gaddam@remus.rutgers.edu (Surekha Reddy Gaddam) (05/19/91)
============================================================================ News: from the GOS of All India Radio by Bina Jaipuri. Sunday 4:30am IST. ============================================================================ Electioneering ended yesterday for the first phase of general elections to the lower house of parliament and some assemblies. The three week long hectic campaign ended yesterday in 204 parliamentary constituencies with the first phase of polling scheduled to begin tomorrow. Electioneering also came to a close today for 294 assembly constituencies in the eastern state of W.Bengal, 90 in Haryana and a half of 425 seats in the northern state of U.P. Candidates and their supporters kept wooing the voters till the last minute which inturn decides the fortunes of several prominent leaders including the Cong(I) president Mr.R.Gandhi, the BJP leaders Mr.Lal Krishna Advani and Mr.Atal Bihari Bajpayee, the JD leader Mr.V.P.Singh and the deputy premier Mr.Devi lal. More than 190.3 million voters in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, West Bengal, Andaman and Nicobar islands, parts of Andhrapradesh ( in A.P. elections for 17 parliamentary constituencies will be held on Monday and the remaining 25 on 26th) Bihar, Rajasthan, M.P and U.P are to exercixe their franchise in tomorrow's polling. Elections have been countermanded in two assembly constituencies in U.P and one in Punjab following the death of the candidates. In Uttar Pradesh, an independent candidate Mr.Pratap Singh was shot dead in Meerut dist. The body of another independent candidate Mr.Jamal Ahmed from Tuchipur(sp ?) was found and believed to have been murdered by some unidentified miscreants. Elections will now be held for 421 out 425 assembly constituencies in the state. In Punjab, the Akalidal(Badal) candidate Mr.Harbhajan Singh Sandhu was murdered in Amritsar dist. With this the number of assembly constituencies in the state where elections have been countermanded has risen to 11. The Election commission has already announced that fresh program of holding elections in six assembly constituencies and the Ludhiana LS seat along with the rest of the state on the 22nd of next month. Security arrangments have been made for free, fair and peaceful elections throughout the country. In Haryana, besides 35,000 police and home guard personnel 54 companies of paramilitary forces are to be deployed. over 700 villages have been identified as sensitive in 14 assembly constituencies where extra security has been provided. In Bihar, inter state and inter dist borders have been sealed to prevent infiltration of anti-social elements. 129 companies of para military forces besides 65,000 state police personnel have been put on duty. In Andhra Pradesh, 61 companies of police and paramilitary forces have been deployed in addition to the state police. The state election commissioner told newsmen that necessary steps are being taken to avoid re-poll, whether if necessary repolling will be held on the 22nd for the first phace and on the 27th for the 2nd phase. ( However, violence continues to rock Warangal, Karimnager and Nizamabad dist, according to Home services news ) In Gujrat, 57 companies of paramilitary forces are to deployed. Finally, in the Himalayan kingdom of Nepal, the stage is all set for the formation of the democratically elected govt after a gap of 32 years. The ruling Nepalese congress has already secured clear majority in the multiparty elections held on Sunday. AIR Katmandu correspondent Harish Sahgal reports that out 198 results declared so far, the party has bagged 105 seats in the 205 member house of representatives. The Nepalese Communist partry (ML) is the second largest party with 68 seats. Please stay tuned for the new updates .. Narotham Reddy