her party's candidates. She has addressed campaign meetings in Mumbai and Pune so far and will be visiting Nagpur and Parbhani later this week.
News On AIR | October 5, 2009 8:00 PM
Electioneering in full swing in Haryana, Arunachal;rain plays spoil-sport in M'rashtra