By Ranjit Devraj
NEW DELHI, Oct 11 2003 (IPS)

This week’s announcement of provincial elections in four Indian states has signalled the start of particularly vicious mudslinging season, with top leaders of both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its arch rival, the Congress party, at the receiving end.

Neither party is pulling any punches. That is because the outcome of the polls – in the Congress-ruled states of Delhi that houses the national capital, western Rajasthan, central Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh on Dec. 1 and in north-eastern Mizoram on Nov. 20 – will set trends for general elections scheduled for September 2004.

Soon after Chief Election Commissioner James Michael Lyngdoh announced the poll schedule on Monday, the country’s main sleuthing agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), swung into action.

It raided the homes of a top opposition politician and charged the Congress chief minister of Chattisgarh, Ajit Jogi, with forging documents.

On Wednesday, the CBI raided the home of Mayawati, who in August resigned as chief minister of India’s largest state, northern Uttar Pradesh. She had fallen out with the leadership of the BJP over who sanctioned a multi-million dollar project to construct a tourist complex uncomfortably close to the Taj Mahal, one of India’s best-known monuments and located in her state.

The spat between the feisty Mayawati – who leads the Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) that claims to protect the interest of ‘dalits’ or people at the lowest end of the Hindu social hierarchy – and the BJP led to a parting of way between the two political parties and the fall of the coalition government she led in Uttar Pradesh.

Not one to take things lying down, Mayawati launched a tirade against no less than Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, accusing members of his family being involved in corrupt deals.

”Why doesn’t Vajpayee order raids on his son-in-law Ranjan Bhattacharya, who has amassed a huge fortune and built hotels in Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh states?” Mayawati raged at journalists who visited her official residence in the heart of Delhi after what seemed like a particularly intensive raid.

Vajpayee, who is currently away on a visit to Thailand, has so far been spared embarrassing references to corruption by members of his family. His deputy Lal Krishna Advani has described Mayawati’s accusations as ”irresponsible”.

Mayawati also accused Vajpayee of ”misusing” the CBI, which she said has been turned into a ”political agency.” She indicated that she was now considering a poll alliance between the BSP and the opposition Congress party.

Officials of the CBI said the agency was acting independently and was trying to establish the size of Mayawati’s assets as part of investigations into the Taj Mahal case, which is now being supervised by the Supreme Court.

But it is not unusual for the CBI to be used for political ends by the party in power at the centre especially at election time.

At the moment, the CBI happens to be busy in Chattisgarh digging up dirt on Chief Minister Ajit Jogi, charged with using forged documents to contest elections in constituency reserved for tribals.

Jogi, a member of India’s bureaucratic elite before he took to politics, now also faces charges of defaming the CBI for publicly accusing the agency of carrying out a secret operation to tarnish his image.

Jogi has struck back at the largely upper-caste dominated BJP, saying that he and Mayawati were being targeted because he was a tribal and she a ‘dalit’.

Congress party spokesman Jaipal Reddy said there was ”no doubt that the cases against Jogi were politically motivated” and meant to embarrass the chief minister on the eve of the elections in Chattisgarh.

”We (Congress party) also want the cases against Mayawati (in the Taj Mahal case) to be thoroughly investigated as also the role of central government officials,” Reddy said.

The Congress party’s chief, Sonia Gandhi, said she saw a ‘bigger plan” in the CBI action against Mayawati and Jogi to ”intimidate” key opposition leaders ahead of the elections.

But Gandhi herself could find herself slapped with ”sedition” charges by Defence Minister George Fernandes – the Congress had accused him of having made money out of a deal to import coffins for soldiers killed during a brief undeclared war with Pakistan at Kargil in 1999.

Last week, Fernandes, who is currently facing an opposition boycott in Parliament because he did not step down while under investigation on serious corruption charges, said he is in touch with the Attorney General with a view to initiating a case against Gandhi. ”I have the responsibility to see that sedition is not allowed to go scot-free.”

Five years ago, the BJP was humiliated by the Congress party in Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. It is now desperately looking to win back the three major states that were, prior to that, strongholds of the once the pro-Hindu party.

The elections are also remarkable for the fact that for the first time, the Election Commission has required all candidates to disclose criminal records and financial assets. This represents a bid to curb a disturbing trend that has emerged for criminals to contest elections and win using money and muscle power.

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