NEW DELHI: The CPI (M) and CPI have agreed for a total adjustment of seats to contest the forthcoming Punjab elections and are trying to forge electoral ties with moderate Akal groups which are opposed to “Khalistan” CPI National Council Secretary Chaturanan Mishra MP said on Monday.

Mishra said the government’s claim to provide adequate security to candidates and ensure fair and peaceful poll has proved to be an eye wash.

Condemning the gunning down of CPI candidate for Rampura Phul Assembly constituency Harpal Singh at the hands of militants on Sunday in the Bathinda district Mishra said that the government should provide adequate security to dispel fears prevailing among voters and political parties.

The CPI (M) has also condemned the killing of the CPI candidate saying this was a naked display of poll-eve cult of militancy targeted to strengthen those threatening the Unity of the country.

Meanwhile the CPI (M) general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet said the culprits responsible for 1984 riots should be-Punished to heal the wounded sentiments of the Sikhs.

Surjeet said that the indication by some Akalis to participate in the elections was a good sign in an effort to make the election meaningful.

The TDP leader and the former Information and Broadcasting Minister P.Upendra MP said that the past workings of the successive Congress (I) governments at the Center have made people of Punjab sceptical about the democratic credentials of the ruling party.

He welcomed the elections and added the people of Punjab are Patriotic and they should be allowed all avenues to exercise their franchise freely and without fear.

The BJP leader Atal Behari Vajpayee said that since the government had decided to hold the elections it must take effective measures to ensure free and fair polls.

Vajpayee said that various Akali groups were afraid of militant actions and they should be given proper assurance by the government to ensure their proper participation

He said that the credibility of not only the government but the entire system was at stake and that the government should take effective measures to restore confidence among the people.

The CPI general secretary Indrajit Gupta MP said that the indefinite Presidents rule in Punjab only helped militant’s and. Khalistani camps to carry out their propaganda that the Center was rot allowing an elected government to take reins of power.

He said that the elections should have been combined along with preliminary measures to ensure full participation of moderate Akalis opposed to militancy and Khalistan to make it meaningful.

The AICC (I) general secretary Rajendra Kumari Vajpayee said the Rajiv Longowal Accord would be implemented only after a representative government takes over

She said the Congress (I) had always been sincere but the territorial dispute could not be settled as it could not be decided by the stale government whether Khunda Kera village was a Hindi-speaking area or Punjabi. Land matters area state subject and it was for states to decide.

Vajpayee said that the Bamala government collapsed under the pressure of dissidence and Bamala was declared a “tankhaia”. The ruling party should not be blamed for its fall, she asserted.

Meanwhile, the government has further tightened security measures in view of the killing of a CPI Candidate to hold fair and peaceful poll in 117 Assembly and 13 Lok Sablia constituencies in Punjab according to official sources.

Article extracted from this publication >> February 7, 1992