COVER STORY

The blitz in Lucknow

PURNIMA S. TRIPATHI

LUCKNOW, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's constituency, has the privilege of "electing the PM not an MP", say BJP leaders. As the campaign progressed, the entire top brass of the party remained focussed on the constituency, each one addressing seven or eight public meetings every day. Thousands of Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) workers went from door to door explaining why "Atalji" should be re-elected, even as over 100 "men with a mission", all RSS-affiliated professionals in various fields, gathered inputs and redefined the campaign strategy at the party's central media cell. RSS workers campaigned in Muslim areas and BJP-friendly Muslims organised Atal yatras.

EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP

Vajpayee with Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani in Lucknow on April 5, the day Advani's Bharat Uday Yatra arrived in the city.

Why such an aggressive and intense campaign, especially when there is no doubt about Vajpayee's victory? There is no worthwhile challenger either. The Congress(I) is backing the lawyer Ram Jethmalani, who is contesting as an independent. But with Congress(I) workers, whom he is dependent on, making themselves scarce, Jethmalani was struggling to get his campaign off the block. Congress(I) candidate Akhilesh Das, who was forced to withdraw, agonised over the "betrayal" and kept away from the scene until Sonia Gandhi asked him to help Jathmalani out.

Das' supporters had torn flags, buntings and banners of Jethmalani on April 27. To quell the `revolt' Sonia dispatched Subodhkant Sahay, the party's Uttar Pradesh incharge, soon after voting in Ranchi, where he is the candidate, was over. On April 29, with barely four days of campaigning left, a hassled Sahay was struggling to put things right at the Congress headquarters in Lucknow. The Samajwadi Party has fielded Dr. Madhu Gupta, whose claim to fame is a lost mayoral election in Lucknow.

Was the BJP's campaign blitz a sign of nervousness after the "sari tragedy"? Is there a fear that if the "mascot" fails to win by a large enough margin the party's " mission 300" may be in danger? Having put all its eggs in one basket, the BJP was panicky, especially since the meetings addressed by Vajpayee and other top leaders did not attract as big crowds as the BJP leaders expected.

Besides, differences cropped up among senior leaders about the direction of the campaign. BJP insiders said there were reservations about the ways in which Pramod Mahajan, who was controlling the campaign in Lucknow, functioned and he was replaced by Union Law Minister Arun Jaitley. Among the top leaders who camped and campaigned in Lucknow were Sushma Swaraj, senior RSS leader Sanjay Joshi and Rajnath Singh, besides party president M. Venkaiah Naidu, L.K. Advani and Vajpayee himself.

Ram Jethmalani campaigning in Lucknow.

The BJP used every opportunity to emphasise that the most important issue influencing this round of elections was the "issue of leadership". "There is an overwhelming popular urge for a second term for Atalji because of his parliamentary experience, restrained political style, assurance of good governance and excellent management of the economic condition," said Arun Jaitely. As opposed to this, in the Opposition camp there was "no alliance, no leader, no programme", he said. "It was a fight between clash and chaos on the one hand and safety, security and stability on the other," he added.

But that still does not explain why the BJP put so much effort into the non-fight in Lucknow. Vajpayee has represented Lucknow since 1991,when he won with 50.9 per cent of the votes, defeating the Congress's Ranjeet Singh who got 20.3 per cent. Until 1998, his vote percentage kept going up, 52.24 per cent in 1996 and 57.82 per cent in 1998. But it dropped to 48.11 per cent in 1999 and this is what is worrying the BJP leadership. If his vote percentage drops further, its "Atal centric" campaign would look hollow.

But given the Congress' dismal performance in Lucknow, there should be no reason for the BJP to worry. Its vote percentage was a pathetic 2.51 per cent in 1996 and 5.17 per cent in 1998. In 1999 there was a revival of sorts, when its nominee Dr. Karan Singh secured 31.71 per cent votes. This time round, the non-BJP votes could go en bloc to Jethmalani, considering the fact that he has the Congress' backing and that the rest of the Opposition has failed to mount a challenge. In the event, a drop in Vajpayee's vote share becomes a distinct possibility. Hence the high-power campaigning. Even Muslims were wooed with great passion and several BJP-friendly Muslim organisations sprang up. The Atal Himayat Karvan, Friends of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the Vajpayee Fan Club were some of the organisations wooing the Muslim community.

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