Pwg Cadre Defies Leadership

Since the 1991 elections, the PWG has called for a poll boycott, and tried to enforce them, at times in a violent manner. But for the first time, they have now promised that they will not harm candidates, disrupt election machinery, attack poll officials or prevent voters from going to the polling booths.

The cadre will move from village to village and educate the voters on the futility of exercising their franchise in the present system and leave it to their judgment to either vote or remain indoors on poll day.

This assurance was given by PWG chief M Lakshmana Rao, better known as Ganapati, to the Committee of Concerned Citizens headed by former civil servant S R Sankaran. But despite the promise, over a dozen major incidents of arson, attacks and even killing of political activists have been reported in the four-naxal affected districts Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Warangal and Medak in the past weeks.

 

Barring the BJP, there is acrtually little or no campaignming by other parties in several of the PWG pockets in the Telangana region out of fear of attack by the naxal squads.

Despite the fear psychosis, polling has generally been good in the entire region-an average 60 per cent in 1996, and 67 per cent in Karimnagar, the worst affected district. With the PWG assuring that it will not disrupt polling, the turnout is expected to be better in this election.