this post made by one Zakk in the world forum makes unnecessary fun of names. i srongly condem this childish behaviour n call upon the mods to correct the post.
the exact portion which has been edited by Zakk is this:
Casting her vote, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dik**** said Congress had turned the capital of 14 million people into a modern city.
whereas the link gives the news as:
Casting her vote, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dik**** said Congress had turned the capital of 14 million people into a modern city.
is this not idiotic?.
NEW DELHI: India’s main political foes claimed they were heading for victory as millions voted Monday in key state assembly elections seen as a dress rehearsal for the 2004 general polls.
“We are expecting good results,” the main opposition Congress chief Sonia Gandhi said as people voted in numbers in the states of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi, which are currently ruled by her party.
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) made similar claims, as the police reported sporadic attacks on polling stations by Maoist guerrillas in Chhattisgarh.
“BJP is very confident of winning in all the four states because these areas have suffered by the misrule of the Congress,” party spokesman Prakash Javadekar told AFP. If anything, a defeat in these elections, where it’s (solely) a BJP versus Congress fight, will have an adverse moral impact on Vajpayee’s performance at the federal level,” said political analyst Mahesh Rangarajan.
“It is not a referendum as such on Vajpayee’s performance in New Delhi,” Rangarajan said. “The issues involved here are too local like power, water, jobs and roads. But yes, if he loses badly, morally it will a beating.” But Zoya Hassan of Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi noted that Congress was defending its record in the four states. “The BJP had hyped the anti-incumbency business and if the Congress wins three out of the four states it would be a vindication of Congress governance,” she said.
Casting her vote, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dik**** said Congress had turned the capital of 14 million people into a modern city.
More than 500,000 election workers backed by 400,000 police and troops were on guard as the 102,056 polling centres opened 8:00 am for nine hours of voting.
Pollsters say a high turnout often indicated dissatisfaction with those currently in power, which would go against the Congress. Other surveys, however, predict the Congress will retain its control over three states while the BJP could wrest power away in Madhya Pradesh. “It seems the entire federal government is fighting the polls in Madhya Pradesh,” said the state’s Congress Chief Minister Digvijay Singh of desperate pre-poll campaigning by the BJP and its coalition partners.
Voter turnout: Over 55 per cent of voters exercised their franchise as polling for four state assemblies — Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh — came to a close on Monday evening. .
One woman was killed in poll-related violence in Madhya Pradesh and Naxalites snatched Electronic Voting Machines at a few places in Chhattisgarh.
Cosmopolitan Delhi recorded a good voter turnout. In Chhattisgarh, Naxalites snatched EVMs in Bijapur assembly constituency triggering an exchange of fire with the police. The voter turnout in the state, however, was good. In Madhya Pradesh, where around 50 per cent of the total voters exercised their franchise, a woman was killed in Bhind town when she was caught in a cross fire between two rival groups.
Rajasthan recorded about 65 percent voter turnout in a largely peaceful poll. Over 400,000 police and paramilitary personnel were deployed in the four states to ensure peaceful polling, which began at 0800 IST. Congress president Sonia Gandhi was among the early voters in Delhi. “We are expecting good results. But we will have to wait till December 4 [when counting is held],” she said at the Nirman Bhavan polling station.
Over 5,000 candidates are trying their luck for 590 seats.
Among those whose fate will be sealed in electronic voting machines are Chief Ministers Digvijay Singh (MP), Ajit Jogi (Chhattisgarh), Ashok Gehlot (Rajasthan), Sheila Dik**** (Delhi).
Among other prominent candidates are the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Vasundhara Raje (Rajasthan), Uma Bharti (MP) and Madan Lal Khurana (Delhi). The elections mark the culmination of an acrimonious fortnight-long campaign focusing, among other things, on the bribery case allegedly involving BJP leader Dilip Singh Judeo. According to surveys, Congress will win in three states, except Madhya Pradesh. The outcome of the polls, fought primarily on local issues, could determine the timing of the Lok Sabha elections. —
