NEW DELHI: Unidentified gun men fired three shots on Nov 24 moments after the Indian opposition leader, Vishwanath Pratap Singh, made a campaign stop at a polling place. Mr. Singh was not wounded in the incident, which took place in a village in his home Constituency in Uttar Pradesh.
The shooting near, Fatehpur, a city about 270 miles southeast of here, was one of many episodes of violence, including the killing of over 250 people, reported in eastern and northern India as millions of voters in 10 states and 2 small territories voted in the second day of the three day parliamentary elections. The vote will determine the political fate of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Mr. Singh, who had stopped at a polling place to look into reports of ballot fraud is a candidate from Fatehpur and is opposed by Hari Shastri, India’s Minister of State for Agriculture. News reports said Mr. Singh, the president of the Janata Dal party was talking with election officials when the assai Jants opened fire from the roof of a house about 200 yards from a pol ling center where the meeting was taking place. Security forces immediately cordoned off the area and pursued the gunmen. No arrests were reported.
The incident reflected the high degree of violence that has marked. the election, which is said to be one of the most violent in recent times. More than 250 people have al ready been killed and hundreds have been wounded in clashes. PTI said that 30 people were killed on Nov 25, twenty of them in the northern state of Bihar.
The attack on Vishwanath Pra tap Singh follows the shooting on Wednesday of his nephew, Sanjay Singh, an opposition figure, at Amethi, the home constituency of Prime Minister Gandhi. Sanjay Singh was shot in the stomach and seriously wounded. His condition ‘was reported to be serious but sta ble. Earlier this week, an assailant stabbed 10 death a Cabinet minis ter in the western state of Gujarat. The minister, Valabhai Patel, was a leader of Gandhi’s Congress Party.
Article extracted from this publication >> December 1, 1989
