Sonia to campaign in Bihar for two days

PATNA: With the electioneering pertaining to the first phase of assembly polls to end on February 1 evening, the Congress is suddenly in an upbeat mood because party president Sonia Gandhi has consented to campaign for the party candidates in Bihar for two days in the first phase.
Sonia is scheduled to address public meetings at Buxar and Ara on January 31.It will be followed by a public meeting at Bhagalpur the very next day. Besides, a few other leaders of the party, including Union minister Jagdish Tytler, K K Tiwari and Wasim Ahmad, have already started their campaign in the constituencies concerned.
On Friday, state Congress president Ram Jatan Sinha was visibly elated. "Earlier, it was said that Soniaji would campaign for one day. But the fact is that she is to campaign for two days," Sinha said. He was accompanied by Tytler, Wasim Ahmad, Prem Chandra Mishra and B K Hariprasad (party''s central observer), among others.
According to him, the epithet "votekatwa" used for Congress candidates in the poll fray suggesting that they will eat into the NDA''s support base among upper castes is not only "unjustified" but also "misplaced". "If the Congress candidates are ''votekatwas'', then why is there so much of jitters in their camp? The fact is that the Congress has already changed the state''s politics," Sinha said.
He said his party has maintained proper balance in the distribution of tickets. In the first phase of polls, the party is contesting 21 seats. It is to contest 30 seats in the second phase and about 30 more seats in the third phase. Out of 51 Congress candidates in the first two phases, 13 belong to the Muslim community, 13 to backward castes and eight are Dalits. Among the upper castes, five seats have been given to Brahmins and six each to Bhumihars and Rajputs, he added.
"It is this balance that has been attracting voters to the Congress. The last-minute announcement of candidates has delayed the launching of campaign. But there is subterranean current in favour of the Congress. It will be reflected in the poll results. All had dismissed the party during the parliamentary elections, but Soniaji was in the heart of many," Sinha said.
Tytler said his party is in the fray to defeat BJP and "communal forces", and, therefore, is in the company of all the parties which are in the UPA. "The UPA government at the Centre will provide money for fulfilling the state''s development needs. We will certainly improve the law and order situation, but we are not in the fray on the kidnapping issue alone," he maintained.
Sinha said his party has not fielded its candidates for the seats held by other UPA constituents, but it is in alliance with the Lok Janshakti Party for seats outside this arrangement.