War by democratic means

While the Congress general’s campaign has an explicitly saffron aura, the saffron general is busy wooing the minorities in Paur-Garhwal Lok Sabha constituency

FROM SHISHIR PRASHANT
DH NEWS SERVICE, PAURI (GARHWAL):

When two generals took up positions here early this month, the atmosphere suddenly got tensed up despite the salubrious surroundings of the Garhwal hills.
In the fight between the two brave-hearts, the boom of guns may not be resonating as yet, but a war of wits has already started in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections in Pauri-Garhwal constituency bordering Tibet.

It was only after several rounds of meetings that the Congress finally zeroed on an ex-Lieutenant General to take on BJP stalwart and Union Transport and Highways Minister Maj Gen (Retd) B C Khanduri, who won three times from this seat.

Congress candidate and Tourism Minister Lt Gen (Retd) T P S Rawat may be an underdog for the BJP but the Congress is confident about his chances of victory.
Nevertheless, Khanduri says he is taking his enemy very seriously and would fight till the last. And his opponent, Rawat has graciously accepted the challenge to dislodge the saffron general from Pauri-Garhwal.

But in this tense war, the two generals are going the whole hog to elicit support in their favour before they fight to the finish.

Surprisingly, the campaign style of the two ex-army officers is a complete contrast of sorts. While Rawat is wooing voters at religious gatherings at places like Hardwar, his opponent Khanduri is enticing minorities elsewhere in this constituency having a sizeable strength of both serving and ex-servicemen.
Rawat usually takes time off from his busy schedule to seek blessings from his mentor and godman Satpal Maharaj, who tasted defeat in the previous two elections here, especially when he gives sermons to thousands of his disciples in saffron robes.

“It is purely due to the blessing of (Satpal) Maharajji that I became an MLA and then Minister,” says Rawat. “And now, with the grace of Maharaj ji, I am aspiring to reach the Lok Sabha,” adds Rawat.

Knowing very well that elections are round the corner, the Maharaj, a former AICC Secretary, is raking up the Lucknow stampede issue to the hilt stating that such incidents only augur ill-will in the minds of general public. Maharaj also talks about other women issues considered very sensitive in the hills.

On the other hand, Khanduri is not at all sitting pretty. He is preparing for the battle of ballots in his own inimitable style. First he donned a Gurkha cap knowing very well about the sizeable population of Nepalese in the constituency. Again, he took time to woo minorities, especially Muslims, by roping in some of the leaders of the minority community in BJP. A handful of Muslim leaders have even joined BJP in the presence of Khanduri.