Bhopal Elections 2008 - After Thoughts

The Election Commission of India - has asked officials in other states to study the communication plan and vulnerability mapping exercise drawn up by the Madhya Pradesh electoral authorities for the assembly poll and replicate it in their states during the upcoming general elections, official sources said.

'Besides the methodology adopted by Madhya Pradesh's Chief Electoral Officer - in the vulnerability mapping exercise and identification of sensitive booths, the ECI has also asked all the other CEOs to implement the communication plan used on polling day in the Madhya Pradesh assembly elections in the Lok Sabha polls next year,' said an official on deputation in the CEO's office here.

The decision was taken after a presentation of the communication plan was made by the Madhya Pradesh CEO J.S. Mathur at the two-day conference of CEOs of all states in Delhi last week.

Under the communication plan, polling booths were equipped with cell phones, landline phones and wireless sets - to enable them to get in touch with senior officials command in case the scheduled polling process was hampered.

'The ECI personally verified the utility of the plan on polling day by randomly calling presiding officers at 15 polling booths to ensure that everything was going on smoothly.'

Besides the communication plan, the group SMS systems and group mailing systems also helped connect all the district collectors with the CEO's office. This helped in official decisions being conveyed immediately and reminders were sent through text messages.

The ECI has also asked all CEOs to follow Madhya Pradesh's techniques in the vulnerability mapping and identification of sensitive booths in the general elections.

The state had prepared a specific format to cull information for identification of sensitive booths and polling stations.

It was for the first time in Madhya Pradesh that information technology applications were used widely in the electoral process, enabling the field officers to make a quick decision which in turn led to a decline in number of violent incidents.

Software developed by the National Informatics Centre - helped the booth level officers, zonal officer, sector magistrate, returning officer and district returning officer to remain in constant touch with the CEO's office.

'We were able to monitor incidents on polling day as they were reported in time,' said Mathur, adding: 'It helped in taking action on complaints of malpractice during elections leading to a reduction in overall number of such incidents'.

The number of poll related violent incidents declined to 65 this time as against 195 during the 2003 elections. Similarly, there was also a marked reduction as far as loss of property during polls was concerned. While it amounted to Rs.399,000 during the 2003 elections, this time it is estimated to be Rs.70,000.

Also, the number of polling booths that saw re-polling was reduced by more than half in the 2008 assembly polls. While repolling was held at 68 booths in 2003, in 2008 it was only needed in 31 booths.

-Nerve.In

Bhopal - 24 years later

First it was an acidic smell, then a slight itching of the throat, a burning sensation as I sucked in the air. This was Bhopal, and history had come to visit.

I was looking for an innocuous pipe, one of a maze that juts out from Bhopal's plant. The leaking pipe still stands, 24 years after it spewed toxic gas into nearby slums, killing at least 8,000 people in one of the world's worst industrial disasters.

In search of that pipe, I had strolled through this plant just outside the city with a government permit in hand, accompanied by a bored-looking policeman and my guide, Sanjay.

By an old rusty tank near one of the plants, I suddenly smelt something acidic, what survivors had told me hit them as clouds of gas drifted over their homes before they started choking, panicking, and going blind.

"It smells like benzene," said the policeman, as if that piece of wisdom would reassure me.

I was later told the odour could be from a chemical used to make Sevin, the pesticide then manufactured at the plant by U.S.-based Union Carbide Corporation.

If ever there was evidence of bureaucratic inertia, legal squabbling, and corporate wrangling, it was that nearly a quarter of a century after the tragedy the smell of untreated chemicals still lingered.

Around midnight on Dec 3, 1984, some other chemicals used to make Sevin accidentally mixed with water and sparked a chain reaction that led to half a million people being poisoned by gas.

Aside from the cobwebs and rust, the plant is much the same as it was in 1984. More than 300 tonnes of waste, left lying around in drums, were only stored in a warehouse in the complex three years ago.

AN ORPHAN
Sanjay guided me. He had survived the tragedy when he was a baby. His parents and five brothers and sisters died. He grew up in an orphanage, and in a story of a life against the odds, has now applied to take a master's business degree.

"The first time I came here I was so scared," he said as we strolled along a dirt path between plant buildings.

"This was the factory that killed thousands of people, my parents. Now I don't mind, I'm used to it."

I didn't believe him. He spoke often that day of his family, his brothers and sisters, a mum and dad who must have nursed him, played with him for just six months.

Two of his siblings survived the disaster. A sister is married and a brother committed suicide a few years ago.

As we walked, I imagined a 6-month-old baby, probably crying, perhaps left under a blanket by the mother, alone in a slum in one of the world's toughest places to live. And now he spoke fluent English, had girlfriends and ambitions.

We strolled on outside. It was a spring day. I could hear birds singing and kids laughing, somewhere by the compound wall.

Inside, though, the complex is the kind of place you imagine after a biological attack, where everything is suddenly abandoned.

Bottles of chemicals covered in cobwebs still lie in laboratories. Plant safety warning signs still hang from walls. Abandoned tables remain in place. A beehive has found a home in the roof of one plant building.

But if time stood still, pollution may not have.

Environmental campaigners say thousands of tonnes of waste lie underneath, seeping into ground water of nearby slums and causing clusters of diseases, from cancer to birth deformities.

The government says the plant's toxic residues have almost disappeared, washed away after years of monsoon rains.

We entered the control room, treading carefully to avoid broken glass and cow pats where technicians once stood. Outside were patches of ground where grass still failed to grow after 24 years.

We arrived at the tanks where the killer chemical was stored just before the disaster. The tanks lie in undergrowth, looking like a disused locomotive.

As we walked outside the compound, by a slum near a railway track, residents complained about lung diseases, deformities in children, strange rashes. Mothers complained about the stunted growth of children.

Many poor migrants arrived here 24 years ago because the land was so cheap after the disaster.

Here, the government has even painted water pumps red, saying they are not safe. Most locals do refuse to drink it, but still use the pumps for bathing. Young children play in the water.

Next to the slum is the factory's evaporation pond, where toxic waste was once dumped. The liquid was left to evaporate, leaving a sludge. It still overflows in monsoons. Sanjay said he saw kids wash their bottoms in it after defecating.

The trouble is there so far is no smoking gun, no long-term health study that can tell 100 percent why these people are ill.

So everyone here lives in doubt, wondering if something invisible is quietly killing, deforming their children.

"I am scared for my children," said Anees Ahmad Nawab, a carpenter. "I don't know what is lying within that factory."

-By Alistair Scrutton

Looking Bombay Talking Bhopal

After the Bombay incident of 11/26, Bhopal duly participated in the prominently media covered show of anger. Obscure,  remote and never heard of locations of Bhopal were flashed on news papers when candles were lighted in rememberance  of the martyrs of Bombay.

When asked the middle aged aunty said 'Arre sab jala rahe the, kaha ki aap ka bhi photo ayega , so hamne bhi jala diya'.

'Lekin Bombay? '

'Bombay?  Uska kya? Thehro, sabzi jal rahi hai, gas bandh karke aati hun'

Meanwhile, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi is a hit. India won the test match, after winning the one day. In between there was a planned T20 World cup, which was canceled due to another 24 hours live telecast event which lasted about 60 hours. The excitement, the media coverage and the discussions were almost the same. In place of asking 'Kitne run hue' we asked 'aur kitne bache hain?'. The delay in commando operation was similar to the delay of Ganguly coming for toss. After 20 odd days, everybody is planning for New Year party.   Non-state actors trains a person to kill 17 Indians on average. Send 10 such persons, you get 11/26. What if they sent 100 such persons ? Then also nothing will happen. People will watch Chandni Chowk to China in record numbers and get on with life. We have achieved what Buddhist monks call Zen. Nothing or nobody can make us angry. Say Non-state actors sends 1 lakh persons tomorrow on some Cruise ship to Bombay. Each one takes on 17 Indians. 17 lakh Indians will be minus. I am sure, the rest will watch Billo Barber.

Dilip D'Souza wonders in his post "I mean, take the killings of 3000 innocent Indians in Delhi in November 1984. Have we had a Parliament session to unitedly condemn that tragic outrage? Had we said about that atrocity that "we will take all action to protect our citizens"? Or that it is an attack on our "civilisational ethos"? Or that those perpetrators must learn about the "cost" of "killing innocent Indians"? Did that massacre prompt calls to "change how we view the lives of individual Indians"? Did ordinary Indians get killed then, and if so, did their lives go in vain?"

He however does not talk about December 1984, which is taken up by Latha Jishnu who says "The International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal (ICJB), a solidarity of volunteers fighting for redrresal, says around half a million people were exposed to the gas and over 20,000 have died so far as a result of their exposure. Among the 150,000 seriously affected, at least 50,000 are too sick to work for a living. Worse, children born to gas-affected people suffer from serious congenital defects. Some have no lips, ears or noses, others no hands or feet."

Meanwhile the general citizens went about there business as usual and voted Shivraj Singh Chauhan, not necessarily BJP, to power again. There were reports  in the local media about the lathi welding policemen of Bhopal and elsewhere in the state of Madhya Pradesh and how they would take on the AK 47s, to which many cynics said that Madhya Pradesh is the shelter of the terrorists and will never be attacked! Some others took solace in the fact that Bhopal might be too small a place for terrorists to take notice of. They said “A friend of mine sent me an email from Beijing asking whether I feared for my life in Bhopal after the Mumbai terror attack. I replied by saying no because the terrorists target big urban centers to make a statement. It is unlikely they will target smaller towns”. However, the new Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh appears to have a different opinion, and has approached the new Home Minister of India asking for a NSG center at Bhopal. 

The Bhopali, as indeed all Indians, are more busy with their survival, till some terrorist somewhere gets them. As the one and only Prem Panicker puts it " The ‘spirit of the Mumbaikar’ meme be damned, the state needs to recognize this for what it is: helplessness. We go to work come hell or high water [where Bombay is concerned, hell and high water, literally so] because as long as we are alive [over 80 of our fellows, going about their usual business 12 hours ago, are no longer alive—spare them a thought, a prayer], there is nothing else to do; nothing else we can do. We go to work not to prove a point, but because there are no options. We go to work like we breathe—because there is nothing else.Respiro, ergo sum."

Bhopal Elections 2008 - Results

BHOPAL DAKSHIN PASCHIM

No. of Electors	154336	Polling Stations	168
No. of Contestants	19	Polling %age	61.85

Candidates		Valid Votes in AC
Name	Party	Number	Percentage
UMASHANKER GUPTA	Bharatiya Janata Party	48707	51.03
SANJEEV SAXENA	Bahujan Samaj Party	22705	23.79
DEEPCHAND YADAV	Indian National Congress	13490	14.13
SHAILENDRA PRADHAN	Bharatiya Jan Shakti	6081	6.37
DHANANJAY SINGH CHAUHAN	Independent	816	0.85
SHAILENDRA KUMAR SHAILY	Communist Party of India	772	0.81
RAVINDRA	Independent	603	0.63
DADAN YADAV	Samajwadi Party	502	0.53
GANESH SINGH BAGHEL	Independent	373	0.39
AZEEM MOHAMMAD	Indian Justice Party	276	0.29
SANJIV SINGHAL	Independent	244	0.26
PT. SHIV SHANKAR SHARMA (GAUTAM) URF SHANKAR	Gondvana Gantantra Party	167	0.17
DR. A. S. TOMAR	Independent	138	0.14
BHASKAR SALVE	Lok Jan Shakti Party	108	0.11
GOUTAM NAGDAVNE	Republican Party of India (A)	107	0.11
ANIL DONGRE	Apna Dal	105	0.11
JAGMOHAN SINGH CHOUDHRY	Gondwana Mukti Sena	105	0.11
RAMKUMAR AGRAWAL	Independent	81	0.08
DINESH KUMAR SHUKLA	Loktantrik Samajwadi Party	75	0.08
Total Valid Votes		95455	100.00
Lead Margin		26002

BHOPAL MADHYA

No. of Electors	167748	Polling Stations	206
No. of Contestants	13	Polling %age	61.40

Candidates		Valid Votes in AC
Name	Party	Number	Percentage
DHRUV NARAYAN SINGH	Bharatiya Janata Party	50061	48.60
NASIR ISLAM	Indian National Congress	47542	46.16
PRADEEP SHRIVASTAVA	Bharatiya Jan Shakti	2039	1.98
HIFZUR REHMAN URF (CHHOTE MIYA)	Bahujan Samaj Party	1270	1.23
SURENDRA SINGH	Independent	589	0.57
SY. YUSUF ALI	Samajwadi Party	381	0.37
RAFEEQ AHMED	Independent	320	0.31
KARAN KAROSIYA URF KARAN JIJA	Gondvana Gantantra Party	238	0.23
KHALID ALI	Independent	144	0.14
SIDDHARTH MORE	Peoples Republican Party	115	0.11
MOHAMMAD ZAHEER QURESHI	Independent	103	0.10
SHAHABBUDDIN SIDDIQUI	Gondwana Mukti Sena	102	0.10
DHARM PAL MAKORIYA	Independent	95	0.09
Total Valid Votes		102999	100.00
Lead Margin		2519

BHOPAL UTTAR

No. of Electors	175454	Polling Stations	204
No. of Contestants	8	Polling %age	66.32

Candidates		Valid Votes in AC
Name	Party	Number	Percentage
ARIF AQUEEL	Indian National Congress	58267	50.08
ALOK SHARMA	Bharatiya Janata Party	54241	46.62
IKRAM SIDDIQUI	Bahujan Samaj Party	1593	1.37
NARESH RAO JADHAV	Bharatiya Jan Shakti	1148	0.99
SYED. NISAR ALI	Independent	614	0.53
MOHMMAD KHALID	Independent	238	0.20
SUDHA DEVI UPWAR	Indian Justice Party	144	0.12
ABDUL NAIM	Gondwana Mukti Sena	114	0.10
Total Valid Votes		116359	100.00
Lead Margin		4026

BHOPAL - GOVINDPURA

No. of Electors	201000	Polling Stations	192
No. of Contestants	16	Polling %age	57.96

Candidates		Valid Votes in AC
Name	Party	Number	Percentage
BABULAL GAUR	Bharatiya Janata Party	62766	53.88
VIBHA PATEL	Indian National Congress	29012	24.90
GHISA LAL YADAV	Bharatiya Jan Shakti	12483	10.72
RANVEER SINGH SIKARWAR	Bahujan Samaj Party	4837	4.15
RAMPAL GHONSLE	Lok Jan Shakti Party	1611	1.38
ENG. SANJEEV KUMAR MEHTA	Samajwadi Party	1252	1.07
CAPTAIN V. P. SINGH	Independent	1089	0.93
HARSHVARDHAN SINGH RAJPUT	Gondwana Mukti Sena	850	0.73
SANJAY SAXENA	Shivsena	771	0.66
K. P. DWIVEDI	Independent	487	0.42
KIRAN VISHWAKARMA	Independent	381	0.33
DEVENDRA JAIN	Savarn Samaj Party	272	0.23
LAVEY DAS	Independent	232	0.20
UPENDRA TIWARI	Rashtriya Garima Party	173	0.15
G. S. RAUT	Republican Party of India (A)	159	0.14
AMBADAS TAYADE	Gondvana Gantantra Party	116	0.10
Total Valid Votes		116491	100.00
Lead Margin		33754

BHOPAL - HUZUR

No. of Electors	171037	Polling Stations	188
No. of Contestants	16	Polling %age	64.07

Candidates		Valid Votes in AC
Name	Party	Number	Percentage
JEETENDRA DAGA (MANNU)	Bharatiya Janata Party	40241	36.72
BHAGWANDAS SABNANI	Independent	23261	21.23
RAJENDRA SINGH MEENA	Indian National Congress	22900	20.90
BHAGIRATH PATIDAR	Independent	13097	11.95
BHAI LAKHAN SINGH	Bahujan Samaj Party	4623	4.22
RADHESHYAM PRAJAPATI	Independent	1272	1.16
ASHUTOSH PANDEY	Samajwadi Party	963	0.88
RAEES BHAI	Independent	860	0.78
N. P. KATARE	Independent	574	0.52
ARCHANA SHRIVASTAV	Savarn Samaj Party	376	0.34
KASHINATH UPADHYAY	Independent	301	0.27
MAHESH NAGE	Gondwana Mukti Sena	258	0.24
KISHOR HASANI "KAILOO"	Independent	257	0.23
KRIPARAM RAJPUT (NETAJI)	Samata Party	229	0.21
KISHAN VISHNOI	Republican Party of India (A)	187	0.17
MAYANK JAIN	Gondvana Gantantra Party	181	0.17
Total Valid Votes		109580	100.00
Lead Margin		16980